The House of Daggers (#NaNoWriMo 18)

Chapter 3

A collective gasp. The blade dug deep into Reek's abdomen. Blood gurgled out of his slack mouth. He hunched forward, head dipping.

Kara scrambled out from under him, unable to stand or think or talk. Violent spasms raked her gut, and out came scalding bile.

"I'm free now, Kara." It was Reek, a dead kid talking. "They can't tell us how to die."

Kara couldn't bear to look at him.

"What a turn of events," the announcer said. "The boy takes his life to spare his true love."

Now all she could do was stare at Reek and wonder if she'd heard the truth. "Me?"

Reek nodded, and fell on his face.

She'd never seen the boy before. How could he have fallen in love without speaking a word to her? How could he have fallen in love in a place like this? She crawled over to Reek and turned him on his side. He coughed up more blood as she did so.

"Stay," he whispered, reaching for her hand.

Kara held his hand. Something inside her heart broke. She wished all would disappear to let this boy die in peace. Even now, Superiors were claiming their bets. Reek was just a number to them.

"I'm scared," he said.

What could she say that would ever comfort him? She could only stroke his hair and hope her brother would not meet the same fate. She watched as Reek's life spilled out of him. His hand stiffened, lifeless as a mask.

Numbness. That's all there was left. All around her buzzed laughter and argument. Jangling chainmail alerted her. Her eyes cut to the blood-spattered sword hilt, to the elated Superiors, to the big-nosed blade-man approaching Reek's body. Reek had sacrificed himself to stage a silent rebellion. She had to honor his death in some way. He had to mean more than just a faceless number.

Kara pulled the sword out of Reek's gut. She picked one Superior out of the horde of them. Unlike the others, he simply stood there, his mask fixated on her. She yanked her sword arm back. Aimed. And threw the sword with all the strength she could muster.

Steel whirred. All eyes focused on the blade as it wheeled towards a Superior's mask. The masked Superior jerked. The blade glanced his mask. Shards of silver burst like sparks, partially revealing the bloody cheek of a man.

"Is this what you all came here to see? A boy just died and all you can do is count coin? In case you've forgotten, that sword cuts you as well as it cuts me."

"You weasel. We'll see about that." The blade-man hurtled forward, sword held high.

The sound of metal hitting stone intercepted the blade-man. The Superior she'd targeted had thrown the sword down into the Pit.

"If we're going to watch a girl get butchered, it should at least be exciting," the Superior said, his voice full of silk. "Pick up the sword, girl. And entertain us, will you?"

Kara scrambled to the sword without a question and wrapped her fingers round the handle. For as long as she'd been imprisoned here, she'd never truly handled a sword. She was already battling hunger as well as fatigue.

The blade-man let out a guttural roar and bull-rushed her. An endless length of steel crashed down. She twisted her body. Parried with her blade. The force of the blow nearly snapped her wrist. She stumbled backwards to regain position, rubbing her bruised wrist.

Now the blade-man strolled towards her. He was toying with her. Kara knew that if he wanted to, he could have cut her in half after the first swing; he carried his sword as if it had the weight of a stick.