Page 81 of Dance of the Phoenix
Chapter 42
Ragnor
He watched Aileen sleeping for a few moments after he’d pretended to have fallen asleep, before he rolled out of the bed and got dressed.
Then, Ragnor left the room and the dorms, heading toward a training room, where he found Eliza.
She was sitting in a cross-legged position, meditating. But she sensed his arrival because she opened her eye and turned to look at him. “I didn’t find it,” she told him, her face filled with agony. “I’m sorry, Ragnor.”
He hadn’t had hopes for her to find it in the first place. Atalon was smart, after all. Far smarter than he’d let on. Atalon had a genius, cunning mind. He always thought ten steps ahead, while Ragnor could only think of eight.
“Will you watch?” he asked her now.
She rose to her feet and walked toward him. “I will,” she said quietly, “and I’ll do what you asked. I promise.”
He nodded, unable to speak anymore.
His only hope was that Aileen would not come to hate him again.
Yet he knew it was a futile hope.
Chapter 43
Aileen
I woke up after a restless sleep in an empty bed, and it was only when I entered the lounge that I realized where Ragnor was.
“The Lords have to be isolated in the waiting room for an hour before the battle,” Magnus told me in the kitchenette, handing me a plate of breakfast. He looked as if he hadn’t slept a wink, much like everyone else in the Rayne League. “It’s some sort of old Hecatomb rule. There used to be a reason for it, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was.”
Nodding to him in thanks, I took the plate and sat down next to Isora. The mood was bleak, the recent losses hanging over everyone’s heads. Plates remained half eaten, if touched at all. I could barely take a bite of my eggs and bacon.
No one spoke when it was time to leave for the arena. We all walked in silence, taking our seats in the gallery.
Like yesterday, the arena filled up entirely. It wasn’t every day, after all, that vampires got to see two Lords battling it out. And these weren’t just two Lords, but the famous Ragnor Rayne and Orion Atalon.
Unlike yesterday, I didn’t feel nervous when it came to this battle. I knew that Ragnor could take Atalon in his sleep.
I was still worried, though. I didn’t want even a hair on Ragnor’s head to be harmed.
When Renaldi, now wearing a penguin suit that made him seem somehow even more extravagant than when he wore that stupid toga yesterday, entered the arena with his Lieutenants, everyone cheered, knowing what was to come. “Ladies and gentlemen!” he called into his mic. “You know what’s on the menu today, don’t you?”
The audience’s response was deafening.
“Then without further ado, let us get to the main course!” Renaldi grinned toothily. “Please welcome Lord Ragnor Rayne and Lord Orion Atalon!”
I clapped along, watching as Ragnor and Atalon entered the arena from their respective entrances. Ragnor was wearing a simple uniform of jeans, combat boots, and a black tee. Atalon, on the other hand, was wearing fancy white pants that did not seem fitting for combat, a far-too-tight leather shirt painted dark red, and surprisingly old, beaten sneakers.
He also wore oddly shaped earrings colored gold.
Renaldi stepped back and said into the mic, “You know the rules: You either die or you win. Surrender isn’t an option. It’s time you settle this for once and for all.”
Once he was on the outskirts of the arena, along with his Lieutenants, he said, “Let the battle begin!”
Neither Lord moved. They were both staring at each other, their faces blank.
Tension rose in the air as the audience, which went silent, waited with bated breath for either of them to make a move.
As the minutes ticked by, and with no change in the arena, I grew more and more confused and anxious. Why wasn’t Ragnor attacking? He could take Atalon. That shouldn’t be a problem for him, especially since I knew what he was capable of.
