We do this together.
It was all well saying that but it felt very different standing in front of the Whispering woods the next day, surrounded by a crowd of excited spectators. Half of them wanting to see us succeed and the other wishing our demise be brutal, bloody and above all else entertaining. About a mile away from where I’d been training only three days prior was a circus of tents, erected over night for the various families and court members who would attend the first event to cheer on their victor. At the foot of each tent was a flagpole waving the banner of the families who’d entered their offspring into this deadly competition. The rewards they would reap if their daughter was successful infinite in their abundance, almost worth the risk of losing their child’s life. We’d agree
