Treasures of Fantasy - Margaret Weis [105]
Skylan remembered Chloe saying she saw death in the darkness.
She knows, he realized. She knows.
CHAPTER
15
* * *
BOOK TWO
Zahakis took Skylan to the men’s bathing house, then to a barber, who shaved him and trimmed his hair. All the champions would be wearing the armor they would wear in the game. Skylan and his team had specially designed clothes and armor made to look like their own.
“Only without the bloodstains,” said Zahakis dryly.
Skylan wore a fur-trimmed leather tunic that left his arms bare, tight leather breeches, and leather boots lined with fur. He was told to wear his own chain-mail armor, since the armor for the tournament had been delivered to the arena in preparation for tomorrow’s game, and his own helm.
Keeper was also going to be in attendance, as team chief. Skylan asked Keeper what would happen at this party. Keeper told him they would be kept in a holding area, then paraded about the dining hall for the amusement of the Southlanders.
“They make us dress the part. We wear our armor, but you note that they do not let us carry the weapons,” said the ogre. “All for the spectacle.”
“A man puts on armor to do battle,” Skylan said, scowling. “Not to be gawped at.”
Keeper shrugged. “You can go before the Empress looking like a peasant or you can go before her looking like a warrior. The choice is yours.”
Keeper was wearing the traditional leather harness in which ogres carried their weapons, leather breeches, boots, and nothing else. Ogres did not wear metal armor. Equip an ogre with a breastplate of a size to cover his massive chest, an equally large chain-mail shirt, metal helm, greaves, bracers, and other accoutrements, and the armor could end up weighing almost as much as the ogre. He would be worn out before he ever reached the field of battle.
Keeper painted his head and face and he wore an animal skin cape that marked his rank as a godlord. The Legate had given it to him, he said. The cape was made from the skin of a bear, complete with paws that dangled down from Keeper’s neck. He looked fierce and formidable. Skylan took extra care polishing his armor.
He thought about the other times he had worn his armor, worn it with pride, taking his place in the shield wall, facing an ogre godlord alone in single combat. He wore it with the idea of making Torval proud. Now Skylan hoped that Torval was off fighting somewhere and would not be witness to his shame.
They left before sunset, the Legate and his party forming a small procession. Acronis rode to the palace on his horse. Chloe was carried in a contraption the likes of which Skylan had never seen—a couch covered by a canopy mounted on two long poles. Once she was settled inside, four strong house-slaves lifted the couch, settling the poles on their shoulders. Curtains hung from the canopy to protect Chloe’s modesty. Wellborn women did not permit strangers to gawp at them.
Chloe disliked the curtains, complaining that they were hot and suffocating and prevented her from seeing anything. Her father insisted she keep them closed, however, and Chloe ostensibly did as she was told, though Skylan saw as he took his place in the procession that she opened them a crack and peeped out at the people as they passed. Her maidservant, Rosa, scurried alongside the litter.
Skylan and Keeper walked behind Acronis. Zahakis and six soldiers followed behind them. People stopped to watch and applaud. The Para Dix was popular with the citizenry, and Para Dix players were highly respected. Several shouted to Keeper, whom they recognized, yelling encouragement or jokingly asking if they should place money on his team.
At the palace walls, Acronis and Chloe entered one gate, Skylan and Keeper and the soldiers another. The soldiers took Skylan and Keeper to an area behind the palace, which Keeper said was where the Empress’s team trained. The arena was ablaze with torchlight. A fire burned in the pit. There was roast pig and fresh baked