Bringer of Winter- a M/M/M Epic Fantasy Romance

15- Lucia and Teri

KHIF—

The remaining survivors of the gladiator battle were brought slowly back to Master's mansion. Bloodied, exhausted, and each of us with the ghosts of the dead looming over us like a heavy fog, we trudged into the slaves' little square in silence.

My hands shook heavily as Ryker led me over to the side of the outer wall and sat me down beside it. Moments later he was pushing a bowl of something hot into my hands and pressing it to my lips.

"Eat, Khif. You'll feel better, just eat."

"I've never killed like that before, Ryker. How can they find enjoyment in seeing pointless deaths for the sake of entertainment? I... I can't even comprehend it."

Ryker was silent for a full few minutes before he moved over to sit beside me, leaning against the wall that was at my back. He took a deep breath and let it go, and then I felt his shoulder pressing against mine for comfort.

"I do not have an answer for you, Cailleach. There are men who were put onto this world only to cause pain to others, to be their tests. It is to you to pass their tests."

Tye limped over to us then, looking down at me and smiling half-heartedly. He and Ryse had been over-zealous after their victory with Ryker and my help, and had jumped ahead of us to the waiting battle. He had earned a sword cut in his hip, down to his thigh as long as my arm for his stupidity, and he had repeatedly apologized for the trouble it had caused Ryker and me during the fight.

Ryse was behind Tye, studying us like he hadn't let himself before. He had been around Tye before the fight, watching Tye's interactions with us, but he had seemed too wary, too afraid, to truly meet our eyes. Now, it seemed, he was just as wary, but maybe not so afraid. I couldn't truly explain it, but there was something about fighting by a man's side that bonds you. You are brothers, in a way. You have witnessed the same things, meted out the same horrors. You are damned together.

"Ryse wants to thank you," Tye said as he sat in front of us. There were two more men besides us that had survived the fight, though they had been unconscious until they had bene woken by the slave handlers, and since the bathing room was rather small, they had gone first, to be followed by Ryse and Tye, and then me and Ryker. We had been told that if more survived we would be forced to bathe with others, but that they all preferred only two or three at a time because the water was cleaner and they could enjoy their baths easier. I was extremely grateful for this. Ryker and I would simply have to wait until last after every fight and we could have the bath to ourselves.

With the thought of more battles like the one we had just fought in, my stomach roiled. Especially because I knew that men who enjoyed watching other men fight to their deaths couldn't be satisfied with only that. They would need alterations to the fights, different horrors for Ryker and me to fight against.

In short, worse was yet to come.

"Ryse thanks us," I said to Ryker, and then turned to Ryse and nodded, bowing slightly as he moved to sit beside Tye. Ryker grunted and made the same move, and Ryse returned the grunt.

"Yes, I thank you, Northmen. I would have died in that fight if it weren't for you two. The four of us probably would have all died if Master hadn't bought the two of you the other day."

After translating the man's words to Ryker, I turned back to Ryse. "Ryse fight good. My name Khif, this Ryker. No 'Northmen.' We Nibean."

"Ah," the man said, shrugging. "I apologize."

I nodded and then turned to the bowl of broth Ryker had brought to me. The churning in my stomach wouldn't be calmed no matter how many breaths I took, so I set it down, ignoring Ryker's glare, and stared up at the stunning orange, pink, and blue sky. All in all, we had spent almost the entire day in what these men called the Courtyard of Blood, though only a small amount of that time had been in battle.