14 Place your bet

"Try your luck!" Kiva shouted to the crowd. "Place your bet!"

Kiva rounded the rows of occupied chairs while holding a piece of paper. In the paper was written a lists of seat numbers and names divided into two columns.

"Here!" Someone from the crowd raised his hand.

Kiva walked towards him.

"What team?" Kiva did not bother to look at the man, her focus was on her pen and paper.

"Edward."

"So, How much?" Kiva asked with a flat tone.

"Hundred Rigs." The man grabbed his purse from his pocket. "I'm Edward's brother." He added.

Kiva's interest was suddenly ignited, her eyes slowly traveled to the man. "Really? That's funny," Kiva fumbled with her hair. "I'm Ziloh's sister."

"Are you kidding?" The man asked her bemusedly.

"Unfortunately, no." Kiva peeked at his number seat. "Hundred Rigs for Team Edward by seat thirty-eight." Kiva took his wager and wrote it on her paper. "Okay, noted."

"Did you bet for your brother?" Edward's brother asked.

"Nah, I don't wanna use my Rigs on that stupid---" Kiva laughed. "Never mind that...thanks."

"Well, good luck to our brothers!" He shouted at the back of departing Kiva.

"Try your luck!" Kiva continued her round. "Place your bet!"

A dark muscular arm was raised.

Kiva walked to the seat--- she bulldozed a few royal knees on her way.

"Five hundred Rigs, Ziloh." The man said with a low voice.

Kiva whistled and eyed the man. Kiva had never seen him before. The man had a pale blond hair, brown eyes, and dark skin. He was very muscular. He was wearing the scars on his arms like it was tattoos.

"That's a big gamble." Kiva complemented."Five hundred Rigs for Ziloh by seat forty-nine." Kiva noted on her paper.

The man paid silently.

Seeing that Kiva already rounded the whole area, she decided to return to her seat right next to Alyssa.

They were in the mini stadium inside the palace. It was specifically built for occasional games, and sometimes battles like this. The field below had overgrown grass all over it, proof that it had been long since it was last used. The housekeepers did not manage to have enough time to trim it at such a short notice from the Queen.

"Aren't you gonna bet?" Kiva sat next to her best friend.

Alyssa bit her lip. "Thousand Rigs, Ziloh."

"Woah, biggest bet yet!" Kiva clapped in awe to her best friend.

"I'm dead anyway if he doesn't win." Alyssa gave her purse to Kiva.

"Don't say that. You have a long way to go before that. You'll have your ceremony first before that happens." Kiva added Alyssa to the list.

Alyssa was restless on her seat. "You know, what. Let me just check on him, make sure all is fine."

"Okay." Kiva was busy counting her collection to come along.

Alyssa went down to the locker room where Ziloh was waiting. Alyssa barged into the room without knocking. She saw Ziloh lying on the bench with his eyes closed, relaxed.

"What are you doing?" Alyssa kicked him.

"Nothing." Ziloh mumbled.

"Exactly!" Alyssa hunched down in front of him. "Are you not going to stand and warm up or something?"

"No." Ziloh yawned, teasing Alyssa.

"I did not ask you to represent me just to throw this battle." Alyssa said on gritted teeth.

"I did not ask to get involved in this either." Ziloh shrugged.

Alyssa clenched her hand into fist and punched Ziloh in the face--- but Ziloh stopped her midair.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Not my face, princess." Ziloh's eyes suddenly popped open.

"This might just be fun for you, but not for me." Alyssa tried to release her hand from his grip, but Ziloh's grip was tight.

Ziloh pulled Alyssa closer to him, their noses almost touching. "Is this Edward that ugly?"

"I don't know." Alyssa searched into Ziloh's soul through his eyes--- if he had any. Then her eyes naturally traveled down to his lips.

"Maybe I'll lose." Ziloh suggested teasingly.

Alyssa looked back at Ziloh's eyes. "You can't, I'm not allowing you to have that option."

Ziloh caressed Alyssa's chin with his finger. "Who says you're on top? You don't get to compel me to do things according to your will…unless you cuff me into submission." Ziloh's lips lifted into a smile.

Alyssa's eyes went wide from the picturesque vision she suddenly had. "No, are you crazy? I would never do that!" Alyssa's cheeks burned. She bit her lips.

"Never?" Ziloh looked at Alyssa, amused.

"Yes," Alyssa exhaled. "But really Ziloh, can you take this seriously? What?... Do you want me to plead? Kneel in front of you?"

"Alright," Ziloh let go of Alyssa as he sat down. "that would be boring. But I will allow you to cuff me into submission...and I'll beg. Don't you think that would be more fun?" Ziloh smirked.

Alyssa rolled her eyes--- so much for trying to have a serious conversation with Ziloh.

"What did you prepare? What is your weapon?" Alyssa pressed on.

Ziloh frowned in thought. "Do I have to have a weapon?"

"So… are you telling me right now, that you have no weapon at all!" Alyssa's voice escalated. She paced around the room.

"Relax, your heart's pounding too fast."

"If you're in my position do you think you can relax?"

Ziloh shrugged. "Yes."

"This is a serious matter, ZIloh. Just please, take things seriously for once."

"I am serious," Ziloh stood and stopped Alyssa in place. "I did not say I'm not."

"Then, why are you not ready yet." Alyssa glared at ZIloh.

"I'm ready." Ziloh spread his arms to the side as if to reveal his body as his weapon.

"Are you kidding right now!"

"Trust me for once." Ziloh held Alyssa's arms.

"How can I trust you?" Alyssa's voice quivered.

Ziloh's hold tightened, his face serious. "I promise on my grave, my queen. If I can't have you, then nobody else can."

"On your grave? But you're already dead." Alyssa mumbled.

There was a knock on the door. "Please be ready, we're starting in ten minutes."

***

'Can you trust a person ,who made a promise under his grave, to keep it? Even though he was already technically dead? Not dead-dead, just dead.', that was what Alyssa was thinking as she was walking back into her seat.

Kiva just finished counting her collection. The Queen and King was in front, sitting a row below them for the best view of the field. The stadium was filled, it was one of the cured and the royals' way to burn their time. They were excited as the last duel had been more than a year already--- it was the battle where King Greg won his throne.

The crowd cheered as the two opponents emerged. Edward Arosa was wearing a bullet proof vest with a crossbow in his hand while Ziloh carried no weapon at all--- his hands on his pockets.

Alyssa was praying that he had some kind of explosives hidden on his pockets.

"Do you think he can win?" Alyssa asked nervously.

"Yeh,yeh…he will win." Kiva waved her hand in the air. "He might look like a jerk, but you can trust him." Kiva said passively.

A referee stood between them wearing a black and white stripe shirt, a whistle as his necklace. The referee stood between the opponents, gripping each of their hand. The referee first raised Ziloh's hand in the air, the crowd cheered in support. The referee then held Ziloh's hand down. The referee raised Edward's hand next, the crowd roared in encouragement. The referee then held Edward's hand down.

Then the crowd's cheer turned into a silent murmur as the referee held his whistle between his teeth. The referee raised his hand in the air, then blew the whistle as he dropped his hand to the side.

The referee walked out of the field. The battle began.

Alyssa gripped on her seat until her knuckles turned to white.

Ziloh stood on his ground. But Edward ran around the field--- well, as fast as he was able. Edward circled Ziloh while keeping him at a distance, it was an attempt to confuse Ziloh of his whereabouts. Effective or not, Ziloh just observed him amusingly. Edward then suddenly stopped and released his first arrow. But Ziloh just dodged it without even taking a step. It repeated again and again until Edward had one arrow left, he stopped then pivoted closer to Ziloh for a better aim. Edward pointed his arrow to Ziloh's chest, his finger on the trigger.

That's when Ziloh, who was still standing in the middle of the field suddenly disappeared.

Edward blinked, but he still held his crossbow above his chest, he scanned the field to look for his opponent.

But Ziloh was faster that Edward's eyes. Ziloh was suddenly an inch closer to Edward as Ziloh snapped Edward's last arrow into half. Ziloh held the crossbow and threw it on the grass. Ziloh then griped Edward on his neck and lifted him in the air like he was as light as cotton.

The crowd whispered in shock.

Edward just hanged there, not panicked--- he doesn't need to breath after all. Ziloh gripped into Edward's neck tighter. Ziloh placed two fingers on Edward's forehead and said something to Edward. That made Edward's eyes go wide.

Edward lifted his arms in surrender.

Ziloh slowly hovered Edward down in the field. Edward sat on the grass as his eyes stared blankly while Ziloh stood with his hands on his pocket.

The crowd cheered. Ziloh won.

"Ali!" Kiva cheered! "Congrats! You doubled your money!"

"Yyes…" Alyssa relaxed her grip on her seat. "He won." She released the breath she was holding.

The referee was back on the field. He checked between them and confirmed Ziloh's win. The referee stood in the middle of them as he lifted Zilo's arm in triumph.

The crowd cheered louder.

The referee bowed and he instructed both Ziloh and Edward to do the same. The referee was waving goodbye to the audience when someone in the audience shouted.

"Wait!" He stood among the cheering crowd.

"Wait!" He bellowed.

The crowd slowly grew silent to hear him out.

The referee gestured for him to talk.

"I would like to challenge King Greg in a battle." The man with pale blonde hair announced to the crowd.

The crowd looked at the current King.

King Greg stood, smiling from ear to ear. "I accept the challenge."

***

They had thirty minutes of interval, enough for Kiva to round the rows of chairs to place a new bet.

It was a sudden challenge no one expected, but the crowd welcomed it. They were hungry for more entertainment.

Kiva returned to her seat after her round.

"Wanna place another bet?" Kiva asked Alyssa.

"No, I'll pass this one." Alyssa's adrenaline subsided as she confirmed that she's not going to get married.

"Then…" Kiva grabbed on her purse. "Three hundred Rigs for King Greg." She emptied her purse on her bag of collection and added her own seat number on the list. "How about the Queen?"

Alyssa looked at her best friend sideways. "My mother never wagered."

Kiva laughed awkwardly. "Right… and her choice would be pretty obvious. She would choose King Greg. It would be boring anyway."

"Yes, she would." Alyssa confirmed.

"They say the opponent's name was Garrett, never head him before. Have you?"

Alyssa thought of his name for a moment. "No, neither did I."

Half an hour had pass and the crowd grew with excitement.

The two opponents appeared with the referee at their tail.

King Greg lifted her hands in the air to heighten the crowd. It had been a long time since he battled with anyone.

The crowd shouted in reply.

King Greg was happy, excited that he could finally do something he was good at. He turned towards his Queen, bowed, and blew a kiss in her direction. It was the King's another attempt to show his affection by doing something was confident of.

But the Queen just nodded curtly.

The two opponents decided to use swords as their weapon and shields to protect them.

The referee stood in the middle of them and introduced each of the opponent with the raise of their hands.

The crowd clearly favored King Greg, and King Greg savored every bit of it.

Done with the introduction, the referee blew his whistle to signal the beginning of the battle.

"King Greg!" The crowd chanted. "King Greg!"

The King began the battle with a light heart, he was more focused to the crowd and to the Queen's reaction rather than his opponent.

But his opponent was not, Garrett was serious. There was a frown on Garrett's face as he locked his eyes to his enemy.

King Greg playfully struck his sword on Garrett's shield. He knew people wanted a show, and so he was bidding his time on the field. King Greg sluggishly waved his sword in front of Garrett.

But Garret was not playing games, he lunged into King Greg with his heavy feet and banged his shield on the King's face.

King Greg smiled as he managed to slash to one of Garrett's shin. King Greg lifted his sword as a celebration. As Garrett lost his footing, King Greg used this opportunity to skewer into his chest.

King Greg was about to pull out his sword, but Garrett used this opportunity to lock King Greg into embrace. Garrett used King Greg's sword and grabbed it with both of his hands as he marched into the wall and plunged King Greg to it.

The crowd stood up to get a better view.

King Greg released his hold into his sword and squirmed his way for release, he was no longer smiling. But Garret placed his shield in between them to prevent King Greg from escaping.

Garrett roared before he bared his teeth into King Greg's forehead.

The was a scream among the crowd.

There was a bite mark on King Greg's forehead.

Garrett did not stop there, he grabbed King Greg's head in his hands and crashed it on the wall repeatedly until chunks of dark blood squeezed out of King Greg's head.

King Greg stole a glimpse to Queen Kathy--- he saw the smirk on her face--- before all went blank.

Garrett then roared and grabbed the hilt of his sword and severed King Greg's head.

Plumps of dark blood oozed out of King Greg's severed neck as it fell down the asphalt.

But Garrett was not satisfied, he stabbed his sword right into King Greg's brain.

Garrett lifted King Greg's skewered head to the crowd.

There was silence from the audience.

The referee limped to the scene to formally confirm. The referee lifted Garrett's bloodied hand in the air.

The crowd roared. King Greg forgotten. They had a new King.

Alyssa stood on her feet her eyes went wide as she saw King Greg's headless body. "This never happened before."

No one died of battle before. The opponent would usually raise their hand in defeat.

"Well, that's life. It's either you gain or you lose." Kiva craned her neck on her seat. "You have a new stepfather… and I lost my three hundred Rigs."

They may be cured from death--- old age and sickness. They might have preserved their time--- youth and beauty. But they can never be gods, they too can expire either by beheading or piercing into their brains---or both just as what Garret did.