Rise of a Fallen Man (A Look in the Mirror #2)

Chapter 26

Ari

I ran down the corridor on the lower floor of the east wing. The gladiators might be the guests at the palace, but their status placed them closer to the servants than to the highborn. As a result, their accommodation was also closer to the servants’ quarters, in a modest hallway with no windows.

The door down the corridor behind me opened, and I slowed my pace, trying to step as quietly as possible on the wooden floors.

“Your Highness?” the games master called.

Cursing under my breath, I turned to face her. “How did you know it was me?”

“I recognize your shoes.” She tipped her chin at my flat-sole slippers as she approached me. Her attention to detail proved even more acute than I thought. “You wore them when you came to our neck of the woods to look for Raeb the other day. Dare I assume you’re looking for the same gladiator again?”

“What if I were?” I asked carefully.

I could use her help to find Salas. My only other option was to knock on every door in the hallway in search of him.

“Then I would ask you what for?” she replied just as cautiously, drawing a long, colorful shawl around her shoulders.

The games master was an ambitious woman. Driven to succeed, she’d cut corners and stepped over heads when needed. But I hoped she cared about her gladiators more than just the means to her success.

I took a chance. “I’m afraid his life is in danger.”

She didn’t seem surprised to hear it. A hard expression set behind her dark eyes that peered at me intently.

“He deceived us all, didn’t he?”

There was more sadness than anger in her statement, which prompted me to ask, “Do you believe he deserves to be punished?”

She gave me a guarded look. “That’s the law, isn’t it?”

“Did the consideration of the law prompt you to betray him?” I prodded.

“I wasn’t the one who did it.”

“But it was one of your gladiators who informed the prince, wasn’t it?”

She shifted uncomfortably, huddling deeper into her shawl.

“If Your Highness will forgive me, I prefer not to give any names at this point. Will it suffice to say that our investigation into um... certain recent malfunctions in the arena uncovered a few concerns with one particular individual?”

“Falo,” I said with certainty. “Was he the one who sabotaged the act with the dragon too?”

She arched an eyebrow. “How do you know that?”

“Just a lucky guess.” I waved her off, not willing to get into lengthy explanations, but it seemed the world of the gladiators didn’t differ much from the royal court where people competed and jostled each other out of the way in their strife for favors and fame. “Falo has been upstaged in the arena recently, hasn’t he? Did he feel bitter about it?”

The games master heaved a breath.

“Fame is addictive, and losing it can be excruciatingly painful for some. Falo will be punished severely, according to his crimes, but on a personal level, I don’t judge him harshly.”

“Is that how you found out about Salas’s secret?”

“You know his real name too? I bet you knew his secret all alone. Isn’t that why you sent Lady Gem to persuade me to accept him on my team?”

“How do you know it was me who sent her?”

“I didn’t know for sure.” She smiled slyly. “But now I do.”

Blush heated my cheeks. How easily I’d walked into her trap. I was too frazzled, too worried, too in a rush to pay attention.

“Please, tell me where he is?” I begged.

She tilted her head, studying my face. “Are you angry at Salas or worried about him? Because that would make a huge difference in how I’ll answer your question.”

We weren’t in the court of law. At this point, the games master didn’t have to speak with me at all.

“I worry about him,” I confessed. “Always have. I need to warn him. The queen and the council know his secret, and the royal guards may be coming for him soon.”

She sighed heavily.

“They already have. I sent them to the gladiators’ quarters.”

“Is that where he is?”

“No. Reab... I mean, Salas left Egami before it all happened. He gave up the job that he was so good at, that so many boys in his position would kill for, and I can’t shake the feeling it has something to do with you.”

She pinned me in place with her accusatory stare. But the weight I carried already crushed me harder than anything she could do or say to me.

“I only ever wished the best for him,” I said, crestfallen.

“You know what I always tell my boys about the favor of powerful women? ‘Use the fire of status and money to keep you warm but don’t come too close or it will burn you.’ It seems Salas didn’t listen, and now he lost it all.”

“All except for his life, which he may lose too if I don’t help him. Do you know which way he left? I have to warn him. He needs to know he’s in danger.”

“If you ride horseback, you can probably catch up with him on the road out of Egami. He went on foot. He said he’d take the North Gates out of the city.”

“Thank you.” I made a move towards the stairs up to the main floor, but the games master caught my arm.

“Salas is the strongest man I know, Your Highness, and I’ve seen my share of strong men. But he has a big weakness. His instinct to protect is far greater than his sense of self-preservation. He struggles to hurt anyone weaker than him, even to defend himself. I had to design his acts in the arena with that in mind. If the guards attack him, he’ll hesitate to hit a woman, which may cost him his life because the guards will not hesitate to hurt him.”