THE GROMEK SHUT the door to the healing room with his foot, looking at Tiwaz’s face. He kept his voice hushed as he laid her on the table. “How bad is it?”

Hand around the knife to keep it from shifting, she growled through gritted teeth, “I don’t think it hit anything that will kill me.” She slammed the table with her fist. “But it will not heal in time for the next match. I have to forfeit.”

He looked through the jars and grimaced. “Nothing that would dull the pain while I sew that closed.” He retrieved the rest of the implements and brought them over. He put a rag around the knife and pulled it out, keeping pressure on the wound, but his eyes were on her face.

Tiwaz tensed, then relaxed once he removed the knife. “Pain is nothing new to me. You know that.” She looked away. “I am sorry. You were right. I was not ready.”

Doom paused, resting his hand on her hair. “You were great, Ti. The fight was over. He was just too dishonorable to accept the loss.”

“That is where I failed, Doom. I dropped my guard. I was tired and allowed myself to assume he would abide by arena rules.” She closed her eyes, turning her face away. “I ruined everything.”

“Hush. You did not. Don’t blame yourself for idiots,” the gromek stated as he pulled her tunic up, examining the wound closer. He tilted his head. “It’s closing.” On a hunch, he took her hand and undid one of the bracers. The bandages were soaked to the point blood ran down her forearm. “That’s what Alimar was suppressing?” He met her eyes. “You have natural magic.”

“No!” She pushed herself up to her elbows, then grimaced, grabbing her middle and falling back onto the table. Doom put his hand under her head to keep it from bouncing off the hard wood. “No, I can’t have magic. I’m not like him. I can’t be.”

“Ti,” Doom began, cutting himself off and looking sharply over his shoulder, tugging his hood down. He relaxed when he saw Harther. Noting how Harther’s expression darkened with increased worry when he saw her pained expression, Doom hurriedly reassured him. “She will recover. But she will have to forfeit.”

Harther nodded. “Rather expected that, unfortunately. Was looking forward to seeing her fight again, but can’t be helped.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “I wanted you to know. I asked for a boon for you from the city leaders because you saved my arena and my reputation.”

She turned her gaze towards him, the intense rising and falling emotions wearing on her. “What boon, Master Harther? I do not understand. I did not do anything.”

“Exactly.” He smiled reassuringly. “Had you killed that bunghole, they could have taken my arena from me as punishment for uncontrolled fighters. You didn’t and I appreciate it, so I went to them. They agreed that the forfeited bet monies on that contest will go to you. Not as much as the purse for the champion of these bouts, but it’s a respectable amount. People are considerably freer with their coin on the first day of the festival fights, and you inspired them. So, the whole thing is not a total loss.”

Tiwaz sighed, staring at the ceiling. “I suppose it will have to be enough.” She looked at Doom. “There is no reason to stay, now that we can buy—”

“Now, wait a minute,” Harther interrupted before Doom could open his mouth. “Now would be the worst time to try to go anywhere, Tiwaz. The city is filled with travelers from all over the region for the festival, and you’ve garnered a lot of interest. There will be people roaming the streets all day and night for the next week. Take the time to heal. Doom can tell me everything you need. I’ll use your earnings and make sure you have it by the end of festival.”

With a heavy sigh, Tiwaz nodded, relenting. “We will stay until you say it is safe enough to leave.”

Relieved he would not have to argue with his friend, Doom turned his attention to more immediate concerns. “Is there a way we can get back to our room without drawing attention? I know you will need to bring others here to be mended at some point.”

“Now would be the best time. After that idiot, everyone’s out watching the matches to make sure there are no more…incidents.” He frowned when Tiwaz pushed herself up, swinging her legs over the side of the table. “Should you be—?”

“I can manage,” Tiwaz stated. She leaned on Doom’s support heavily, pressing her hand against her side, but otherwise stayed upright. “You better go back out there, someone may come looking for you.”

Harther quirked a wan smile. “It is too bad you can’t stay here in Dramaden. The crowd took a real liking to you. Doesn’t happen often with the amateurs.”

“I’m not an amateur,” she pointed out as she hobbled to the door.

“No, you’re not, but they don’t know that. They’ve been asking after you. Not often anyone remembers people from the early rounds of these bouts.” Harther smiled sadly at their alarm. “Which is another reason it’d be best to stay here. They won’t be forgetting you anytime soon but time will dim quick recollection of your appearance if anyone happens to catch sight of you.”

Harther escorted them to the first hall door, locking it behind them as they made their way to their room. Doom paused helping her to lie down, both looking up to the sounds of cheering and combat. Doom stretched up to close the inner shutter.

“No. Leave it open. I like the sunlight.” She threw one arm over her eyes, but he saw the tear track on her cheek. “And the fresh air.”

“Ti,” he began, his voice as gentle as his touch on her arm.

“It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. Don’t worry about me.”

“Ti, you are my friend. I will always worry about you.” She uncovered her eyes and looked at him. They were red and wet. Without a word, he helped her sit up and pulled her into his arms, cradling her against him. “You were right about coming here. We needed supplies I could not make myself. And Harther is a good man. I learned a lot from him.” He felt her relax at his praise. “We’ll have to make sure we have enough supplies to last us for a while. We won’t be able to go into another town where you could fight again for some time, if people might recognize you. And we will have to seek out fights that do not need known sponsors.”

“I did not know freedom meant we would be running and hiding forever.” she murmured tiredly.

He rubbed her arm. “Not forever. I will figure something out, I promise.”

She snuggled against him, relaxing into his warmth. “I’ll follow wherever you lead, my friend.” As she fell asleep, he looked up towards the patch of blue sky visible from their window.

“Thank you for still trusting me, Ti,” he whispered.