Page 26 of Rise of a Fallen Man

Was Salas hurt?

I jumped to my feet.

“Your Highness?” Prince Leafar blinked at me from his chair before remembering the etiquette and getting up too.

Mother placed a soothing hand on my wrist. “Ari, darling, I’m sure the games master has it all under control.”

Shaking with panic, I was ready to run down to the arena.

And do what?

Fight that bear off Salas?

The most incredible thing was that I would. I would fight the bear to save that man’s life.

“The princess rarely comes to the games,” Mother tried to explain to Prince Leafar my frazzled state. “She’s unused to such a graphic display of brutality.”

“Understandable,” Prince Leafar replied uncertainly.

Salas slid to the back of the bear and circled the predator with his arms while pinning it down with his legs. His arm muscles bulged out. He growled, baring his teeth, his whole body shaking. The bear roared, but the sound trailed off to growl before dying out completely. The bear’s body slackened. Salas dropped his arms away from the animal, then rolled aside and heavily climbed to his feet.

Alive!

He was alive.

Air rushed out of me. My bones seemed to turn to mash with relief, sending me back into my chair.

With a triumphant roar, Salas raised his arms high, and the crowd went wild. They jumped off their seats, clapped their hands, and stomped their feet, cheering and yelling so loud no other sound could penetrate that noise.

Salas’s left arm was painted red with blood. It dripped into the sand in thick steady drops, but no one seemed to notice it, not even Salas himself.

The bear’s paws jerked as the arena helpers loaded the unconscious animal onto a wheelbarrow and rolled it away promptly.

The courtiers in the rows below the royal platform clapped excitedly. Gem lowered her head toward another woman. Both nodded and gestured at Salas.

I knew the court ladies usually went to the gladiators’ quarters after the games. Gem still refused to talk to me outside of the requirements of her job, but I could send someone to enquire about the health of the new gladiator. No one wouldquestion my concern after I’d witnessed him getting hurt. But it wouldn’t be enough. I had to see him.

As the crowd finally calmed a little, the games continued. Only I barely watched any of it, waiting for it to be over.

When the show finally ended, and it was our turn to leave, I approached Gem on my way out.

“I’m coming with you,” I said to her quietly but firmly, not leaving her a single chance to protest. “I’ll wait in your carriage.”

Chapter 7

Ari

The gate in the high fence surrounding the grounds of the gladiators’ quarters wasn’t guarded from the outside, but it was closed and locked from the inside. The gladiators weren’t slaves and could come and go as they pleased. But the games master strived to keep their training routine a secret from the public.

A servant opened the gate for us as Gem and I exited the carriage.

“The boys are receiving the ladies inside tonight,” he said. “It looks like it may be raining soon.”

He led us to the building that surrounded the courtyard from three sides with the main entrance in the middle. From the spacious front hall, tall double doors opened into a wide room with a vaulted ceiling.

Many gladiators and several court ladies already gathered here. Some filled their plates with food from the round tables on the left. Others sat around the game tables that were covered with green and had cards or game pieces laid out. Some of the men and women had already broken into pairs and occupied the cushy chairs and couches arranged around the large fireplace in the middle.

Four servants carried trays with finger food, offering it to the ladies. Two more servants weaved between the guests, refilling their wine glasses.

---