“Thank you,” I whisper.
“For what? Go to sleep, control your emotions, human,” she says with her eyes closed. She’s trying to shrug off her attempts at comforting me, as if it’s no big deal.
But it is.
I’m sure for some humans a kind word doesn’t go very far—but for me, a Midwestern gal? Kindness is a fucking king, even if it’s given begrudgingly or played down.
“For giving me some hope that if something happens to Kitaico, that I could still find a friend here. Except for him, space has been cruel to me.”
“Whatever happens, and I’ll remind you we’re still hoping for the best, you’ll be safe here—treasured even. You’re a jewel after all,” she says softly. “Now shut up and go to sleep.”
23
brothers in fate
The holding tanks are as depressing as my mood. What should have been a bittersweet reunion with my fellow hopefuls, the males I grew up with, is instead a morose reminder of all the lives I’ll have to take to make it back to Lena.
I shouldn’t have left her in tears, but I had no choice. She’ll be safe with the jewels, even if I’m gone.
I’m glad my division of hopefuls is the first in the arena. I want to do what needs to be done to find my way home to her. I don’t need to see more of my friends die before that.
I take a moment to let my eyes adjust to the dim lighting of the ancient chamber. Dust particles float in the air. As I lean against the stone walls, the rough texture scrapes against my skin. It serves as a stark reminder that I am once again thrust into the Great Proving, devoid of any modern comforts, including my clothing. I protectively cup my cock and mating crest, to shield it from the floor’s rough surface.
“What’s she like?” asks a voice filled with curiosity from the other side of the room.
It’s Guion, his small body hunched against the wall, much like my own. Quiet little Guion. He has always been kind to me, even if all of us just feel bad for him. Even Aekaz told him to go to the temple and become a guardian—but he stayed as a hopeful. He will never win in the final challenge. I wonder what it must be like to know when your life will end.
“She’s perfect,” I say, feeling my tiredness as I rub my hand over my face. Her tear-streaked face is imprinted on the back of my eyelids. I have to shake the painful image from my mind.
“They should have put you to death on the spot. It’s a disgrace that you're allowed to continue—your spawn will be an abomination to the mighty Andjin line,” a vicious voice echoes from a deeper part of the chamber.
Even before he steps into the light, I can recognize him by sound alone. Only the cruelest of the hopefuls possessed that voice dripping with such disdain.
As Aekaz, the brute, emerges from the shadows, his massive presence fills the room. His body, larger than life, seemed almost comical in its exaggerated proportions.
While the rest of us worked on the skills we’d need to care for a jewel, Aekaz worked on his vanity muscles. Even his foretentacles ripple with unnatural bulges.
“Don’t worry your overinflated biceps about such matters, Aekaz. You’ll be long dead before you even have to worry about seeing my young.” I wave him off. There’s no use explaining to him I would never breed Lena before I was found worthy.
I had hoped that he’d have gone crazy with no one to boast to. My dreams of hearing about an exiled Aekaz are dashed.
“Me, dead? Surely, you must have me confused with every other sorry soul in this room. I was born to win, to conquer you all.” He beats his fist over his chest, his normally orange skin flashing an aggressive red.
“I’m surprised you don’t plan on defeating every other hopeful division this year too. Would you even be happy with just one mate?” I scoff at his brash posturing.
“Isn’t this about p-protecting a jewel and continuing our s-species?” Guion stutters. I’m surprised he’s even addressed Aekaz. He does his best to avoid contact with such a bully.
“Yes, my reward…but don’t think I won’t find joy in extinguishing each of your lives—the Great Mother has built me to defeat you.” He grins as he flexes.
“I’d let you kill me first just so you stop flapping your lips,” Roinsi, the funniest of us all, groans.
“You’ll die when I decide, no sooner, no later,” Aekaz barks as he drops to the ground and begins a series of pushups that I’m sure he’ll loudly count for all of us to hear.
“Save it for the arena. There’s no point in spending some of your last moments arguing,” I say, exasperated.
“Kitaico?” Guion asks.
“What?”
“If I am found to be the victor, will I be assigned to the human…since that’s who you're fighting for?”
His question is innocent, as is his hope that he could ever stay alive with the three of us as competitors. The sharp pain of my fang piercing the inside of my cheek serves as a physical reminder to suppress my instinctive need to protect my mate.
“No, she is already mated. It would be impossible.” I get out through my gritted teeth.
“Well then, shouldn’t there be two winners? There will be one more jewel than there are hopeful divisions. Why can’t they simply allow you both to be together?” He’s sad for me, I realize. Despite his impending doom, he wants me to be with my mate.
“It’s…it’s just not done that way. I’m not sure what the elders will do with the remaining jewel if I win, but we must trust in their guidance,” I say, almost as if to convince myself of it, too.
“It’s not fair,” he whispers.
“No, I suppose it’s not.”
It was as if time stood still, and for just a moment, I could vividly recall the innocent days of our youth. While our personalities are much the same, it is Guion who holds onto the belief that there exists a way out of this situation where none of us have to harm the others.
I wonder if Aekaz could have been a decent person if the circumstances were different. Could we have been friends in another life?
