After that night at Zla’s things really did settle into a permanent routine. The sisters would work at Zla’s and Yuli and I would train. Then on the weekends Zla and I would converse over tea with pipe smoke filling the air. We covered a range of subjects from the flora and fauna used in most of his medicines to basic chemistry which I explained to him in great detail. From there we covered philosophy and politics as well.

With him mostly explaining how the Snagan government ran.

That was an interesting subject in and of itself, given that no family inherited the title of king. Instead strength of arms was what determined the right to rule in the form of duels. Or at least that was the intention of the laws that had been set down. However for the most part the kingdom was operated under two families which had started off in a blood feud in the beginning of the country’s inception, however the following hundred years after war with the Overlord had led to many marriages between the two families. The now combined families led Snaga for the past eighty years with a challenger from one of the two families taking the crown. This semi-stable state had led to Snaga prospering as a militaristic country that justified its massive standing armies as a means to protect humanity from the twisted lands across the Baltic river.

“It also just so happens that, for the most part, Snaga is the only country with a set system of enslaving any and all members of the Beast Clans.”

My ear pricked at this.

“Really?”

Zla’s crescent scar morphed into a jagged line as he slightly smiled.

“Yes, while most countries practice slavery it is more of the form of my enslavement.”

“So more like indentured servitude.”

“What?”

“It’s a practice I’m familiar with. Indentured servitude typically operates as a form of loan. Where the servant, unable to pay some large expense such as traveling to a new…..area has it purchased by the master. The master then uses the servant and cares for their living expenses until such a time that the servant has paid off their cost through servitude. Which is typically pre-established in the contract they draw up in the beginning.”

“Hmmmm, I suppose a similar way of thinking could be applied to the slavery systems typical to the eastern lands.”

I stretched slightly, my muscles a comfortable soreness after a long day of working out with the old man

“Aaahhh if only I’d been born there.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Hmm?”

“Well, in many of the eastern countries the Beast Clans are viewed as little more than intelligent animals and are kept more so as pets……”

“Aah….I see.”

An awkward silence ensued.

“Ah there was something you brought up a few weeks back that I found odd.”

“Hrm?”

“You said the current order of the royal heirs had changed, how is that so?”

Zla’s crescent scar grew more ragged as he smiled.

“Ah yes it was just recent. The previously Second Royal Princess Alectra defeated a fully matured chimera while on a tour of the western side of the Baltic.”

“Meaning?”

“Haaa, you’ve been isolated all your life haven’t you.”

“Couldn’t be helped this body was enslaved when I came to inhabit it.”

“Well, as you know the next in line is chosen by strength of arms. Well the royal household is able to submit its own challenger in addition to the noble house challenger of whatever house the King or Queen is from.”

“So the strong get stronger and weak get weaker.”

“Huh?”

“Meaning that since there are essentially two houses that rule the country they have a total of three challengers they are able to submit to become the next in line for the throne correct? That means it’s easier for them to keep themselves in power since they have a numerical advantage and that allows them to continuously get stronger.”

“Aaah, I see what you mean by that phrase.”

I gave a slight nod for him to continue.

“So, the order of the royal line is essentially an official declaration of who the royal challenger would be. In this case it is the now First Princess Alectra.”

“And she got that because she killed a mature Chimera?”

“It’s not as easy a task as your tone makes it sound. Chimera’s are the blanket classification for what we consider typical animal species being twisted and malformed by the dangerous magics within the twisted lands. Those that are able to reach maturity typically have strength and powers far beyond the typical beasts that we see on this side of the Baltic. From what I’ve heard she personally downed a lizard type. It appeared to burrow out of the earth and could launch the iron spikes along its back at foes.”

“That does seem difficult.”

Zla stiffened slightly at my nonchalant comment about the battle. While it did sound impressive, seeing as how I’ve never come across a chimera I didn’t have anything to go upon and therefore couldn’t find it in me to be impressed. He, however, probably interpreted it as that I’d faced worse foes as a being that serves a war god.

I wasn’t going to correct that misinterpretation.

“So she killed the beast but what does that have to do with her position of succession?”

“The young of the noble houses aren’t allowed to directly fight one another, this is especially true of the royal household. Therefore their rankings are determined by the difficulty of the things they killed, which

usually translates into forays into the twisted lands to test their skills.”

“I see.”

“I imagine that the now Second Prince Everand is on a mad hunt through the twisted lands to regain his position.”

“Ah, by the way how old are they?”

“Hmmm, I believe Everand is fifteen and Alectra is thirteen.”

“I-I see….”

“The Third Prince is only ten right now, we should be expecting great things from him in a few years if his elder sister is anything to go by.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well the third prince will only officially enter the runnings after he turns thirteen. As can be seen from his elder sister though, he’s probably already fit enough to take on his first challenger in the Arena!”

“In the arena?”

“Well yes. It’s tradition that the nobles and royalty will have their children compete against a suitable opponent to establish their right to inherit in the Snaga Arena.”

“Oh…….”

“But that’s three years off.”

Zla took a long draw of his pipe before releasing several smoke rings and then a fine jet of smoke that pierced through them all.

“So do you believe yourself ready for tomorrow?”

I relaxed back into the wicker chair and swirled my tea as I thought for a few seconds.

The past year had gone by in a flash. Though that was typical when such a regimented routine was kept.

The only time I really noticed the passage of time was when the first snow falls of winter had made Yuli and I’s training a living hell given that we had to clear out the massive snow drifts in the courtyard which we trained in.

Thankfully it was warmer now, the winter had passed with no one getting sick and spring was well under way. In that time I had turned seven, Marin six, Yuli and Alephi eleven. Both Yuli and Alephi were well underway into puberty, the two of them shooting up like leeks at the start of the growing season. They both were definitively taller than me. Which Yuli enjoyed leveraging to no end, always patting the top of my head and using it as an armrest……it infuriated me. Alephi on the other hand seemed almost apologetic about her new found height and would hunch over whenever she was around me. She had grown much gentler as time went on, Zla had said that her and Marin were adored by the gladiators as tiny little rays of light in the comparative darkness of the arena. Marin was growing up as well, throwing less temper tantrums and speaking more coherently by the day.

It could almost be said that while we were slaves to this Arena, life had been pretty blissful. The only lurking stresses right now were the bill I had managed to accrue in the past year for attempting to maintain a clean lifestyle and teach the girls. Ink, papers, lemons, none of it was cheap and the debt collectors of the arena were starting to get rowdy. Then there was also the over-arching stress of knowing that you don’t really have any freedom here.

“Kitling?”

Zla called my name and broke me out of the reverie.

“Yes…..I’ve grown…..bored of waiting. It would be good to fight again.”

“I see.”

We talked for a bit longer, but both of us were wrapped up in our own thoughts. So, quickly, we called it a

night. I made my way back to the room that I had now occupied for the past year, Marin had already drifted off to sleep while Alephi was combing Yuli’s hair at the end of the bed, hers already done up in a braid. They had both let it grow out over the past year, Alephi’s silky russet hair seemed alight in the candle light. Yuli’s nearly white hair broke out in all manner of untamable cowlicks and swirls. Her ears were flattened and her tail was wound up tight in a clear sign of discomfort as Alephi tried to make it more manageable.

“Hnnff.”

I couldn’t help but snort slightly and chuckle under my breath. Seeing Yuli being obedient while clearly uncomfortable was just too cute. Each of them had made this year bearable. I had lost my mother and had done some terrible things in the arena, but these three girls had helped fill the hole in my heart.

“Gggrrrrrrr.”

Ah Yuli noticed me.

“What are you looking at shri--- mmeeppp!”

Before she could finish the insult to my stature, Alephi attacked one of the knots in her hair particularly

violently.

“Now, now Yuli these knots are really hard to remove. You shouldn’t move so much.”

Alephi said this with such a beaming smile you almost didn’t notice that it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

However it seemed to have quite the impact on Yuli as she was immediately cowed and meekly sat there while Alephi continued to brush her hair.

I take back what I said about Alephi becoming gentler! She’s even more terrifying!

“Well, now the Kitling’s back it’s time for sleep. We all need our rest for tomorrow.”

A hint of worry surfaced in Alephi’s eyes before she squashed it with another smile.

Alephi, you’re too bright.

“Hmmph, tomorrow will be nothing special.”

Yuli, you’re so rough.

“Well even if that is the case. It doesn’t hurt to have a good night’s sleep.”

Overlord only knows if I’ll get any actual sleep.

Ah, I’ve started picking up the phrases from here!

“Well then come on, get into bed.”

Alephi said so with such an innocent smile, but she’s growing up fast!

“Nn-nn..”

Yuli somewhat embarrassedly followed her in, leaving a distinctly me sized area between them. I glanced over to the other side of Marin.

Alephi smiled even more sweetly when she noticed. Except it seemed like the room grew darker rather than lighter because of it. Yuli isn’t the only one that’s been cowed!

I settled into my spot in between the two. It had been like this since we started living here…. But it recently has begun to feel a bit odd. Especially given the fact that they are significantly taller than me now. I’ll find myself waking up suffocating in one of their embraces most mornings, sometimes both. Or Marin will have crawled in between me and Alephi, acting as a barrier.

It really is unsettling, after all I am a grown man….at least in mind rather than body. Besides Cecily is the only one for –

“hrk!”

I’m being squeezed right from the get go! Yuli is snuggling in from behind and Alephi has pulled me into her budding chest.

I glare up reproachfully at Alephi from my demeaning vantage point. But her eyes are already closed, her ears twitching happily.

Ohwell, it can’t be helped. Besides it’s still a bit chilly at nights so being sandwiched between the two is keeping me comfortably warm.

I gradually feel my eyes grow heavy despite the slight tension I’m feeling. Tomorrow is the real thing, my and Yuli’s true debut.

Tomorrow both of us will fight within the arena as official gladiators for the entertainment and pleasure of a den of monsters.

Tomorrow we begin our slave work to satisfy the blood lust of easily the most reprehensible creatures on the planet.

Humans.

I’m disgusted I ever was one.

With those dark thoughts I fell into a deep sleep. Sandwiched between two budding young women. Some might think this a kind of dream, I found it unsettling.

Mother I will see you at your grave soon.

Cecily I miss you.