*WARNING! There is a little romance here!*
#KillMatch #SaturdayScenes #Dystopian #Fantasy
ENJOY!
**
I flew out into the streets, not stopping until I had finally reached the clock tower. Watches had become a thing of the past, very few making it through the wars of before, but Kardia had been blessed with one large clock that was held with pride on the face of one of only three towers the city held. Those that believed in a God came here to worship it. The place was almost always empty.
I crawled up the staircase, slowing my step on the crumbling stone, as I made my way up into the inner workings of the watch tower. I would come here simply to find solace in a city that had none. My heart eased as the familiar planks beneath me creaked and as soon as my back hit the outer wall I slid to the floor.
My eyes had only just closed a few moments when I heard the whine of the boards. My vision quickly shot a look in the direction of the sound, seeing the familiar form of Nile. His breath ran ragged as he plopped down beside me. A huge smile was plastered on his face and I raised my eyebrow in demand of an explanation. He puffed out a thick cloud of air, catching the falling pieces of his hair and the wind pushing them away from his eyes.
“What? I saw you running through the streets like a mad woman and figured you were too excited to be going wherever you were. Forgive me if I like to be included in the joy.”
I rolled my eyes at his ridiculousness.
“So, are you impressed?”
He took a moment to glance glance around at the empty room, pretending to really consider the question. Clock gears and dust being the only things to see. His smile widened as he looked back to me.
“Oh, yeah.”
He leaned his back into the wall, our shoulders touching as he relaxed into the room. Just as my eyes began to flutter closed, I felt Nile’s gaze shift to me and my lids pushed back open. He searched my face, his easy going smile completely gone, before he finally asked what I assumed to be the real reason he followed me here for.
“I heard through a few servants that Mantus made an appearance at Alexander’s today. Something about a celebratory brunch for his son’s first fight?”
I played with the hem of my shirt, needing something to distract me from the worried look on Nile’s face. He had given me it many times and the only time it bothered me was when I knew it was warranted. I shook my head in agreement.
“He doesn’t seem to care for me at all. Luckily, Nero needed me to appear completely competent. He was very protective of me around his father. Alexander must have warned him of the consequences for a Lanista to have a Gladiator who is frowned on by the Etruscan. He wouldn’t have given special treatment just because it just happened to be his father.” I said.
Nile’s eyes narrowed and his brows pinched.
“That’s a dangerous game, Libby. Trusting a prince to keep you safe from a heartless king.”
I stood up in disgust at the accusation in his tone.
“You say that as if I have a choice! I would die happy if I never had to see any of the Etruscan’s family again. I was chosen long ago, when I was still only just a child, Nile. I’m lucky enough to have avoided meeting them this long.”
The fight drained out of me realizing how different it would have been if Alexander hadn’t protected me all of those years. I was truly lucky.
Nile stood, wiping his palms on his pants. The vest he wore fluttered when he moved, exposing a bare chest, tanned with too many days in the hot sun. I appraised him wondering when we had both grown into adulthood. He caught my eyes and smiled, a dimple appearing in his left cheek and his eyes dancing with mischief once again.
“I know you’re right, I just need you to be careful. Who would I pester if you were locked away in the King’s fortress, hmm? Think of me, will you?”
I laughed at his teasing when he reached, grabbing both of my hands in his. I looked up into his face and saw the worry of a boy I had always known.
“In all seriousness, don’t let anything happen okay?”
I nodded, my words lost in the tension. Before I could fully wrap my mind around his words, Nile leaned in, brushing the lightest kiss against my lips. My heart fluttered for a moment, then thumped back into place. He had hurried away from me the moment his lips left mine, a shy gleam I had never seen, taking over.
“For luck.” He said. “We should probably be going, our fights begin at sundown.”
He took off, knowing I would follow. My fingers reached to my lips, brushing the ghost of a kiss left there. I had known one day we would have to find husbands and wives and my heart broke at the thought of losing my best friend to another. But what if we were to choose each other? The thought had crossed my mind several times over the last year, but each time it did, my stomach twisted in knots at the uncertainty. When I pictured Nile and I together, it had never been romantically.
I let out the breath I had been holding and rushed out of the tower. Things like kisses and love would have to wait, right now there was a ruthless Gladiator I had to fight and pray that I could make it out unscathed.
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