From the first moment of every morning, before Kanna even opened her eyes, she was angry. The anger was a part of her, and it made her, even more than the aches in her hand or the scars on her skin.

At least in the Theatre, there was something she could do about it. If only for a moment.

Kanna approached the first pairing they faced. The female fighter took cover behind the male, who carried a shield. When the woman tried to reach past to stab, Kanna jumped back to avoid the thrust.

Yassen moved forward, knocking the woman back as Kanna gripped the bearer’s shield. The woman’s stumble yanked the shield bearer back, and his grip loosened. Kanna twisted, taking the shield with her as she spun and brought it around, slamming it into the wielder’s face.

Blood spattered at the contact, and the shield wielder fell. Now shackled to dead weight, Kanna darted forward and made short work of his partner before Yassen could.

Kanna knew there was no way to keep Yassen’s hands clean in this place, but she could lessen the stain on them. And after the Gala, she’d earn enough that he could get home.

They just had to make it through until then.

She turned as another duo approached at Yassen’s back.

“The shield,” she called to him.

Yassen dove to the ground, sand scattering when he pulled it from the ground and knelt behind it.

Kanna took the steps she needed and used the shield to launch herself over Yassen. She fell onto the incoming pair, knives first, her cuts mortal and true.

Two pairs attacked next, one set on Yassen and the other on Kanna. They moved as a team, pressing for advantage and retreating in sync. She focused her attention on her attackers, but felt Yassen move as he fought his own through the chain that bound them.

One was dual wielding, same as her, while the second fought with sword and shield. Kanna and the dual wielder clashed until she was able to slice into his arm and he fell back behind his partner, who pushed her back with the shield before pulling it away to strike.

He gave up too much of his guard. Kanna slipped between his strike and his shield, moved too close to defend, and struck up. Her blade pierced through the bottom of his jaw.

With one down, there was nothing for the second to hide behind. He was skilled, but it wasn’t enough against her. He pressed forward but she met him with too much resistance. She feigned a retreat and he overstepped. Kanna spun, her blades tearing across his abdomen and he fell to his knees.

She turned her attention to Yassen as he felled his second opponent and their eyes met.

Then she felt it. An extraordinary pain burned in her side, digging deeper still as the moment passed. She bit her teeth together, struggled to keep focus, but it was as if something was being mercilessly pried out of her.

Just as quickly as it arrived, it stopped. Whatever had been yanked was released, and it fell back to its place in the hollow beneath her ribs.

She pulled her hand away from her side, but the blood in her palm wasn’t hers.

“You alright?” Yassen asked.

Kanna jerked her attention to Yassen, a reminder that there wasn’t time to dwell. She turned to the remaining fighters in the arena.

Two final pairs clashed among the bodies of another. In one, a man even larger than Yassen. He yanked the chain connecting him to his partner and grabbed the man, using him as a shield against a blow from his attackers.

He dropped the body and gripped the heavy war axe he wielded. With one swing, he took out his paired attackers.

Kanna felt Yassen tense beside her as they watched. He roared and slammed the axe into the chain that kept him tied to the body of his former partner. Another hit, and the chain broke under the force.

When he moved to them he smiled, his teeth yellowed and bloody. He was slowed by the heavy armor that shifted around him, but he didn’t need speed as long as he was protected long enough to strike.

“He’s big,” Yassen said. “And covered in armor.”

Kanna’s eyes narrowed, then she sheathed her knives.

“Then we aim higher,” she said.

Kanna gripped the chain that held them together, and Yassen followed her. He grinned when he realized.

Together, they charged the final standing fighter. At the last moment, Kanna broke away from Yassen, holding the chain between them high.

Yassen curved around the man’s left and rolled behind him while she went right, leaping over Yassen as he passed beneath her.

She hit the ground and rolled away until there was no more slack left in the chain. Together, she and Yassen pulled the chain, now looped around the armored man’s neck. Kanna could feel the soft give in it where it pressed into the man’s throat.

He wrapped his hands around the chains and pulled, trying to loosen them so he could breathe again. Kanna almost slid from her feet. She dug her heels into the sand, tightened her grip, and leaned the full weight of her body back against his struggles.

The crowd’s screams crescendoed in disbelief and something akin to wonder as she and Yassen dug in, cutting the life from the man between them.

The chain sunk into his neck, pressing deep into flesh, and Kanna nearly fell back when it gave way, cutting into his neck and snapping his spine.

The giant sunk heavily to the sand, and Kanna released her grip as he fell forward.

There was peace for a moment. A passing cloud covered the sun’s harsh gleam and the crowd tried to process their shock at how their play had closed.

The audience rose to its feet, their shock giving away to the visceral thrill of witnessing such a thing.

At the end of her tether, Kanna caught her breath before moving to join Yassen. He stayed where he was, his hands still on the chain as she unwound it from the bloated and twisted neck of their opponent.

Reaching him, she put her hands over his. He released his grip on the iron links and let them fall.

“You did good,” she said to him.

Yassen focused on her, and she smiled. Or, at least, she tried to. She wasn’t sure if it made it to her eyes, or what a smile was meant to be, but she needed to offer him some comfort.

His eyes cleared and he grinned. He tightened his hand on her wrist and held her arm aloft, his other hand also raised in victory, much higher than she could reach.

Kanna tried to look past the crowd and let their faces blur, but her gaze caught on the Governor’s daise.

Next to the Governor, in front of Astar, was someone she had not seen before. All faces were new to her, but he looked at her as if he knew her.

She could feel the fear coming off of him. It thrummed against her spine and in her ears until it blocked out the crowd’s cheers. His fear was thick and writhing and tangled, and she couldn’t tell where it began or ended, but, somehow, it wasn’t about her.