House of Winter

Chapter 19, Part 1

ARI

"Can you stop that?" Ari snapped at Pythos Savvas.

He was an internationally beloved kinncharging champion, revered for his grace and speed on a charging pitch. His fans made no secret of their love for his broad shoulders, dark skin and his silver-grey locs. But Ari had never spent such a long time in the presence of one man and every single thing he did was starting to annoy her.

She had been furious at him when he had used a banner with her sister's face at the Midwinter Championships, but she had realised how much she had needed his help when she went to Vastier. She had even come to respect the way he believed in the rights of his people, and the strength of his convictions. On the boat on the way to Singtsu she had grown irritated at small things, like his whistling. But now, confined to a cell outside the palace grounds of the Singtsu palace in Kakaio, Ari found that every single thing Pythos Savvas did irritated her.

He was leaning against the wall, minding his own business, staring out the small window to the yard, and yet Ari found herself glaring at his broad back. She was convinced that it was his fault that they were here. Now they would never get out of this cell, never get out of Singtsu. She would rot in a Kaio prison.

Some Kaio soldiers were sitting in the yard outside their small prison. A few were polishing blades, another few were drinking. Presumably, they were off duty. The suns had set hours ago but the yard was lit by fires burning away in deep metal cylinders. Someone was singing.

Ari sat down on the bench again. She didn't want to watch her Kaio captors revel in the night. She was bone tired but she'd tried to sleep and had no luck, and now all she felt was irritated.

"Look," Savvas whispered.

Ari shot to her feet again and looked out the window, hoping to see Lumi. Instead she saw three girls weaving through the fires in the yard, towards the soldiers off duty. They wore silk robes that shone in the firelight and their faces were painted with gold strokes to define their cheekbones and eyes.

A man whistled, and his friends laughed, and Ari noticed that a few of the female soldiers scowled. The girls with the painted faces walked among the men, murmuring and whispering and giggling. Ari was disgusted. And she noticed that Pythos Savvas was leaning on the bars, his eyes fixated on the girls, like a hungry dog watching a clumsy child with a pork chop.

"Savvas, you are married," she snapped at him, "to a man."

Savvas laughed. "I can still admire a beautiful lady, can't I? And I think you can, too, little Arianne. Now, tell me, which one of those ladies strikes your fancy?"

Ari scowled. "You're disgusting. I would never be with any of them. They sell their bodies to the Kaio soldiers."

"And the soldiers sell their bodies to the armies. I sell my body to the championships. We all sell our bodies in some way, don't we?"

Ari scoffed.

Savvas shrugged. "I don't think it's different at all. We all can choose how to use what we have. Now tell me, which of these ladies would you choose?"

"I'm not answering that," Ari said. "Those girls are all half your age. Don't tell me you find girls my age attractive."

"Just look at them, Arianne," Savvas said, with a jeer on his face.

Arianne glared at him and then looked through the bars and over to the girls. There were three of them in total, each with black hair curled slightly, each wearing silken robes, and each with faces painted so heavily with makeup to make their eyes big and their lips red.