Page 17 of Tender Captivity
“I don’t doubt it, my heart,” Holian said, overjoyed to have found a fierce human to fight at his side.
Chapter 9
Jinna wasn’t sure what to expect, but the way the Challenge platform was set up made her think more of an outdoor concert than the gladiator arena she’d pictured. The raised platform was half ringed with a twenty-foot stone wall. It had no seating, so everyone in the audience was standing. To the right of the platform was a cordoned-off area with ten Talins all wearing dark gray robes and an eleventh one wearing dark green robes.
Dalt and Holian stood on one side of the platform, but no one else was there. The guy he was fighting hadn’t shown up yet, which was raising murmurs throughout the crowd. Because Nelaran was from a political clan, they were allowed to pick a warrior outside the family to fight Holian. But as a trained warrior, Holian couldn’t use a substitute.
Picking a champion to fight in his place struck Jinna as the type of cowardly thing Nelaran would do.
Renalan stood with them and explained what was going on. “Those are the Facilitators,” he said pointing to the Talinswearing the gray robes. “They have the right to stop the Challenge or change it. They can also declare a winner even if both Challengers are still standing.”
That reminded Jinna of boxing where a fighter could win on points. The Facilitators were the equivalent of judges and referees.
“How often does that happen?” Lakin asked. “That they stop a Challenge?”
“Almost never,” Renalan answered. “But Challenges are rare also. They tend to only happen once every few years. The Apogee Assembly has to approve the Challenge, which they don’t do often. But both Holian and Nelaran’s families are such distinguished and well-known citizens, this couldn’t be ignored.”
“I think there’s more to it,” Lakin said grimly. “I’m sure a lot of Talins see this as a showdown between Traditionalists and Reformists. When I read the Apogee Assembly’s announcement, it was easy to tell it was the Traditionalists who were pushing hard for this Challenge to be approved. I’m sure they think they have him cornered and defeated even before the fighting has begun.”
As if Lakin had timed it, no sooner had she finished speaking than a massive Talin walked onto the platform. Talins in general stood about eight feet tall, but this male had to be almost ten feet in height. His shoulders were broad, and his keratin plates stretched across a heavily muscled body.
The male looked like he was a cross between a Talin and an armored vehicle!
Jinna sucked in a startled breath as surprised murmurs and rumbles sounded throughout the audience.
“No!” She grabbed Renalan. “You have to stop this. Go tell Holian to run. He’s going to die out there.”
Renalan sounded a soothing rumble that did nothing to calm Jinna. “Size doesn’t mean skill. Holian might be smaller than this male, but he’s highly trained.”
“Holian trained as a solider. He probably trained with distance weapons,” Jinna argued. “This is going to be claw-to-claw combat. He won’t stand a chance.”
“Have some faith in your man,” Lakin admonished her, even though she was obviously a little worried as well. “I’ve seen Dalt take down half a dozen opponents, all better armed than him. Holian was a warrior too and still trains with the retired soldiers on Kalor. He’s got to have a lot of skill stored in him.”
“Have you ever seen him fight?” Jinna asked.
Lakin’s expression wasn’t reassuring. “No, but he’s got to be good.” She looked over to Renalan. “Right?”
That’s when Jinna started looking around and plotting. If things got bad, she’d find some way to shut this whole thing down, even if she had to set fire to something. She eyed Nelaran standing with his family. Or perhaps set fire to someone.
“Hey,” Lakin said, leaning in close to her ear. “If it looks like it’s going to go bad for Holian, I have an idea.”
“Yeah?” Jinna asked, giving the woman with a collar full of hidden tools her full attention.
“Oh yeah.” Lakin’s smile turned into a Cheshire cat grin. “I’ve already seen three ways to cause chaos.” She pointed to a section of the audience near some discreetly hidden control panels. “Tell Renalan you want to move over there.”
It only took a single request from Jinna, and Renalan moved the three of them to the spot Lakin indicated. Getting there was surprisingly easy considering how thick the crowd was. But all Renalan had to do was rattle out a sharp bark of sound with his back plates to get others’ attention. They would look over, see the humans, and move out of the way. Some even offered candy as the women passed.
By the time they made it to the spot, both of them were holding a handful of the sweet, sticky treats. With a rumble of amusement, Renalan took them and tucked them away.
“You probably don’t feel like consuming those at the moment,” he murmured gently, his eyes on Jinna. “Be assured, Holian will step off that platform victorious. No other option is viable.”
“Good,” Jinna answered, feeling a little better now that she had an ally in Lakin.
One of the Talins in a gray robe was speaking to the crowd. Her words were monotone and formal, giving Jinna the impression it was part of the Challenge etiquette. As the Talin spoke, Jinna glanced around the crowd. Her eyes fell on Nelaran and his family. Their jewel-encrusted belts sparkled in the bright sunlight. He and his parents all looked haughty and kept their gaze on the platform as if even acknowledging the crowd would be demeaning.
She wished Nelaran was up there fighting Holian. At least then she wouldn’t need to worry.
Suddenly everyone around her went still. She swung her gaze back to the platform to find Holian handing his belt to Dalt and saying some last words. Dalt nodded and said something back before Holian turned away.
