ARI
"Can you stop that?" Ari snapped at Pythos Savvas.
He was an internationally beloved kinncharging champion, revered for his grace and speed on a charging pitch. His fans made no secret of their love for his broad shoulders, dark skin and his silver-grey locs. But Ari had never spent such a long time in the presence of one man and every single thing he did was starting to annoy her.
She had been furious at him when he had used a banner with her sister's face at the Midwinter Championships, but she had realised how much she had needed his help when she went to Vastier. She had even come to respect the way he believed in the rights of his people, and the strength of his convictions. On the boat on the way to Singtsu she had grown irritated at small things, like his whistling. But now, confined to a cell outside the palace grounds of the Singtsu palace in Kakaio, Ari found that every single thing Pythos Savvas did irritated her.
He was leaning against the wall, minding his own business, staring out the small window to the yard, and yet Ari found herself glaring at his broad back. She was convinced that it was his fault that they were here. Now they would never get out of this cell, never get out of Singtsu. She would rot in a Kaio prison.
Some Kaio soldiers were sitting in the yard outside their small prison. A few were polishing blades, another few were drinking. Presumably, they were off duty. The suns had set hours ago but the yard was lit by fires burning away in deep metal cylinders. Someone was singing.
Ari sat down on the bench again. She didn't want to watch her Kaio captors revel in the night. She was bone tired but she'd tried to sleep and had no luck, and now all she felt was irritated.
"Look," Savvas whispered.
Ari shot to her feet again and looked out the window, hoping to see Lumi. Instead she saw three girls weaving through the fires in the yard, towards the soldiers off duty. They wore silk robes that shone in the firelight and their faces were painted with gold strokes to define their cheekbones and eyes.
A man whistled, and his friends laughed, and Ari noticed that a few of the female soldiers scowled. The girls with the painted faces walked among the men, murmuring and whispering and giggling. Ari was disgusted. And she noticed that Pythos Savvas was leaning on the bars, his eyes fixated on the girls, like a hungry dog watching a clumsy child with a pork chop.
"Savvas, you are married," she snapped at him, "to a man."
Savvas laughed. "I can still admire a beautiful lady, can't I? And I think you can, too, little Arianne. Now, tell me, which one of those ladies strikes your fancy?"
Ari scowled. "You're disgusting. I would never be with any of them. They sell their bodies to the Kaio soldiers."
"And the soldiers sell their bodies to the armies. I sell my body to the championships. We all sell our bodies in some way, don't we?"
Ari scoffed.
Savvas shrugged. "I don't think it's different at all. We all can choose how to use what we have. Now tell me, which of these ladies would you choose?"
"I'm not answering that," Ari said. "Those girls are all half your age. Don't tell me you find girls my age attractive."
"Just look at them, Arianne," Savvas said, with a jeer on his face.
Arianne glared at him and then looked through the bars and over to the girls. There were three of them in total, each with black hair curled slightly, each wearing silken robes, and each with faces painted so heavily with makeup to make their eyes big and their lips red.
But as Ari looked she realised that one of the girls actually had brown hair, which glimmered golden brown in the firelight. It was unusual for a Kaio girl to have lighter hair. The girl was taller than her companions, and her makeup was flawless.
Ari stared.
The girl with the brown hair moved among the men with just as much fluid grace as the others. She swung her hips as she walked and she leaned close to whisper things to the soldiers. Her eyelashes fluttered and she seemed to give every soldier in the yard a knowing glance, so that each of them thought he was her favourite. Each of the soldiers was leaning forward, staring at her, mouths open.
She approached the captain of the guard and bent close to him, running her hand down his chest as she moved around him. She tried to lead him away but he laughed and said something in Kaio. The girl ignored his statement and spun around him again. She was completely silent, not whispering anything like the other girls did. But he was captivated.
And then Ari watched as the girls slipped her fingers to the ring of keys at his waist and she tugged at them gently, at the same time as she caressed with her hand down the front of his pants.
Ari held her breath. There was no way the captain wouldn't notice if she took his keys. But just as Ari was sure that the captain would realise something was amiss, a huge explosion sounded from somewhere close by. A few people jumped up in shock, and one of the pleasure girls screamed.
There was chaos in the yard, as the soldiers snapped into action. In the midst of the chaos, Ari watched as the girl with the painted face slipped through the mess of soldiers and into the shadows of the prison building. A few moments later, Sanna was standing at the bars to their cell.
"We only have a few minutes," Sanna said, as she tried the keys in the locks. "The dragons are already waiting for you. You can take Jinni and find Lumi. She'll have fled Dorth, to Sredsibirsk. That's the only place that's safe for her."
Ari, bewildered, stared through the bars at Sanna. Sanna refused to meet her gaze, and was gritting her teeth as she tried the keys. Finally, she found one that fit and the cell door opened with a clatter.
"You have to come with us," Ari said, as soon as the door opened.
"I can't," Sanna said. "My place is here."
Ari heard the tremor in her voice.
"Your place is not here," Ari said. "You know that as well as I do. Anyway, I'm sure you realise that Tai will know that you helped us escape. He'll punish you, won't he?"
Finally, Sanna met Ari's gaze, and Ari saw the fear in her eyes.
"Where's Sigrún?" Ari asked.
"She's with the dragons."
Ari nodded, and grabbed Sanna's arm with force. "You're coming with us. We'll need you if we're going to Sredsibirsk."
"Sredsibirsk," Pythos said with a shudder. "There's nothing up there but ice and seals that'll try to kill you."
"Then that's where we're going," Ari told him. "I swore I'd bring Jinni to Lumi and I'm not stopping now."
Ari, Sanna and Pythos rushed through the prison and out the back door. They could hear more explosions, but Ari had no time to ask what exactly Sanna had done. They could see the yard with the kinnlings - two dragons, a three-legged tiger, and Sanna's wolf.
"No time to think it over, Sanna," Ari said. "You're coming with us now."
Sanna's face was covered in gold paint, her hair was arranged in a Kaio style, and she wore a silken robe like a Kaio pleasure girl, but Ari could see the Norrlish girl she had always known. There was a mask of confidence, thicker than gold paint, but Ari could see through it now, to the scared girl beneath. She was scared of Tai.
Ari could see that the way she acted like this, like nothing bothered her, was all a complete ruse. Sanna was visible to her now. Ari felt as if she could scoop through and see her heart. Sanna was lonely and scared and she had no doubt risked everything tonight. She may pretend that she didn't care about Ari, but Ari knew better.
Despite Sanna's insistence that she didn't need to come, Ari noticed that Sigrún was saddled for a journey, and standing with the dragons as if waiting for a quick getaway. Pythos was the quickest, leaping onto his dragon with elegance. On the back of his silver dragon he shepherded Jinni, who leapt to his feet and into the air. Ari prayed that his wing was strong enough to survive this journey.
Ari glanced at Warrah, but then Sanna was beside her, and she found herself pulled onto the back of Sigrún with Sanna. Warrah followed them into the dark, just as another explosion sounded behind them. Ari screamed and gripped onto Sanna, looking back to see vibrant red fire glowing in the sky.
"Fireworks," Sanna said. "Just a distraction. They won't hurt anyone."
Ari felt herself trembling. So many explosions had rocked through the city of New Hamilton, and one such blast had killed her sister, Bell. Even if Sanna swore these fireworks were harmless, Ari found herself terrified.
"Hold onto me," Sanna said. "A few more blasts will go off but we're going to be fine. Sigrún will get us out of here."
Ari gripped onto Sanna's waist and pressed her head into Sanna's back, feeling a terrible jolt in her stomach as Sigrún launched them higher and higher into the sky.
They mounted their kinnlings and the three of them, plus Jinni, took off into the night sky. It was the perfect plan. A cloudy night with low coverage that meant once they took off they were almost invisible to the ground, and a load of fireworks on the other side of the palace to distract everyone.
The fireworks may have distracted some of the soldiers, but they weren't going to get away unnoticed. Ari heard shouts behind her and when she finally dared to glance back, she saw fire soldiers on tigerback, launching into the skies after them.
But Pythos Savvas, on his beautiful silver dragon, did the very thing that he was born to do. He made the sky his canvas and he was the paint brush, creating beautiful swirling brushstrokes with his water magic, dancing with the beauty of freedom.
Warrah joined the fray, and it was two water dragons against a dozen tigers, but the dragons seemed to have some advantage of height and freedom of movement, while the soldiers on the fire tigers seemed suddenly clumsy in the air.
"I spiked the soldier's water," Sanna said. "Nothing that will kill them, but it will make them a bit slow-witted for a few hours."
"Sanna!"
Sanna was laughing.
"You were always going to come with us?" Ari asked.
"I missed the cold," Sanna said. "And you two won't survive a second without me in Sredsibirsk."
Ari was laughing at the recklessness of Sanna. She was giddy from their freedom, exhilarant with adrenaline to be clutching onto Sanna's waist as they soared into the sky on wolfback, the fireworks exploding around them like an orchestra saluting their departure.
There was nothing but black sky in front of them, a journey of ice and snow and darkness to reach their fire princess, but they would find her together.
The fireball was just one amongst the fray of fireworks and fire attack from the fire soldiers behind them, but somehow it crashed through their defences. One moment, they were soaring beyond the reaches of the fire soldiers, and then the silver dragon was dropping, dropping.
"Pythos!"Ari screamed, and the next moment she yelped as Sigrún sent them into a dive, following the dragon.
They plummeted down towards the sea, towards the many islands that pebbled across the ocean. Sanna sent a flurry of snow and ice behind them. Ari could do nothing but hold on, gripped with terror as she watched Pythos Savvas and his dragon plummet into the water.
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