The Claimed: A Clash of Copper and Gold

Chapter 31: Missing

A handful of guards flanked me on the way to the colosseum the next morning, smacking my head whenever my cuffed shuffling became too slow. A cloth gag dug into the sides of my lips and pushed coarse fibers against my tongue each time I swallowed. I alternated between grasping for some way to save Niako and dismissing each plan as impossible, like gasping for air underwater.

Ten feet to my left, several more guards marched around Niako. Though he was gagged and bound by ropes at his wrists and ankles, he still managed to exude confidence bordering on arrogance, with back straight, shoulders squared, and chin high. But I knew it was not the confidence of one who planned to win.

It was the confidence of one who had accepted his fate.

We arrived just as Makash and Astoria greeted the last guests. A new wig topped Makash's head, shiny black curls cascading over his wide shoulders and midway down the front of his shimmering gold frock. He pumped the guests' hands and smiled broadly, a parody of a king in a children's skit. Beside him, Astoria's sweeping black gown with criss-crossing inlaid gold beads emphasized her slim waist and easy poise.

When Makash turned toward us, his smile tugged still wider. "Ah, our guests of honor have arrived."

Astoria twisted her elegant neck to smile our way — and her smile flopped as her eyes widened. "Niako? What... what happened?"

I shot a glance at Niako ten feet to my left. He responded to his mother by jerking up one shoulder in an almost insolent shrug.

Astoria rounded on Makash, body wired with a tension I had never seen in her before. "Makash, what is he doing here? Why are the guards dragging him in like some convict?"

Makash scratched his forehead, bumping the wig slightly askew. "Right, it seems I forgot to mention — the Royal Guard suspects Niako was not abducted after all. Instead, he killed Father and then ran away with his Claimed."

"That cannot possibly be true." The normally gentle chimes in her voice rang harsh.

Makash's smile twitched but did not shrink. "Don't worry, Mother. I am sure this is only a little misunderstanding. As soon as Niako swears his innocence and loyalty to Rakim, his Claimed will assume all blame." 

He winked at me.

Astoria began to speak again, but Makash pressed a hand over her mouth. "Quiet now, Mother. I am King."

When he lowered his hand, Astoria smiled again and bowed her head submissively, but I read the strain in her smile and the flash of her eyes. Before I could decipher her exact emotion, the guards yanked on my arms again, hauling me through the entrance into the colosseum.

Copper Fallen God statues ringed the arena, interspersed with giant gold statues of Goddess Rashika. The morning sunlight lit up a blinding mirage on the pearly sand, leaving no hint of my father's charred flesh from the Day of Truth Ceremony or of the blood that streamed down my back during the Claiming Ceremony. In the center of the arena, a wooden platform jutted up from the sand. Surrounding the platform, seven stock-still painted bodies glittered in the morning sun like jewels. Gold. Obsidian. Sapphire. Ruby. Amethyst. Emerald. Copper.

Stro.

As we passed the platform, I tried to catch his eye, but he only stared blankly.

Thirty feet past the platform near the back entrance of the colosseum, the guards chained my cuffs to metal rungs in the ground and then tightened the chain on my wrists until I was forced to my knees. I swept a gaze around the colosseum. Apart from the spectators in the nobles balcony, soldiers and guards packed all ten sections of the stands. In the section nearest to me, the soldiers nearest me shifted and darted glances toward the back entrance as though impatient to finish these duties and move on to the real celebration.