Page 66 of Aria's Desire

To Kix, she asked,Does he remind you of Braxton?

Mm, very much. They would be friends, I think.

“I’ve fought Urea. She’s good, but you took her down in seconds.” Xaiar gave her a probing look. “You could’ve taken her down sooner.” Glancing at her men for the first time, he added, “You all could’ve taken your opponents down sooner.”

Aria answered for all of them with a simple, “Yes.”

“I’d like to fight with you.”

“Okay.”

“That… was easy.”

Aria chuckled, amused by the suspicion in his voice, and shrugged. “You’re either wanting the opportunity to learn, or you think being closer will let you spot weaknesses. You need to learn. And if you spot a weakness—” Kix and Rellik both snorted at that. Ignoring them, she finished, “—then it needed to be spotted.”

Xaiar’s brows raised ever so slightly, but he nodded in understanding and gazed down at her with new respect.

* * *

Aria and Xaiarwere set to fight against a team of ten, led by none other than the General herself. Aria didn’t like the woman. There was something about her that rubbed her the wrong way. She was arrogant, haughty. The only person Aria had seen her speak to with respect was Ishtal, but it had felt insincere, like she was only doing it to curry favor.

Seconds before the round started, she’d whispered to Xaiar, “I’ll take her.” When he’d frowned down at her, a question in his eyes, she explained, “She can’t do shit to me. If you show her up in front of everybody, she could make trouble for you.” When he blinked in what she took as surprise, she gave him a droll look. “If I’ve learned one thing being around all these aliens, it’s that people are people, and politics are politics. Some shit doesn’t change, no matter what planet you’re on.”

Instead of clearing it, that only deepened the question in his eyes. “Why?”

Understanding he was asking why she’d offered to help him, Aria shrugged. “Because you’re my partner, even if for only a minute. I can help, so I’m going to help… unless you’d rather I didn’t?” She nodded when he raised his hands in surrender. “Anyway, I hate politics. And I’ve dealt with my share of discrimination because of my gender. And I don’t particularly like her.”

Xaiar huffed and shook his head. “Gaia’s horns. You really are as honorable as they say.”

Aria gave him a sharp look. “Aswhosays?”

His expression shut down like a door slamming. The horn blew just then, saving him from answering, not that he’d looked like he was going to.

“We’ll be picking this up later, Captain,” she warned.

The fight was over quickly. Aria took GeneralIsleadown, probably a little harder than strictly necessary, but the asshole had tried kicking sand in Aria’s eyes the second the horn blew. She already hadn’t liked the woman, but after that stunt?

In a life or death fight, Aria would be the first to say there were no rules and anything goes. But here? In what was supposed to be a friendly test of skill? It was a bullshit, cowardly move, and it pissed her off.

Islea was still unconscious in the recovery tent.

Aria didn’t hold out any hope she’d learn the error of her ways, but she’d be hurting for a long fucking while, and Aria would damn sure be speaking with Ishtal about her General. She hadn’t used her position to try and shake shit up too much, but she didn’t trust that woman, and she wouldn’t fight with someone she didn’t trust, so she had to go. Simple as that.

Xaiar, as she’d anticipated, was good. She left him three to deal with while she handled the other six, and by the time she’d incapacitated her opponents, he’d taken down his, as well. That was impressive, considering she was intentionally showing off.

As they walked to the edge of the field to wait for everyone else to finish the round, she felt him staring at her. At her questioning look, he frowned. It wasn’t angry, more thoughtful.

“You’re going to do it, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“Take back our world.” Before she could answer, he shook his head. “I didn’t think you could, not in truth. I’d heard about you. We all have. And even still… ” He met her gaze, his own serious, earnest. “I understand now. You have my full support, Queen, and that of my army.”

“Aria,” she corrected with a small smile.

“Hmm?”

“Not Queen. Just Aria.”

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