Song of the Sea

Chapter 9

I race into the arena and climb into the stands. The arena is shaped like an oval, with a dirt floor in the middle. Stands stretch upwards, and the people at the top have to use binoculars to see. A giant tent at the top blocks the sun from blinding us all. I manage to find a seat close to the bottom and squeeze in next to a woman with her hair in a bob. Her makeup is smudged under one eye. I'm about to tell her when the trumpets blare. The arena goes quiet.
"Hello, friends. I'm so glad all of you could make it." My father strides out onto the dirt. "Today, we will be having a duel. Only swords and daggers are permitted, and whoever surrenders first loses. If I lose, then I will leave here and never return. I will also never bother the crew of the Sea Gypsy again. If I win, then I will have my father returned to me, and none of you will be harmed. One person from each of the sides will be fighting each other. From the Sea Gypsy, we have Cairo Sullivan. Please enter the field."
Cai strides out and waves to the crowd. Everyone cheers for him and the woman next to me jumps up and down.
"And for my team," my father continues, "we have Malvinia Covett." A small girl prances onto the dirt. She has long black hair braided back from her face, and there's a long scar from her temple to her jaw that suggests she's been in battle before. She's wearing a belt of daggers and a large sword on her back. I see Cai shift when he realizes that he will be fighting a girl. No, Cai. It doesn't matter. Just fight her. I can see the conflict across his face. He shakes his head.
"I will not fight a girl," he proclaims. He tosses his sword into the dirt. I groan. The crowd boos.
"Then I will." Aric walks out. A flash of surprise crosses Cai's face. "I will fight." He picks up Cai's sword and points it at Malvinia. "Let's begin." Cai scrambles off the field and the trumpets blare again. My father grins and steps back.
"Let it begin."
Malvinia draws her sword and they circle each other. Malvinia leaps forward in a flurry of strikes and Aric reels back. He parries and manages to get under her arm, and nicks her side. She smiles at him and pulls a knife out from her belt. She drives her dagger towards his stomach and he blocks it. Aric charges towards her and she lands a kick to his stomach. He doubles over, coughing. I clench my hands. This is not going very well.
"Come on, Aric!" I scream. He looks at me, and I see something in his face shift. He stands up straight and looks at Malvinia. He says something to her, and she stiffens. Then he attacks. He leaps forward and they exchange blows before backing off. Malvinia darts forward and plunges her dagger into Aric's thigh. He lets out a roar and presses a hand to the wound. It comes away bloody. A faint smile appears on Malvinia's face. She waves at my father before returning her attention to Aric. He snarls at her before attacking. This time, though, he doesn't hold back. He cuts and thrusts at her, not giving her a chance to fight back. He presses her closer and closer to the wall until the tip of his sword makes it past her guard and rests against her throat. He presses and she backs up against the wall.
"Yield," he says. A faint sheen of sweat gleans on his brow, and blood drips from his leg. She sneers at him.
"Never," she replies. She drew a dagger from her boot and stabbed it in his stomach. He jerks back, slicing his blade across her neck. A red smile appears, and she falls to the ground. Aric sinks to the ground next to her, clutching his side. The arena is dead silent. All I can hear is my heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump. Trumpets blare.
"Aric wins," my father bellows. I turn my head to him. His face is contorted into a grimace. "I will leave at the end of the week. This duel is over." His voice breaks the spell on me. I race down to Aric and press my hands against his stomach. They quickly become covered in blood.
"Aric, you are not dying on me. I forbid it."
"Don't worry," he rasped, "it's only a little cut."
"No, it's not. Her dagger went clean into you."
He chuckles. "No. I was wearing multiple layers. Her dagger only nicked me. But act like I'm dying. It's technically cheating."
I wipe a tear away. "I'm glad you're alright."
"My angel, are you crying? I'm sure I'm not that hideous."
"No, no. I'm not crying." I sob. "Maybe I am crying. I don't want my last words to you be that I'm leaving you. I'm sorry. I should've told you that the duel was today instead of lying to you."
"Ah, well. It's all good now. Nothing bad happened, right? Where's Malvinia? I need to talk to her." Aric pushes himself into a sitting position and looks around. When he sees her body, his eyes widen. "Did I do that?"
"Um, yeah. She stabbed you, and when you fell, your sword went across her neck. It was an accident. It's okay."
"No, she's dead because of me." Aric looks away. "We were friends when we were younger. Now, look at what happened. We fight, she's dead." He buries his face into his hands. "It's my fault."
"No, it's not. Don't say that." I rub his back. "She stabbed you. You reacted. You didn't mean to hurt her, and it was her choice to fight you."
"Still. She was my friend." Aric sighs. "I need to dress my wound." I had forgotten all about his leg. I pull the fabric away and look. Blood oozes from a gash in his leg. It doesn't go very far, but there is a puddle of blood forming under him. I tear a piece of fabric off my dress and stuff it into the wound. His fingers claw at the dirt and his eyes well up. "That hurts a lot."
"Yeah, well, when you get stabbed, it's going to hurt. We need to get you to a healer." I look around. Most of the crowd has left, but a couple of people are still here. "Hey!" They all look at me. "Get me a plank of wood and some of your strongest people. We need to get him cleaned up immediately." The people disperse. The woman that I was sitting next to during the fight comes over.
"I'm Teuta. I'm being trained as a healer here. Is there anything I can do to help right now?" Her eyes darken as she takes in the wound. The cloth I put in it is seeped through with blood. "We need to turn him on his side so the blood is pulled back in."
"How will that help?" I ask. I don't want to move him until I'm sure it will help.
"Gravity will keep the blood inside the wound and prevent more blood from being lost. If enough blood is lost, then he will go into shock, and possibly die." She looks at his face. He had closed his eyes and breathes shallowly. "From the looks of it, he's beginning to."
"Oh. Okay. I'll turn him over." I shake his shoulder. "We're turning you on your side, okay? This might hurt a bit."
"As long as you're here," he murmurs. I count to three and turn him. He lets out a gasp before falling silent again. "I'm going to sleep."
"Don't let him sleep," says Teuta. "We need him awake."
"Aric, stay with me. We're getting you help. Stay awake." He just sighs. "Aric." I slap his face.
"Okay, okay." His eyes flutter open. "You're pretty. Can I take you to dinner?"
"You already took me to lunch."
"Did I? Let's do it again." His eyes unfocus. "You look like an angel."
"Thank you. Now save your strength." I place a hand on his cheek. His skin is clammy and cold to the touch.
He coughs and lifts his head. He retches. His head falls back down and he closes his eyes. "Sorry, angel, but I'm sleeping."
"Where are those damn healers?" I ask.
"Patience," says Teuta. "They're coming."
"Do you even know what you're doing?" I snap at her.
"Yes." She looks at me. "Please stay calm."
"Stay calm? How am I supposed to stay calm? My-" I think of what to call him. Friend? Boyfriend? Lover? "My friend is dying! How will staying calm help! It won't! He's dying and we fought and then he fought instead of my friend and then he fought his friend and she stabbed him and she's dead and he's dying! What am I supposed to do?" My vision goes in and out. I don't notice her pull a needle out of her back pocket. "What are you doing to help him! I'm doing everything! So much for a-" She sticks the needle into my back and lowers me to the ground.
"I'm sorry for this," she says. I see her stand up and call over her shoulder. Shadows appear around her, and everything goes black.