Aiden observed in the fighting ring number four, the fight between the mountain-man from Iskra's team and another fighter that had the misfortune to face such an opponent.
The mountain-man won, but his movements were dull, like he didn't have a will to fight. He received several blows, and if not for his extraordinary physique, he would lose.
Aiden looked at Sarah with admiration in his eyes. "It seems that your words from this morning impacted that blockhead to the point of him losing his fighting spirit."
Sarah smiled smugly and her expression didn't match the modesty in her response. "I only pointed out the facts that Iskra is two-faced and that she does not mind sacrificing people for her gain."
"I have a feeling that he will approach us with an intention to join Natalia's team.", Hong chimed in.
"But… there is no Natalia's team.", Aiden stated the fact.
Sarah shrugged. "The blockhead does not know that. In any case, he has no loyalty toward Natalia. That man is disappointed in Iskra and he will join any team that is willing to appreciate his talents."
Aiden paused and analyzed Sarah's words. He inched closer and spoke only for Sarah to hear: "You want him to join the Army of Chaos."
"It's not about what I want. It's about what he wants.", Sarah said matter-of-factly. "He will confront Iskra and if we are nearby to help him pick up the pieces of his shattered heart, he will be loyal to us as long as we treat him well."
Aiden stifled a laugh. "You have the talent of making unusual friendships."
Sarah bobbed her head excitedly. "You can never have too many allies. Even if he is not willing to fight for us, if he refuses to obey Iskra's orders, that will be plenty of help. Now focus, your fight is coming up soon…"
"Promise that you will stay out of the fighting ring.", Aiden demanded.
Sarah knows that Aiden is asking because, in these fights, every competitor can bring one attendant with him who will stay outside the fighting ring. Since Hong is keeping a low profile, Sarah will go with Aiden and she will be only a few steps away from the action.
Sarah had a condition. "I will stay out, as long as you don't allow anyone to hit you. If I see you getting hurt, I'm not sure that I can stay out of it even if that means us being disqualified."
Aiden is aware that he can't agree to this. "Love, be reasonable. We planned for this, and prepared… We were never this close to achieving our goals. There are dozens of people on standby if something goes wrong, we are in the middle of the enemy's camp, and we are too deep to back out now. My role is to fight. How can I promise not to get hit if I don't know the skills of my opponent? Some of the fighters know what they are doing."
Sarah cupped Aiden's cheeks and looked at him seriously. "I don't want you to fight in order to win. I want you to fight and don't give me a reason to jump into that ring. OK?"
Aiden realized that Sarah is saying this because she is worried about him. They did all kinds of things, but they were together and now she will be forced to stay on the side and watch him fight on his own. He can't imagine how hard that will be for her, but if the roles are reversed, he would fall apart from anxiousness.
Aiden cupped Sarah's cheeks as well and kissed her on the lips. "That, I can promise. I will end the fight quickly and not give you a reason to stress about anything."
Sarah relaxed. "OK. Let's go down… it's your turn next."
Before hopping into the ring, Aiden gave Sarah a kiss.
Aiden turned toward his opponent and his smile was replaced with an icy expression when he saw the man ogling at Sarah.
"Your attendant is attractive…", the man taunted Aiden without getting his eyes off from Sarah. He licked his lips slowly before looking at Aiden with a smirk. "Do you think she will come to me once I eliminate you?"
Aiden didn't respond, but his lip twitched, betraying how angry he is. That scoundrel is not looking lecherously only at Sarah but at his daughter as well!
Aiden was controlling himself not to gauge those man's eyes out and he barely heard referee talk: "No weapons… it starts on my mark and it ends when one of you can't fight or gives up…"
Sarah watched Aiden with a complex expression. She never saw him that furious. Sarah wanted to go there and calm him down, but she knows that she can't. She exhaled and hoped that he will not do anything crazy.
The referee waved that the fight could start and stepped to the side.
The man saw that Aiden is standing normally without taking a stance to fight and he assumed that Aiden is too upset to fight. He decided to provoke him further. The man grinned and licked the middle finger of his left hand. "I will touch her with this one first…"
Before he finished his sentence, Aiden was in front of him, holding onto that wretched finger and with one swift move of Aiden's wrist, the man's finger was broken.
The man was in shock. He didn't expect that Aiden would attack so suddenly. His mouth opened in a silent scream, and he was unable to make a sound under a barrage of hits that assaulted him.
It was like watching a video game where Aiden's settings are on fast, while his competitor was on slow.
The man fell on the floor with his legs twisted in unnatural angles and blood coming out of his mouth and nose.
The referee extended his arms between Aiden and the man on the floor. "He can't fight anymore… You won. You won…"
Aiden twisted his neck and turned toward Sarah.
Sarah smiled and gestured to Aiden to come down.
"How did I do?"
"It was an overkill.", Sarah responded honestly.
Sarah saw that Aiden reached to hold onto her and she avoided him. "Wash your hands first. You have blood on them…"
Aiden frowned. Sarah is right, but he still wanted to hold her. And he didn't like her comment that he overdid in beating up that man. "He put an extra effort to provoke me, and I put extra effort to show him his mistake. He was making lecherous remarks toward my wife and daughter."
Sarah stifled a laugh. "We don't know if it's a daughter."
"I can feel it.", Aiden said confidently.
"What if it's a boy? Will you make him wear a dress?"
Aiden thought for a second before responding. "No. If it's a boy, we will make another baby."
"At least you accepted the possibility that it might be a boy."
…
Hong met with Sarah and Aiden near sinks and his disapproving expression was worth a thousand words.
Aiden lowered his head guiltily. "Yes, I overdid it. I heard that."
"Good that you know.", Hong grumbled. "How many times I need to tell you not to attract attention?"
Sarah was desperate to change the topic. "It seems that we are free for the day. How about we explore the camp and see what we find?"
Hong shook his head in disagreement, but he knows that he can't stop them. He took Aiden's hands in his and examined them. "Put some ice on this. After lunch, you can explore but make sure to stay lowkey…"
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