Page 22 of Xeda

He didn't sleep, only waited for the sun to come up, for the light to spill in. Eventually, he heard the voices of men far away, he heard the ships flying far above.

He sensed her first from her scent which trailed into the room as her soft steps approached the door. Her shadow blocked out some of the light at the door before it slid open.

Unable to stop himself, Xeda rose and stepped away from the wall. The woman stood for a moment in the doorway, then slowly stepped inside. She carried a black bag in one hand and a bucket filled with water in the other. She approached him and then stopped a few feet from his reach. She placed the bag and bucket down before him.

"There's food in the bag, a canteen, and a wash sponge with soap," she said with an unreadable expression. "Feed yourself and clean up. I'll come back in a little while and take a look at some of the wounds that have yet to heal on you. Tomorrow, we start training." She turned for the door, and he took a step toward her, hissing for her to stop.

"Wait," he said. "I deserve to know why you're doing this."

With her back turned, he couldn't read her face and wondered if she would leave without answering him. She looked back at him, and he saw a storm in her eyes. "Not out of the kindness of my heart, right?" Her mouth curled a little to one side, then dropped. "I actually have something to gain here too. You're going to win the games and free us both."

His eyes narrowed. "How do you figure?"

She turned back to face him. "Something Hendrik never cared to mention is that if you become a champion, you get to retire here on K2. And become a citizen. Back on the human homeworld, Earth, in ancient times, there were games too, and the fighters were called gladiators. The houses here took this idea and made it their own. It was a spectacle for the population and a major cash grab for whatever house won. If you win, you did your job, and your reward is you don’t have to fight again if you so choose.”

Xeda bared his teeth, growling softly. “This would have been information I could have used earlier.”

“Hendrik didn’t expect you to comply with his whims whether you knew or not. Would you have if he told you?”

Xeda snorted. “No.” He straightened, studying her closely. “And now you expect me to bend my head for you?”

She shrugged. “No. But I don’t plan to work like Hendrik. I work smarter, not harder.”

“And how’s that, exactly?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Persuasion."

"Oh?"

"You win and you go free. You just have to let me show you how. I'm not going to order you or beat you into submission. Unlike Hendrik, I know that's never going to happen. I'm trying to help you. I'll be your aid, nothing more. You just have to trust me."

He glanced at the bucket and bag. "And if I don't?"

"If you don't work with me, Sal, the guy who threatened you the other day, will know. The guards will be watching much more closely now. If he thinks you're going to hurt me or try some other stunt again, he will keep to his word. He will trade you in to the labs here on Kingsway. And trust me, they are dying to get you." She walked toward him and placed herself a little closer to his reach. "This could get you out without being hunted, and with citizenship, they can't touch you."

"Or you could just let me go. I won't be found."

She shook her head. "I can't risk it. Unlike you, I don't have a death wish."

He hissed in annoyance, turning from her to pace the back wall. He hated the idea of working with humans, but she might have to be an exception to the rule. Because whether or not he cared to admit it, she gave him the better option.

He stopped pacing. "All right. I'll play nice, for now. But only because it's the one choice currently out of this hellhole." He turned and lunged, getting as close to her as possible. "But don't think I'll kneel for you because I won't."

Even as she flinched, she smiled. "I know."

He straightened, peering down at her, trying to find any fault, any trace of deception, and finding none. Even though she was taller than others, she was much shorter than him, he noted, and smaller. But not so fragile, which he liked. Unlike the humans he had encountered before, she was thicker-boned, her gaze sharper. There was an anger there behind her eyes that he found familiar. One that might be akin to his own. He liked that too.

She looked up at him, as if she were sizing him up too, and that made him want to laugh.

"Your name," she said after a pause. "What do I call you?"

He tilted his head at her curiously. He could lie, but what would be the point?

"Xeda," he said.

Her eyes lit up, and her smile widened. "I'm Ophilia. It's nice to finally meet you." She turned and went out the door. "Eat," she called as the door slid shut. She also loosened the chains from the wall, so he had full access to the room. "I'll be back soon."

* * *

---