Chapter 58:

The second we broke through into the bright sun of the morning, once more, I instantly realized why Xavier had gotten so tense. We were ushered out into a huge arena filled to the brim with people who had all come to see the excitement for the day. A hush fell over the crowd the second we walked out onto the hard-packed dirt of the arena until someone's amplified voice sounded over the silence. 

"Welcome, we've been awaiting your arrival since early this morning." I looked over the crowd for a moment, trying to find the source of the voice, but didn't see anyone noteworthy until I stepped up next to Xavier and followed his gaze up to a small viewing point in the center of the stands. The sharp gleam of the silver armor of the guards surrounding the entrance, along with the few actually on the small balcony, gave away exactly who had been speaking. 

Two tall blonde men stood against the stark white railing of the balcony in front of a plush seating arrangement behind them. "And would you look at that, they finally brought us the dog." The man standing in the center of the balcony called as he ran his hands over the polished stone railing with a chuckle as he looked directly at Xavier. Instantly, rage bubbled up inside of me at the comment, but Xavier seemed entirely unfazed. He simply raised an eyebrow at the King as he held his gaze, showing no respect to the man who was openly taunting him. "I've been wondering when I would actually get to test your skills in my arena, Xavier Knight. The General has always spoken so highly of you, even if you lack respect for rank." Xavier's jaw twitched like he wanted to say something, but had clamped his teeth around it instead, although the look he was giving the king was more than enough to say it all.

"Nothing to say, Knight?" The king taunted once more, and although Xavier's jaw continued to tick, he didn't speak a single word as he simply stood there, entirely still as he stared up at the man. "Very well then, at least you know when to hold your tongue, Lieutenant. Color me surprised to see you escorting a group of little girls on a mission to take my son on his... adventures. Either way, my lovely people have been waiting for a show, so what do you say we give them one worth their wait, Knight?" The whole crowd cheered, but I just looked over at Xavier. I took half a step forward until I was almost touching his shoulder while still being mostly behind him.

"Are you going to be okay?" I whispered to him, low enough that none of the guards around us would hear me. 

"I'll be fine, princess. Thanks to you, I'm actually feeling pretty damn good right now. He's probably going to call the three of you up with the two of them, and you're going to take Bane with you. I just need one thing out of my bag, and you'll have to take it with you as well. Can you do that for me?" He told me, uncaring if the guards heard him or not, as he still looked up, never once taking his eyes off the king. 

"Aren't you going to need him to fight?" I asked, but Nova was the one to answer me.

'I'm going to stay to help him. They prefer to keep things on the ground in this arena, so as long as I'm out here to help him, he'll be just fine, Ari. You have to follow your own statement and trust him, because he's trusting you to keep everyone else safe while he can't.' I took a breath before giving her a slight nod.

There was so much I wanted to ask him, but the king called for the guards to bring us up to him. Xavier waved them off for a moment as he turned, dropping his bags to the ground as he crouched and opened his bag. "Do not let them put their hands on you. While technically you're under their rule here, if you're defending yourself, it comes under our commander's rules. He's going to try to throw his power around to attempt to push you into a deal or contract with him. Don't let him do so. No matter how nice they might seem, they're all just pretty words and cages around here." Xavier warned us quickly and quietly as he pulled a set of solid metal braces out of his bag that were both wrapped with a length of thin silver chains that were clipped to the delicate-looking chain that would hold the brace across the palm of his hand.

I didn't have the time to wonder about what something like that would be used for before Bane and Nova switched places. I quickly took hold of Bane as Lexi and Genie both came up to take Xavier's bags before the guards quickly ushered us away. 

'What are those braces for?' I asked Bane as we followed the guards up a long flight of stairs that led directly up to where the king and his son stood. Bane laughed, and I just raised an eyebrow at him. 

'Those mean that you're about to see a side of him that you haven't been privy to yet.'

'What do you mean?'

'If you recall, you've only ever seen him pull a single one of those swords at a time in a fight. It's honestly rare anymore to actually see him pull both swords. Generally, he doesn't need anything more than that, but when he pulls those braces out.' He chuckled once more. 'You're about to see the full extent of his abilities in this form. That's the real reason he doesn't need me to fly. Xavier is more than capable of taking care of himself here, especially with Nova down there watching his back. I can almost guarantee you that she won't even need to step foot into this fight. That's exactly why he sent me up here with the three of you. This king is a slippery bastard; tread carefully, Ari.' He told me just as the guards ushered us up onto the balcony with the king and prince before closing in behind us, caging us in with the two of them. 

I instantly eyed the two men as Lexi and Genie took up positions at my back. The men were both far too similar, all pretty, perfect, delicate features. None of that rugged, lethal beauty that Xavier held; they were both far too pretty. Their blonde locks were perfectly brushed and styled, pristine white tunics tailored to absolute perfection. The King's clothes were trimmed in shining gold thread along their stitched embellishments that gleamed in the bright morning sun, while the prince's tunic was trimmed in silver. They were so eerily similar in looks that you could've easily mistaken them for brothers rather than father and son, all the way up to their cold, icy blue eyes.  

"So, tell me, girl, why are you carrying his dragon?" The king asked, raising one perfectly manicured eyebrow at Bane, and I smiled. 

"He doesn't need his dragon to win your game, your highness," I replied in a sugary sweet tone, drawing out the last two words for emphasis as Bane chuckled at me.

'I knew I liked you from the start. Now, set me down on the railing so you have free use of your hands.' Bane told me, making me smile a little wider as I did what he said. Setting him on the railing in front of us causing some of the guards over beside the King to cower back to guard the edge of the balcony rather than being anywhere near Bane. Bane, however, seemed to grin at that as he stretched out along the railing in front of us, being sure to whip his tail over it to show off his full size as he took up at least eight feet of the railing from the tip of his snout to his tail before yawning just to show off the razor-sharp teeth lining his jaws. 

"So, you must be Aria Primrose then. I heard your father was unsuccessful in acquiring you for your marriage contract to one of my loyal advisors. It's too bad, you would've made a lovely bride." The king said, and I felt his slimy gaze roam over my body as I fought the shiver that crawled up my spine at his slow perusal. Taking a breath, I channeled just a little of that "fuck everything" energy that Xavier tended to throw off and utilized it for myself as I allowed my eyes to meet his, holding them as I crossed my arms over my chest in clear defiance. 

The first rule they beat into our heads at that academy was that we were loyal to no king in particular, only to our commanding officer. We were not expected to show anything more than simple respect to royalty, but we bowed to no one in order to protect all. 

"If you think for a single second that you're going to get me to agree to a marriage contract, then you're dead wrong." The king grinned, but this time it was his son who looked me over with a leering gaze. 

"Oh, no, you misunderstood me, girl. I wouldn't marry someone with fire like yours off to one of my advisors, when you would make a far better concubine to the throne instead." That comment had my stomach turning. "That fiery little spirit of yours would make for some spirited children. Although, on second thought, you are quite small. I'm not sure that you would actually survive bearing the crown's children." Bane growled low at the king, flicking his tail back and forth as the sharp spines along it scraped against the banister, but it was just the distraction I needed to be able to take a moment to gather myself once more. 

'Don't let him get to you, Ari.' Bane told me as he stalked a couple of steps forward, causing the guard on the other side of the king to back away a step. 

"I'd be dead before I ever allowed you to even try to stick me into another one of your messed-up contracts, thanks, but no thank you." I shot back before turning my back on the two men and instead focusing on Xavier as I leaned over Bane, knowing that they wouldn't dare to come up to the surly dragon. Lexi and Genie must have had the same thought, considering they came up beside me, leaning over Bane's tail, obviously far more comfortable with the dragon than the other company we had up here. 

"You know, I can see it now," Lexi whispered to me with a grin. 

"See what?" I asked as she laughed under her breath at me. 

"Why the two of you get along so well." She grinned as she looked down to where Xavier had strapped those braces over his forearms and stood in the center of the arena. Nova was perched on his shoulder as he watched me. I gave him a grin, hoping he could see it, hoping that he knew I had faith in him.