"Are you ready for your performance for sweet little Aziz?" Kane grins at me, blocking the entryway to my tent. He holds his hands out toward my forehead.
I step back. The god frowns as he swipes at empty air. "No," I clutch my knives at my side, "I can do this myself."
"Reject my blessing?" Kane shakes his head at me. "Why would you...?"
I hold my head higher. "I don't need it to pass this test. If I'm cursed, let it be by my own doing."
"Cursed? You don't...You don't..." A shade passes over his face, suddenly making it every bit as terrible as depicted in the legend. His handsome features are lit from beneath with hellish blue fire, his height stretching as a shadow until the tent strains with effort against the pressure. "Fine." He mutters finally. "Have it your way. Stubborn priestess."
Kane vanishes. As soon as I've made sure he's gone, I run outside and retch on the side of the road. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, laughing hysterically.
"I just told a god no," I twist the knives in my hands, my palms slick with nervous sweat, "Oh, Ode, what are you doing, you crazy, crazy girl?"
***
I fumble once during the performance, dropping a dagger dangerously close to my toe. Elio snickers, damning me as the entire arena chuckles to keep up with the good humor of their prince. They laugh at my performance, treating me like the clown I am.
"The demonic dagger juggler!"
"Women should only use knives in the kitchen!"
"Give us a real show, darling!"
"Is it true witches dance naked in the desert?"
"Now I know why Kane's blind. He wouldn't want to see that act!"
All of them. Laughing.
All because Prince Elio the Chosen laughed at me first.
After the performance, Ryu tries to talk to me. "Please, Ode, Elio's just under a lot of pressure from his father. He still cares—."
I shove past him, and pain clouds Ryu's pretty features. "Talk to me when Elio starts acting like a normal human being instead of an ass."
***
"They laughed at you out there." The god's hands twitch with anger, as though strangling a small rabbit between his palms. "Didn't you say that they'd never laugh at you again?"
We're alone in Alef's tent. Ryu's taken to staying with Elio as a permanent resident. Officially, Elio claims that Ryu's been hired as his personal advisor. Most people buy it for fear of retaliating against the sun lord.
For now, Kane criticizes my performance like a tutor scolding his quarrelling students.
"It was nothing close to your true potential. You fumbled that dagger because of your cursed nerves. I told you that you should've taken my..."
When he finishes scolding me, I glance over blearily. "Is that all?"
The god sighs, "patience, mortal. First, we must win the contests before we can talk of more thrilling subjects. Triumph before glory." He draws the hood of his cloak over his head, leaving his two glittering, swollen eyes shining in the darkness. "My challenge will be your final one. You must enter the cavern, and what you do then will be up to you."
"This cavern, will it...?"
Before I can ask another question, the Blind God has already vanished.
"Wait!" I call out to the empty air, "I didn't get a blessing this time."
But as most gods do, the Blind God does not answer.
This time, I think I need one.
***
Hello my Champions!
I empathize with Ode's pre-performance anxiety so much.
My nerves are actually this bad sometimes.
Stay strong, champs.
-Sophia