4

Saya had been looking forward to the next day. The whole city was celebrating the tournament, everywhere were things to see and do. All off the streets were decorated in bright, happy colours, music played on every possible streetcorner and the godly smell of the dozens of food stands, set up all over the market square, spread all the way to the very outskirts of the city. She had wanted to go take a look at the festivities the day before, but that was before her plans changed.

Today she had more than enough time. She'd had her second fight that morning, with someone named Eska. Eska was a great fighter. Her reaction time was almost unhuman like, and some of the moves she had thrown at Saya had been practically impossible to dodge. After a lot of sweat and a grazed shoulder, that had to be patched up later, Saya had found an opening in Eska's strong defence. She had been able to hit the girl in the side, causing her to trip over her own feet. She surrendered soon after. Saya had won, but barely.

After the fight, she had gone to her tent, where she fell down on the chair from exhaustion. She was surprised she'd made the chair in the first place and that she hadn't just fallen stretched out on the ground, from how much energy the fight had cost her.

She had to rest for a while, before she could change into some more comfortable clothes and put the armour away. She placed the sword on the table for now. She would come back to clean it later that day, so it would be good and shiny as new when she fought the semi-finals.

It was around noon now, and Saya could feel her stomach growl. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, and after a fight like this, it made sense she was starving. She wanted to get her lunch at one of the food stands at the market square. From the tent, that was about a fifteen-minute walk.

On her way to the square, she was amazed by all the decorations. Long strings of lights and colourful flag garlands were strung between the houses. Confetti graced the streets and she could hear cheerful music from all directions. There were people playing violin, guitar, all kinds of wind instruments and people who sung joyful songs. She walked past many different stands where you could buy jewellery, clothes, and hats.

Everyone she could see was dressed in festive, brightly coloured dresses and skirts, which danced back and forth in the vague wind, that peacefully flowed through the streets, providing the people with a way to temporarily escape the heat of the sun. Children enthusiastically ran from stand to stand, trying to decide what to buy with the little pocket money they got from their parents. The parents, in turn, were gathered in little groups, talking, laughing and showing off their newly acquired hats and necklaces to each other. It was for the first time those few days, that Saya whished someone from her own kingdom had come with her on this trip. It was for the first time since she got here, that Saya felt horribly lonely. It is true what they say, she thought. Loneliness can truly be the most powerful when you are surrounded by people.

For a minute, she stopped at one of stalls selling all different kinds of hats, and tried on a dark blue straw hat that caught her attention, which, to her surprise, suited her really well. It even managed to cheer her up a bit. She considered buying it for a second, until she looked down at the price tag. Too expensive. Of course. She'd have to skip all her meals for two days to buy it. Something that, especially in the heat of the competition, she couldn't afford to do.

When she finally arrived at the market square, she took at while to look around, to list her options, before choosing a warm, slightly spicy dish with tomato and paprika. It smelled fantastic, and tasted even better. In the middle of the square stood a statue, surrounded by a stone ledge, where more people had sat down to eat their meals, and talk to their friends. Saya sat down on the ledge, to finish her lunch.

She was completely absorbed in her thoughts, when she suddenly noticed a person approaching her.

"Hey there, Poor Girl. Did you have some money left to buy lunch?"

"Hey, Princess, how are you doing." Saya answered with a sigh.

"I was just wondering if you really thought I wouldn't see you sneak onto the bleachers to watch my game. Now did you?"

"I just wanted to see you fight. People always say you're such a brilliant fighter, I had to see that for myself. How did you find me in between all those people anyway?"

"You stood out," Wynn said simply. Then she said, "Now why were you really there?"

"I told you-"

"-No you didn't. I don't like being lied to. Try again."

Saya wondered how Wynn knew. Usually, she was a pretty good liar. She was probably just somewhat distracted. She answered;

"I wanted to see what I could be up against in the finale. That would be, if you made it."

Wynn looked quite indignant.

"If I made it? I make a better chance than you. but you know what? I hope you make it, just so I can fight you there."

She stopped talking for a second to examine Saya's outfit.

"If you're so sure you'll win, I do hope you are not too poor to wear something a little nicer than this to the celebrations after?"

Saya, after having restrained herself for so long against these kinds of comments, finally snapped.

"Listen, Princess, I get that you have all the money in the world, and I don't. Yes, our kingdom is poor. Yes, we struggle to feed our people, but you know what did that to us? You. You did that to us. If this worthless kingdom with its worthless king and his worthless daughter hadn't attacked our kingdom and so many of the others', we would all be living our happy, healthy lives, far away from each other. This stupid little 'tournament' your dad organises every couple years, is like king Minos' labyrinth, where every year, fourteen children were sent to their death. And you, you are the Minotaur."

She paused for a second to take a breath.

"So I'm sorry, if I annoy you. I'm sorry, if you can't stand me. But if you are this Labyrinth's Minotaur, then I'll be Theseus, who voluntarily entered the labyrinth, and after many years of Athens' torture, finally killed the Minotaur."

Saya was so incredibly mad that the tears sprung in her eyes. Wynn's face turned red, as her eyes too, became watery. She swallowed, and turned her eyes to the ground, as she turned around and started walking away.

"See you in the finale then, Saya."