The Red Continent

Chapter 1

The room wasn't cold but he couldn't stop shaking. He sat on a small stool in the center of the room, his arms pulled tight to his chest, his eyes fixed on the floor as the clamor from the arena above bled through the walls.

"Pay attention Leander," Mathias Hale said to the young prince. "His blade is 6 inches longer than yours so it's imperative that you get inside quickly."

"I know Mathias," Leander said. "You don't have to keep saying it."

Mathias grasped Leander's face in his large coarse hands. "Well you need to hear it again because if you can't do that, nothing else I've told you matters." It was clear the old sword master was concerned. He had reason to be. Fredrick Croy was battle tested and one of the most feared champions on the continent.

Leander was never supposed to be here. His older brother Titus was the family's champion and a great one at that. His first victories were effortlessly dominant and over within seconds, so when a dispute over newly discovered oil in the frozen north lead to a clash between Thorn and Cyprian family champions the outcome was considered a foregone conclusion against the untested Ballas Cyprian.

Three years later, the memory of that night was still fresh in his mind. Leander wasn't in the arena to see is brother fall but the shriek his mother released when they were informed of his defeat was a sound that still haunted him.

Tonight was Leander's first taste of champion warfare and judging by the chatter leading up to the contest most would be surprised if he lasted more than a minute. A sentiment clearly shared by those around him. No fewer than a dozen attendants to the Thorn family crowded the small dressing room that night but if one was to close their eyes they would think the room empty. The silence was only occasionally broken by Leander's cousin Eli's random attempts to fire up the room.

"Let's go," Eli shouted clapping his hands vigorously.

Leander knew Eli meant well but wished for once he would shut his fat mouth. His older sister Eleanor did it for him.

"Eli...shut...up," Eleanor said sharply.

Following a knock on the door the contest herald stuck his head in the room. "Five minutes Prince Leander."

Mathias's head dropped. "We have little time, so listen close –"

"Mathias, there's nothing you can tell me in the next five minutes that's going to make any difference. Please just let me sit in peace," Leander said.

Mathias knelt down to look his prince in the eyes. "Young master if you fall tonight it will not be because there was something left unsaid."

Leander relented, giving his teacher a nod. He didn't want the old man's remaining days plagued by regret should the worst happen. Mathias fit a lot of words into those five minutes, most of which were little more than background noise as Leander's thoughts dwelled on what was to come.

When the time came Mathias took the lead followed by Eleanor and Eli. Eleanor's eyes were glistening and her voice cracked when she told him he was going to be fine while Eli just gave him a firm pat on the back and offered him some water. Leander declined as he doubted he would be able to keep it down. He looked at his feet as the rest of the attendants filed in behind him. He didn't need to see anymore forced smiles.

The broadcast cameras met them immediately upon exiting the dressing room with their blinding light. Mathias pushed them aside as the group moved briskly toward the lift that would carry them to the arena floor. Mathias had directed him at nauseam to think only of his opponent and nothing else but Leander found this easier said than done. So much crossed his mind as he walked the dimly light hallway but what he dwelled on the most was his mother. She wasn't in attendance that night just like she wasn't for any of Titus' battles. There are some things a mother's heart can't take, she says. How her heart would bear the loss of another son weighed heavy on Leander's mind.