Page 37 of Souls of Steel
Prince Archibald paused for effect and on cue, the crowd exploded into raucous cheers and applause. I didn’t join them.
I hadn’t known too much about Chimera Academy before my arrival here, but I’d always gotten some facts straight. It was an all-male school. It was intended to train students to fight aliens. And it held a tournament once per decade, to honor those students and every graduate who’d fallen in battle.
Normally, I would’ve been excited at the prospect at having the chance to see it in person. But there was something that bothered me a lot. The Grand Tartarus Tournament had already taken place, when I’d been twelve. It was part of the reason why I was so fascinated with chimeras. The Tournament was always transmitted to Earth and it had been the first time I’d truly gotten to see chimeras in action.
Knox, Brendan, August, and Pollux hadn’t been tamers then, although the Typhon had been on the scene. I also remembered some smaller chimeras, the Hydra and the Pegasus, machines that now appeared to be dormant.
Taking all that into account, it shouldn’t have been organized again until I was at least in my twenties. It was strange in the extreme and I had the terrible suspicion that this change, too, was intended to target me.
“This is of course, a great honor, but one that doesn’t come without risks,” Prince Archibald said. “You are not required to attend, but be advised that if you do not do so, you will forfeit your chance at becoming Grand Chimera tamers.”
So that was his game. If I didn’t join the tournament or failed abysmally, they could separate me and the Sphinx by claiming I was incompetent. I clenched my fists in anger and frustration. Over my dead body. I’d already made my decision—to stay here, for her, for me, for my lovers, and for every woman who needed to be rescued from her misery. I wouldn’t let anyone get in my way.
“The tournament will start in a week’s time and will have three stages. The qualifiers will take place here, at the academy. You will receive more details on it that day. I advise you to be prepared for anything. The school will not be held accountable for any damage you might receive.” He smiled again and the expression clashed with the warning he’d just given us. “In the name of King Philip Chimera and The Grand Judiciary, I wish you all the best of luck. May we all have a most successful tournament.”
“Successful,” I muttered under my breath as the teachers left the stage. “Is that a euphemism for deadly?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Brendan answered with a sigh. “Tournaments are really harsh. The qualifiers are usually brutal beyond all levels of expectations, although no one has died in three decades. It’s considered a bit of a record.”
That didn’t sound all that reassuring, since three editions of the tournament were hardly a reliable method to gauge the amount of trouble we were in. “I guess we’ll have to make sure that record moves up to four.”
“Don’t tell me you plan on participating,” Pollux protested as soon as he heard my words.
“Of course I will,” I snapped back. “I might not have a lot of time at the academy, but that won’t stop me.”
“You haven’t even gotten the chance to shoot a gun, Selene,” Knox reasoned. “You don’t have a chance.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I answered, hurt despite my best attempt to not let his attitude get to me. “I don’t need to shoot a gun to pilot a chimera. Besides, I have other weapons.”
“You’re lovely, Ms. Renard, but I don’t think your feminine charms will help you in The Grand Tartarus Tournament,” someone else said from behind me. I hadn’t realized the other students had been paying attention to the conversation between me and my lovers. In hindsight, that had been stupid of me.
I turned on my heel, only to face Jared Glass and the rest of the Harpy tamers. He and I didn’t interact a lot, but he was among the few people who still verbally harassed me despite Tiny Typhon’s constant presence. It wasn’t a huge secret in the school that I was sleeping with the other members of my unit and he liked to point it out in front of everyone. He seemed to believe I’d come here specifically to be Brendan’s sex toy, but I’d stopped caring about that a long time ago.
Knox snarled in irritation. “Stay out of this, Glass. It’s none of your business.”
“Of course it’s my business.” Glass smirked. “I’m a fellow concerned student and I have to consider the interests of the school.”
“Tell me, what tooth cleansing lotion do you use?” I asked sweetly. “It must be quite the product if you manage to spout that kind of chimera excrement on a regular basis without having permanent bad breath.”
Gaia help me, did these people never tire of being idiots? I had enough on my plate fighting against the absurdity of the authorities without dealing with such pettiness too.
The dean’s return seemed to have emboldened Glass, because today, he was particularly vicious. He twitched in irritation at my comment, but otherwise ignored it. “Tell you what, Ms. Renard? Are you up for a bet?”
Alarm bells started ringing in my head, but I couldn’t back out of this conversation, not yet, not without losing face. “A bet? How childish. I’ll hear you out, but don’t expect more.”
“Oh, I assure there’s nothing childish about this bet.” Glass’s dark blue eyes met mine, unreadable and sharp. “The terms are quite simple. If you qualify for the next stage of the tournament, we’ll all acknowledge you as worthy of being a student at this institution. If you don’t, you’ll drop out of Chimera Academy and become a sex worker in Persephone’s Plaza.”
I had no idea what Persephone’s Plaza was, but I could extrapolate. I’d seen enough in Tartarus City to make a few guesses. I also had no intention of playing his game or letting him bait me into bullshit like that. “That doesn’t seem like a fair deal,” I replied. “I’ve already been officially acknowledged as a tamer. That’s why I’m here. I don’t need your opinion to validate my position.”
Anger flickered through his gaze at my defiance. “Is that a fact? I think you’re just a cowardly Terran whore.”
“Again, I don’t care about your opinion,” I replied. “But if you’re insisting on this nonsense, how about we make things even? If I qualify and you don’t, you drop out of the Harpy Squad.”
I didn’t think he’d take me up on it. The tournament was difficult and there were no guarantees. Brendan and the others had said that Jared Glass had become a tamer by the skin of his teeth. He wouldn’t want to risk what he’d accomplished with such difficulty.
I’d underestimated his determination and arrogance. “Deal,” he said with a smirk. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you. I look forward to pounding that sweet pussy every single day, until you’re so loose you won’t even be able to walk straight.”
“Charming,” I answered, hiding my shock and dread under a mask of nonchalance. If I’d known he’d act like that, I never would’ve agreed, not when I didn’t have all the information. I’d miscalculated, badly, but I wouldn’t let him scare me. “No wonder you need whores if that’s your behavior toward women,” I continued. “No self-respecting woman would give you the time of day.”
