Page 19 of Chained

It isn’t easy and it’s only going to get harder.

I pick up my vid-screen, a device like a cross between a tablet and a mobile phone. Being an alien abductee, I initially thought I shouldn’t like anything about my new living arrangements on a different planet in a different galaxy, but the tech is something else entirely. My vid screen is a single light transparent sheet, about the size of a piece of paper, but it can be expanded easily to be as large or as small as I want in a pinching motion reminiscent of the ones I used on a smart phone back on Earth.

I put in the comm request to Retah, and it hangs waiting for a while before he answers, his horned head and big smile lifting my spirits immediately.

“How did it go?” he asks.

I start off by telling him which blades were the most popular, and we fall into talking about what we’ll need to reorder. Tibi brings in some joh and a sticky cake, smiling at me as she sets them down. Once she’s gone, I decide to take my chance.

“I met Maxym again,” I say, taking a sip of joh to stop my lips from trembling. “He’s appointed as my protection within the dome.”

“You can’t go wrong with him,” Retah says happily. “Although I wasn’t expecting the procurator to use a gladiatorfor your protection.” His brow furrows. “But you can’t get any better than Maxym.”

“Than one of the dome’s best trained killers?” I chuckle. “That makes me feel so safe.”

“Maxym is one of their best gladiators, and admittedly, he does have a history, but he’s also honorable and true…” Retah breaks off as he looks over his shoulder. “Look, I have to go, Cleo. I’ll see you in two nova-days, and thank you.” He smiles. “You truly are the best thing which has happened to my business. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

MAXYM

I spin around the training arena, coming back at Klynn, who parries my first blow but is slammed to the floor with my second.

“Stay down,” I growl at him as I press my knee on his chest, disarming him with a flick of my weapon. “Or you’ll regret it.”

He gives me a brief, lopsided grin, his teeth covered in blood, which he wipes away with his empty hand.

“You chose the wrong sword for me.”

“You chose the wrong Gryn to bait. I am not Blayn,” I growl back.

Across the arena, there is a deep roar of appreciation.

“Well done, Maxym.” The captain approaches as I let Klynn get to his feet and shake the sand out of his feathers. “I’ve not seen you in such good form for a while.”

“New weapons.” I look down my sword blade. “Best we’ve had.”

Klynn huffs a harsh laugh.

“Which reminds me, you need to be back in the armory later. The female from the weaponsmaster is returning to fit out the challengers today.”

Klynn is silent. Which is good, because had he made a sound, I’d have beheaded the vrexer. I give the captain a brief bow.

“As you wish.”

“You volunteered.” He snorts. “Not a great use of your time, but if it means I don’t have to go chasing you through the undercroft…both of you…then so be it.”

“Both of us?”

“You think I’m letting either of you alone with the challengers? You’ll both protect the female today. And neither of you will lift a sword, or any other weapon, in anger, or you’ll end up back in the hole and lose your bonuses for the games, understand?”

Klynn looks across the arena, squinting as if he’s seen something interesting.

“If they touch her…” I growl.

“It’s your job to protect her, but you will not engage otherwise, or you’ll never get a pass again,” the captain says firmly.

It’s clear his mind is made up. I’m stuck with Klynn whether I like it or not.

“I’ll let you have some time with the little female,” Klynn murmurs as the captain leaves us, his bulky form lumbering away across the training arena. “Protection duty doesn’t have to start with me.”

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