Introductions

Once I returned from my run I washed and changed into the day attire Silk had prepared, a simple brown pinafore paired with linen undershirt and my hair pulled back with a headband. I looked like a Central schoolgirl. Silk said it was important to look innocent at all times; you never know who is watching.

We had lunch delivered to our suite and the Prime went over my tactics and strategy. After some etiquette lessons from Silk, I prepared for the opening ceremony. It was the first look everyone would have of us. I was representing The Village. I was representing our Crocasant people. It was nerve-wracking.

Silk dressed me in the most impractical outfit I had ever seen. It was another dress. It was knee length and violet. Violet. It was satin. Silk said it was more practical than actual silk since I would only wear it once. It was similar to the pink cotton, with a sweetheart neckline however this one had a velvet hemline and pearlescent buttons descending from the neckline. There was also a velvet sash that went round my waist. She paired it with nude stockings, which I loathed, and heeled shoes that I had never seen before. They were brown with a strap that went across.

My hair was straightened and curled in a wavy kind of pattern. My make-up was minimal, with pale pink lips and bright eyes. My hair was threaded with purple peonies. Finally, Prime gave me an ink black hooded cloak to go round.

"Remember, you are to be a mystery till you get to the arena, where you remove the cloak and let them all believe that you are just an innocent little girl. You are not mysterious, you are simple. Deceptively simple. Let them believe that we are no longer the tribe we once were, let them think the Crocasant people are in decline. Go and make us proud." That last sentence kind of confused me, but I decided to go with it. This was the moment I had been waiting for. Finally, I was going to be there. I thought briefly of whether Rowan would be proud of me for doing this, and I shoved down the lump in my throat. The mourning period was over. Rowan was dead. I had to do my duty and represent the Village. There was nothing else to think about.

We left the room and went downstairs where the other champions were gathered. The woman from the desk stood slightly apart from the crowd, waiting for the last group to come down. Once we were all gathered she spoke loudly "Champions, it is now time for the opening ceremony. If you will follow me, I will take you to your transport." She waited as the competitors broke off from their teams and gathered in front of her. I left Silk and the Prime behind and joined the group. Then we were herded into large black covered wagons with thick padded benches on either side. I had never before seen the like and from the looks around me neither had some of the other girls. I said girls but some were well into their womanhood, well past the age of 25 no doubt. I found this slightly strange, since from what I had gathered, the prince was 22 years of age. Were these women really willing to potentially spend their life with one so much younger than them? I could not fathom it, but I guess to them it was a small cost for the position of queen. In the end it was no matter, since I would be the one to win his hand.

As we were driven to the arena, the wagon was deathly silent. The others were either sizing each other up, or in silent contemplation. While I wasn't the only one wearing a cloak, others just wore their ceremonial clothes. There were some rather extravagant gowns the likes of which I had only seen in the pages of the merchants' catalogues and story books, and there were some girls wearing fancy trousers. Some were beautiful, mystical, ethereal. I paled in comparison to a lot of these girls. They were not all pretty, but they were all striking. Moreso than me. I would have to stand out with my skill, as clearly when it came to appearance I would not come out on top. I kept my head down for the rest of the ride, remembering Silk's words. Even eye contact at this point could hinder me later on.

We soon pulled up to the arena. It was huge, circular, rather than oval, like ours at home. It stretched high above the ground, built of solid grey stone. We disembarked from the wagons and were guided through a large set of wooden double doors into a series of tunnels. One opened into a larger room where we were instructed to remove any outer garments. There were hooks on the walls for us to use. I picked one off to the side, further away from the main clump of girls. I saw a few glances when I removed my cloak but none lingered very long. In comparison to some of the others I was quite plain, boring. There was so much wealth and luxury in this room. Every competitor had invested so much in this tournament. The stakes were so high. Those who survived would have all doors open to them. The Betrothal Championships were a trial so harsh, to survive meant you were worthy of respect. I glanced around at the others, wondering who of us would survive and who would die at the hands of the rest. Who would die at my hands?

The women supervising us urged us on and so we continued down till we could hear the roar of the crowds gathered to witness the opening ceremony. We continued to descend down a slope until we entered the arena. The place erupted in cheers, whistles, boos and hollers. It was overwhelming. We were surrounded on all sides by spectators, sat high above us, separated by a wall and metal railings above it.

"Welcome to the Central Betrothal Championships!" The host was apparently a popular entertainer in the area. She had an easy going face, with a wide smile and an excited air. She was sat on the far side of the arena, under a blue awning. She projected her voice using a large megaphone. "These are our competitors from all around the kingdom!" More cheers.

"Don't they look beautiful today! We are truly blessed to witness this momentous occasion that some will only see once in their lifetime! Indeed! This tournament is tradition here in Central, and has been used to choose the past seventeen Queens! And we are now here to witness the choosing of the eighteenth Queen of the kingdom!" The cacophony was deafening.

The host continued, "However, there is a surprise before we announce the competitors! Tonight, they will have to fight to the death until only eight competitors are left! Only then will we become acquainted with our potential Queens!" The crowd was roared after hearing this. However, the competitors were shocked and so was I. This was just supposed to be the opening ceremony, a chance to get acquainted, represent our people and find out how things would proceed. We weren't dressed or equipped for a fight to the death. We were not prepared for this, none of us. Not at all. Looking around I saw girls were pale, ashen, and some of them trembled with fear. We had come today to meet and greet the public and instead some of us were not going to leave here alive. I gritted my teeth. I had not expected this, but I could not let the chaos in my mind free. Soon I would be fighting for my life. No not my life, for the Crocasant people.

"When the gong is hit, the games will begin!"

All the girls had started backing away from each other. This was not good. I needed to get a hold of myself. The tension in the air was affecting my nerves. As I took a deep breath to calm myself, clenching my fists, but it turned into a gasp as the gong was hit. For a moment there was silence as everyone was still, till a girl in a skin-tight jumpsuit launched herself at a girl next to her in a tight floor length dress. Then it was chaos. Girls started fighting left and right, I watched as they pummelled each other to death, some using their fists, others using improvised weapons such as hair pins, heels, and one that I found particularly fascinating was a necklace used as knuckle dusters. I stood unnoticed, detached, as they fought it out, ducking the odd fist or thrown body. I could hear Silk's voice in my head, warning me not to stand out but I doubt she would be happy if I died either. As girls started dropping, the crowds' eyes were drawn to a girl who had been carrying a concealed knife and was slitting throats left right and centre.

Suddenly I was grabbed from behind by my sash, yanked back into the moment. I flipped the person over my shoulder and ran to the side. Undoing my sash I decided some form of protection was needed so I wound it round my hands ready for the next attacker. This one turned and twirled letting out numerous high kicks. Winding the sash round her leg I flipped her before choking the life out of her. Her eyes bugged out and she clawed at the sash to no avail. Eventually she fell limp, but I was anxious for her to die. Strangulation was not my preferred method, it was slow and tiring, but I had no other weapons at hand. Once I was in the fray, the attacks were unrelenting. The next girl I punched, dazing her, so she couldn't avoid my outstretched leg and tripped, falling to the ground where I then managed to stab her in the eye with my blunt heel. I did her other eye, just to be safe. It was slightly better, but still a crude method. It also ended up with blood all over my shoes. I could even feel it seeping through my stockings. Not pleasant.

Slowly I noticed the herd was thinning. Another girl approached me with a maniacal glint in her eye. She was the girl with the knife. I could feel the crowd watching, waiting in anticipation for her to cut me down as well. She launched herself at me and I dodged to the left, grabbing her arm and twisting it back till the knife dropped out of her hand. She then lunged and tried to bite me. I pushed her back, grabbed the knife, and jumped at her as she came running back towards me. I toppled her to the ground and dragged the knife across her throat, blood spurting up at me. I was quite covered in it. I climbed off her body. After fighting a couple more girls I moved to the side and stayed down. Ten other girls continued to fight while ignoring me. After three of them killed their opponents, the gong for stop signalled. I had never been so relieved in my life. Looking down at my dress, I knew I would probably get a firm scolding. Blood was murder to get out. Shoes are one thing, but the dress was probably expensive, and at this point, it was unlikely it could be saved.

I gathered at the centre of the arena with the other girls as we were introduced.

"And we have our competitors! That was certainly a fierce battle ladies and gentleman and these fine young ladies have come out on top! Finally, it is time for introductions! Who are these fierce young women? Let's find out! And now our first competitor, coming from the sandy dunes of Grice, we have Nara Larif!"

She was small, dark skin, darker than mine. Her hair was cut short, shaped to her head. She wore long flowing pants made of a sort of wispy fabric that was a peach colour. Her top was the same but it was strapless and bared a slight strip of her midriff. Her eyes were lined in a dark red and her lips were brown. Somehow though, it all just worked. She stepped forward, gave a twirl and then stepped back into our makeshift line.

"From our very own Central is Cille Hughes!" This was a blonde, blue eyed beauty. Tall and elegant. She had her hair pulled back in a fancy bun, and was wearing a mint green ball gown. It was huge, cumbersome, and it was nothing short of impressive that she had managed to kill so many girls in that thing. Cille stepped forward and slid down into a low curtsey. She had quite a few cheers.

"From the depths of Hell- sorry, I mean the Fury Caverns, comes Opal Clare!" She was badass. Her skin was deathly pale and her eyes burned like the embers of a fire. Her hair was black and fell to her mid back. She wore tight trousers, towering stilettos and a black bra with a sheer black top on top. Her nails were painted black and her lips were an orange slash. She stepped forward, gave a curt nod and stepped back into the line.

"Descended from the Glaciers in Maron, comes Crystal Fraser!" She was tall. Taller than I am, I would say she was close to 6'4. It was clear that she was one of the older competitors, though I could not guess as to how old she was exactly. Her hair was a long grey braid down her back, and she had these intense blue eyes that were incredibly intimidating. She wore a tight silver dress that went to her ankles and had a slit on the right all the way to her thigh. It had full length sleeves and a v neck. She stepped forward and did some slinky kind of bob down before returning to the line.

"Entering our competition for the first time in 200 years, we have the mysterious Village of the Crocasant and their champion Sorrel!" I had been expecting a bigger fuss to be honest. I stepped forward and did the curtsey as Silk had taught me, but I refused to bow my head. In not doing so, I ended up locking eyes with the prince. At least I think it was the prince. He was behind a sheer curtain under a red awning to the side of the host's and I could not make out all of his features. I held his gaze for mere seconds before I stepped back into the line. He would understand the meaning of my refusal to bow my head whilst I bowed my body. The Crocasant were not subservient and we never would be. We were a tribe of warriors. We respected strength only, and the strong do not bow to those who have not proved their worth. I wondered what the prince was like. I did not even know what he looked like. As I considered this the introductions continued.

"From the Crimson Valley comes Galatea Bon!" She was wearing a tight wrap around crimson dress. Her hair was a mass of smooth chestnut curls. Her lips were painted red and her eyes were a startling red too. She was kind of scary. She stepped forward and did a slight curtsey, a smile dancing across her lips.

"From the Skull Coast comes Dawn Cripps!" She was stick thin. Her skin was a sallow greyish colour and her head was shaven. She had huge black eyes and her lips were painted dark green. She wore a baggy brown dress that made her even more waif like. She came forward and did a deep nod. It looked like she'd snap if she did more than that and yet I had definitely seen her use her shoe to bash some girl's head in.

"And last but not least, from the Firefly Woods, Rowena Dowry!" This girl was an individual. She was dressed like some kind of mystical creature. Her hair was strawberry blonde, in big luscious curls around her face, and she had big light brown eyes. She was cute as a button and almost as small as one, standing at around 5'4. Her dress was made of coral tulle and the skirt stuck out in points like the leaves of a petal. She wore dainty looking slippers on her feet and had a crown of daisies in her hair. She skipped forward and twirled, stopping in a bow. Then she hopped back into our line. How she survived the bloodbath I do not know. Clearly there was more to Rowena than she appeared. The blood splattered on her cheek proved that.

"Looks like we have a lot of strong competitors here ladies and gentlemen. It will be no easy task for these girls to get rid of the competition. Now let's hear it for our champions!" The crowd went wild. We were then showered in roses. Black ones. I was creeped out. Black flowers are a symbol of death for the Crocasant, and I would have thought for the kingdom at large, but a lot of the girls really played the crowd, catching roses, gathering them into bouquets and blowing kisses into the crowd. But I followed my instructions. Go as unnoticed as possible. The more boring I appeared, the less interested the other girls would be in me. No, not other girls, other competitors. I think we all proved today that we were serious contenders. That we were more than capable of surviving in what had so quickly become a kill or be killed tournament.