Read Online More Than Chains To Bind by Stevie Woods - Free Book Online Page B

asking Hollis' advice. This had become quite common once his expertise was proven as good as our Guides.
    As time passed, the guards had relaxed and we'd learned some more general pointers from them, too. The better a fighter you were, the better the "stable" would purchase you, and you would receive better treatment. Hollis and I were clearly the only ones with any real experience, and when I mentioned he'd taught me virtually everything I knew, Hollis became the one everyone went to for advice.
    The last time we'd spoken alone was two days ago, and I'd told him of my concern for him. I knew he feared what would happen when the auction took place, fearing for my safety in the arena and in my bed--or rather someone else's bed--but he'd brushed off my qualms for his own safety. The idea of being forced into someone's bed was horrifying, I couldn't deny it, especially now when all I wanted was to be in Hollis' bed. It might have been easier if I didn't love someone, if I didn't want only Hollis to touch me and take me with love.
    Yet, as I told him two days earlier, there were worse fears as far as I was concerned, such as being separated and never seeing him again. Yet there was something even worse than that for me--the possibility one day we may be pitted against each other in the arena. I saw the shock in his eyes--it must never have occurred to him--but he never had the chance to answer me because he was dragged away then for the afternoon session.
    That afternoon they gave me--us--cause to worry about my fear. Cor'lyn arrived with a couple of guests in tow, very important guests if their garb and attitude was anything to go by. Cor'lyn never introduced them, so I could only guess why they were there and I presumed it was to show off his wares to prospective buyers. Apparently, Cor'lyn wanted to put on a show and he ordered the training to stop and all the slaves re-linked to their partners while a display match took place. And surprise, surprise, he chose Hollis and me to put on his display. Not once before this had he pitted us against each other. In fact, he always kept our two groups separate.
    The other slaves were sent back to their respective halls, and we were positioned in the centre of the arena and given a tipped sword each. It had only been three days since all the training weapons had been changed. No more wooden swords or pilums, we now had the real thing. The explanation Cor'lyn gave was the weight distribution with the authentic weapons was different and we needed to get used to the actual thing. The training weapons were weighted as near as possible to the real weapons, but it still felt very different to use an actual sword again. The Guides put us through exercises to get used to the differences and we were required to practice a set of movements mirroring a partner. However, when it came to actual combat practice, our weapons were tipped for protection.
    Cor'lyn couldn't afford for either of us to receive serious injury at this stage of the game.
    We had only been fighting for a few minutes; I suppose a fairer description would be sparring because, even though this was the first time we had ever seriously crossed swords, our moves were almost choreographed. We knew each other's moves well in hand-to-hand combat and we had sparred with a variety of weapons since Hollis had become my Guardian.
    It couldn't have been violent enough for them, though, because one of the guests walked forward and ordered us to stop the fight. Cor'lyn followed close behind, obviously continuing an argument they'd been having. The guest pulled out his own sword, a fine weapon by all appearances, waving it in our direction. It became obvious he wanted us to fight with untipped blades, and Cor'lyn was arguing against it.
    "I'll be damned if I'll risk my prize combatants just to put on a display for you," he said.
    "I want to see a real fight!" the guest declared.
    "Very well," Cor'lyn said, and my heart almost stopped. "If you