217 The Mercenary Guild's Coliseum

After Macha left to go to the orphanage, Tyr sat down at his large ebony desk. He was sorting through his mail when his black quill dropped on the wooden floor. Its silver nib bounced before rolling under his desk. The office felt empty now, and he gave a sigh as he crouched down to pick up his quill. From beneath his desk drawer, he saw the white tip of an envelope.

His lips formed a slight frown as he bent down onto the ground and reached his fingers between the small crack that separated the floor from the drawer. It was dusty, and he realized they needed to start cleaning under the furniture more often.

He turned the dirtied envelope over and saw that it was from an investigator he sent to Phocée years ago.

Leaning back in his chair, he opened the message and read the text. As his eyes rolled over the report, his lips parted with surprise. The contents filled him with anxiety, and he worried about Macha's safety.

Click

Luna came rushing into his office with two pairs of heels in her hands.

"Afternoon! Which one do you think I should use for the wedding? I need to choose the shoes before I decide on the dress I want to have commissioned."

She wanted to keep what she would wear a secret from Krystof because she thought it would be fun if it was a complete surprise. This left her brother as the next best candidate for a male's opinion.

When she looked at Tyr, she set the heels down on his desk and moved behind him. She could tell something was wrong, and she wanted to know what he found so upsetting.

"What's wrong? What are you reading?"

Tyr swallowed, clearing his throat.

"This is from the investigator that I hired to look into the bounty that was placed on Macha. Apparently, Aalto and Taylen are responsible for it."

Luna grabbed the piece of paper in his hand.

"Aalto? Why would he..." her voice trailed off.

She realized that he would be angry at Macha for killing Skadi, but he had kept quiet for so long, so she assumed it was water under the bridge.

"Nevermind," she waved her hand dismissively.

Her green eyes scanned the report.

Her finger hit the paper, upset at what she read. "This was addressed to you while you were in the war. You're just looking into it now? You've been back for months."

The situation was not something her brother should have put off. If it had been Krystof with a bounty on his head, she would have looked into it immediately.

"I just found the damn report, okay?" Tyr ran his fingers through his dark hair and shook his head.

He glanced up at his sister, "What can I do, short of sending an assassin to kill them? I can't do that to Taylen and Aalto…"

****

Macha stopped by the apartment before heading out. She slipped into her casual clothes that allowed her to move around freely. She wore a pair of black shorts with over the knee boots. Her half sleeve v-neck top touched her hips and hung loosely around her torso.

After doing a few stretches in the mirror, she gave a curt nod of approval. Although she believed Gabin to be a good kid, his sudden change worried her and left her unsure if he would become violent when confronted.

Before she left, she went into the kitchen and tossed the rest of the brownies she made the night before into a wooden box. She hoped she and Gabin could eat them while they talked about what was going on in his life.

It was dusk when the orphanage appeared in the distance. As she approached, she saw Gabin's figure hop over the side wall and cut through the neighboring property. When she saw him do this, she frowned with disapproval.

Not wanting to him to notice her, she got off her mount and followed silently at a distance.

The dark blanket of night fell as he walked through the city streets, making his way to the Mercenary Guild's district. Since he did not have a mount, it took much longer to get around and he walked with hurried footsteps.

Macha stood behind a thin tree and watched as the boy look up at a large coliseum. It stood three stories high and had an open roof. The loud roars of cheering drifted in the air from inside.

Gabin balled up his fists as he stared at the building. His lean boyish figure appeared small compared to the massive stone building that towered in front of him.

Squaring his shoulders, he whispered to himself, "You can do this," before taking a decisive step forward.

Nothing seemed right about this situation, but she needed to follow him to make sure he would not get into trouble.

When Macha entered the coliseum, many people moved about, making it difficult to follow the boy. She darted in and out of the thick crowd trying to keep up. He seemed to already know where he was going and how to navigate around the building.

At first, she assumed he would make a bet at the counter. That was the sort of thing a young man could get into and the corners of her lips turned down into a frown.

When she was in high school, her family had to have an intervention with one of her cousins. He fell into the wrong crowd and got addicted to gambling. His debts were getting out of hand and debt collectors started to threated him, starting with breaking his pinkies. Only after his tires were slashed did he confess to being in debt.

Instead of standing in line for the betting counters, Gabin squeezed through the long lines of people. He accidentally stepped on a lamia's tail and she cried out in surprise.

"I'm sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to," he apologized.

After getting yelled at, he continued on. A large brick archway with a sign labeled 'Fighters' lay ahead of him. On one side of the entrance, a large black granite statue of a dragon and on the other side, a large peach-colored granite statue of a phoenix. Their bodies twisted and rose, looking down at any who entered.

Macha rushed towards him, worried when she watched him enter the archway.

"Gabin," she called out, but her voice was drowned out by the various conversations that surrounded her.

There were too many people, and he advanced on; his lanky figure disappeared into the shadows of the entrance.

As she entered the archway, she spotted him talking with a small pudgy man. The man's red glittery bowtie sparkled with the surrounding lights. The two were surrounded by muscular men who looked battle hardened with scars and big burly muscles that pressed against their jackets.

"Gabin Karimov!" she yelled.

By now, she realized he was probably here to sign up for a fight. He had everything he needed, so there was nothing that he would gain from getting beaten up.

The group turned to look at her. The men frowned and Gabin's eyes transformed into round saucers from the fear that swept over him. He did not expect to see anyone he knew here, especially Macha.

"Uh… What are you doing here?" his pubescent voice broke out in a squeal.