“Arianrhod big on that kind of thing?” asked Justin carefully, recalling Magnus’s comment about another goddess’s presence.
Raoul shook his head. “We no longer worship Arianrhod. We’ve since learned that she’s only an aspect of the true great goddess. That’s why Nadia went into the wilderness, to seek greater understanding.”
Justin wanted to ask more, but things were happening in the ring. A man stood in the center, holding a flag up. He glanced between Mae and Eugene, shouted something indecipherable, and thrust the flag downward. He promptly scurried away as the combatants approached each other.
Justin wasn’t entirely sure what a to-the-death knife fight of honor should be like, but he found it a lot less action packed than expected—initially at least. Oh, the tension in the room was through the roof, no doubt about that. He could see it written all over the fighters’ bodies, and the surrounding crowd was screaming for Mae’s—and his—blood. Neither combatant lunged or wrestled the other, however; things were surprisingly calm. Mae and Eugene stalked around the ring together, almost in a parody of a dance, sizing each other up.
She still had that calm, dangerous look on her face, and she seemed almost—exultant. She’s enjoying this. He was reminded of when she’d fought in Apollo’s church. Her expression had been the same then—not exactly showing pleasure, but still a sort of fierce triumph. It was impossible to take his eyes off of her. She was fierce and beautiful, her presence too big for this small room.
Told you, said Horatio.
It took a moment for Justin to understand. He blinked a few times, tuning into those powers that danced beyond normal senses, and caught faint glimpses of what could only be described as black sparkles trailing Mae. They were hard to focus on, though, and if he hadn’t seen the same thing when she fought Golden Arrow’s worshippers, he would’ve thought he was imagining it now or had something in his eye.
Divine glamour, said Horatio, being surprisingly helpful. It happens when a god seizes someone who doesn’t have the control to handle it.
Can everyone else see that? asked Justin.
No. Only adepts. Horatio’s tone said he didn’t like giving Justin that kind of credit. Look. Her opponent isn’t alone either. Justin squinted at Eugene and could just barely make out a faint shimmer around him too.
The dancing stalemate ended as Eugene surged toward Mae, his knife aiming for her upper torso. She flowed away from him like water, her movements so fast that it seemed she must have started moving before he did. Clearly surprised, he tried again with similar failure—only this time, after evading his attack, she snaked forward with one of her own and dragged a blade across his arm. A hiss of disapproval ran through the audience, and deep red showed against Eugene’s tanned skin.
His face darkened with anger, and he returned to feinting, as though buying time to reassess her. Mae wouldn’t give him that luxury, however, and came forward to strike twice more. One of her attacks drew blood again, but the second one missed. He had finally anticipated her—though just barely. He followed through with a full-body attack, apparently deciding to push the advantage of his greater mass since he certainly wasn’t making any grounds with speed.
Mae dodged his lunge, but he still caught part of her leg and knocked her down. Her back brushed briefly against the barbed-wire ring as she fell, and Justin winced when he saw the bloody tears in her shirt. Falling to the floor, she and Eugene rolled around a moment, away from the wire, each one vying to pin the other. Justin flinched again as one of Eugene’s knives sliced at her shoulder. The crowd roared with delight, even though he couldn’t actually manage to keep Mae down.
If the injuries fazed her at all, she didn’t show it, and in an eye-blink, she jumped back on her feet again. Eugene tried to follow suit, but she was faster, and she came at him not with a knife but with a kick of staggering proportions. She executed it gracefully, packing a force that no one her size should have been able to deliver, not even a pr?torian. Eugene staggered to his knees, and then she was on him once more. He dodged her attack clumsily, avoiding her knife somewhat, though not enough to miss being swiped across the cheek. Justin could see that she’d originally been targeting the man’s neck.