Valiance

chapter 7

7.

The second day of training went much like the first for all of the contestants. Train. Train. Train. And now as the contestants were eating their final dinner before the Tournament finally began, all they spoke about and had on their minds was training. They all shared an identical serving of meat, potatoes and a handful of various vegtables. Nothing glamourous but probably better than what most of the contestants were used to, living in the Runts.

"Welker you want in?" Gage looked up.

"In on what?" Gage asked.

"Our bet on who we think will be out first round." Gage took a mouthful of his water and set the glass back down before he joined in on their conversation.

"I'm betting that Jensen will be out." Neon admitted. Gage took a look at Jensen who was sitting quietly down the other end of the table, out of hearing range.

"Nah, I'm betting that pretty girl, Persephone, will be out first." Kapaneus said from his seat, his mouth full of food.

"Only because you are going after her!" Some of the men laughed and Gage joined in.

"Half of us are going after her first but lets all face it, none of us will really finish her off until the end!" Again the men began laughing.

"She's pretty fiesty though. We might have trouble with her." Roran pointed out.

"With her? No way! The only trouble we'll have with her is trying to fight one another off so we can get her for ourselves!" Kapaneus spoke again.

"Maybe we should get her included in this bet then. She's probably got a fourtune in her name and might not mind parting with it for our bet." Swinthin laughed with the rest of them.

"What does it matter? How will any of you be able to collect your winnings?" Gage asked Neon. His sharp blue eyes were striking and it felt as if they were piercing him, but that didn't phase him.

"Inbetween rounds, of course." Swinthin suggested.

"And who's to say that you lot won't be the first ones out?" Gage retorted now. Some of the contestants 'woo'd' now and the tension in the room was suddenly degrees higher than he could have imagined it ever could be.

"Is that a threat Welker?" Neon asked him. Gage raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know, is there need for one?" Gage challenged him. Neon smiled with malice in his eyes.

"Of course not."

"Well, I guess there wasn't a threat then."

"Put me down for the girl being out within the first hour." Dean called over to Neon who held a pen and sheet of paper in his hands. He wrote something down on the page and looked up.

"Anymore takers?"

"Put me down for the girl being out in the first ten minutes. I heard that the Ruler has a few tricks up his sleeve for a few people this year. Some of which are sitting around me and one is in her bedroom." Eros told them all. Gage looked for confirmation in the other men. Some of them nodded and smiled while others looked intimidated and frightened of the knowledge let slip by Eros.

"And how in the name of Eragon did you find that out?" Ben asked skceptically.

"How he has found out every other thing he knows; from seducing the woman that surround the Ruler." Ewald explained to Ben.