Electus (Regnum Series Book 1) by K.M. Link Read Free Book Online Page B

with her clipboard, quietly explaining who their opponents are. Finally, she reaches Tia’s row. Quade is assigned a boy named Daniel Cloud, who peers back at Quade, with a nod.
    “Conscientia Trumble, let’s see. Your opponent is,” she follows her finger to the other name listed, “Delilah Urvine.” Tia nods and glances over to Delilah who is staring ahead. Of course, the girl from last night, she thinks. Not long after Claire finishes talking to Delilah, she turns and glares at Tia.
    “She looks pissed,” Quade whispers to Tia.
    “I kind of made her mad, last night,” Tia admits with a sigh.
    “Must be an epidemic,” Kira hisses, from the other side of Quade. Tia glances over at Kira, who has her arms crossed and a snarl planted on her face.
    “What does that mean?” Tia asks, baffled.
    “You have a way of getting on people’s nerves. Some of us can forget about you when we are in the middle of other activities,” she stares at Quade, “others, not so much.”
    “What is she talking about?” Tia inquires, turning to Quade.
    “You can’t just leave him alone, can you? Always under his skin,” she continues, now screaming.
    “This is more crazy than I can handle in one conversation. You might need to come back with it, some other time,” Tia retorts.
    “Quade, tell her what you did last night when we were in bed!” Kira is fuming. Everyone in the group turns to watch her, including Claire.
    “I don’t think this is the place, Kira. I told you it was just a mistake. There is no need to...”
    “He said your name!” Kira snaps, interrupting Quade.
    Tia stifles a laugh. “Oh! That is why you didn’t do what I thought you guys did.”
    Kira launches herself at Tia, pushing her to the floor. She begins to strangle Tia. Her full weight is now on top of her. Kira is a lot heavier than Tia, due to her height. Tia feels Kira’s knee digging into her rib cage, and it burns. With Tia’s hands on Kira’s wrists, she pushes Kira over, until she is on top of her. Her hands move to Kira’s hair, and she pulls as hard as possible.
    “Girl fight!” one of the guys yells. The crowd is surrounding them. Some are stretching their necks to watch.
    “Your hair ain’t so pretty now, is it?” Tia spits out, pulling even harder.
    “Hey, save it for the arena!” Claire hollers and pries Tia off of Kira, who screams over at Tia, “Pussy!”
    “Slut!” Tia retorts.
    Claire blows a whistle. “That’s enough! One more outburst like this, both of you girls will be working in Letum, scrubbing jail cells. Understood?” Claire is furious.
    “Fine,” Kira replies.
    “Fine,” Tia mumbles, her lip bleeding.
    Everyone is now quiet, avoiding provoking Claire into yelling again. She marches back up to the front of the lobby. Claire takes a gander at the clock and back down at her clipboard to note something. Tia attempts to wipe her lip, on her shirt, to stop the blood. The last thing she wanted, was to fight someone today. Since that was the capitols’ plan for her, she might as well go all out.
    “In a few minutes, we will be heading to the arena. Before that, I need to discuss the rules with all of you. Rule number one, no use of magic to beat your opponent, only physical strength. Rule number two, no sharp or blunt objects. You are only permitted to use what the capitols provide for you. Rule number three, no scratching, biting, or hair pulling.” Claire glowers at Tia and Kira.
    “Not only are all these things going to make you look bad to the leaders, they will cost you points for this round. When I say you are done, all fighting comes to a complete halt. Each of you will be judged on your time in the arena, as well as your blocking, and impact on your opponent. Everyone understand?” The whole group nods at Claire. “Let’s go, then.” She turns and exits the lobby, leading each candidate to a bus, that charters them to the arena.
    The candidates are not permitted to watch any fights that take