Kings Game

Chapter 14 - The Iron Gauntlet (5)

Roran fell on his butt. Most of his body hurt, the only parts that didn't hurt were the ones he couldn't feel at all. Between his throbbing head and the constant taste of blood in his mouth, he thought he was going to be sick. He wanted to lay down and take a nap.

"No you don't." Strong hands grabbed his armpits and pulled him back to his feet. "Up we go, no falling asleep on me."

"Kell?" Roran's voice came out hoarse and scratchy. It hurt to talk.

"Who else were you expecting? Come on kid, let's get you cleaned up. You did a damn good job here."

"I got lucky."

"You beat a monster that even I couldn't take down."

"That's because you kept attacking him head on. You needed to throw him off balance, find his weak points-" Roran started coughing, his throat too damaged for long conversations.

"We can discuss the details later. Nul's waiting for us." Kell started walking him out of the arena. "We need to get your head checked. That was a hell of a blow you took."

"Wait." Roran stopped and looked around the arena. "I need to talk to someone."

"Who?"

Roran pointed. Across the arena was the kid Duran had almost splattered.

"Yeah alright. I'll get him." Kell put a hand to her mouth and whistled, the shrill sound startling the people around them. "Oi, shorty. Yeah you, come over here."

The kid looked terrified and shook his head.

Kell glared at him. "Don't make me come over there. Hurry up."

After a brief moment of hesitation, the kid hustled over to them, hugging himself as he got close. Between Kell's angry demeanor and Roran's bloody visage, the kid was practically shaking as he stood in front of them.

Roran reached into his pocket and pulled out the orb. The bright light had diminished to a gentle, swirling glow. He held it out to the kid. "Here, you can have this back."

The kid just stared at him.

"Take it, I told you I was only borrowing it."

With a trembling hand, the kid took the orb from Roran.

"Don't fight in the next round," said Roran. "Just take the money and help your people."

The kid nodded and took off running, sprinting out of the arena and back into darkness.

"That was awfully nice of you," said Kell.

"I wouldn't have been able to beat Duran if it wasn't for him. It wouldn't be right to keep the orb."

Kell grinned at him, "Like I said, you're an awfully nice person. I wish I'd met someone like you when I was his age. Come on, your brains are going to start leaking out of your ears if we don't get you to a healer."

Half leading and half dragging him, Kell took Roran back down into the hallways of the Crucible. She guided him to a small room with a cot and a cabinet, similar to the medical room in the King's Arena. Nul was already there waiting for them.

"Well done," Nul said.

"Thanks for the support," Roran said.

Nul just shrugged and gestured to the cot. Kell shoved Roran onto it.

"I'll go find a healer," she said, and left.

"Is there any water?" Roran asked.

Nul produced a waterskin and handed it to him. "Take small sips," they said.

Roran did as he was told, drinking a small mouthful at a time to clear the blood and grit from his tongue and teeth. He sighed, feeling marginally better.

"That was clever," said Nul, "The way you took down Duran."

"Thanks."

Roran took out the handful of orbs, their soft swirling light illuminating the room.

"How much do you think I'll get for these?"

"Not as much as you'll get for claiming Duran's bounty. He was a fixture in the Crucible, killing him is going to net you a lot of coin."

"Favors," Roran said with a sigh, "It's going to put a lot of favors into my town's coffers."

Nul placed a hand on Roran's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I'm sorry you're stuck with them. I know what it's like to be saddled with a crappy family."

"That's the worst part," said Roran, "They're not even my family. My mother was my only family and she died before the war came to our town. I guess I feel like I owe them because they gave me scraps so I could survive the winters."

"How long are you going to put up with them?"

"Just until they're out of the Crucible. Once they're free of the dungeons, and can work for a living, then I'll leave them. They can make it on their own from there."

Nul nodded. "I hope it works out that way."

Kell returned with the healer. He looked Roran over, and declared that he wasn't in imminent danger of dying from a brain bleed. After sealing Roran's wounds with salve and bandages, the healer tried to depart but Kell blocked his way.

"Give him the good stuff, we're paying."

Shrugging, he reached into his bag and pulled out a couple of small tablets and a little bottle of tonic. "The pills will stop any internal bleeding," he said, "And the tonic will rapidly increase your body's natural healing abilities. You should be good to fight again by tomorrow morning."

Roran took tablets, which were chalky and bitter, and washed them down with the tonic. It tasted like pine needles and lemon. Kell handed the healer a few large coins in return and let him depart.

Kell grinned at Roran. "Tomorrow should be fun. I'm excited to see how you do. Until then, what do you say we cash in your winnings and get you some good food?"

Roran tried to stand up and immediately fell back down onto the cot.

"Give the medicine time to work," said Nul, "He's still in pain."

"I'll be okay," said Roran, trying to stand again.

This time Nul pushed him back down. "No, you're still injured and bleeding. Sit here for another half hour. By then the medicine should be working."

Kell pouted but Roran smiled. "Thank you both for looking after me. I owe you."

Both Nul and Kell tried to respond at once.

"No you don't."

"You don't owe us anything."

Roran cocked his eyebrow at them.

Kell rolled her eyes while Nul said, "We gave you a hand, but you're doing all the hard work. Both of us would be grateful if you help us defeat the Kings, but you're not obligated to help us. It's a big ask, much bigger than the help we're giving you. Just focus on staying alive and winning this event."

Roran nodded and smiled at them both. "Thank you."

In the back of his mind, Roran thought about how his mother would have liked his new friends.