Page 71 of Crown of Ashes and Awe

I ignored the question and huffed. “Why am I here? If I will be punished too, why can't I join my friends until it's my turn?”

"All in good time. All in good time."

I gestured to the mob. “They all know I hate you. They can see it in my eyes. Hosting me here only makes you look like a fool.”

He shrugged with one shoulder. “Keeping you here is part of your punishment. And I don't care what these people think. They are…temporary. I am forever.”

I finally understood. "You, your name doesn't go into the collective. Do they know that?” It was my turn to smirk, but my smirk was short-lived.

“Next, we have the bull man. Bring him forward!”

After dragging and fighting Sweetie all the way to the center of the arena, the guards surprised me. Instead of removing the ropes from Sweetie's horns and arms, they dropped them and ran.

No weapons were forthcoming.

At the right end of the arena, opposite Kivi and Lennon, a large door opened and a giant bull, black as night, came trotting out, expectant. Ears forward and alert, it searched the first row of seats, looking for a target.

Sweetie stood perfectly still, waiting for it to find him. His only weapons were his horns. Hopefully, that would be enough.

I didn't want to watch, but I couldn't look away as if I could help Sweetie by keeping my eyes upon him.

The animal made it nearly all the way around the arena before noticing Sweetie. It turned to face him and stopped, assessed.

Sweetie braced himself, and it must have been the movement of his horns that set the bull off. Or maybe it was the smell of blood that still lingered on the ground. In either case, the bull began pawing at the dirt. It snorted and snuffed, lowered its head, and charged.

Sweetie waited until it was mere feet away before he stepped aside. A horn caught on his arm and ripped, causing the bull to spin. When it had its balance again, it searched for Sweetie, who had run to the opposite side of the space.

Again, it pawed the ground, lowered its head, and ran. This time, when Sweetie jumped out of the way in the opposite direction, the bull plowed into the first row of spectators, crushing benches and sending bodies left and right. Some fleeing and others swinging from its horns.

For the first time, I jumped to my feet and cheered.

Ciro grabbed the back of my dress and pulled hard, yanking me into my seat. I folded my hands nicely in my lap, but he couldn't take the grin from my face.

All my friends were grinning too. Even Nogel.

Tearloch and I exchanged a poignant gaze that briefly soothed my heart, then we looked for Sweetie again.

Though the big man had been given no weapons, the ropes still lay in the dirt. He gathered two and tied them together while keeping his eye on the opponent that was more than four times his size. Despite the blood covering his arm, it seemed to be functioning fine.

This time, when the bull charged, it kept its eyes on Sweetie. But at the last second, it lowered its horns to do the most damage.

Sweetie moved fast, hooking his rope around the animal’s horns before turning aside. In the same smooth move, he dropped to the ground and pulled the rope over his shoulder.

The bull's front legs flew into the air, and the horns twisted along with the neck. When it landed on its back in the hard dirt, bones cracked. The beast and Sweetie lay still on the ground. Only one of them was breathing.

Again, I jumped to my feet and hooted with all my might. Ciro didn't stop me because the rest of the crowd was doing the same. I nearly screamed myself hoarse before I resumed my seat, sobered by the fact that another fight was coming.

Sweetie and Minkin reunited on the sidelines and refused to let go of each other. Perhaps they were sobered by the same thought and returned to their seats to see what Ciro had planned next.

* * *

While one ofthe green dragons took the bull from the arena, the audience was entertained by a dozen dancers that flitted up and down the steps and teased them with colorful scarves and tinkling bells. Magicians came behind them, throwing bright red and blue and yellow papers into the air that turned into tiny birds. The poor creatures flew frantically through the arena, searching for a place to land. When they ventured too near the dragons, they were snapped up by surprisingly agile jaws.

Behind the magicians came women with baskets who passed small dark things out to the crowd. Since no one put them in their mouths, I assumed it wasn’t food.

The dancers, magicians, and basket-carriers filed out of the stands and all eyes turned to the announcer. The man was practically giddy.

“This next criminal is the source of the gift you’ve all been given. Once one of the proud seraphim, his crimes have cost him…”He paused while Griffon’s guards stripped his shirt from his back, then peeled away blood-soaked bandages beneath.

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