Page 100 of A Tribute of Fire

At first I thought she meant Theano, but I realized she meant the woman who had claimed sanctuary. “What will happen to her?”

“There are safe houses that are funded by the temple. Worshippers bring monetary and food gifts here to the goddess, which we use to provide for ourselves and to assist women who are being mistreated and ask us for help.”

I supposed something like that would be necessary in a society where men hurt women. It was not the Locrian way.

Why had things changed in my nation and not here? Maybe it was in response to Ajax’s actions and the repercussions. It might have caused the men to choose to be and do better. Or perhaps the Locrian women had demanded the change so that we wouldn’t be cursed even worse.

Ahyana waved at the ceiling and I glanced up, seeing Kunguru watching us from the rafters.

Antiope approached our group and there was a tiny flicker of excitement in my stomach. Would my training start now?

“Tell your bird to leave,” she said to Ahyana. “He needs to stay outside.”

It made me wonder how many times Kunguru had attended their sessions.

With a small frown Ahyana cupped her hand next to her mouth and said, “Kunguru, you have to go outside. I don’t want you to go, but Antiope says you must.”

He cocked his head, as if he understood. Which was silly because birds couldn’t speak. And even if they could, there was no way he would have been able to hear over all the noise of the priestesses and acolytes still feverishly discussing what had just taken place in the courtyard.

Kunguru flew from the rafter to a windowsill. His black feathers gleamed in the sunlight, and it was almost like he was taunting Antiopeby mostly following her orders. Technically, most of him was outside, while his feet and head remained inside the building.

The battle master shook her head in annoyance and then climbed up on the dais. She knelt before Theano and they seemed to be speaking to one another. I wished I could hear what they were saying.

Then Antiope got to her feet and yelled, “Silence!”

The gymnasium fell quiet, with only a few murmurings here and there. It didn’t surprise me that people were so quick to obey her after what I’d just seen. I wondered if Antiope was going to address how the men had entered the temple grounds. Remind us that there was a reason why we trained so hard.

But she didn’t do that. “It is time for the weekly matchups to determine rankings! And our first fight will be between Artemisia ...”

Artemisia walked over to the center ring and smirked at the crowd, some women patting her on the back as she passed by.

“And Lia of Locris.”

My adrenaline spiked at the announcement. What? Why?

Had this been Theano’s choice or Antiope’s? And what was the intention here? To embarrass me?

“She’s not trained!” Maia called back, which surprised me. I knew she was my adelphia’s mentor and charged with watching over us, but she seemed quiet and meek. Not the type to openly defy Antiope. “It isn’t fair.”

If Antiope was bothered by Maia speaking up, she didn’t show it. “What better way is there for the novice to learn than to fight the best? Come into the center ring, Lia.”

Zalira clapped me on the shoulder. “She usually tries to sweep the feet. Watch out for that.”

I didn’t tell her that I had personal experience already with that particular move of Artemisia’s.

My heart was thudding slowly as I walked toward the ring. I didn’t know how to play this. I wanted to protect myself, to keep from getting too hurt. I also wanted to inflict some damage on Artemisia as payback.

There was another part of me that wanted to impress Antiope. To show her that I was someone worth investing her time in.

None of that would be possible, though. I couldn’t let any of them suspect that my background was royal because of the temple rules. I considered whether I should pretend to know absolutely nothing about fighting, but I figured that might also seem suspect, given that I’d survived the race and being chased by armed men.

Somehow I was going to have to walk a path in the middle.

I was obviously going to have to lose.

Antiope handed me a staff. It wasn’t something I’d ever trained very much with, as Demaratus had preferred things that were pointy.

“Try not to get hit,” she said as I entered the ring.

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