Call to Arms (The Girl In The Arena Book 1) (6 page)

She saw that one coming, however, and managed to turn her head just enough to deflect most of the force of the blow. It still knocked her sideways, but it did not knock her down. Liam had taught her years ago to never get angry. It had been one of the things he always said to her, if you had to fight — fight smart, do not fight with anger.

That was harder than she would’ve imagined. She wanted to be angry; she was angry underneath the surface. She held that at bay however, keeping her eyes on Kale’s hands. That turned out to be a mistake because while she was watching his hands he was using his feet. He gave her a hard kick in her belly that doubled her over and took all her air.

In the woods there was an animal called a loosome. The loosome would pretend to be dead to lure its enemies in so that it could attack them while they were off-guard. Reena remembered that an idea came to her. She rolled her eyes back in her head and fell to the ground, where she lay still.

Silence reigned. Reena kept her breaths slow, shallow and steady. She resisted the urge to open her eyes to see if she was about to be murdered right there where she lay. The sand below her body was fine, gritty and it covered her body with a powdery dust. The breeze ran across her body, cooling her down and she could feel the shirt rising up along her back showing more skin than she would’ve liked. The temptation to reach behind her to pull that down to save her modesty was strong but she resisted it.

Finally she heard the sound of footsteps crunching along the sand. One of them was coming closer! She waited, not moving, pretending to be motionless and limp. She could smell him, smell the sweat and aroma of the food on his skin.

With her eyes closed all of her other senses took over, and she could hear him, sense him squatting down beside her, with one thick finger prodding her in her ribs. She allowed her body to move slightly but she did not open her eyes.

“Did you kill her Kale?”

“I did not think I hit her that hard.”

Reena was lightning fast; the blade came down as she rolled over and Kale let out a surprised yelp. Reena was on her feet, crouched down, the blade in her hand and her eyes glowing as she said, “You have a gigantic hole in your sandal.”

The look on his face was almost comical. Hector roared laughter. “That was good! We might make a gladiator out of you yet! Or, you might at least survive the first battle.”

“I have to survive an even dozen.”

Kale asked, “Why a dozen?”

Reena replied, “To save my father’s life.”

“Then you better learn faster. Your first battle is in two days.” Hector’s face was grim.

“Two days? How can I hope to be able to win in the arena if I’m only allowed to train for two days? Did I answer that, I already know the answer. Do you know who I am up against?”

Hector shook his head, “No, they never tell the trainers for fear that we may give you an unfair advantage.”

Reena dusted her hands off. “It seems to me that whoever I fight will already have an unfair advantage. I am a girl, they are going to be bigger, faster, and stronger. The two of you were gladiators; you had to have seen people when they did not think you could. You have to help me. I do not want to be responsible for your death Hector.”

Kale said, “Then let’s get back to your training.”

**

By the time Reena was allowed to go back to her cell that night she was bruised, bloody, and her body ached all over. Hector escorted her herself and said, “I will send food for you.”

Reena knew he was doing her a favor. All the other gladiators had to go to the Hall to eat. At some point during the long day she become aware that all of them were staring at her, that none of them thought that she could win, and that the gladiators were taking bets amongst themselves as to how quickly she would die.

To have to go and sit in that hall next to them, to have to eat with them knowing that they thought she was on death’s door was too much to ask. She could not face that. To her surprise a small pitcher of water, several soft cloths, and a bar of soap as well as a basin sat on the shelf in her cell. She washed and put on her own clothes once more. She barely finished dressing before the young boy once again showed up with a tray of food and a small pitcher of water. That time Reena did not even offer up a protest; she simply gathered up the food that was on the tray and went to sit on her pallet, too tired to talk or to care about anything else except eating and getting some rest.

The food that day was thick pieces of bread with more of the meat that had been at breakfast stuffed in between them. Alongside that was another huge hunk of cheese, this time yellow and firm instead of soft, sweet, and white. There was a small stem of grapes, and several peeled and cooked vegetables sitting in a small bowl that almost tipped sideways when she dragged it through the bars of the door. She could not identify the vegetables; they were unlike any she had ever seen before, but upon tasting them she discovered that they were delicious and wolfed them down.

Loud laughter and shouts erupted from the street beyond her window. Reena staggered to her feet and stood, wrapping her hands around the bars of her window once more so that she could see out. There was a parade! There were people dressed in outlandish costumes, and others who looked like priests; or what she had been told priests look like anyway. She had never seen one in real life since they were not very abundant in the woods.

What were they doing? She was not sure. The priests carried large silver containers that dangled from chains which they swung before them as they chanted and sang. There were people dressed in the skins of animals, she even saw one man with the head of a wild boar stuck over his own head. What were they up to? Were all of these people insane?

The procession stopped at the building that housed the training fields. Drumming began and those who played the drums came to the front of the lines. Dancers whirled and clapped, and women laughed and threw small favors: handkerchiefs, flowers, perfumed ribbons and the like into the open gates of the building.

“They cannot wait for tomorrow’s game.”

The young serving boy was back. He stood looking at her, his face pale and tired. Reena asked “Why are they doing all that out there?”

“It is tradition. The gladiators who are most favored get gifts, and the women and men out there are announcing who they favor the most.”

He had seen all of that before; it was obvious. Equally obvious was that he was starving. Reena watched his eyes float down to the food she had not yet eaten and then yanked away. She had heard that in Aretula it was possible for servants and slaves to starve to death in the grand palaces of their masters. Apparently that was true.

“What is your name?”

“I don’t have a name.”

He did not have a name? Was he saying that just to mess with her head? Hector had said that until you proved you were somebody you were nobody. “My name is Reena.”

He scratched his arm with thin fingers, “Is it true that you came from out there?”

“Out there?”

“Past the villages that are protected by the city. They say you were an Outlaw and that you lived in the woods past the rule of the Governor.”

“What do you mean past the rule of the Governor?”

“They say you lived on the edges of the Free Land.”

“Free Land? I have never heard it called that before. Why is it called that?”

“Because the Governor cannot rule it.” He looked at her as if she were simple, “Everyone knows that.”

“No, not everyone knows that. Out there – there are people who are living in terror. We are called Outlaws, and we’re caught, we are dragged here to the city to die. There is no such thing as free land.”

Before he could say anything else, Reena went to her pallet and took out the food that she had been hiding. “Here, have something to eat.”

He backed away, his hands coming up as if to ward off an evil spell. “I must not.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yes, I am always hungry.”

“Then why do you not take it?”

“It is against the rules. Gladiators must be fed, I am just a serving boy.”

“Are you not a person? Do you not need food in order to survive?”

He was hungry. It showed in every line of his body, in the way his eyes stared at food: mesmerized and haunted. He nodded slowly, and then he moved closer to the bars. “If I am caught they will kill me.”

Surely he was joking! They would actually kill him simply for eating? Before she could ask him to explain that remark, he did, “if I were to dare to touch the food that belonged to a gladiator, then I would care to touch the food that belongs to a soldier. Or Governor. We’re not allowed to eat until all of those who are of importance are fed. I’m not allowed to put myself above those who are actually important.”

Rage burned deep and low in her belly. “You are important. Never let them make you think that you are not. Take it; I have been fed. Step a little closer to the bars, and eat quickly but eat.”

“I cannot.” Tears glistened in his large brown eyes, he was starving – but he was also terrified.

“Yes, you can.”

He took the bread with trembling hands, and began to stuff it into his mouth – barely taking the time to chew it. Reena’s heart almost broke, how could it be fair for a boy whose job it was to deliver food to others be go hungry? How could anyone live under that kind of rule?

What did he mean by free land? If there were lands beyond the rule of the Governor — where were they? She had never heard of them. Perhaps it was just a tale that they told here in the city, maybe it was just one of those places that had existed long before the Final War.

He ate every morsel of food that she offered. When it was all gone, he looked slightly better: the rose color returned to his cheeks and his eyes were a little brighter. He stepped back from the bars, carefully wiping his face with a ragged sleeve of his robe. “May the gods favor you.”

“And you as well.”

He nodded and turned away but Reena called out to him to stop for a moment and he did. “My name is Reena,” she repeated. “You have a name, you have the right to a name. Never let them tell you that you don’t.”

“Before I was brought here to work, my mother called me River.”

“It’s nice to meet you River.”

He practically fled. She could hear his plain rope sandals flopping on the floor as he went. Alone again she flopped down on her pallet and closed her eyes, thinking hard. Tomorrow would be her last day of training, the day after that – she would be in the arena, fighting for her life.

But not just her own life, no. The Governor was far too evil to allow her to simply fight for her own life. She’s fighting for the lives of all those who had been in the arena with her on that first day, as well as Hector’s life.

Where was her father? Was he okay? Was he being forced into hard labor and starvation? Was he being beaten or mistreated? All those thoughts swirled around her head. Reena knew that Liam was a survivor; he was tough. Liam had been an Outlaw most of his life. He was used to surviving under the harshest conditions and against the longest odds.

It would have been easier if she were fighting simply for her own life, and she knew the Governor had known that. It would’ve been far too easy to give up. To allow her own death, to just lay down and die and be free of it all..

That brought her back to the thought of the free land. Could it possibly exist? Past the woods there was only the Barrens. Nobody ever crossed them, nobody had since Barkley and his small band.

River had not called the Outside the Outside as others did within that section of land. Perhaps he had heard tales of those who had once lived Outside: exaggerations of life beyond the walls of the city. It had to be so.

Once the idea of a place where the Governor could not rule became rooted in her mind, Reena could not dig it out. It was not possible, she knew that and yet it was such an incredible idea!

What would it be like? Would there be no arenas? Would there be no starvation? What about Culling, would it exist? Supposedly the gods themselves lived in a land without any type of pain, hunger, or even death.

The dream of a free land was nothing more than the dream created by a starving populace, people who had no patience for death to take them away from the deprivation that they knew in their daily lives. Reena had heard that somewhere, where?

She could not recall and she was really too tired to try to remember it now, so she slumped into her pallet and went to sleep almost as soon as her head touched the rough pillow.

**

The next day’s training was even more intense. Both Hector and Kale attacked her, coming in at her from both sides. All through the long and tiring day Reena heard the other gladiators laughing, saw them pointing at her. She knew that nobody thought she would survive her first battle. She did not even think she could survive her first battle and that angered her as nothing else could have.

At the end of the day when she was allowed to go back to her cell, she washed and put on her own clothing. She wanted to pray, but the gods had never seemed so far away as they did that moment.

River brought her food. Reena removed some of it from the tray but not all of it. “You must eat River.”