Chapter 80: Chapter 80
It was absolute chaos.
Tempest looked around at the crowd of people and she swore it felt as if she were about to witness a massacre.
She’d never been around so many evil people in all of her life.
These were supposed to be the highest of the high in this land. The leaders. The royals.
They were all monsters. Dron was the best of them all and they had the nerve to act like he was the stain on their perfect community.
She hated that she put him in this situation. At that moment, Tempest couldn’t careless what the people thought about her.
"You can’t do this." Tempest spoke through clenched teeth in Prince Jaqen’s direction.
"I can do whatever I wish. Haven’t you realized that already. True I may have to go to extreme circumstances but whatever I want I get."
Tempest scoffed and tried once again in vain to pull away from the man’s grasp. "Sounds like you’re nothing more than a spoiled child."
"Spoiled? You know nothing about me or what I had to do to prove myself worthy. Do you know that I’m my father’s third son? I wasn’t meant to be the leader but my vision and my ambition pushed me to the front of the pack." He smirked at Tempest.
She looked at him briefly. His smile was starting to irk her. She’d regretted telling him what the expression meant. The more he smiled at her the more she wanted to wipe the smile off his face.
She would, through Dron.
Tempest was worried about Dron but she knew how deadly he was. There was no doubt in her mind that Dron would come out the victor in this situation. The whole show would be for nothing. Then when it was all over she’d go back to Dron and they’d go home.
The five fighters separated from the center of the ring, Dron directly across from her but far away.
The arena itself was sunken and sandy. There was very little wind but with every gust it made it hard for Tempest to see what was going on. From what she could see it looked as if the five of them were sizing each other up. Trying to figure out who to go after first.
"You’re going to lose. You don’t know how deadly Dron is. None of these fighters stand a chance." Tempest boasted.
One of the royal guards leaned closer to Tempest.
"Of course we know how deadly Dron is. That’s why we made sure the others had a fighting chance. Let’s just say, Dron isn’t at one hundred precent."
Tempest jerked her eyes up to the guard. His face was devoid of emotion as he glared at her for a second before he stood up straight and focused on the fight.
Not at one hundred precent.
Tempest fixated on Dron and sure enough she saw it. As he slowly moved around the large area Tempest noticed how hesitant his steps were, off kilter and uneven.
Tempest whirled on the prince and all the royal guards took a step forward as if to stop her from harming him.
"You cheater! You drugged him! That’s how you plan to win! You had to cheat to beat him." Tempest screamed. Her anger caused more tears to stream down her face.
Prince Jaqen shrugged his shoulders once hard. "Like I said, I get what I want. Dron is standing in my way." Slowly, he slid his hand from her wrist up to her neck.
Tempest winced in pain when the soft caress turned into a sinister clutch of the back of her neck. His short cut nails dug into her nape as he pulled her closer.
"We can stop all of this. All I have to do is give the signal and make sure that he isn’t killed. He’ll go back to his little hovel and live out his pathetic life. The people will go back to avoiding him. Nothing will change."
Tempest spoke through her clenched teeth once again, "Let me guess, I have to change my mind. I have to marry you."
"You are a smart one aren’t you?"
Tempest yanked her head back and sneered at Prince Jaqen. "I will never mate with you."
"Have it your way." Prince Jaqen shrugged again and turned his attention back on the fight.
Tempest did the same. She caught Dron’s eyes for a second. He wasn’t paying attention to the men around him. He was staring straight at her.
He must have seen Prince Jaqen holding her. He must think she’s working with Prince Jaqen against him.
She had to let him know. Had to put him at ease. She believed in him.
She only wanted him.
Slowly, Tempest raised a hand to her lips and blew a kiss to Dron.
It wasn’t much but it was all that she could do. She nodded once and showed him her fist trying to get him to fight. Trying to will him to be strong for her. For them.
Tempest looked around at the fighters. She heard the announcements, heard what the announcer said about each of the fighters but so far no one had made any movements besides circling each other. Just when she thought this fight would be mild all hell broke loose.
At once it seemed as if all the fighters decided to go after Dron.
Tempest screamed in worry as she watched the largest of the alpha fighters raise what looked like a battle axe over his head and run at a superhuman speed straight in Dron’s direction.
Dron rolled out of the way just as the axe sliced in the air where his head had just been but a blade flying at the speed of a bullet rocketed in his direction.
He dodged but not enough. The blade slashed across Dron’s arm.
"No! No, no!" Tempest stomped her foot. She felt silly, like a child having a temper tantrum but there was nothing that she could do. She was up in the spectators box watching her mate fight for his life and it was all her fault.
