The Collar and the Cavvarach by Lima Annie Douglass

Author:Lima, Annie Douglass [Lima, Annie Douglass]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: siblings, sports, martial arts, social justice, slavery
Publisher: Annie Douglass Lima
Published: 2015-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen: Off Balance Early On

That week, Mr. Drogum came around to the various classes and congratulated the seven CSF athletes who had qualified for the Grand Imperial, along with their coaches. He handed out free West Jarreon Center for Sports and Fitness T-shirts for the students to wear in the opening ceremonies and reminded them that they would receive discounts on next semester’s tuition depending on how far they progressed in the tournament. Not that that applied to Bensin. “Make us all proud,” he urged. “We’re counting on you.”

The opening ceremonies and first rung matches were scheduled for that Saturday. It was to be an all-day event, with each athlete competing twice. Those who won at least once would progress to the second rung on Sunday. The tournament would take a break during the week for athletes to rest up or return to school or their day jobs, resuming on Saturdays and Sundays for a total of four weekends.

Steene arranged for a sub for his classes and arrived with Bensin, the only one of his students who had qualified, plenty early on Saturday morning. One of the great things about students getting into the Grand Imperial was that Mr. Drogum let their trainers take extra days off to be there and support them, since it was such good publicity for the CSF. As long as Bensin stayed in, Steene could take weekends off with pay without it counting against his five tournament days.

This year the event was to be held in Red Arena, one of four huge stadiums located around Jarreon. There, highly trained professional gladiators competed in a variety of martial arts, but the arenas also rented out their facilities for other events. No gladiators were in sight today, though their pictures filled the huge signboards and banners out front: scarlet uniforms cut to show off bulging biceps; hate-filled snarls on scarred faces; weapons of every imaginable variety, some dripping blood, gripped in powerful hands. Yes, gladiators fought with sharpened blades and used no padding, and serious injuries and even death were not uncommon in the arena games. Like every other martial arts enthusiast in this city of sports fans, Steene had splurged on tickets to watch occasional games in person and followed the inter-arena rivalries on TV in between.

But today’s event was simply another cavvara shil tournament like the others Bensin had fought in, where competitors wore padding to protect themselves against their opponents’ unsharpened blades, and worse injuries than bruises or the occasional twisted ankle were unlikely. However, it was the most prestigious cavvara shil tournament of the year, watched by the greatest number of spectators, in which the winners would receive more prize money than in any other sports competition in Imperia. It was here that athletes, both youth and adults, could truly make a name for themselves, along with their coaches. The whole event would be televised live on all of Imperia’s sports channels, and the highlights would make it onto the evening news in every province of the Krillonian empire.

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