“Mors, don't take them now," I begged the god of death. Both of them had been dealt a big injury while their opponents were still going strong.

  Corvus gave chase to Eztli. The warrior had turned and ran when he suddenly dropped into a roll, spinning back while throwing up sand. Corvus skidded to a halt, barely avoiding the shield jabbing at his gut, but not the blow to his helmet. Eztli's entire body had been behind that swing. The metal dented and the gladiator staggered back, dropping his swords to catch the next strike. Immediately, he drove his knee through the jaguar warrior's extended arm. Eztli flexed at the last moment, still grunting in pain and dropping the club.

  “Yes!” Saturnia shouted before groaning. We both flinched.

  The jaguar warrior had leapt on him, the same way his namesake had done to the bestiarii earlier. Corvus hit the sand on his back, the shield bashing against his wound and then against his face shield. Flecks of red spattered through the grill. Somehow the gladiator managed to twist, scrambling on top and slamming his head down. The sides of the Solis helmet stopped the metal brim from breaking through Eztli's face, however.

  "No!" he screamed. “You will not steal us from our home just to kill us here!"

  Fingers dug into the deep gashes and Corvus howled in pain, ripping off one of the canines from the jaguar pelt. The muscles on his back bunched to stab it down before Eztli could react. Right into his eyeball. Then again with the heel of his palm to shove it all the way through the eye socket. The jaguar warrior's body went completely limp.

  Meanwhile, his brother had shoved Praxedes off. He jumped to his feet, grabbing the axe and lifting it overhead. The edge glint in the sun—but if it was their god Huitzilopochtli or our Sol, I couldn't tell. ItzCoyotl swung it down with both hands as Praxedes surged to her feet despite the dagger in her leg. She shifted to the side, her forearm rising to slide against his arms and redirect his swing to the side.

  His head turned. For a heartbeat, the pounding rhythm of battle, they stared at each other. Then her fist jabbed into the side of his neck and tore it out. The axe bit into the sand and he released his grip, but it was too late. She had trapped his arms against his side and uppercut him. The spikes drove into the underside of his jaw. Blood sputtered from his mouth to join the river flowing from his neck, down the bones of his armor. He grew still as Praxedes released him warily.

  Silence filled the stadium.

  ItzCoyotl slowly reached out to touch the plume on her helmet. He gave a blood-drenched smile before toppling backwards. A pool of deep red spread around him, soaking his feathers as he took his final breaths staring up at the sun.

  Praxedes sagged, letting out a ragged cry of relief and turned with a limp, calling for her brother. But he was already there. The twins embraced tightly, holding each other up. The crowd chanted their name, stomping and jumping as they cheered.

  "Magnus!"

  "Magnus!"

  "Magnus!"

  It felt like the whole world was shaking, from the stone beneath our feet to the air around us. I turned to Saturnia and hugged her, my eyes burning and my throat painfully tight. "They did it."

  "Yeah." She sniffled. "Did you bet that they would?"

  "Of course not. That would be cheating."

  She let out a shaky laugh. The crowd's energy was normally intoxicating, but it washed over us as we turned back to the arena. Corvus had removed his helmet. Blood poured from his nose, coating his mouth and chin. His sister watched the corpses of Eztli and ItzCoyotl be carried off and returned to their people. Both were trapped in a daze.

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  A door opened and Caelum, Felix, and several others rushed out. Praxedes snapped back to the present and bent over with a pale face, her hands shaking around the knife.

  "Don't pull it out," barked the medic. “Not until we can get you lying down. Corvus, how are you feeling? Can you walk fine?"

  He nodded, squinting slightly against the brightness of the sun. "Just...tell me what to do."

  Felix brought his arm around his shoulders, the side opposite the wounds. Corvus groaned as they began walking to the entrance below us. Ursus picked up Praxedes with a frown. She hardly noticed, however, her eyes fixed upon the iridescent green feather in her hand. They disappeared from view, and all that was left was the sand shaped by countless footsteps, soaked red with blood.

  "Let's go," Saturnia said finally.

  I nodded. As we left the amphitheater, she asked me what I planned to do next.

  "All of Romachia is going to be celebrating tonight, Max!"

  My fingers rubbed blue silk between them as I shook my head slowly. "I don't think I feel up for that this time. I think I'll just wait for Felix at home."

  "Okay," she said quietly. "Want to go to the bathhouse first? Just a little while?"

  I stopped. "That actually sounds perfect." It would be good to wash away the stress and soak in the warmth. I had a private setup at home, but of course it was nowhere near as spacious as the public one.

  We left the amphitheater, hurrying over to the nearby bathhouse before it got too crowded. After lathering with scented oils, we scraped off the dirt and rinsed before stepping into the bath.

  I hadn't even realized I'd been constricting my breath until the warmth began to soak into my body. A deep exhale left my lips and I glanced over to Saturnia. Her eyes were already closed. Leaning my head back onto the lip of the bath, I listened to the conversation around us.

  "That was probably the most exciting game I've ever been to," one woman exclaimed. "I still shiver just thinking about that awful sound in the beginning. I thought Mors was coming for all of us."

  Snippets also floated over from the men's side.

  "I thought they were done for, at first. But Felix really knows how to train his gladiators well."

  "Give me all the training in the world, and I still would have given up as soon as I saw those warriors," his partner joked.

  I turned my attention inward and let my limbs float, feeling weightless. My thoughts returned to Saturnia's question about what to do next. They were probably making the twins rest tonight, but it would be good to have a feast in celebration after. Maybe I could offer the courtyard, although it wasn't a huge space.

  When my eyes began to drift shut, I stood with a groan. Now that much of the tension that had strung me together had faded, exhaustion hit.

  "Alright, I've got to go before I fall asleep and drown. Come by tomorrow? At least just for the morning?"

  She sighed, sinking lower into the water. "Fine. But any annoying customer and I'm throwing them to you."

  "Your bravery never ceases to amaze me," I said dryly and she flicked water at me.

  I got home shortly after, although Felix still hadn't returned. The servants had been given the rest of the day off to enjoy the games and celebrations, so I set about preparing dinner. Taking some salted rabbit, I softened it with a mixture of wine, fish sauce, and water before adding some mustard, anise, and leeks. Then, while that cooked, I made a fruit sauce—pepper, onions, dates, plums, wine, and olive oil with a little starch to thicken it.

  I set it out, covering it with another plate to hold the warmth. My eyes began to droop as I waited. But eventually I heard his footsteps approach and sat up on the reclining couch.

  "Did you wait long?"

  "Not at all," I said, patting the seat beside me. "I went to the bathhouse with Sat and just finished cooking."

  He sat down with a grumble. "This is not something you have to —"

  I cut him off. "I wanted to do it."

  Felix tilted his head back a little to study me and I looked away. "Is something wrong?"

  "No...yes. Maybe," I sighed. "I tried not to be, but I was so scared watching today's fight.” He frowned, but before he could say anything, I continued. “It also made me think about all those times you'd come back home. After your fights, when I wouldn't talk to you for days."

  I paused, trying to figure out what I wanted to say next. He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

  "It took me until now to realize how unfair I was being to you. I interrupted your life," I said, holding up a hand when he began to protest. "However you think of it, I interrupted your life and you were doing your best to protect me. I'm really sorry, Father. I'm trying to be a better daughter."

  Felix was silent for a moment and I curled my hands together.

  "It did hurt," he admitted eventually. "Sometimes more than any of the injuries I suffered."

  My heart fell.