AYASHA'S POV
The afternoon sun streamed through tall windows as servants led us through another maze of corridors. I'd given up trying to memorize the layout of this fortress. Every hallway looked the same, lined with tapestries depicting Lamia victories and stone carvings of their kings.
We entered a dining hall I hadn't seen before. Smaller than the ballroom but still grand, with a long wooden table set with fine china and crystal glasses. The smell of fresh bread and roasted meat made my stomach clench with hunger. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten a proper meal.
"Please, take your seats wherever you'd like," one of the servants said. "The King wants you to enjoy this meal before the second round begins."
The eight of us looked at each other uncertainly. After this morning's competition, we'd formed an unusual bond, but we were still competitors. Still women who might have to watch each other die.
Zara sat down first, choosing a spot in the middle of the table. I took the chair across from her, and slowly the others filled in around us. Pavati settled beside me, her dark eyes scanning the platters of food with suspicion.
"You think they poisoned it?" she asked quietly.
"If they wanted us dead, there are easier ways," I replied.
The servants began placing food on our plates without waiting for us to ask. Thick slices of roasted beef, vegetables glazed with honey, bread still warm from the ovens. Wine flowed into our glasses, deep red and smelling of berries.
I took a tentative bite of the beef. The flavor exploded across my tongue, rich and perfectly seasoned. Despite everything, I found myself eating with genuine hunger. The others seemed to feel the same way. For a few minutes, the only sounds were silverware against plates and quiet murmurs of appreciation.
"So," Kira said finally, breaking the comfortable silence. "What do we think the second round will be?"
I looked up from my plate to find seven pairs of eyes focused on me. The realization hit like a cold wave. They were looking to me for answers. For leadership. Because I'd stepped forward this morning when Zara held that blade to Elora's throat.
"I don't know," I said honestly. "But it won't be as simple as the first round. They won't let us cooperate again."
"They looked angry when we all tied," Elora added. Her voice was soft, but there was steel underneath. "Like we'd ruined their fun."
"That's exactly what we did," Pavati said. She cut another piece of beef with more force than necessary. "They wanted blood. Entertainment. We gave them philosophy instead."
Nisha nodded slowly. Her silver-streaked hair caught the light from the windows. "They'll make sure the next challenge can't be solved through cooperation."
"But what could it be?" Liana asked. She was picking at her food, too nervous to eat properly. "What other feminine qualities would they test?"
I'd been wondering the same thing. Beauty was the obvious first choice, especially twisted into a deadly competition. But what came next? Grace? Submission? The ability to bear pain in silence like a good little Luna?
"Does it matter?" Zara asked. "Whatever they throw at us, we face it together. Like this morning."
"When you tried to kill me?" Elora scoffed before holing her mouth like she was surprised it wasn't just a thought?
"I am sorry," Zara managed. "I really am."
There was an uncomfortable silence after that.
"Together," Imara repeated trying to break the tense air. There was something warm in her voice, something I hadn't expected. "I like the sound of that."
The conversation fell into another comfortable pause. I found myself studying the women around the table. Yesterday, they'd been strangers. Competitors. Potential enemies. Now they felt like something else. Not quite friends, but not enemies either.
"Can I ask you all something?" I said.
They nodded, waiting.
"Why are you here? Really? What made you volunteer for this?"
The question hung in the air like smoke. I saw several of them shift uncomfortably in their chairs. Pavati's hand tightened around her wine glass.
"You don't have to answer," I added quickly. "I was just curious."
"No, it's fair," Zara said. She set down her fork and met my eyes. "My younger brother is the Alpha King of the Desert Lands. But he's only fourteen. Still a child, really. When Nahuel's army came to our borders, my brother wanted to fight. He would have led our warriors into battle himself if I'd let him."
Her voice grew quiet. "I couldn't watch him die. So I made a deal. I'd come here, compete in these games, and Nahuel would leave our pack alone. My brother gets to grow up. Gets to learn how to be a real king instead of dying as a brave fool."
I felt something twist in my chest. A fourteen-year-old king, trying to protect his people. And his sister, sacrificing herself to save him.
"My kingdom needed me," Pavati said simply. "We're not a wealthy pack. Not strong fighters. When Nahuel demanded a tribute we couldn't pay, this seemed like the only option."
"Same here," Nisha added. "The Reed Island pack have always been independent. But independence doesn't mean much when you're facing an army ten times your size."
Imara nodded. "The Coal Valley Pack chose me because I'm the unmarried daughter. No husband or children to mourn me. They thought it would be easier."
Her words were matter-of-fact, but I heard the pain underneath. How many times had she been told she was expendable because she was alone?
"What about you, Kira?" I asked.
Kira had been quiet through most of the meal, her muscular frame tense like she was ready for battle even here. She looked up at the mention of her name, her chestnut eyes troubled.
"I failed my people," she said bluntly. "I was their war chief. Their protector. I should have seen Nahuel's expansion coming. Should have prepared better defenses, made stronger alliances. Instead, I let my pride blind me."
She took a long drink of wine before continuing. "When his army reached our borders, we were unprepared. Outnumbered. I lost good warriors because of my failures. This competition... it's punishment from the gods. A chance to atone for my mistakes."
The honesty in her voice made my throat tight. Here was a woman who'd dedicated her life to protecting others, blaming herself for forces beyond her control.
"And you, Elora?" I asked gently.
Elora's pale cheeks flushed pink. She'd barely touched her food, just pushed it around her plate while the rest of us ate.
"I have a fiancé," she said quietly. "Had a fiancé. Kade. We were supposed to marry in the spring." Her voice grew even softer. "When Nahuel's demands came, the council wanted to send his sister instead. She's younger, prettier. But she's also pregnant with her first child."
She looked up, meeting my eyes directly. "I volunteered because Kade deserves a chance at happiness. Even if it's not with me. Maybe he'll fall in love with someone else. Maybe he'll have the family we planned together. At least one of us should get to live."
The pain in her voice was like a physical blow. She was here, risking everything, for a man who might forget her entirely.
"What about you, Liana?" I asked.
Liana jumped slightly at the sound of her name. She was the youngest of us, probably barely eighteen.
"We did not get attacked. Why would we? We are small and practically useless. My father is however sick," she said. "Has been for months. The healers say he needs medicine from the capital, but we can't afford it without endangering our people. When the competition was announced, it seemed like the only way. Win and get married to the wealthy Alpha's son. Lose and..." She shrugged. "At least I tried."
I looked around the table at these women. These brave, desperate, frightened women who'd all sacrificed themselves for people they loved. We weren't so different after all. We were all here because we'd had our security ripped away by a cruel king who treated lives like game pieces.
"We're all the same," I said quietly. "Scared girls who had everything taken from us."
"Not girls," Zara corrected. "Women. Women who made impossible choices because we had to."
She was right. There was nothing girlish about what we'd done. About what we were still doing.
"So what happens in the second round?" Imara asked, bringing us back to the original question.
"Whatever it is, we face it together," I said. "Like this morning."
But even as I spoke the words, I saw doubt creep into their eyes. This morning had been about votes, about cooperation. What if the next challenge didn't allow for that? What if they forced us to compete directly against each other?
"Ayasha," Zara said, her voice serious. "I need to tell you something."
I waited.
"I can be weak," she said. "When I'm afraid, when I think about my brother facing Nahuel's army alone, I lose myself. I become someone I don't recognize. Someone who would do anything to survive."
She looked around the table, meeting each of our eyes. "If the second round starts to get to me, if I start to crack, please call me back. Call me back to sanity. For any of us."
The other women nodded slowly. I saw the same fear in their faces that I felt in my own chest. The fear that when things got desperate, when survival was on the line, we might forget who we wanted to be.
"I know it's a hard ask," Elora said softly.
"I'll do it," I said without hesitation. "We all will. We won't let each other become monsters."
Imara reached for the wine bottle in the center of the table. She poured fresh wine into each of our glasses, the liquid catching the light like liquid rubies.
"To remembering who we are," she said, raising her glass.
"To surviving together," Zara added.
"To bringing each other back," Pavati said.
I lifted my glass with the others. "To not becoming the monsters they want us to be."
We drank together, the wine warm and rich on my tongue. For a moment, sitting in that sun-filled dining hall with these brave women, I could almost forget where we were. Almost forget what was coming.
But only almost.
The servants began clearing our plates, moving with the quiet efficiency that marked all the staff in this fortress. Our meal was ending. Soon they would lead us to whatever fresh hell awaited in the second round.
"Whatever happens," I said quietly, "we look out for each other. We remember this moment. This choice to be more than what they expect."
The others nodded, but I could see the fear building in their eyes again. The brief respite was ending. Soon we'd be competitors again, fighting for our lives in whatever twisted game Nahuel had designed for us.
But maybe, just maybe, we could still choose to be more than monsters. Even in the darkest moments, even when everything was on the line, maybe we could choose to be human.
I just hoped that choice wouldn't get us all killed.