Mira walked into the arena with her head held high. Tournament officials escorted her to the armory where the other contestants waited. As she entered the room, all eyes turned to her. She coldly turned to the tournament official.
“I have no need for anything in this room.”
Her words struck a nerve with her companions. Most others looked away.
“My lady, we can’t let you participate unless you use this equipment,” The guard motioned to the weapons and armory, “Everything in here is guarded until the end of the round. It’s to stop any tampering during the duels.”
She nodded as if she understood before she retorted, “I am an exception.”
“Sorry, Lady Mira,” The official cleared his throat, “It’s an order from the queen. The only weapons allowed to enter the arena must come from this room.”
The large rectangular waiting area’s oaken doors led directly into the fighting arena directly across from her. To her left, multiple racks with all likes of weapons took up half the room. Jonen moved from the armory side to her as Bobabano looked over swords in a corner.
Her eyes roamed over the weapons closest to her, “How many am I allowed to take?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I will need more than one,” She tapped her chin, “Am I required to wear armor?”
“You don’t want to –” The dwarf blinked in surprise, “I will have to insist that you wear armor into battle.”
Armor in basic sizes stood against mannequins. There was a large selection for her to choose from. She moved to the smaller mannequins and looked through the choice of leather. She sighed and grabbed a pair of armguards. As she buckled them on, the dwarf frowned.
“There,” She tugged at the stiff leather, “It seems I fit the requirements now.”
“Lady Mira, I must insist you wear more than armguards,” He tried to keep his worried expression to himself.
“Do mages often wear full plate armor into battle?” She retorted.
“You are fighting your opponents with weapons today, Lady Mira. Her majesty offered a wide variety of armor for all of your protection.”
Mira clicked her tongue and grabbed the nearest thing to her. She pulled over the chest plate and began tightening the oversized pieces in place. When she felt hands begin to help, she looked back to see Jonen with a concerned smile. The black and blue bruise around his eye made her turn away.
“You should get your injuries healed,” She said matter-of-factly, “It may impact your performance today.”
“Mira, can we –”
Her eyes scanned over to the tournament officials and royal guard that sat across the room. The dwarves eyed them suspiciously as she swatted his hands away from her. His hands froze at her cold behavior.
“You shouldn’t be seen talking to me.”
“I don’t care, Mira,” His grabbed her hands, “Can we talk?”
“You are hurt,” She checked over him for any other injuries, “Go see a healer.”
“I’m a grown man,” He smiled wearily, “I can take care of myself.”
She grimaced, “Jonen, I –”
“Well! If it isn’t my mermiana!” Bo smiled brightly as he walked towards them, “And with my competition, no less. Now, don’t give away my secrets, Love.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“You’re paired up against each other?” Her eyes switched between them.
He reached out to pull her into him for a hug, but she stood firm against him. The orc frowned and lovingly wrapped an arm around her shoulders instead. She did not look up to meet his gaze at all.
He twirled a lock of her hair between his fingers, “Are you still mad at me for–”
The fist that collided with his armor threw him off his feet. Bo crashed into a nearby mannequin and the entire room looked at Mira. Her eyes flashed white as she stomped towards him. She fumed as she stood over the orc and jammed a finger in his dented armor.
“If you ever bring her name up like that again,” Mira spoke sternly, “You will regret it.”
The energy that radiated from her didn’t match her eerily calm expression. Amethyst crossed the short distance to stand between them. If she could feel the anger, she couldn’t imagine how her nephew felt.
“Calm yourself!” Amethyst barked, “Have your lover’s quarrel later!”
A guard helped Bobabano to his feet. He stood up and dusted himself off. Jonen grabbed Mira’s arm and gently pulled her back. She pushed the half elf off of her and crossed her arms.
“That’s what you’re mad about?” Bo scoffed, “Out of everything? I’m the one that should be furious!”
Her face darkened as she stepped towards him again. Amethyst moved to stand between them, but Mira simply put a hand on the woman to move her out of the way. Amethyst felt the mark on her chest burn. Without a word, Mira commanded her to leave it alone.
The white eyed woman seethed as she calmly grabbed a handful of his shirt. She whispered so only he could hear her.
“I told you that in confidence.”
She tried to hide it, but he could hear the hurt in her voice.
His face fell, “Mira –”
Mira thought Bobabano would at least care because of their time spent together. Even if it was all under the pretense that he knew what she would become and wanted to use that to his advantage. Since he took his oath to be her Obsidian, he spent his nights ensuring that she would awake from the nightmares. He helped settle her mind from her newfound anxiety. Bobabano was thoughtful in those moments. He used tender words to ease her troubles. He claimed to care about her. To want her to be his lover, even.
Then, he brought up Tella’s name to hurt her.
“Mira,” He reached for her hand, “Please.”
That’s how she knew it wasn’t real. After arriving at the temple, she went through what she knew. She knew Bo wanted to use her, just like everyone else. She only believed that the situation changed when they became closer. If she was with Jonen, then she could not lead the coup he wanted in Agrowl. That was the reason he did everything. It wasn’t for her.
She refused to be fooled again
“Don’t touch me.”
Her hand burned with fire. He ripped his hand away from her as it sizzled.
“Mira,” He reached to wipe a tear from her face, “I’m sorry.”
“I told you that in confidence, Bobabano,” She smacked his hand away, “I knew it was wrong to trust you.”
She felt the bubbling anger beneath her skin as she looked at the orc. Mira felt her eyes moisten against her will. She wiped at the damp corners, and Bobabano realized that his words affected her more than he thought.
The words dug into him like daggers, “I didn’t mean to.”
“Continue preparing for your match,” She coldly turned from him, “I’m done speaking with you.”
“Wait,” He grabbed her arm as she stepped away.
Mira would no longer carry on the lovebird charade. There were many witnesses around them that knew that it was just that. However, the ones that didn’t could easily dismiss their fight as a quarrel before a competition.
“What?” She spat.
Bobabano looked over her with concern. Her hollow eyes gazed back at him. The strong warrior in front of Bo terrified him when she looked at him with that stoic expression. He couldn’t stand the thought of her being angry with him over something like that.
He knew she was on the fine line of going overboard and it was his duty to bring her back.
“I only said it because I worry about you,” He looked into her eyes with determination so she could feel his honesty, “On my mother’s grave, I promise I did not intend to hurt you.”
Mira ignored his plea, “Get your chest checked out. I pulled most of my strength, but I still felt a bone crack.”
“I deserved it.”
“You are not as strong as you seem to think you are,” She studied the burnt edges of his shirt, “You do not heal as quickly. Make sure you are healthy before you compete.”
He frowned at her words. She continued her walk away from him. As Jonen stepped to speak with her, she held up a hand to keep him away. She quickly swiped a sword from a weapon rack and continued to make herself solitary from everyone else. Amethyst followed her as she crossed the long room and waited against a far wall, away from both of them. The mossy green woman whistled and spoke in orcan to avoid the guards from understanding them.
“I’ve already spoken to them about their behavior,” She leaned against the wall next to Mira, “Is there anything else –”
“I am perfectly capable of handling things on my own.”
The orc chortled, “I got that from how you ran off last night.”
The retort ended with a disapproving grunt.
“They are stupid boys. They have yet to learn the grace of dealing with those types of situations,” The orc chuckled, “But, we will have to discuss the dreamwalker.”
“I would rather claw my own eyes out,” She said with a hallowed laugh, “I am going to sit here in silence until they are ready to begin. I suggest you do the same.”