Standing at the centre of the side room was the bear-man she had encountered at the mountain camp. She felt a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature and her injuries that had not pained her much during her journey started to ache.

He was taking with an older elegant woman in a deep blue dress. She was tall and slender, her face covered by an owl mask. He laughed a crude and loud laugh at a comment she had done before he turned from the lady and looked in her direction.

His face lit in recognition as he saw her. Without a moment’s hesitation he smiled, straightened and walked towards Astrid, standing taller that anyone she had met. He closed the distance in no time thanks to his size but to Astrid it felt like an eternity, she was paralyzed.

‘Run, shout, move. Do something, anything, dam it’ she thought to herself as she helplessly watched him approach. His smile was gentle but it did not help ease her tension.

“You are the guard girl, YES?” His accent made it sound playful.

Astrid took a deep breath and nodded. She tried her best to keep her face emotionless; to show no fear in any way. This was difficult because she wanted nothing more than to run away.

“YES” He shouted this and jumped to hug her. It was a gentle hug; she was not sure what to make of it.

“I was telling my patron here Miss…” He was interrupted before he could finish presenting her.

“You can call me M young lady” She sounded strict and emotionless; pure nobility. “My friend Brosh here was just telling me he had a graceful encounter with a lady guard who had entertained him more than anyone in the last two years”

She gave a rehearsed laugh, small and elegant.

“I told him that was impossible, all the guards were young men, my own Merrill himself selected them from our troops.”

This conversation had helped Astrid to relax and gain control of herself once more. Cadem walked slowly to stand beside her; he kept quiet. Knowing it would be rude not to, she bowed slightly to the woman.

“My apologies lady M, as you can see from my attire, I was able to procure a guard uniform to infiltrate the base without sounding any alarms. I am a participant here, you may call me Astrid, ma’am” Astrid tried to maintain the tone her father had forced her to use in the presence of nobility.

The woman looked her over slowly moving the uniform in places with the use of her cane.

“That uniform looks dreadful. Merrill” She called the name in a musical tone.

In less than a second an older gentleman had appeared at her left side in an implacable formal suit and white gloves. He bowed to lady M deeply and ever so slightly to the rest.

“Get a new design for the guards’ uniform by Myll and bring some refreshment for our guests” With a hand gesture the man disappeared to another side room. “You seem to be the more civilized of the brutes this time. What family are you from?”

Astrid knew the implications of the question so she decided to be evasive.

“I have studied at the university ma’am, artificing to be precise. That may be the reason for my civilized deminer. However, I will have to apologize; as of the beginning of this ‘event’ I have no connections to any noble family. All my loyalties lay in the organization.”

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She opened her eyes at this.

“Cadem, you have done well with this one, she minds her tongue; knows to respect her betters, not like some of the rubble you work with.”

Cadem gave a small bow his face showing nothing but did not respond.

“As quiet as ever” She nudged Brosh with her walking stick. “Let’s go boy, you will need some changes if you intend to represent me in the upcoming events”

Without another word she began to walk away.

“When you are a bit better, we could train together” Brosh asked Astrid directly. “I know it is a competition but I think you have potential and I would love to fight again when you are stronger”

As he walked away, he gave her a smile and a wave. She found herself returning them; their first encounter had been aggressive to say the least but this was a friendly man he just likes fighting a bit too much.

Astrid turned to look at his companion and found him with a frown on his face.

“What was that about? ‘Quiet as ever’” she said the last words in a mocking tone. “Who does she think he is? You are one of the friendliest and most talkative guys I’ve met!”

“Let’s not forget better dressed, chica” He gave a smile as he returned to his normal self. “I just hate that mujer. She is the second to one of the fingers, people call her the demon of the pleasure district. She is an obnoxious woman who has a habit of destroying life just for fun. Last year a squire of no more than seventeen to a baron mentioned his lord’s wife was older yet still infinitely more beautiful than ‘Lady M’. It was nothing more than comment of a kid trying to get his lord’s favour. The next week he was found in a warehouse with two kidnaped girls and some of the jewels of the baron’s wife.” He sighted and looked at her. “He was quartered in the town square, no trial or anything of the sort. He died while declaring his innocence”

“Quartered? Like torn apart by four pulling horses? That is barbaric; I thought it had not been done in decades.”

She had managed to supress her shout but still felt appalled.

“Five. Horses, I mean; he tied an extra one who tore apart the boys ‘jewels’ to make him an example. She is a brutal woman” Cadem signal for them to walk past the stairs towards the back of the structure. “People say ‘Fear the anger of a gentle man, I think fear the wrath of a ‘noble’ woman can also fit nicely”

They walked in silence for a while. Cadem guided her though the building, he was familiar with the layout and guided her directly to her new rooms. She had noted a piece of emotion leaving her friend when he spoke of the squire. He had probably been the one to organize his incrimination without knowing the whole story.

It took them about five minutes to arrive at her room; the building was even bigger than she had expected.

At the entrance to her rooms four guards stood watch. When they approached two of them moved to open the door and let them in. The room was enormous; bigger than her whole apartment at the university.

They had given her three distinct areas to inhabit. A lounge with two sofas and a low table, a bedroom with a bed that could easily fit five and a bath that had a walk-in tub fully equipped with all kinds of soaps and beauty products.

None of her rooms had windows and they had a strange quality to the light. It looked as if they used a luminator or similar mechanism to syphon natural light inside. This meant they had been constructed into the mountain itself.

They had removed almost anything that could be used as a weapon of any kind but she could still make knives out of the mirrors or melting some metal decorations. She was sure most participants could do a great deal of damage and destruction escaping but she knew no one would do it while they had explosives tied to their bodies.

Besides no windows and a full mountain to tunnel through. That was an effective way to avoid anyone from trying to escape.

“Can I take a bath or is there anything else I am required to do today jefe?” She did her best to sound casual but she wanted nothing more than to soak for hours, eat something and sleep for hours.

Cadem laughed and called one of the guards.

“Call to authorise the use of hot water in this room and also bring the medic to exanimate her injuries further.” She gave him a broad smile.

“You can relax for now, chica. The next test will be a week from tomorrow on Viezil night. For now, let’s see what the medics say; depending on your injuries we could go back to training mañana” He signalled to the bathroom behind her. “Go take a baño caliente, I will go fetch something good at the kitchens”

Astrid hummed all the way to the bath.