Rise of Fire (Reign of Shadows #2)(41)

I had almost committed myself to the belief that I was safe. That no dweller could penetrate these walls. Court life had made me weak even in so short a time. How could I have forgotten? This was the world. It has not changed simply because I’d ducked behind these thick walls.

A second dweller answered the call of the first and my skin jumped, rippling to gooseflesh. I felt them prowling below, their sensors vibrating on the air, acclimating to and learning this new environment just as I was. They moved with slow, dragging steps. Even slower than usual.

Over a dozen voices lifted in a cheer. I listened, trying to sift through their words. No one was scared or alarmed. They were jubilant, excited at the arrival of these two dwellers. I heard someone calling for bets, and a flurry of masculine voices responded with their wagers.

And there was the man. He was there in the pit with them, his feet scampering wildly over the circular space, trying to stay out of their reach. His voice lifted over all the cheers and shouts, screaming, pleading. His fear saturated the air, as thick as the loamy odor of the dwellers.

“What’s going to happen?”

“I would think his fate would be obvious.”

“They’re just going to let him die?” I inched closer to the edge, feeling the flow of air on my face as I peered over, tracking the poor man’s frantic movements.

“Yes, and enjoy watching every moment of it. This is what happens to criminals in Lagonia. Sometimes you don’t even have to be a criminal. Fall out of favor with the king and face the pits.” She explained it so casually, as though she were discussing nothing significant.

“That’s barbaric.”

Riana laughed softly. “And how is that different from anything else in this world? We live in brutal times. Surely you know that, having come from out there.”

And yet somehow I thought things would be different inside here. I had started to think that. Started to hope.

The sound of what was happening engulfed me. Cries and panting breaths. The smack of skin on skin, bone on bone. And smells. Familiar smells and tastes. The acrid coat of fear on my tongue. The bitter metal of hot blood. The man cried out and the crowd went wild. First blood.

Riana’s breath fell faster. “Oh, my,” she sighed, awe hugging her words. “Would you look at that?” The sound of flesh and sinew tearing from bone brought bile surging to my mouth. “He’s still alive.”

This girl disgusted me. She spoke of a brutal world and yet she had experienced none of it herself. She merely sat back and observed it with sick delight. They all did. Every man in this room did. The air seethed with bloodlust, and suddenly I didn’t know who the animals were—the dwellers or the men watching?

Was the king watching? The prince? My stomach knotted. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I started to back away.

Quick as a whip, Riana grabbed my wrist. Her grip was surprisingly strong for a pampered lady. She wasn’t like Maris, I realized. She was strong, as raw-boned as Digger and any other predator I’d met on the Outside. “What’s amiss, princess? No stomach for it?”

I shook my head. “Let me go.”

“Oh, come now. Don’t be reticent. You certainly weren’t when it came to Prince Chasan. You laid claim to him quick enough.”

“I’m not enjoying this,” I panted from between clenched teeth. The sound of crunching bone drifted from the pit below. Dark dwellers were tearing him apart between them now.

“What’s not to enjoy? The king and prince are enjoying the spectacle.”

Her biting fingers were cutting off the blood in my arm. “Stop,” I hissed, thinking of the bishop’s words right then . . . of his insistence that other people might want to harm me for taking the prince off the market. Clearly, this unhinged girl was one such person.

“Don’t be squeamish. Have a closer look.” She pulled me, using her greater weight to haul me right up to the edge.

“What are you doing—” The rest of my words died in a wash of panic as she shoved me with both hands.

I resisted, scrabbling for leverage, but it was too late. The force of her push sent me over the ledge. For one fleeting moment, I managed to grip the edge, my fingers curled tightly, clinging for life. Riana’s balled-up fists slammed down on my fingers, and I was falling in a rush of wind.

I slammed down hard, pain vibrating through my body.

I was in the pit.





EIGHTEEN


Luna


THE IMPACT KNOCKED the breath out of me.

I forced my limbs to move. Pain buzzed along my nerves, making me agonizingly aware of the fact that I had just fallen from my perch like a felled bird with a broken wing. I was grounded, unable to fly away from this pit.

Scrambling to my feet, I braced my legs apart, readying myself in a fighting stance. And just like that it was me again, back in the Black Woods outside my tower. My hands opened and closed at my sides. That was the only difference, the fact that I did not hold a weapon. I had nowhere to run. My hands felt barren, empty. But I was not a novice at this. I wasn’t some broken bird helpless before them. I was me.

The first dweller came at me, his feet dragging over the floor of the pit. The other one still worked, slavering over its victim. The man had ceased to cry out. He was past making a sound.

Dimly, I registered the shrieks and shouts from above—my own name was screamed, but I didn’t respond to it. I focused all my attention on the dweller charging me.