Page 148 of Forcing Fate

Jamlin snickered, putting his hands on his hips. “The better half of it.”

“Why am I here?!” I growled.

This wasn’t fun and games. I trusted the General, but not these other men. I didn’t know them and it unnerved me to be paraded around like some prize stag.

“Tonight, you’ll watch,” he said.

I blinked in confusion but maintained my frown. “Watch what?” I asked, not letting my guard down for a moment.

“Hmm?” One of the men that shared a face tilted his head.

“What year is she?” the other asked.

“She doesn’t know about the pits?” Korzak stood to his full height and hit his head on a tree branch. He cried out and rubbed his head, moving a safe distance away.

“General Rafe,” I said slowly, locking eyes with him.

He held my gaze as he replied. “She’s never attended.”

“Oi! She’s a second year! Never seen the pits?!” Jamlin laughed.

“Go, all of you.”

General Rafe spoke quietly, but his tone conveyed his message well. His men walked off with shocked conversation and laughter. I relaxed a fraction as they melded in with the others gathered.

“Come,” he said, turning his back to me.

“Rafe–” My voice was tight and strained.

He turned and I think at that moment he truly saw me.

I was terrified.

I had just been abducted from my room, humiliated, and treated like I was nothing more than a toy. My hands shook in fear as memories swelled. Memories of being helpless and weak. Memories of not being able to stop a group of men and their laughter aimed at me.

He closed the space and stood in front of me, blocking me off from the crowd. “You’re safe.” His voice was low and calm.

Even though I wanted to beat the man senseless, I dropped my gaze as my breaths came fast and panicked.

He was so much taller than me, bigger than me, bigger than my fears. I trusted him, no matter how he went about things, or how much I wished he would simply ask me for things. I knew he wouldn’t let me get hurt.

He reached out slowly, giving me plenty of time to pull away. Placing his hand under my chin, he tilted my head back to look up at him. “You’re safe,” he said again.

His dark eye didn’t move from mine. He stayed like that, taking deep, steady breaths as I collected myself. Realization hit me that we were not quite in a private setting. I inhaled, stilling my nerves, before jerking away from his touch and scanning the clearing. No one watched us. They were all focused on the pit.

“Come.” General Rafe beckoned me with a nod of his head and started toward them.

The crowd jostled together and cheered. I pressed close to his side as he pressed into the mass of bodies. Men snapped and lashed out at him till they caught sight of his face or tattoo, then let him pass.

We made our way to the edge, where a small hill of earth was heaped up around the perimeter of the pit. The hole itself was a good twenty paces long and half as wide. It was perhaps ten deep. The only way out was a rope on each side held by men. They peered below with eager expressions.

Down in the pit, two men fought.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The two were well-matched in size, but not in skill. One was far more beaten than the other. I glanced up at General Rafe, who stared at the men with a bored expression.

“You want me to watch a fight?” I shouted over the cheers.

---