by Alyse Zaftig
I swallowed hard. If I went to see him fight, surely that'd be fine? My mother would be surprised if I went to a fight, but it wasn't as if it were actually forbidden. I wondered where I could get tickets or where the fights even where.
I wandered closer to the display and, to my great relief, there were posters underneath with an address. It was a block away.
I walked to the address. I could hear the roar of a crowd as something happened inside. As I walked up to the ticket counter, I was acutely aware that I wasn't dressed like everyone else was. The Yore were dressed casually for leisure. I was aware that my paler skin and embroidered dress in the Draka style made me stick out like a sore thumb.
"One ticket, please," I said to the guy behind the counter.
"You sure you're in the right place? This isn't the ticket counter for the symphony, my lady." The way that he said the last two words sounded like an insult. "And we're almost sold out."
"I'll pay for a ticket wherever you want to put me."
"Sure," he said. The smile on his face kind of scared me. But he gave me the bill.
"This is way more expensive than I thought it would be." My whim was going to cost me the same as a hand-stitched evening gown. My mother would probably not be pleased when we went over accounts at the end of the month.
"Like I said, we don't have much left. You can come back another day or buy an advance ticket now."
"I'll pay," I said, paying enough credits to get whatever he'd sold me.
"You have a map," he said, gesturing to make it spring to life. "Just go up those stairs and to your left. It's the second door. The number is on your ticket."
"Thank you." I swept the ticket and map into my hands and went to the stairs. I climbed upwards. I'd either just wasted a ton of money or bought the chance to see Xuan again. I decided that it was worth it and ignored the little voice in the back of my head that told me that I could've just gone to his shop again.
When I reached the top of the stairs, I turned left and found the room that corresponded to my number. It had tea brewing already, which was nice. I saw a small case of cold drinks, which was a lovely touch. I could see everything below me and had a TV screen with cameras zoomed in on the fighters' faces, close enough that I could see individual beads of sweat. I had gotten what I'd paid for.
I was in luck. Xuan was in the ring at the moment, facing off with a larger Yore whose muscles spelled trouble for Xuan. Xuan stayed still, though, while the larger Yore danced around him. Xuan only moved as much as he needed to dodge the larger Yore's blows. I worried because Xuan wasn't attacking at all.
As I watched for a few more minutes, I realized that Xuan was letting the big guy tire himself out. If any of the blows had landed, the big guy was likely to knock Xuan into next week. But none of them seemed to. Xuan was never in the same place for more than a few breaths, although he was incredibly economical with his motions.
When the big guy braced himself on his knees was the moment that Xuan moved. I almost missed it because he was so fast. One moment he was purely defensive. The next moment, his fist was hitting his competitor's jaw so hard that he slammed sideways onto the ground. A ref was on the ground, tapping out ten seconds.
And then it was done. The TV screen in my box was showing a reply of that lightning-fast strike. The play of muscles across Xuan's back was shockingly erotic. His smooth brown skin accentuated each dip and curve.
Now that the fight was over, pretty
girls were flooding the cage. Xuan was being hustled off by a team of a couple of Yore, one of whom was handing him a little water. He drank it carefully as people surged around him. His team kept them from getting close.
I may have paid a lot for this moment, but it was one that I'd remember. The split second of action on his part had changed the tide. Who knew that all that he needed was one shot? A single second could change everything. I watched it repeat over and over until they began to show information about the next two fighters who would be in an adjacent ring. It was time for me to go.
The hallway and staircase were quiet as I made my way back down. It was clear that Xuan's fight was over. I'd slip quietly out of here and maybe find myself in his antique shop later this week. I didn't want to appear like a moonstruck calf, but I just couldn't deny the hold he had on me.
I was almost to the door where the supercilious ticket vendor was when I felt a hand on my arm. I jumped about a foot in the air before turning to see who had dared to touch me.
14
Asking Her Out
Xuan
"Arienne," I said. Her beautiful eyes were wide with shock.
"Xuan," she breathed. "Where is everyone else?"
"Who?" I asked.
"All of your entourage...your team."
"My trainer, you mean," I said. "He has other fighters in the ring tonight. They just threw me into a shower to make sure I wasn't too smelly, gave me a bag of clothes, and sent me off with a little money."
"I didn't realize that you fought. Is the antique store a hobby?"
I touched her arm. This time, she didn't jump in the air. "Fighting is a hobby," I said softly. "I don't need the cash." Not anymore, at least. “My shop is my only steady source of income. I only fight when I need to blow off some steam. I saw you in your box."
"You did?" she shrieked. Heads turned towards us, so she ducked her head. "I mean, oh..."
"Just for a second," I said. I didn't mention that my sonic shower had been done in the shortest time possible before I'd gotten dressed and run out to catch her. I knew that Arienne wasn't the type of lady who would stick around for all of tonight's fights. I got the feeling that she'd come for one reason and one fight, but talking about it would embarrass both of us. "Why don't I take you on a sky-boat ride?" The leisure vehicles went by many different names like hover-floater, hover-craft, sky-boat, etc. The older Draka just referred to them as ships and air-craft, but there was a massive mix of terms for the same recreational vehicle class. I touched my wallet, which was full of physical credits.
"I don't think I should," she said, looking around us. Her outburst earlier and her outfit were both attracting attention.
"We can eat. It will be fun," I told her, touching her shoulder and turning her back to me. "I can walk you home otherwise."
She struggled with the decision for another moment before nodding. I put an arm around her waist as we went out to the nearest boat dock.
"Another fight tonight, Xuan?" the proprietor asked as he handed me the keys to my normal boat.
"Yes, but I'd like a bigger one. Top of the line. Best you've got."
"You sure you can pay for that? You won, didn't you?"
I held up my fat wallet. "I won."
"Good," he said. "When you win, it's good for business." He handed me the keys. I put down the money.
"I'll be back before dawn," I said.
"See you soon." I could feel his eyes on Arienne, but he didn't say anything. Maybe he thought that she was one of the cage bunnies who always stuck around after fights. The physicality of bare-knuckle sparring always drew them to me, but I wanted to be wanted for more than my ability to fight. Arienne hadn't even known that I fought like this. To be honest, even Phuong didn't know. In there, I wasn't the useless younger brother of the woman heading a resurgence of respect for Yore culture. I was just a fighter like all the rest of them.
She almost walked past the biggest hover floater. I stopped her with my hand on her waist. "We're going in this one."
Her head tilted up. "That's way too big for two people. It looks like it could hold 20 comfortably."
"That's ours for the night." I normally went out for a ride after every fight, but this was the first time that I had company. I'd never been in anything as fancy as this, but the ship's computer navigation system did most of the hard work. I just had to key in a route that I wanted the hover floater to take and it'd take us there.
I chose the most scenic route I could think of. As the hover fl
oater groaned to life, I set it so that the cameras on the underside of the aircraft would be activated. Arienne yelped and jumped on a chair.
"The floor disappeared!"
"No," I laughed. "It's just panels showing what's on the outside through the cameras. I promise that the floor is still there."
Arienne put one foot down before she felt that it was solid. "Oh. I feel stupid now."
"Don't." I shook my head. "I should have warned you."
"Wow!" she said, as curious as a little kid. She was kneeling on the ground now. "I've never been through the mountains in one of these before. Look at all those trees!"
She was sweet. It was nice to watch her gazing around at the scenery beneath us. We hadn't even gotten to the good part yet. We were slowly floating over a forest. I had drawn a path around all the lagoons I knew about and around the highest mountains. For tonight, it'd only be the two of us. I wouldn't be a fourth wheel or a fighter. I was just a man.
15
First Kiss
Arienne
I couldn't get over how beautiful everything was. I felt like an idiot, staring down and paying no attention to the date that I'd come here to enjoy this with, but everything was so beautiful. We weren't that far away from home, but I'd never done this kind of thing before. My mother was slightly acrophobic, so we never went up in any kind of aircraft.
There were some things that money and social standing couldn't pay for. I gasped as we came too close to a mountain.
"Xuan!" I screamed. "Get us away from that thing!" There was a rock face that was mere inches away from our ship.
"Chill," he said, although the ship swung outward as I'd asked. "The ship can steer itself. The lasers are far more precise than I could ever be."
My heart was beating faster nevertheless. "I don't want to be so close to crashing into a mountain."
"Were you scared?" Xuan asked, with a slight smile on his face. He came over to huge me and kiss my forehead. My entire body lit up with sparkles. "I promise that I won't put you in danger. This hover floater is the top of the line, I swear. I'll get you home safe."
Just then, an alarm sounded. My heart started exploding.
"What's that?" I asked.
"There's some kind of malfunction," he said. "Hang on." He went to the panel at the front of the ship. I could see how intent he was. Then his shoulders relaxed. "It's just low on water. We need to take some up from the environment, then we'll be fine."
"Let's do it right now," I said, my heart still pounding a little hard.
"No problem," he said. "I know a turquoise lagoon that I always go to. Sound good?"
"Yeah," I said. When he fiddled with the computer, his shirt was stretched tightly across his broad shoulders. I didn't know why I liked it so much, but I did.
The ship banked around a turn, tilting a little bit. I closed my eyes. The faster we came to a stop to pick up water, the happier I'd be. I was severely regretting getting into this death-craft. No wonder my mother was afraid of aircraft and flying.
We soared through the air for another 3 minutes, well away from any mountains. I went straight to the bathroom as soon as the ship stopped in the air. I could see Xuan pressing buttons, but I knew that I needed to get a quiet moment to myself before I did anything else. I ran into the sonic shower with my clothes on just to get rid of the sweat all over my body. Then I came out and gasped when I saw the stunning vista below my feet.
"This is amazing," I said. "So beautiful," I sighed.
"Not even half as beautiful as you are," Xuan said. I didn't know if it was the kind of sweet talk that Draka nobles bandied about, so I just stared down. I could see giant fish jumping in and out of the water. The water was a shade of turquoise that I had no idea occurred in nature. There was one so big that when it came down, I thought that it would splash our craft. There was an almighty splash when it came down, but we weren't close enough to hear it.
Despite the death-defying trip out here, I was glad that I came out with Xuan. Maybe we could stay on the ground next time. I'd liked being on his airbike, although I didn't know if it could handle a trip this long. If he visited the turquoise lagoon on a hover floater, it probably meant that he couldn't get here otherwise.
"What are those carvings?" I asked. I pointed to the floor. I could see the opening of a cave mouth and a giant face next to it.
"It's an ancient Yore carving, from long before the Draka had even heard of this planet, let alone colonized it." Xuan knelt next to me and looked down at the stone face. He stroked my hair gently, which sent a small shiver down my back. "Do you want to know more about the Yore half of your heritage?"
I burst to my feet. The moment that I got over my initial shock, I put on my polite society face, one that was faintly interested but not emotional. I'd gotten enough spankings as a little girl for my tantrums, as my mother called them. I'd been an easy crier, which wasn't ever acceptable in polite society. I swallowed before I answered him in my coldest voice.
"Where's the food that you promised me?"
"Right here," he said, accepting the change of topic. I breathed a sigh of relief when I watched him get to his feet with easy grace. He disappeared in the back of the ship. I'd look through the floor for a few moments before joining him.
Less than ten minutes later, he came out with a few serving platters. They had Amila stalks, sautéed greens, and a platter of wild fruit that were mixed with wild vegetables that were endemic on this planet. The hover floater was evidently worth we'd paid to use it for a little while. He set them on a table that he made appear by touching a button on the wall.
"Wine?" he asked after he'd set the platters down.
"Yes, please." The Draka almost always drank a glass of wine with dinner, but I'd learned early on that it gave me a headache almost instantly. When I was a stupid and reckless teenager, I'd drunk an entire bottle on my own because I'd been dared. I spent the next half hour vomiting up everything in my stomach.
"White or red?" Xuan grimaced. "I'm afraid that I don't know what they have in stock."
"White, please." Red went to my head a little faster. He pulled out a nice bottle of white wine and poured it into my glass. I pointedly ignored the label. Everything that was imported from the home world was outrageously expensive, but since all Draka drank wine on a daily basis, the off-world merchants could set their own prices. There were some grumbles that the government itself would start importing wine, but it was just talk. There wouldn't be consensus on the idea that the government should be taking up limited space with easily consumed wine. The Draka swore that reconstituted wine wasn't anything like real wine. I couldn't taste the difference, which my mother attributed to my Yore blood.
The almost instant sickness upon drinking wine was part of my Yore blood. They drank rice-based alcohol, not grape-based alcohol. I'd never tried rice wine or anything, but my mother had always said that it was for commoners, not me.
I sipped a little bit of it. "It's dry."
"Do you want something a little sweeter?"
"No, I like dry wine." I drank a little more but had to stop before I got embarrassingly intoxicated and started barfing. Considering that I had to get through a return flight to town, I really had to pace myself. I helped myself to some of the Amila stalks. I cut them into tiny pieces. They might be expensive, but they were difficult to chew. I could use them to avoid too much conversation with Xuan.
"I don't drink much, either." Xuan wrinkled his nose. "Because I live with my sister and her mates, the only thing we keep around is wine made from Draka grapes."
"It's a shame that the climate on this planet isn't kind to grapes."
"Believe me, they've certainly tried to establish vineyards here. They just haven't been particularly successful." Xuan shook his head. "Vineyards were part of my get-rich-schemes before I wised up."
"What are you talking about?"
"Before my sister married two princes, we weren't wealthy. I knew that we had to get surgery to get im
plants out of our heads, but we didn't have the money. I kept trying to figure out how to afford surgery and made stupid decisions." He drank the rest of his wine. "But my sister's last job led to her marrying two Draka princes and gave me my twin nephews, so it's not all bad."
"You had implants?"
"Nobody knew who we were. We were supposed to forget."
"Forget?"
"Our heritage," Xuan said in the softest whisper possible. "We still don't know the whole picture. We don't know everything, so I've been hunting down the truth while Phuong takes the reins of being the face of the Yore empire. He looked down at his hands. "That's why I'm surprised you don't want to learn more about being half-Yore."
I shook my head. "I was never allowed to ask questions about it. My birth was a scandal, I knew that much, and I was spanked if I tried to learn more. I'm sorry that I cut you off before. I didn't want to. You can tell me more about being Yore if you want to."
"We definitely will spend more time together, right?" He said the first half like a statement but ended with a question.
"Yes." My heart spoke before I could think through the implications of a single word. He leaned forward, not heeding the plates of food between us, and kissed my mouth. He blinked a little bit as he pulled away. I could recognize that the kiss was a question. He was initiating what we could do with all this privacy as the ship took water from the lagoon below.
Rising from my seat, I
ignored my food, which was unlike me since I loved food. But I sat in Xuan's lap and drew his face down to mine. I captured his mouth in the most passionate kiss that I could muster. I couldn't breathe, but I stole his air from his mouth. We were resuscitating each other.
He ripped his mouth away from mine, making me afraid that he'd changed his mind.
"There's a bed in the back."
"This ship really has everything."
