A Vengeful Realm: The Scales of Balance - Book 1 by Tim Facciola

Author:Tim Facciola [Facciola, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: First Torch Books LLC
Published: 2023-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 34

Mask

Fenyx IV

Stockhelm

The villa and barracks alike were alive with wine, women, and performances, but to Fenyx, such distractions only interrupted his memories of the day. In a moment of silence, he could still hear the crowd chanting his name. When he closed his eyes, he could see blood spouting from Tursos’s open throat. The Burning was sated. Glory was his. He didn’t even need whiteroot to experience peace. Fenyx couldn’t remember a time he ever felt so pleased.

While others were consumed with diversions, Fenyx was to be bathed in the villa. He’d never been offered such before, but it was a concept he could grow used to. One of the many benefits of being Champion. On his way out of his cell, Zephyrus barred his path.

Fenyx growled deep within his throat. Unlike the other gladiators, Zephyrus held no cup, no woman.

“What do you want?”

Zephyrus grimaced. “Victory may not have happened if all things went as planned.”

“What nonsense are you speaking of?”

“Who gave you the sword?” Zephyrus asked.

Fenyx huffed. Seeing no other way of getting out of this, he played along. Auron’s advice about not making enemies is difficult to heed in moments like this. “What are you talking about?”

“The sword that broke the moment you stepped onto the sands,” Zephyrus whispered, his eyes darting left and right. “Similar to the steel that gave out on me in my match against Stegavax for the princes’ pleasure. Who gave it to you?”

The left side of Fenyx’s burned cheek twitched. “One of the guards. What of it?”

“Which guard?”

Fenyx crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot.

Zephyrus stepped closer. “They gave Taric the knife to kill Stegavax, rigged your sword to break, and why? They’re trying to steal the chancellorship.”

Fenyx clenched his teeth. “They failed.”

“They will try again,” Zephyrus said. “I overheard voices beneath the arena. Voices of men in these very barracks. People who conspired to have Stegavax butchered in his sleep, you killed in the arena, and Dominus assassinated.”

Fenyx scoffed. “Is this your way of getting me to seek freedom?”

He tried to get past Zephyrus, but Zephyrus sidestepped to block his path.

“Brusos’s man tried to kill you, not me,” Fenyx said. “Perhaps he tried doing us a favor. Stop trying to push your troubles onto me. Can’t you just enjoy my victory? Drink, find a woman.” Fenyx gestured to one of the masked and silk-clad women prowling the barracks. “Do whatever you must, to be content with the life you have. Quit fretting over conspiracies and do what gladiators do. Kill.” Fenyx pushed past Zephyrus without another word.

He climbed the steps leading to the villa, where a guard escorted him to the baths. Typically, Fenyx would be given a linen cloth, a bowl of water, and a strigil to wipe the filth from his body, but standing before a steaming pool of water beneath a sky window surrounded by marble floors and columns, Fenyx knew he was Champion.

His guard left him with two masked women wading towards him through the steaming water.

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