Embers in the Dark

The Griffin God

After ensuring Micah was locked away and her dressing room was spotless, Lilly made her way to the warrior's box inside the arena and plopped down on a bench, feeling miserable, angry and pent up. She rolled her head back with a growl, completely ignoring the match that was currently taking place as well as the other fighters on the benches. She gazed up at the tournament bracket floating high in the air, realizing she had missed Tora's first fight.

"Shit," she thought to herself.

She hadn't meant to miss any of the fighting, but when she read Patrick's letter, all Lilly could think about was having Eliza and Isaac's deaths avenged. As she held her head in her hands, Lilly didn't even bother to acknowledge who sat down next to her.

"Problems?" Tora asked sweetly.

"A little," Lilly grumbled softly.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"You missed my fight."

"I know, I'm sorry," Lilly said with a frown, looking at Tora sadly. "Did you give people a run for their money, at least?"

"Oh yeah!" Tora laughed. "Gembira put up quite a fight, but she proved to be too impatient and inexperienced."

"Ah," Lilly replied, gazing at the two fighters in the middle of the arena before checking the flashing section of the tournament bracket. "Ping and Takeshi are fightin', huh?"

"Yes."

"They any good?" Lilly asked as she watched the two men go at each other with swords.

"They're decent," Tora replied. Lilly leaned back casually as she rested her elbows on the bench rail behind her, studying the movements of the two opponents. "Your bracelet is flashing."

Lilly sighed and clicked on the blue bead, narrowing her eyes when she saw Arthur's face pop up. "Lillian," he said sternly.

"What do you want, Arthur?" Lilly asked bitterly.

"Just tellin' you that we got Bhumika taken care of," he replied with a sigh.

"Good. Anythin' else?"

"We have an uneven amount of fighters now, so is there anyone you want to spare from the tournament?"

"Konstantine. He's the one who warned me about Bhumika, so he shouldn't have to die," Lilly replied.

"Okay. I'll let him know."

"Great," Lilly said unenthusiastically. "Bye."

"Wait a da-"

Lilly clicked the bead and Arthur's face disappeared, then she went back to watching the fight.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

When Lilly's face vanished from above Arthur's bracelet, a deep set frown appeared on his face. Now that he had some time to cool off, he felt really bad about getting mad at her. He knew Lilly simply didn't know better and that she often acted without thinking first. Arthur couldn't blame her for wanting to expose Micah immediately, though.

After informing Vu of Lilly's decision, he made his way through the halls to the fighter's box, poking his head through the door to search for Lilly. He saw her chatting away with Tora. The Irish woman seemed relaxed, but Arthur knew better. As he approached the two women from behind, he began to hear parts of their conversation.

"Mr. Morgan spent a fortune getting all of this together for you, Lilly, so I can certainly understand why he got upset about Micah," Tora remarked.