Warrior

14.

Rourke

As I walk out of the bedroom I see Rey placing two plates on the coffee table. To my surprise, she prepared a full meal for us, including a carafe of water and a large mug of beer, my mouth starts to water at the thought of the taste of the cold yellow liquid.

"I don't know where you got this from, but I must say I'm pleasantly surprised!"

She turns to me with a big smile. "I told you I knew you would appreciate this.. Sit down!"

With a thud, Rey falls onto the couch and I chuckle at her triumphant face.

Although the sofa looks comfortable, I choose to sit on the floor with my back against the sofa, this way I can reach the food and not be pressed tightly against Rey. I don't think I can just have another cold shower without a very good explanation.

Over dinner, Rey shares her past with me, her late husband, and the debts he had. I am therefore not utterly surprised when she tells me that her stepson wanted to have her killed for the inheritance, so that he could pay his father's debts and not become the victim of the man's mistakes himself.

Not that I have the slightest sympathy for these two men. I mean come on what kind of dick endangers his family for the sake of a game?

And then the stepson! What self-respecting guy hires someone to kill his stepmother, someone who raised him for six years? I can't imagine that Rey wouldn't have wanted to think along with him to find a solution...

After Rey shared her story, she takes a big sip of her wine and I see how her hands are trembling.

"Did you love him?"

Rey doesn't look at me, but stares at a point on the wall opposite us, with a distant look in her eyes. For a moment it seems she doesn't want to answer, but then she looks at her trembling hands and sighs deeply.

"When I met Ben I was instantly in love..."

My hands form into fists at her words and I clench my jaw, even though I have no reason to feel the way I do right now. What could I expect?

"... but soon after I moved in with him, it became clear to me that we had completely different ideas about life. At that moment, I should've pulled the plug, but I wanted a relationship, probably because I didn't want to be alone anymore, therefore I overlooked a lot of his mistakes or maybe I choose to deliberately not to see...

The crush I felt in the beginning quickly faded, and to be completely honest... I'm not even sure if I was really in love with Ben in the first place, maybe I just wanted to be in love.." She looks at me with an apologetic look and smiles shyly.

"Don't get me wrong, I did care for him, but I don't think it was a love... more... a brother-sister relationship. He gave me a home and I was his support in raising his children..."

Then her gaze falls on my clenched fists and she frowns. Her gaze slowly returns to my face. "Did I say something that makes you angry?" She sounds unsure.

Carefully I reach for her face and gently caress her cheek. "No... you don't, but, sorry to say, that husband of yours was an incredible asshole!" Rey's eyes widen and she looks at me in surprise.

"Let's face it, no self-respecting guy puts his loved ones in danger because of 'a game'! I'll be the last to say I'm perfect, far from it! But I would never let that happen!"

Her eyes soften and rewards me with another one of her beaming smiles, making my heart start to beat faster.

"No, I don't think you would be sensitive to the temptations of betting, but you have to realize that big money is involved." She gestured around with her hand.

"You don't think we would have this if the amounts were minimal, do you?" She looks at me intently.

"Hundreds, if not thousands, of ducats are involved in the world of the warrior fights, and although I'm no expert on arena battles, I suspect they see a winner in you... Our room is very luxurious, trust me. I've spoken to Eliza and their quarters..."

I look at her in surprise, something that hasn't escaped her notice because she slaps her hand over her mouth in shock.

"That's right, I haven't even told you! But our room borders on some kind of training room..." She turns a quarter turn, and points to one of the two doors by the bed.

"That door over there leads to a training room and one of the other rooms has access to it too! I believe it's the same guy who was next to you in line..."

"Conall!" A wave of excitement rushes through me and I grip her knee tightly.

"If it is indeed my brother then we have a good chance!"

I see how surprise and confusion follow each other in her eyes, and she looks at me questioningly. "What do you mean?"

My mouth twisted into a dark grin. "I mean to demolish this place, then escape..."

Her eyes widen and a hopeful twinkle appears in her eyes. "Do you really think there's a way to escape this hellhole?" Her voice is a whisper, but filled with hope.

"Hell yeah!! Even if it kills me Rey, I'm going to try to get us out of here anyway!"

Her face falters at my words, and her shoulders slump down. Her eyes that were sparkling a few seconds ago, now show despair.

"What is it, Rey?"

But she doesn't answer, instead she gets up and walks into the small kitchen, resting her hands on the countertop, her face turned away from me.

Restlessness ripples through me and I get up from my sitting position. Slowly I walk towards her, but when I'm behind her and she doesn't turn around yet, I grab her shoulders and gently force her to turn towards me.

To my surprise I see a tear running down her cheek, but I'm not aware of any harm. "Did I say something wrong, Rey?"

When her gaze finally finds mine another tear rolls down her cheek and to my great surprise she puts both hands around my face.

"That's what I'm so afraid of..." She whispers in a tight voice.

I shake my head and look at her questioningly. "What are you afraid of?" What is she talking about?

Her eyes dart back and forth across my face and it seems she's conflicted with herself.

"Rey... What are you afraid of? That I'm going to die?" The thought of her already making a big deal out of it amazes me.

"When they carried you in here unconscious there was someone else with them... Let's just say that person made some comments and..." Her voice falters.

"I think he wants to push you to the limit..."

Anger flares up in my gut. "Who was it? ...Richter?" Rey shakes her head.

Suspicion creeps up to me and with narrowed eyes, I glare at her. "Who was it Rey?"

Her voice is barely intelligible. "Master Stone... Your father..." I feel my muscles tighten as if a bucket of ice water is being poured over me. Why does this surprise me?

"That man is ruthless Rourke, you haven't seen the look in his eyes..." I see her shiver.

"He doesn't care about you... he..., he has his own agenda." There was something in her words, Rourke found disturbing, and the gip on her shoulders tightened.

"Rey... Did he say something... disturbing to you?" I couldn't ignore the fact that her face paled a bit at my question...