LOGINSergio's POVI watched Leandro fight. I watched him bleed, and I watched him refuse to die even when the poison was spreading through his veins. And in that moment, as Ramiro raised his claws for what I thought was the final blow, something inside me shattered.I closed my eyes, because I could not watch. I could not bear to see the light leave his eyes. And so I let myself fall back into a memory, and a moment from the morning before everything changed. It was a moment when he was still whole, still strong, and still mine.I remembered the way he had looked at me, the way he had touched me that morning, and the way he had said goodbye without actually saying goodbye.I opened my eyes in the memory of that mori, before the battle.The morning before the arena, I woke to find Leandro watching me.The light was pale and grey, filtering through the window in soft, muted streams. The fire had burned low, and the room was cool, but I was not cold. I was not cold because his body was pres
Sergio's POVI was still screaming when I realized I was on my feet.I did not remember standing, and I did not remember pushing myself out of my seat. All I knew was that Leandro was kneeling in the sand, bleeding black blood, and Ramiro was standing over him with his silver claws still dripping.I tried to run to Leandro in the arena.But hands grabbed me from behind, and arms wrapped around my waist, and I felt myself being pulled back. I struggled against them, kicking and thrashing, and trying to break free."Let me go!" I screamed at the top of my voice. "Let me go!""You cannot," a voice said. "You will die."I recognized the voice: It was captain Dario.I turned my head, and I saw his grey eyes, steady and unyielding. His grip was like iron, and no matter how hard I struggled, I could not break free."I do not care!" I shouted. "I do not care at all! Let me go, Dario! Let me go right now!""Sergio, listen to me…" Dario started to say."No!" I screamed. "He is dying! He is dyin
Sergio's POVAs the fight raged on, Leandro was winning.I watched him push Ramiro back, step by step, blow by blow, and I felt the hope rising in my chest like a wave. The crowd was cheering for him, with their voices blending into a roar that seemed to shake the very walls of the arena."He is going to win," I whispered. "He is actually going to win."Ramiro stumbled backward, with his face pale and his eyes wide. He was losing, and everyone could see it. His movements were sloppy, and his attacks were wild and uncoordinated. He was no longer fighting with strategy, he was fighting with desperation."The king is too strong," a voice said from the crowd. "Ramiro cannot win.""Ramiro made a mistake," another voice answered. "He underestimated the king."I leaned forward in my seat, and I felt the hope flooding my chest. “He is going to win, he is going to survive, and he is going to come back to me.” I whispered with so much joy in my voice.I pressed my hand against my chest, and I fe
Sergio's POVAs I continue to watch the ongoing battle for life and death, I noticed the atmosphere shift.I saw it happen before I understood what I was watching.Leandro's stance shifted. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, the kind of change that only someone who had been watching him for months would notice. His weight settled onto his back foot, and his shoulders relaxed, and his golden eyes sharpened into something I had never seen before.Ramiro did not notice.He lunged forward again, wild and desperate, with his claws extended and his smile gone. He was no longer fighting with confidence, he was fighting with rage.And that was his mistake.I watched Ramiro's face, and I saw the moment he realized he had made a fatal error. His confidence had been a shield, a mask he had worn for so long that he had forgotten it was not real.&nb
Sergio's POVThe referee's hand dropped, and the world exploded into motion.The stillness shattered like glass, and the tension that had been coiling in my chest snapped into something sharp and electric. I could feel the impact of that single motion through the bond, through the ground beneath my feet, and through the air that suddenly felt too thin to breathe.Ramiro lunged forward, fast and aggressive, with his claws extended and his smile wide and sharp. He moved like a man who had been waiting for this moment his entire life, and like a predator who had finally cornered his prey.I felt my heart stop as he closed the distance between them.His claws caught Leandro's cheek, and blood appeared, bright and red against his pale skin. The crowd gasped, and I heard someone scream, and I felt my hands curl into fists on my lap.My nails dug into my palms, and
Sergio's POVThe gates groaned open, and Ramiro walked into the arena like he already owned it.The sound of the gates was loud and final, with a grinding of stone against stone that seemed to echo through the arena and settle into my bones. It was the sound of doors closing, of fate being sealed, and of a moment that could not be undone.Ramiro was shirtless, and his skin was covered in scars, each one telling a story of battles won and enemies defeated. His dark hair was slicked back, and his smile was wide and sharp, and he moved with the confidence of a man who had never lost a fight he truly cared about.The crowd roared his name. "Ramiro! Ramiro! Ramiro!"I watched him walk to the center of the sand, and I felt my hands curl into fists on my lap. He raised his arms, and the crowd roared louder, and I wanted to scream at them to stop."Look at him," a no
The snow burned my knees through the holes in my trousers, and I had been kneeling for what felt like hours, though time moved differently when you were waiting to die, and I had been waiting to die for as long as I could remember.The chains bit into my wrists, the metal so cold that it felt like
Sergio's POVThe morning after Leandro stayed in my room, I woke to find him gone.The space beside me was still warm, and the indent of his body was still pressed into the mattress, and I could smell him on the pillows, like snow and smoke and something wild that I was starting to recognize. I la
I woke the morning after my meeting with Ramiro, and the first thing I saw was the tray of food on the table, still untouched from the day before.The fire had burned low while I slept, and the room was cold enough that I could see my own breath hanging in the air. My back ached from pressing again
The nobles smiled at me whenever I walked through the halls of the Ice Castle, and that was how I knew they wanted me dead, because I had learned to read smiles a long time ago, back when I was a child who needed to know whether the person approaching him was going to hurt him or just walk past.My







