Free Call to Arms (The Girl In The Arena Book 1) by Lara Lee Hunter Page B

People were thronged around and they began to cheer at the sight of her. She was an oddity, entertainment. The only girl to have ever been a gladiator. They wanted to look at her, to see her and touch her.
    Reena knew that but she still recoiled from their hands and their shouts and the things they tossed at her. A tiny silk ribbon drifted across her face, almost blinding her and she yanked it away. It clung to her finger for a moment before it fluttered away on the breeze.
    On the ground level the stench was even worse. The incense from the temples mingled with the open gutters and the smell of fresh meat hanging from the wooden posts in the open air marketplace.
    Unwashed people and ones who wore far too many oils on their bodies pressed against her. The colors were too bright, the sounds almost deafening. Reena’s heart hammered and her body was weak. Would she shame her father by not being able to walk to the arena, much less into it?
    No dammit she would not!
    That was the longest walk of her life. The crowd was screaming and chanting. Some were cheering for her but others were laughing at her.”Kill, kill, kill, kill!” The word became a mindless, numb roar that echoed in her ears as she was led down a long stone stairway and into a cool and dim underground chamber.
    A man met her there at the door to what would be her holding cell. He said, “Hands open,” and she stared at him, not understanding what he wanted.
    It became clear very quickly as he patted her down, checking her for hidden weapons. “Declare your weapons.” His voice was bored as his hands patted at her breasts and legs.
    Reena’s face burned at his intrusive touch. How was this allowed? Why was this allowed? “I have my blade…” she knew better than to mention the amulet. She sensed it would be taken if she did. The god’s fire was illegal.
    His fingers reached for it and she said, “I am allowed two weapons.”
    “Is this a weapon?”
    “It carries my god.” Okay, that was a lie but who cared? It was close enough to the truth for her to be able to say it with a straight face.
    “Fine. You’re ready. You’re next to battle.”
    He left her there alone. The silence spun out and time stretched like warm and stringy goat cheese held over a low fire. That had been one of her favorite treats; would she ever taste that again?
    Now was not the time for such questions. She studied the amulet to keep her mind off things, her fingers memorizing its clever little clasp and her thoughts closing off until only one remained. Survival.
    The barred door to her cell clanked open and her guard appeared. He led her down darker passageways and she had to squint to see. It was bright outside and she knew it. She also knew that if her opponent decided to attack her as she walked from the tunnels she would have no chance against him, she would be blinded by the light.
    The crowd roared and screamed. Chants filled the air and she deliberately stared at the light as they walked toward it, trying to prepare her eyes for the assault of the sun. Terror had left her; there was nothing inside her but a deathly stillness.
    Reena did not know it yet, but that would be what saved her life that day. She entered the arena and the crowd roared and cheered or booed. The Governor sat in a long, heavily decorated box that jutted out over the arena and she looked up at him and he stood.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, people of Aretula, I give you—the first female gladiator in history!”
    Hatred filled her but she sloughed it off like dead skin from a snake’s back. She could not afford hatred, not now. The gates across from hers opened and she looked, thinking she would see the man she was to go up against, but all she saw was the chubby man who had been put into the arena with her.
    Her heart sank. This was who she was saving? Where was her father or the girl Nemia? Why this man? He was the biggest coward she had ever seen and even now he was crying and shaking like a leaf