That brought a calculating squint to Ignitus’s face. “Yes. Your next fight. I look forward to seeing you shine with igneia tomorrow morning.”
Ash’s stomach seized. “Tomorrow?”
The other champions wouldn’t arrive for a few days. Tor had guessed that she would fight Brand first, the only other champion closer to Ignitus by birth. But if she was to fight tomorrow, then that meant she would fight one of the champions already here.
“At dawn, you fight Rook Akela for advancement.” Ignitus nodded at Rook. “Give a good show, but try not to rough her up too much. After all”—his gaze went back to Ash, and he was furious now, his rage returned—“the first few fights always bring certain nerves.”
With a sweep of his arm, Ignitus vanished, a column of blue fire launching up from the floor and dissipating into the ether.
Ash staggered in his absence, her mouth open. Ignitus was punishing her for losing against Madoc by making her fight Rook.
Even so, she smiled.
Tor leaped up from the floor and grabbed her arms. “What were you thinking?”
“Did you see that?” She stared at the place where Ignitus had been, now lit only by the glowing green stones. “Did you see his face?”
“He’s angry.” Rook had stood as well, arms folded, the painted sunbursts on his skin now blurred and faded. “But don’t worry. We’ll figure out the fight tomorrow. I’ll help—”
“No.” Ash panted, smiling still. “When I asked him about who might threaten him, Ignitus was worried. Which means Hydra’s message wasn’t a plea to leave her out of something frivolous or petty—it has weight. And Stavos might know of it. We have a lead that could bring him down.”
The room fell silent.
“Yes, he was worried,” Tor confirmed. Ash beamed up at him. He didn’t return her exuberance. “But you were reckless. You can’t only focus on this vague lead.”
“Let’s make it less vague, then. We can push Stavos. Maybe Geoxus has something planned against Ignitus, like Hydra said in her message, some squabble between them. Maybe it could actually hurt Ignitus, whatever it is, and Stavos is part of it—he did take out Ignitus’s best gladiator illegally. He said—” She swallowed. “He said my god told me your mother would be an easy kill. Did Geoxus put him up to poisoning Char? Maybe—”
Someone knocked. “Ignitus’s guards,” soldiers said from the hall, “here to escort the champions back to the palace.”
Tor flinched, giving Ash a pained look. “Stop, Ash. You’re fighting Rook tomorrow. You’re so focused on bringing Ignitus down that you’re losing sight of the immediate consequences of your actions.”
Ash wilted. “I’m not losing sight of anything. What more do we have to lose?”
The guards knocked again. “Champions?”
Tor’s face flared red. Before he could respond, Rook pressed close to them.
“Ignitus seemed genuinely concerned, which means it’s possible that whoever or whatever he fears is in Deimos. We owe it to ourselves to pursue his weakness, Tor. We owe it to everyone we’re fighting for back home.” He swallowed, noticeably not saying his son’s name. “We owe it to Char too. You know we do.”
“We’ll talk to Stavos, then?” Ash’s stomach suddenly shriveled into a knot. “We’ll find out if Geoxus told him to kill my mother?”
She didn’t want to talk to Stavos.
She wanted to slice his throat.
“Geoxus is likely to have some kind of festivities after the first round fights,” Tor said to Rook. He was ignoring her. “Those events are always saturated with wine. We can wait until Ignitus is drunk and press him for information, a more solid lead.”
“We have a lead,” Ash tried again. “If Geoxus used Stavos to kill Char, he could be—”
“Stavos is a brute,” Tor snapped. “A fumbling idiot of a man. He is nothing, Ash. Do you hear me? I won’t waste any more energy talking about Char’s murderer. Stop. We’ll question Ignitus. That’s it.”
Ash agreed with him; Stavos was all the things Tor said. But he could also be the key to figuring out Ignitus’s weakness if he was involved in a larger plot.
“Champions,” one of the guards called, impatient. “To the palace.”
Spark gave an apologetic shrug and answered the door. She and Taro walked out into the group of waiting soldiers.
Ash wilted under the sorrow in Tor’s eyes, the fury that was blinding him to a potential weakness of Ignitus’s. Or was Ash’s own fury blinding her?
The only way to find out was to take the next step at whatever celebration Geoxus held after the first fights. Talk to Ignatus, yes—but they