Page 3 of Dance of the Phoenix
Ragnor sighed. “Let’s just say that they’re like the high court. They don’t get involved with regular League affairs unless something extraordinary happens.”
He said it so calmly that if I hadn’t been watching him like a hawk, I would’ve missed it. His face drew tight at his own words. If I thought he was capable of it, I would’ve said Ragnor was in a state of panic.
Heart ramming against my rib cage, I opened my mouth to speak when he interjected. “In any case, let’s discuss the Hecatomb.”
He pointed down to the paper before me, and I clamped my mouth shut and let him speak. “The Hecatomb is an official event. It’s a chance for other Leagues to come as spectators and see what the participating Leagues are made of. One of the Leagues is also chosen to moderate the Hecatomb. A Hecatomb doesn’t happen very often, so when it does, it turns into a whole-ass festival.”
Hearing the disgust in his voice, I couldn’t help but reel back. “Meaning everyone is treating it like some sort of a show rather than a fight to the death,” I surmised. “It reallyislike the gladiators.”
Ragnor didn’t speak for a few long moments. He only stared at me with a torn expression that squeezed my chest so tight, it was hard to breathe. “What is it?” I asked, throat clogged as anxiety spread through me.
“There’s one more thing,” he said, his face contorting in fury. “The Lord who initiates the Hecatomb needs to give the main reason for the Hecatomb—one he can pick out of all his allegations—and in accordance with that reason, the League that moderates the Hecatomb can put in a demand.”
A foreboding feeling spread through my veins. “Who is the moderator?” I asked, my heartbeat quickening as if my body knew what was coming before my mind did. “What did they demand?”
He sucked in a deep breath, eyes glowing neon blue, before he spit it out. “The moderator chosen is Lord Manuel Renaldi. And he asked to see you, Aileen, fight.”
Chapter 2
Aileen
“So let me get this straight,” I said, thumping my foot restlessly, fear rising in me. “You and ten other vampires from the League will be participating in a life-or-death tournament, and I’m required to fight there as well?”
Ragnor’s eyes followed me quietly, his jaw tight, as he reluctantly nodded.
My hands curled into fists. “This is infuriating.”
“Infuriating it may be, but this is what’s going to happen three weeks from now whether we like it or not,” Ragnor replied in a tight voice. “Rest assured, though, that despite what you may think, participating in the Hecatomb is highly valued.”
I folded my arms, glaring at him. “How so?”
He leaned back, folding his arms, too, as if to mimic me. “It’s an opportunity for the chosen League members to rise above their current standing and gain recognition not just within their League, but in others too. It’s considered an honor.”
His words left a bitter taste in my mouth. “Honor?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “There’s nothing honorable about war.”
“This is an unrealistic perspective, Aileen,” Ragnor said in a patient voice, but his eyes locked mine in an unshakable hold. “Think abouthumans. All the wars humanity has been through in the past—can you really say the soldiers involved felt no sense of honor when they managed to represent their countries and win against an enemy?”
Logically, I knew he was right. But it didn’t make me feel any better. “What does honor have to do with it anyway?” I asked, seething. “Per what’s written on this piece of paper, if the League’s members lose more rounds, depending on their Lord’s triumph, they’ll be forced into a Hecatomb Auction. So what does it all even matter?”
Ragnor’s eyes turned wary. “Think about it, Aileen,” he said quietly. “What’s the purpose of the Auction in the first place?”
Giving him a filthy look as my chest tightened, my heart aching from a not-yet-fully-healed wound, I spit out, “To sell and buy vampires like objects for the benefit of the Lord.”
He leaned forward slowly, cautiously, and said calmly, “It’s not the complete truth.” I narrowed my eyes, and Ragnor closed his, taking a deep breath and leaning back into his chair in something akin to defeat. “The Lords might give the final say in the Auction regarding who they would like to bid on, but we have Lieutenants for a reason. And that reason is to aid us in avoiding”—he paused with a tensed jaw—“emotional decisions.”
Tense silence fell in the wake of his words. Staring down at my own hands holding one another on my lap, I knew he was giving me a choice. Either I could argue with him again about what happened three months ago, when he’d sold me to Atalon, or I could focus on the subject at hand.
And since we had far more pressing issues to discuss, I decided to drop it and instead vocalized what I realized. “So the Hecatomb can serve like a performance show for the participating members. To show the other Lords what they’re capable of in real time, and not just as a talent show.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw him nod. “Yes. It’s a privilege the ten participating members have. The rest of the League members whowould be put in the Hecatomb Auction, if it came to this, wouldn’t have that.”
This just emphasized, then, how important the choice of the ten participants was. Based on their winning or losing against the other League’s members, they would decide their League members’ fate—while also having this alleged “honor” to showcase what they could do, just in case. Which, in truth, made it balanced, considering they put their lives on the line.
“How are you going to choose the ten members?” I asked now, raising my eyes back to him.
Ragnor gave me a long look before he responded. “Each League can choose the members however it sees fit. In most cases, the Lord simply chooses the members and is done with it, but I decided to have all members of my League vote.”
This seemed very un-Ragnor-like. But when I looked down at the paper he’d given me, I realized why he left the choice to a vote. The ten members were basically the representatives of all of the League members in the Hecatomb, meaning that if Ragnor lost, the ten members could rake in enough wins to help dictate the fate of the Rayne League participants.
