Fireheart [Fanfiction - Alternate Universe]

Fighting is the easy part

[Header image of Rowan Whitethorn]

Convincing Arobynn to allow her to be a part of the tournament didn't end up being as hard as Celaena expected. Sam had had to stay in the hospital for an extra night after he coincidentally got a terrible migraine just before being dismissed, ending up with the doctors running a few extra tests in case there was any damage to his brain.

The results had come in clear by Wednesday morning, and Sam had been dismissed with a warning not to do any extenuating exercise. Arobynn would have been happy to send Sam to a fight on the same day, but the fact that he had missed a lot of his training and wasn't in his best shape was what helped them convince him. Sam had sustained major bruising to his abdomen and was still wearing tight bandages to help ease the pain, as well as ingesting a whole lot of painkillers on the daily. There was also major bruising on his shoulder, but nothing was broken.

"How are you feeling today?" Celaena asked him Saturday afternoon as he watched her punch the boxing bag in the basement.

"So much better. My chest still looks like a work of art between the greens and purples, but the pain is tolerable. I'm used to worse," he chuckled. They both were.

"Do you know who I'll be fighting tonight?" Celaena asked as she started practicing her kicks.

"No, they won't say a thing until you get there. Just..."

"Just what?" Celaena cut him. "Don't you dare say 'just be careful'." She glared at Sam, knowing that that was exactly what he was about to say, and he looked down, almost ashamed.

"That's not the way I mean it, I know you can look after yourself, but don't get cocky, those guys won't like getting beaten up by a girl," he said after a moment.

"So, you're saying I'm going to beat them?" Celaena smiled as she stopped hitting the bag and walked towards Sam, grabbing a towel from the bench he was sitting on and wiping her forehead.

"I know for a fact you will."

Smiling to herself, Celaena headed up the stairs and made her way to her bedroom. After taking a shower and getting changed into her usual leggings, she headed back to the hotel. She was looking forward to a big nap to make sure she'll be well-rested for the fight.

***

The tension in the atmosphere was palpable, and the air was so thick with testosterone that Celaena thought she could probably cut it with a knife. There were going to be ten different fights that night, each fighter having two battles to prove their worth. If she won both, she'll be included in the tournament, which would officially start in two weeks. She wasn't worried, she knew she'd win, she had to. She needed to be a part of the tournament to find out why her aunt's name had been on the slips from Arobynn's bets. Was Maeve the one behind the whole tournament? What other unlawful business was she involved in? Did this make her a more prone suspect in her parent's deaths?

She was bouncing on the ball of her feet as the first fight was announced, and a bulky guy with a bald head moved out of the back room and into the arena, followed by another guy that couldn't be more than 19 years old, and looked lean but too small in comparison.

Celaena stayed in the backroom, peeking at the raised fighting platform from behind the thick curtain that separated them from the audience. The place wasn't too full, as the tournament hadn't officially started. The only ones present were people known to the fighters and some of the bigger investors that were curious to see who they should root for. Arobynn was between them, and Celaena looked around half expecting to find her aunt Maeve there too, but there was no sign of her.