Page 57 of The Shadows Between Us
“Excellent! We have a contender! Step forward, young miss!”
I move my legs, but Leandros grips my arm in a vice. “What are you doing?”
“Competing.”
“You can’t do that. The king will have my head.”
I lean forward. “Good thing we need never tell him of this.”
“Alessandra! You’re a lady!”
“Not tonight,” I remind him, and yank back my arm before stepping into the circle.
I look down at my heavy skirts, but I lose my balance as I do so. Luckily I catch myself before toppling over. “Does anyone have a tie they could lend me?”
No fewer than five men rip hairbands, cravats, belts, or other items from their person to hand over.
I accept a belt and use it to heft my skirts up and away from my legs, before cinching it all in the back.
Several whistles sound appreciatively.
I’m glad Leandros gave me scraps to wear tonight. I’d hate to ruin one of my own dresses.
“What do you call yourself, miss?” the mediator asks me.
I think to give my real first name, but I rather like the idea of something more fun, such as the Viper.
An image of Kallias comes to mind, of the role I desire so fiercely. “Call me the Shadow Queen.”
The mediator shouts the title for the crowd to hear. The boy with the cup runs around the outside, and the gentlemen and ladies place their bets.
“Step up to the center, ladies.”
I keep my eyes on her chins.
Yes, there are two of them. Didn’t she have one when she first started fighting?
“Fight,” the mediator says as he slaps his hand on the ground.
The Viper strikes high toward my face immediately, as I knew she would. I drop down in a crouch and shove my fist as hard as it will go into the middle of her stomach.
She careens backward, her arms going to where I struck her. The crowd goes wild, and my hand throbs. I know enough to keep my thumb outside my fist, but my skin and knuckles are unused to such contact.
The Viper recovers an instant later, shaking out her hands as if she can will the pain away. She bounces toward me, and I keep my eyes on her face.
Her jaw clenches, her left fist coming forward. I sidestep, trying to get in a jab toward her face, but she blocks with an arm like steel, the movement sending a jolt up my arm.
She follows with a punch to my face.
I don’t dodge in time.
Her fist connects just below my eye, and my neck cracks backward from the force of it.
Gravity claims me, pulling me toward the ground. I can see rows and rows of pant-clad legs from where I land. They’re spinning. No, the whole room is. I feel liquid running down my face. Blood? Tears? Spit? Somewhere distantly I think I hear Leandros’s voice.
Then everything goes dark.
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