Goddess of Flames

by J. A. Armitage

  "Of course! There was an egg left." I whispered as I picked it up and showed Milo.

  "You're still in!" I squealed, jumping up and down.

  Milo caught my excitement. "I'll win this thing, Azia. I'll win it for us." He brought his lips to mine, and for the first time since this infernal competition started, I thought I might actually begin to enjoy it.

  "You'd better hurry up, lad," Jack said. "They competitors have already been called out."

  Milo gave me a grin and took off down the corridor, the egg in his hands.

  I found my father in the entrance hall waiting for me to go out with him.

  "I'm so proud of you, Azia," he said, taking my hand. "Whatever happens today, I want you to know that."

  My heart swelled as I stepped outside. It was too late for my father to call this thing off now, but I knew in my gut that Milo would win. He was an amazing swordsman and the only member of my father's guard to have entered. He was taught by the best, and he'd practiced endlessly with me. Now that Caspian was out of the competition, I had every faith that Milo had it in the bag.

  Happiness flowed through me as my father and I ascended the stairs. When the curtain was pulled back, we both headed to our thrones. My brothers were there exactly as they had been for the past two days, with Remy next to me and Ash next to my father. Hollis sat next to Remy, and beyond him, Dahlia sat, giving me a mischievous wink as I passed.

  The crowd roared as the ten winners from yesterday were brought onto the field.

  Milo came on first, waving at the crowd as though he didn't have a care in the world. In his hand, he carried the egg that Nyre had brought to us, not ten minutes before. A roar filled the arena as he held the wooden egg into the air. He'd gone from a nobody to the kingdom's favorite. The crowd wanted him to win as much as I did. Another nine men trooped out and took their place beside him. Not one of them got the same reaction from the crowd as Milo had. Each of them carried an egg. I scrutinized them one by one as they stood in line. Never had I seen a meaner bunch of men, each burlier than the last. It was only when I came to the last man in line that I let out a gasp of surprise.

  "What's Caspian doing here?" I whispered to my father. I was sure he'd not gotten an egg the day before.

  "He fought one of the men coming down the mountain with an egg," my father explained as the men took a bow.

  Now that Caspian was back in the game, my excitement faded. He was a great swordsman. I'd never once beaten him. I consoled myself with the fact it wasn't me having to fight him. It was Milo, and Milo had beaten him that one time.

  The ringmaster lined them up in the order of the numbers on the eggs.

  "Today, a new prince will be picked. A man fit to marry the Princess Azia. These ten men have bravely fought tigers and lions and dragons for her hand in marriage. Today, they will only have to fight each other. Each man will be paired up with another. When we have a victor in each pair, the winner will move on to the next round, with the winner being the only man left standing. There are only two ways to win. If your partner dies or if your partner holds his hand up in submission, thus taking himself out of the competition. We will keep going until there is only one man left. Now that you've seen the men, we will have an intermission while they put on their armor. We don't want to make it too easy. While you wait, please welcome the Draconis Opera."

  The men walked off as some singers came into the arena. The opera was amazing, but my mind was on other things. Namely Milo and Caspian. I didn't care about the others. I didn't think they would win, but in an ironic twist of fate, it had come down to the two men it had started with. Like it or not, this time next week, I was going to be married to one of them. I just didn't know which one.

  Two men came onto the arena floor as the main singer finished her aria. They were covered head to toe in armor, so it was difficult to see who they were. The ringmaster stood them five feet apart and instructed them to draw their swords. My heart was in my mouth as he blew his whistle, and the men began to fight. I knew both Milo's and Caspian's style, which meant I thought that neither of these men was either of them. I wasn't a hundred percent confident, though, and as the first man was brought to the ground, I held my breath. He held his hand up, and the ringmaster blew his whistle. When the fallen man was unmasked, I saw I'd been right. He wasn't either of them. After being helped up by the ringmaster, he walked off, leaving the masked winner in the arena

  Two more men came in, and once again, they began to fight. One of these I recognized. When the whistle had been blown, one of them jumped forward, thrusting mercilessly. I knew in my heart this was Caspian. His opponent was quick to raise his hand.

  Two men down, and both Caspian and Milo were still in the game.

  Caspian took his place next to the victor of the first round. Another two were brought out to fight. Both of them were useless, running around each other rather than attacking, so their round went on much longer than the two rounds before. There was no way either of them was Milo. Half an hour later, the crowd began to get restless, and the two men had barely touched swords. The booing started, spurring one into action. He thrust his sword forward, piercing the chainmail of the arm of his opponent. When he saw the blood seeping off his sword, he put his hand up in submission. The guy who was bleeding won the round by default. Once the first man had been unmasked, the second fell to the floor. A stretcher came to carry him off, and the ringmaster declared him out of the competition too. Which left four more men to come. I gripped the edge of my seat as the next two men walked on.

  "Milo!" I whispered. I knew in my heart it was him. I recognized his sword.

  His fight terrified me more than any other, but that was because it was him. His opponent was better than the last two, but in the end, he was no match for Milo. He raised his hand.

  "We have only one more round to go before lunch," the ringmaster announced. "And I've just been informed that our opponent with the wound will make a full recovery. He's up at the castle getting stitches. He's said he wants to continue the competition, so he will be back this afternoon."

  Some of the crowd booed. His fight had been boring, but he was up against different men now, and there was no way it was going to be dull.

  The last two came on and fought well. They were also evenly matched, but they gave a much better performance than the two who barely hit each other. I watched them closely, noting their weaknesses and where Milo would be able to beat them. Eventually, one gave up, putting his hand up in the air.

  When the fifth man was unmasked, the ringmaster turned to the audience.

  "Ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure you are all enjoying the show, but we are giving everyone a break. The king has thoughtfully provided food for everyone outside the arena. we'll have half an hour break and be back for the thrilling conclusion!"

  "Oh, ay?" Remy asked as we all trooped downstairs to where the food was being served.

  "I'm fine, Remy," I said, giving him a hug. "I just wish I'd not started this competition. I only did it to get out of marrying Caspian."

  "Ca-pia!" Remy grinned, holding out a pretend sword and waving his hand around.

  "Has Caspian been teaching you sword fighting?" I asked. Remy nodded enthusiastically.

  Maybe I'd misjudged Caspian. I'd seen him once play-sword-fighting with Remy, but I'd thought it was for the benefit of my mother. I hadn't realized that he'd kept it up since mother was asleep.

  "I'm glad he's been nice to you, Remy. I still don't want to marry him, though."

  Remy seemed to understand, well, as much as Remy could understand anything. Still, he was the only one who'd picked up on my frayed nerves.

  I grabbed a sandwich and a cup of juice from the massive spread. The kitchen staff had outdone themselves with the massive spread. Even with help from an outside catering company, I don't know how they managed to fix so much food. I barely had time to take a bite before we were all told to head back into the stands.

  I munched down on my sandwich in
a very un-princess like manner as I took my seat and the ringmaster and the five competitors walked back in.

  "Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Majesty and Your Highnesses," the ringmaster began, "welcome back to the final round in the princess competition. This afternoon will work a little differently to this morning. Now, we are going to have the remaining men fighting together. On my whistle, they will fight. The last one standing or to not raise his hand will win the hand of our princess. Good luck, everyone." He blew his whistle, and the men drew their swords. My eyes were only on Milo. I didn't care about any of the others. I watched as he started off strong, jumping right into the middle of the other four. Then everything was a blur. I knew Caspian was good, but the other three were strong competitors too. Two of them fought each other as the third, a very tall gentleman, thrust his sword at the pair of them. I turned my eyes back to Milo, watching him like a hawk as he fought Caspian, then one of the others. It seemed none of them was going to go down quickly. I'd underestimated how good the competition could be. One of the men eventually went down, brought down I thought by Caspian. He raised his hand, and the fighting was paused long enough to pull his helmet off and for him to walk out of the arena.

  I kept my eyes on Milo as he once again fought Caspian. It was hard not to stand up and publicly root for Milo, but I was a princess and supposed to be impartial, despite that I'd spent the night with one of the contestants.

  They were magnificent together, and although I couldn't shout for Milo, it didn't stop Charlotte screaming her lungs out for Caspian. She didn't want him to win. That would mean marriage to me, but she was caught up in the excitement of the moment, and I guess she didn't want him getting hurt. Neither did I if I was going to be honest. I'd kind of gotten used to his special brand of smugness, and though it wasn't to my taste, I didn't want to see him leave on a stretcher.

  Milo was just that bit better than Caspian. I was practically bouncing in my seat as they fought. It was thrilling, and the crowd was eating it up. As Milo went for the final strike that would bring Caspian to his knees, one of the other competitors ran forward and barrelled Milo to the floor. Caspian turned to the fourth man, the tall one, as the one who'd pushed Milo down rained blow after blow down on him. The clang of metal upon metal thundered through my ears.

  "Put your hand up, Milo!" I screamed. So much for being impartial. But my voice was lost in the noise of the crowd.

  "Stop it!" I begged my father, but there was nothing he could do. Unless Milo raised his hand, he was still in the competition, and while he was still in, the competition would go on. The man stomped down upon Milo's leg and continued to kick and hit him. Without thinking, I stood up and raced out of the stand. If no one else was going to stop this, then I would. I raced past Hollis and down to the bottom of the stand. I knew where the men got ready. They had a separate tent. There was no one there to stop me.

  I pulled on one of the suits of armor and a helmet quickly and selected one of the swords. I'd have preferred my own sword, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and I didn't have the time to run back to my room and pick it up.

  The crowd roared as I raced onto the arena floor. No one could possibly know it was me, but they would know a new competitor had walked onto the field. Caspian was busy with the fourth competitor, so I raced to Milo. His armor was dented with the force of the blows from the other man. Blood blossomed on the weak spots in his armor, the places where chainmail covered the joints.

  Anger surged through me as I charged the man, knocking him away from Milo. He soon got over his shock and began to thrust his own sword. I ducked quickly as he swung his sword at me, missing me by inches. The crowd gasped as I thrust again, catching the metal of his breastplate. The sound of the ringmaster rang through my ears as he began narrating the action.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new fighter. I don't even know who it is, but they are good. They are amazing. Look at these two go."

  I tried blocking him out as I concentrated on my opponent, matching his speed and skill. His sword caught my arm, sending reverberations through the suit of armor, but I wasn't going to go down that easily. I thrust back as the ringmaster spoke again.

  "And we have one more out of the competition."

  In my peripheral vision, I saw two men with stretchers come for Milo. His hand was raised in submission. He was out of the competition.

  Seeing him lifted onto the stretcher only caused my anger to intensify. There was no way I was going to marry some lout who cheated by kicking and stomping on his opponent. I thrust forward, and he began to topple. When he hit the ground, I held my sword to an exposed piece of flesh of his neck.

  He raised his hand, and the crowd went wild. The whistle blew, and the ringmaster came running over. The man's helmet was pulled off. I didn't know the man, but I recognized him as one of the men fighting over the eighth egg on the mountain the day before. Looking around, I saw that Caspian had defeated his foe too. Caspian's sword was still sticking out of his chest. It had pierced right through the metal. The ringmaster ran over as I pulled my helmet off. It was over. Caspian was the winner. the crowd went insane as I bounded over to Milo's stretcher that was still on the field.

  "Oh my goodness," the ringmaster said, losing his shit entirely. "Ladies and gentlemen, the fighter was the princess herself. I've never seen anything like this before!"

  I ignored everything else he said and the thundering noise of the crowd as I spoke to Milo. I held his hand.

  "I'm sorry," I said.

  "I'm not," he replied, his face white as a sheet. "I would do this a hundred times for you. I only wish I could have won."

  "It doesn't matter," I whispered back to him, tears falling down my face." I only care that you are ok."

  "I think he's got a broken leg, at the very least," one of the men with the stretcher informed me. "We need to get him urgent medical care."

  I nodded. A broken leg sucked, but it was survivable. Behind me, I barely registered the ringmaster announcing that Caspian's opponent was dead. What I couldn't miss was the wail from Caspian. The men with the stretcher began the walk back to the castle as I turned to Caspian. His face was a picture of utter misery. All around me, the crowd went silent, and a thrill of fear passed through me.

  Almost in slow motion, I looked down to Caspian's opponent. Looking sightlessly up to the sky was my baby brother. I screamed as I remembered the ringmaster's words. Remy had sacrificed his life for me.

  28th January

  "I didn't know it was him," Caspian cried, cradling Remy's head. Tears streamed down his face, falling into Remy's hair.

  My first thought was how weird Caspian seemed without the smug expression he usually wore.

  Somewhere behind me, a bell rang twelve. It was already midnight, but time stood still.

  I was vaguely aware of the ringmaster telling everyone that the competition was over, and the results would be posted in the Draconian Sentinel tomorrow, but it was already tomorrow, so did he mean today or the day after?

  None of my thoughts turned to Remy. They couldn't, because if what I was looking at was real, if I put any thought into it at all, then that would mean he was dead. Really dead, and he couldn't be. Not my beautiful, sweet, innocent brother.

  As the world came crashing down around me, and all I could see was the anguish on Caspian's face, another voice permeated the fog.

  "Why was he out here?" My father rushed over to Remy, beating the medics who were half a second behind him.

  "He was out here for me." The last thing I'd said to him was that I didn't want to marry Caspian. Somehow Remy had decided to wade in and fight for me knowing that if he won, I wouldn't have to get married at all. He was dead because of me.

  The crowd filed out of the stadium in silence as the medics removed Remy's armor and pulled the sword from his chest. They didn't need to confirm his death again. It was obvious to everyone that he wasn't coming back from his injury.

  Caspian moved back to let my father in. I'd
never seen him like this before, so raw, so utterly desolate. I don't know what hurt more. The fact that I'd never see Remy again or that Caspian was blaming himself.

  "It wasn't your fault," I whispered, walking over to him, taking his hand in mine.

  He didn't speak, but he didn't need to. I could see it in his eyes. He'd killed Remy, and this would kill him. He wrapped his arms around me and broke down completely, sobbing into my shoulder.

  I closed my eyes and held him like that, our bodies trembling together. We were no longer enemies. We were just two people united in grief.

  I wasn't aware of anything else going on around me. All I could feel was the weight of Caspian and the pain tearing my heart to shreds. Time fractured and splintered, and what felt like an eternity lasted probably no more than five or six minutes.

  "Caspian!"

  Caspian pulled back. I turned to see an ashen Charlotte looking at us.

  "Guards were stopping people rushing out to the arena," she explained. "I had to tell them I was with you."

  "I didn't know it was him," Caspian said again, this time for Charlotte's benefit. His voice was monotone and flat as though he was almost in a trance.

  "I know you didn't, but that's not the point. Use magic on him before it's too late."

  She grabbed his hand and pulled him away from me.

  "Get out of the way," she commanded. She sounded so strong that even my father took a step back from Remy's body.