The Knight, Death, and the Devil

Chapter 7: Talk Is Cheap

Chapter 7: Talk Is Cheap

Sosyan turned to her Sith host, keeping her eyes on the duel that was quickly coming to a close in the arena below.

"Are the fights always this one-sided?"

The human Sith leaned to whisper in his guest's ear. "Not typically. This one's a bit of an anomaly." A hushed silence had fallen over the crowd as Lord Sabinus circled the young apprentice he'd just sent sprawling to the ground.

Sosyan looked at the other faces in the crowd—all Sith Purebloods or humans, herself being the lone standout. She was Falleen, a woman with green skin that stood out starkly next to the other onlookers. She'd come to Balmorra on business, and her host had sought to woo her—in a strictly professional sense—with a show of Sith bravado. Unfortunately, she found the spectacle quite lacking. This was akin to watching an animal being led to slaughter.

A pained cry came from the arena, and she cocked her head back to see what had become of Sabinus' unskilled opponent. Instead, she saw the young man in the gray tunic kneeling over Sabinus, driving the broken blade of a sword into the man's chest. He picked up Sabinus' intact weapon and held it aloft for a moment, preparing to end the duel in a most unexpected way.

Well, this is interesting...

Sabinus' opponent let the sword drop, standing to his feet and walking away from the wounded Sith, his auburn hair a mess and eyes fixed ahead in a thousand-yard stare.

Even more interesting!

Behind him, Sabinus reached up towards his chest with a shaking hand and clenched the blade buried in it, then yanked it free. He rose to his feet, half-walking and half-falling at his enemy, ready to strike. His opponent's blade whipped backward without the man even turning around. Sabinus croaked weakly as he stood there impaled on the blade by his throat.

Sosyan grabbed the man next to her by the arm, shaking him as she watched Sabinus collapse to the ground.

"Who is that boy?" She asked hurriedly. "The young man who won."

"I'm... not sure," the Sith replied, stroking his chin. "He's Lady Vathamma's apprentice, but he's so new..." The audience rose to their feet and began to exit the stands. Sosyan followed, casting one furtive glance back at the human below before following the crowd.

'Lady Vathamma's' apprentice, her host had said—the man with whom she had spent the last few days hammering out the details of a trade agreement that would benefit both him and her syndicate.

"Your lordship," she said, stopping the Sith in the hallway outside the arena. "I'm afraid our agreement is no longer tenable."

"What do you mean?" He started.

"Circumstances have changed," she replied with a shrug.

"What could possibly have changed?" The human demanded, gesticulating wildly as the crowds squeezed by the two in the corridor.

"Circumstances," she repeated, leaving the stunned Lord in the hall to gather his thoughts as she left the arena and made her way to the cruiser waiting to take her to the starport. The Sith had been a dull man, with boring tastes and an exhaustingly intense demeanor.

And I've found something so much more interesting.

___

"Thanks for doing this. Again, I mean."

Torin watched Nomi wrap a bandage around his hand, the scar on his other one still faintly visible despite the med gel slathered on it repeatedly.

"It is my pleasure, master."