Treasures of Fantasy - Margaret Weis [86]
“Keeper is a good trainer,” she told him as he carried her through the door, into the room to where her bed stood against the far wall. “He has been with my father for three years now and he is an expert Para Dix player. You will be the best, though. I know it. All the women in the city will envy me.”
He eased her down among the pillows.
“I am a little tired after all,” Chloe said. “I will rest now. Tell Rosa to shut the doors.”
As Skylan drew back, she caught hold of his hand. “You will come to me tomorrow morning. I want to hear how your training goes.”
Skylan mumbled something. Turning with relief to leave, he almost knocked over Zahakis, who had been standing right behind him. Rosa was shutting the doors that led outside, darkening the room. She ushered them out. Skylan glanced back to see Chloe nestling down among her pillows. She smiled at him, her gaze following him.
Skylan escaped into the atrium and drew in a deep breath, realizing only then that he’d been too afraid to breathe.
“You were gentle with her,” said Zahakis. He sounded surprised.
“What did you expect?” Skylan asked, rounding on him angrily. “Did you think I would strangle her? She is a child and she is sick. This may be hard for you to believe, but we barbarians have children and we love them as you love your children. I myself have buried three of my little brothers.”
He thought back to those little brothers. The babies had been born too soon and were too small to survive. He had held each of the tiny waxen bodies in his hands, commending their souls to Freilis, then laying them to rest. The last had been buried with Sonja, his stepmother, who had died in childbirth.
“I was going to help raise the little boys,” Skylan said, thinking back. “I was going to teach them to wield their swords. One day, they would stand beside me in the shield wall. My brothers. Their valor would make me proud.”
He sighed softly and shook his head. Seeing Zahakis staring at him, Skylan realized suddenly he’d spoken his thoughts aloud and he clamped his mouth shut.
His head throbbed, his jaw ached. He had not slept in many nights. He was worn out and he had an afternoon’s grueling training for this Para Dix. He had the feeling the training was going to be brutal. The ogre, Keeper, was rubbing his hands and grinning.
CHAPTER
9
* * *
BOOK TWO
At first, listening to Keeper’s explanation, Skylan thought the Para Dix was similar to a child’s game he and his friends had played as children known as Torval’s Mountain. One of them was the god Torval. He selected warriors from the Hall of Heroes and arranged them in a shield wall at the top of the hill. The other children played the Dragon Ilyrion, who formed her own shield wall to try to push Torval off his hill.
The game had been a favorite with Skylan and had usually ended in a general free-for-all with small boys and girls rolling down the hill, ending up dirty and tired and happy, with scraped knees.
The Para Dix involved ten warriors on one side and ten on another. The goal of each team was to seize the sacred fire, which blazed in a pit in the center, then protect it from the other team.
The game was immensely popular in Sinaria. The Para Dix was played in the large new arena—a gift from Aelon to the people. Wealthy men, such as Acronis, sponsored their own teams. The common people crowded onto the concrete benches that circled the arena. The nobility, shaded by umbrellas and cooled by feather fans, watched from boxes furnished with cushioned chairs.
The Para Dix had been played for centuries and, like Torval’s Mountain, symbolized the eternal battle waged by the gods for the world. Philosophers had once made the symbology of the game the subject of lectures, but that was prior to the coming of Aelon’s priests, who saw no need for philosophers or their lectures or the game. Aelon reigned supreme, unchallenged. There could be no doubt about that.