Final Preparations

At the arena, a veritable army of servants had labored almost non-stop since Heila's ninth victory on the bloody sands. The work had paused only briefly when Nyrielle's army appeared and marched into the city like a snake made of flame with the torches they carried to march in the darkness. Once the spectacle had ended, however, frantic supervisors had urged their staff back to work in order to transform the mighty stadium in time for the following evening's festivities. 

Outside the arena, every marble statue had been cleaned and polished. In honor of a visit from the famed Blood Princess of the Arena, every fountain surrounding the arena as well as those within its more opulent spaces had been drained, scrubbed, and refilled with water and copious amounts of red coloring that made it appear as though the fountains had been filled with blood.