Nameless (Nameless #1)(74)
The booming voice of the Master of Arms carried across the square. “On this day, Joshua, son of Kote, and former apprentice to Striker Gryphon, challenges this Nameless in a prizefight for his shield.”
The sound of Joshua’s name sent a ripple of gooseflesh over his arms. He shimmied up the slick rooftop on his stomach—an awkward feat considering the sword at his hip and the deadly spear in his hand. When he finally reached the peak of the roof and looked down on the fighting platform, he nearly fell from shock.
He first saw Joshua’s brilliant red hair, but standing on the opposite side of the platform, wearing nothing but a tiny tunic revealing her slight frame, was Zo. She held a sword in her hand like it was a snake that might bite her.
“Fight!” the Master of Arms called.
A guard slapped Zo’s backside, inspiring raucous laughter from the crowd. Joshua’s ghostly face haunted her when she looked up to meet his eyes. The poor boy! Zo dropped her sword and turned around to run off the platform but hit the chest of a brawny guard instead. He whipped her around and shoved her back into the center of the ring.
Joshua peered down at the ground, refusing to even look at Zo. Her mind raced for a solution, a way to save this boy’s life without causing Tess pain. There were just too many Ram surrounding them for an escape. They couldn’t surrender—a prizefight ended only when one of the fighters expired on the platform.
There was really only one course of action.
Zo charged Joshua. His eyes doubled in size at her attack. Out of instinct, his hands met her shoulders to block.
“Fight me, Joshua.” She pushed against him, their arms locked together like the horns of two butting ram. “This needs to look convincing.”
Joshua dug in his feet and pushed against her with surprising force for a thirteen-year-old boy.
Thank you! Zo could have cried in relief.
With a quick move, Joshua whipped Zo’s legs out from under her. She hit the ground hard and lost her breath. The crowd cheered. Joshua jumped on Zo’s chest, pinning her arms with his knees.
“It will be all right, Ginger,” she encouraged him. “Please,” she panted, “please, just do it.” Tess would be devastated, but Gabe would look after her.
Joshua yanked a knife from its sheath and held it above his head. Moisture formed in his eyes. “I love you, Zo.” His lower lip trembled. “My sister.” His warm tears splattered on Zo’s cheek as he hovered above her.
Zo wished she could at least hug him one last time. To pull him to her chest and rock him back and forth until his tears dried up and he could smile again. It was bad enough to have to watch those you loved die. She couldn’t imagine his pain at having to be the one who killed her.
“I love you, too.” Zo’s voice shook. “Escape this place, Joshua. Tell Tess I’m sorry and that I love her. Tell Gryphon—”
The knife came down. Zo winced but opened her eyes in time to see Joshua plunge it into his own stomach.
“NO!” Zo wailed. The world turned white streaked with red. All noise vanished.
Joshua’s body collapsed onto hers like a limp fish. She tasted his hot blood in her mouth. It soaked her braids and pooled in the hollow of her neck. Her heart echoed in her ears for two beats then everything around her turned to absolute chaos.
Chapter 39
Gryphon threw the spear.
He didn’t think, only reacted to the sight of Joshua stabbing himself. The slender shaft of his spear wobbled in the air from the force of the throw as it sailed over the heads of the crowd gathered in the square. It struck the bed of a wooden vegetable cart and exploded, sending the whole cart and its contents flying into the air. The Historian’s chemicals erupted into a ball of flame that licked the two-story rooftops. Gryphon felt the heat of the blast on his face as he leapt off his lofty perch into the riot below.
He landed hard. The hilt of his sword jammed into his ribs as he rolled out of the fall. Everywhere he looked Ram scattered in all directions, some looking for relatives and friends, others looking for a fight. Clumsy arrows poured down from Nameless archers positioned on rooftops. Nameless men carried weapons they didn’t know how to wield while women and children ran from the square, their wails ringing like demon bells in Gryphon’s ears, as their men were quickly chopped down.
In the back of his mind, Gryphon thought of Ajax and his mess brothers. He hoped they were all right. He thought the spear was only supposed to be a diversion to save Joshua and Zo, not the signal for a planned rebellion!
What was the Historian thinking?
Gryphon sprinted toward the platform, jumping over bodies and dodging Nameless and Ram locked in battle. He noticed Stone from the corner of his eye, shoving a pack into Eva’s arms and pointing emphatically toward the direction of the gate.
Gabe reached the center of the square at the same time as Gryphon. They cleared the steps of the platform in a single bound and raced to Joshua and Zo, anonymous in the madness surrounding them.
Joshua’s blood formed a giant puddle. Zo had managed to roll him onto his back. She covered his stomach with two dripping red hands. Her hair fell around her bare shoulders like a veil of black despair. “Gryphon!” She sobbed his name. “I couldn’t stop him in time. The wound … it’s deep … ” She ran at him like she might charge, she reached for his knife and sliced his shirt enough to tear it.