Read Online Checkmate by Katherine Kingston - Free Book Online Page B

trip back in the transport, she felt unsteady, though she
managed to walk back to her own room without assistance. Fortunately the
sanitary facilities they provided included a small bathtub and sufficient hot
water to fill it. Devonne stripped down and stepped in for a long soak.
    After nearly falling asleep in it, she washed her hair,
climbed out and toweled off. Someone had left a meal tray while she was in the
tub. She ate every bit of it then settled back on the bed and promptly fell
asleep.
    Waking early, she did some gentle exercise to loosen muscles
that had stiffened overnight, ate and waited impatiently for the guards to come
get her. Speculation on what the next test would entail kept her occupied until
they arrived.
    The lawyers weren’t there to meet her in the locker room of
the coliseum as they had been the previous day, but they arrived a few minutes
later. Both smiled and congratulated her on the job she and Raje had done
yesterday.
    “The Sangarians loved it,” Whetlock said. “You two
registered high respect levels. Great way to start.”
    “What about today?”
    “We’re a bit puzzled about today’s match,” he admitted.
“They call it ‘Find a Way.’ As best we can tell, it involves making your way
through a maze together, but I’m thinking there must be more to it than that.
They couldn’t or wouldn’t tell us, though.”
    Devonne shrugged. “A maze doesn’t sound too bad.”
    Unlike the previous day, they brought nothing particular for
her to wear. When the guards escorted her to the field, she found the ring
gone, replaced by a large, multi-sided, roofless structure with no windows and
a single door. Raje entered the arena from the opposite side and joined her in
examining the building.
    “The maze, I presume?”
    Devonne shrugged. “I guess.”
    The Sangari guards escorted them to the door. “Go in,” the
nearest one ordered. “Find another exit.”
    As soon as they’d entered, the guard slammed the door shut
behind them. Devonne had no doubt it was locked as well.
    “There’s another door on the other side,” Raje told her.
“I’m assuming we just have to find our way to it.”
    “Want to bet it’s not quite that easy?” Devonne scanned the
space, noting the cameras mounted at intervals along the walls, no doubt to
track and show their progress to the crowd. Otherwise the surfaces were
completely smooth and unadorned.
    “No takers. Let’s get moving.”
    There was only one way to go, a corridor that led straight
into the heart of the maze. But some twenty feet farther on, an opening offered
the choice of turning to the right or continuing straight. “Votes?” Raje asked,
stopping by the intersection.
    “Right,” Devonne said.
    Raje nodded and they turned into the new passage. All of the
corridors were so narrow they had to walk single file with Raje taking the
lead. Ten feet on, the passage made a sharp right-hand bend. Several things
happened at once as they cleared the turn. Raje shouted in surprise and backed
up a step. She slammed into him and felt something cool and wet spraying on
her. They both backed up a few more steps.
    Laughter burst from the crowd in the arena, some of whom
could look down on them directly. The rest watched the action on screens fed by
the cameras along the walls.
    Once Devonne and Raje were out of range, the jets that had
sprayed the liquid onto them stopped and receded back into the wall. Raje
squeezed a few drops from his damp hair onto his fingers, sniffed at it and
tasted cautiously. “Water.”
    Devonne pushed a wet strand of hair off her face.
“Somebody’s got a second grade sense of humor.”
    Raje grinned and pushed back wet hair that flopped into his
eyes. “Keep that in mind. I’m betting this isn’t the only booby trap.”
    Because they were careful, they managed to avoid the slick
spot in the floor, though Raje had a foot on it before he recognized the
danger. A rain of feathers poured over them a little farther on.