from food to clothing, there aren’t enough left here to fill every seat. A sad sentiment for how much the human population has declined.
And still, it’s the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen. Bigger than the public executions back at Szolen, which tend to draw a lot of spectators.
A feeling of exhilaration hums through my veins as I take in the grandiosity of it all. What it must’ve felt like to be here back in the days of the big games! In class, we learned that people would gather in parking lots beforehand, rejoicing and drinking.
The scent of meat fills the air as we pass a merchant stand, but I’m so glutted on food, it fails to break my staring of the stadium beyond the small table, from where the man calls out to Madame Beaumont and me. An abrupt quiet follows, drawing my eyes to his, as he stares at me in passing, his mouth gaping.
It’s then I notice the crowd ahead parting for Madame Beaumont and I, their echoes of shouts and conversation dying to quiet. My skin crawls beneath their leering eyes, something I continue to feel even as I turn away. Most dress in rags and tattered clothes, and I feel utterly ridiculous in this dress. Like a walking lie.
“You see, my dear?” Madame Beaumont whispers in my ear. “They cannot take their eyes off you.”
I’d give anything to shrink and scamper away, their attentions a heavyweight bearing down on me, as my escort leads me toward somewhere on the other side of the stadium.
As we make our way around the perimeter, the crowd continues their ogling of me. The dress is suddenly too tight against my breasts, the lace fabric scratching against my skin, and for once, I’m grateful for Henry at my back. The touch of his hand on my shoulder, guiding me through a sea of people, is a comfort I failed to appreciate before.
We finally reach a staircase that disappears into a dark corridor above, empty of prying eyes, and when we breach the top of it, I’m greeted by the open expanse of the stadium directly below my feet. The glass box sits over the field. Wavering at the threshold, I stare down at the dirt and goal post below, a wave of dizziness sweeping over me.
“It’s a little unnerving at first, but come, it’s safe to walk on.” Madame Beaumont steps up into the glass box and flicks her fingers for me to follow.
Toeing the glass, I set one foot down on the surface, testing its strength with a wobble in my knees, but I keep on, and soon, I feel like I’m walking on air.
I can’t help but smile as I pussyfoot my way to the other end of the box. Hands splayed against the glass, I stare down at the field. Weightless. A giant. It’s the strangest and most thrilling sensation I’ve ever felt.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Madame Beaumont says beside me.
“It’s incredible. We can watch the games from here?”
“Oh, yes. You’ll be right over top of them.”
Fascinating.
The view has utterly consumed me, so much that I don’t immediately notice Madame has stepped away until I hear her speak from behind. “Thalia, I’d like you to meet one of your Champions.”
“My Champion?” I turn to see a short, but muscled, man in worn clothes.
“This is Percy. He’ll be fighting in your honor.”
My smile fades with the burgeoning confusion that has me glancing toward the field and back. “My honor?”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. I pray that luck will be on my side today, and I might call you mine.”
What?
The man bows his head and exits the box, while another steps up in his place. “This is David. He’ll also be fighting in your honor.”
Brows furrowed, I watch as the man bows like the first and exits soon after. “What do you mean, fighting for my honor?”
Ignoring my question, as has been the custom with her, she turns toward the man climbing the staircase toward the box. Blond curls and narrow blue eyes, he carries an unsettling glint in his expression. Something that has the hairs on my skin standing on end. “Ah, Remus … I wondered if you’d show.”
“I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to lay eyes on the virgin daughter.” Those ominous blue eyes sweep over me, and the corner of his lip lifts with a devious smile. “She’s everything I imagined, and more.”
“Will you be fighting in her honor?”
“No. I’ve arranged for someone to fight in my