The Final Strife

“Standing room?” Sylah asked but answered her own question. “Ah, of course, for Dusters and Ghostings.” Sylah’s mouth twisted with scorn.

Anoor didn’t reply, but Sylah felt her eyes assessing her. Measuring her.

“Let’s go down there,” Sylah said.

Sylah flew down the steps two at a time, the runelamps activating with each lunge.

When she finally landed in the basin of the arena, the lights had been activated throughout, filling the space with a rich red glow.

“Skies above. This place is ridiculous.” Her voice echoed outward into the hungry corners of the arena. Aerofield targets littered the space. All the competitors had to do was chose their weapon and hit the targets. It was ready. Waiting for bloodshed.

“Hey, you can’t be here. Hello! Please leave.” An officer was barreling toward her, his half-eaten flatbread in one hand. He waved it at her as if the toasty smell would somehow ward her away.

“Is that for me?” She fluttered her eyelashes and reached out and grabbed the bread, stuffing the remains in her mouth before he could blink.

“What…did you just eat my bread?”

Sylah grinned and winked. It would have been cute if she didn’t still have a mouthful of food.

“Sorry, sir, I thought you were offering it to me.” She shot him her “Anoor eyes” and pushed out her flat chest.

“You ate my bread?”

Sylah turned her expression to mortified and wobbled her lip at the horror, the sheer horror, of eating his bread. She was getting good at this.

“I’m so sorry, sir—”

“Hello, Officer Min!” Anoor entered like a steaming kettle, each puff taking her closer to the boiling point.

“Ah, Miss Elsari, your mother didn’t mention you were coming down. I saw the lights come on and rushed over.” His hand still held the ghost of his dinner. “I was just conversing with your servant.”

“Sylah.” She winked at him. Anoor grabbed her by the arm.

“Min, we’ll be going now.” She started marching away with Sylah, who was waving madly at Min.

“What was that? I was having fun, practicing my character and all that,” Sylah said, blowing Min a final kiss.

“You looked like you were having another seizure.”

“I was flirting!”

—

The edge of the forest was the perfect spot to practice archery. The light from the gardens bled in from the east, while the protection of the tall trees hid them from prying eyes.

Sylah noticed another building growing out of the landscape. “What’s that?”

“It’s one of the southern watch towers facing the Marion Sea, but it’s been abandoned for some time.”

“Yeah, bit pointless watching the sea.”

“Unless there’s something beyond it.”

They looked at each other, their suspicions lingering between them. Sylah broke eye contact and looked away.

“Show me what you can do then.” Sylah crossed her arms and leaned back on the trunk of a tree. “Get an arrow into that sapling on the left…no, the one farther away…yes…and I’ll be ecstatic.”

“Ecstatic? That would be something to see.” Something seemed to come over Anoor, something Sylah hadn’t seen before. Her shoulders pulled back and her chin lifted half a handspan. Was it confidence?