Responsibilities

CLAIRE'S POV

"I can do this," I muttered, trying to sound confident as I walked to my position in front of Zane. Evan stood opposite me and I gulped, watching him flex his muscles….or fat body. 

His body size and towering height made him look like a giant. And for whatever weird reason, he just kept grinning at me. Maybe he thought this was funny but it wasn't.

"The duel for today is battle for the keep." Zane drawled lazily, glancing between me and Evan.

My heart slammed against my chest as I heard that, wondering why it had to be that of all others. 

I'd read about it in the handbook. 

It was a complete disaster. 

It was usually like this: they gave one of us an item to hold depending on who rolled the highest number of dice while the opponent had to challenge them for it. Obviously, the person with the item would have more advantage because we only had five minutes to duel. If they still held on to it at the end of the five minutes, they won.

There were no real rules, except for the obvious one about not actually killing each other. Which meant that Evan, with his 230 pounds of muscle, could literally jump on me and squash me to get the item. And if he ended up with it initially, running into him or fighting him to get it would be a disaster.

So, whichever happened, I was still in danger of being squashed to death. 

"Roll the dice!" Zane instructed in a loud voice and I turned to look at him when I heard the amusement in his voice. There was undoubtedly a hint of mischief in his eyes, pushing me closer to the edge. 

Exhaling, I picked up the dice and rolled it. It tumbled across the table and landed with a thud. I held my breath as I stared at it. 

Two measly dots stared back at me.

A two? 

I choked out a curse, glancing over at Zane who was wearing a smirk across his face. He was definitely enjoying this.

Go on, laugh. It must be really funny for him. 

I took a step back and Evan moved forward, tossing the dice. I watched him blow on it and when it landed, he got a perfect six. 

I groaned, resigning myself to my fate. 

"Evan secured the flag," Zane said, handing him a red flag. "Claire will challenge him for the flag. If she succeeds, 10 points, but I highly doubt she will." He added the last part with a grin.

Those standing around erupted in laughter and my anger flared as I glared at him. How very professional as a captain. And non-interested he was in me, yet he kept pulling these stunts at every corner. 

Fine, he had made his point. He wanted to make me suffer. I understood that, but did he realize that I could literally die? Of course he did, I thought again. He just didn't care.

I glanced in his direction once more and he was watching me with a wicked smirk playing on his lips. 

"What is she waiting for?" One girl yelled and I stopped myself from glaring at her before returning to my position. I got ready, steeling myself to take the flag from Evan. 

I muttered some encouraging words to myself. "I can do this." I told myself not to care that Evan weighed at least three times what I did, or that his armpit might brush against me. I made a face just thinking about how horrible that would be. 

I would fight him with all the strength in me. And even stab him if I had to though, just to wipe that stupid smirk off Zane's face.

"Start!" Zane yelled, and the stopwatch before him began to tick.

Mustering all my strength, I charged towards Evan, yelling at the top of my lungs.

But as my hands reached for the flag in his hand, Evan hit me, knocking the wind out of me.

"Argh," I groaned as I hit the ground, clutching my shoulder.

I could hear people laughing as I writhed on the ground, pain coursing through me.

"This is pure comedic gold."

"She's going to get herself really hurt."

"I told you Evan would send her flying this first round." 

"Where's my money? I'm winning this bet." 

Did they really bet on me?

My vision was blurry from the dust but I could still see them as they stood and laughed. Their mockery was enough to make me not give up. I had to prove them wrong. 

Slowly, I rose to my feet, staggering before checking my elbow. I had scratched it from the fall but I stood up straight, wincing a little even though I was trying to hide the fact that I was in pain.

I stepped back and rolled my shoulders, gearing myself to rush at Evan again. This time, I charged with all the strength in me and again, Evan slammed his hand across my chin, sending me to the ground instantly.

The pain felt like my head was exploding, and I groaned, holding my head. I heard more chuckles but I rose on my feet the second time, tightening my hands. Staggering, I felt a warm liquid dripping down my nose and I touched it, my eyes widening at the sight of blood. 

I wiped it away and threw a quick glance at Zane. He was no longer smiling, his jaw clenched. I couldn't tell what the look on his face meant but I didn't care at this point.

I tore my gaze away from him, locking onto Evan, who stood among a group of boys hailing his victory. My eyes flickered to the flag still clutched in his hand, and a plan began to form in my mind.

"Is she crazy?" someone muttered. "He's going to hurt real bad."

"I'll give her this—she doesn't know when to quit," another spectator added.

I forced myself not to react. Let them talk. They wanted a show, right? Well, I hoped they were enjoying it because I wasn't leaving without that flag.

There were only two possible outcomes: either Evan broke my bones, or I walked away with that flag in my hand.

I lunged at Evan for the third time, aiming to slip under his arm and snatch the flag from behind him. Just as my fingers stretched toward it, he moved—fast.

Before I could react, his hand clamped around my leg. With effortless strength, he yanked me off the ground and flung me into the air like I weighed nothing.

I crashed down with a sickening crack.

A sharp, searing pain shot through my knee. White-hot. Blinding.

"Ahhh—OW!" I gasped, clutching my leg as I writhed on the ground. The pain was worse this time, unbearable. Tears blurred my vision, spilling over as I struggled to breathe through it.

"Move!" a familiar voice barked as Caius shoved through the crowd, advancing to where I lay on the ground.

"Get out of the way!" At the same time, Zane rushed forward, both towering over me.

"You okay?" Caius crouched beside me, his brows knitted in concern.

I shook my head, tears spilling as I clutched my bruised, bleeding knee.

"Let's get you to the clinic," Zane said, lowering himself to help.

But Caius shot out a hand, stopping him. "She's hurt because of you. Spare us the fake sympathy."

Zane's jaw tightened as he leveled a glare at him. "You're crossing the line, Caius. She's my responsibility."

"I don't take orders from you," Caius snapped back. "And she's not your responsibility."