Page 38 of Between Soul and Vessel
The guards made their way back to the iron gate, peering outside.
The intense chanting halted.
A moment of silence, followed by a painful cry and a mighty roar.
Then, chaos erupted, and the audience began to scream and yell in victory, stirring the floorboards to cough out another round of dirt and dust. The entire place rumbled, the people’s combined voices louder than thunder.
“We don’t collect this body, right?” asked the trainee.
“Correct,” replied the other guard. “There are three other collection rooms. We alternate with them.”
“Alright.” The trainee turned around, her gaze falling on me. She leaned into the other guard and whispered, “Umm, boss, there is a female here.”
“Yes, there is. I know it’s a bit uncommon to see, but it does happen every once in a while. You’ll get used to it,” the guard answered as she, too, turned to face me. “This one has come with a special request from Empress Avena.”
The trainee gaped. “Truly, Her Majesty?”
“Indeed. I would not lie about such a thing.”
“For the empress to send her . . . well, she must be of great importance,” the trainee remarked.
“Perhaps at one point. But considering she is here, sentenced to have her soul crushed, I’d say that she has lost her favor with the empress.”
A guard emerged on the other side of the gate. She jerked her chin toward me. “She’s up next.”
“We’ll bring her out,” the higher-ranking guard replied.
The female on the outside tapped the gate then walked away.
Both guards made their way over to me, the trainee a bit more hesitant, her pace slightly slower.
Attached to the higher-ranking guard’s belt was a ring full of silver keys. She fiddled with them, looking for the right one. When she found it, she picked up my wrist, slid the key into the lock, and turned it to the side. The shackle landed on the ground with a heavythump. She did the same with the other shackle. Her eyes fell to mine, and she spoke with the smallest hint of compassion, “A word of advice—it will be less painful and over much quicker if you don’t fight.”
Then, she and the trainee yanked me up onto my feet.
Wait, a small voice whispered inside of me, beseeching me to say the word out loud, but I could not. My tongue was as useless as the rest of me.
They started to drag me toward the gate. I didn’t fight them.
Please wait, that inner voice said again.
Butwhy? I asked it.
I had no child. No mate. No home.
I hadnothing.
So why should I fight?
Bright, blinding light bored holes into my eyes as I was thrown out onto the scalding-hot, bloodstained sands. The iron gate screeched as it swung closed, locking me in the arena.
Drums began to beat, followed by the powerful blast of horns, so strong they courted shivers down the length of my spine. All around me, people began to cheer, their combined voices deafening.
I looked up at the vast crowd, my gaze sliding from one female face to the next. Most of the audience was made up of women, but every once in a while, I’d spot someone who had their face completely covered—just like the prisoners down below.
The audience grew quiet, their attention shifting.
I followed their lead.
