Scheduling conflicts

The months continued and I continued to request a match every two weeks. It was still two months before the first sister decided to risk being alone with me. I was sure whatever the trainer had said had been very convincing my surplus was already second only to his own. Most people didn't survive that many matches, only a fool took on that many back to back. Of the boys that were training with me two had had their first matches. So far they all survived, and they did very well against their targets. The trainer hadn't thought the skill I had been showing our brothers would be useful in the arena. Now he watched my group as much as anyone else but he still didn't interfere.

I almost turned around and went back to the training when I sensed the woman in my room. I knew that wouldn't put the sister off in the end. Nothing would put them off in the end but our lord himself and he had no reason to interfere either. I opened the door and stood to the side to make sure there was room to get around me, "Get out."

"Now that is no way to talk to your sister." The woman was sitting on the bed she wasn't wearing very much. I didn't have to know what she wanted to know what she wanted, but I most certainly didn't care.

"Sorry, get out, sis."

Her body language changed to something I am more familiar with now. "How dare you!" My brothers up the hall from me looked out their doors drawn by the shirking in the woman's voice.

I had stepped in front of the door so that she had something to launch herself at but I stood a step or two back. With a growl she did not disappoint. I stepped to the side and she went passed, I then stepped into the room and closed the door in her face before she could recover. There were no locks on the doors so I grabbed the chair setting it in front of the door and sat down.

I am not big but I was pretty heavy. I was happy the door opened into the room or this wouldn't have worked. I blinked as my chair moved just a bit as the door moved in protest. It wasn't enough to break it but the woman banging on my door was clearly not used to being told no. She stopped and I could hear her talking to one of my brothers. She seemed to think better of what she had been yelling at the door and left with one of them. I almost felt sorry for the man, she probably wasn't in the mood to be gentle any more.

I moved the chair back to my table and ate then worked on my projects some more. The woman had clearly looked through the mess before finding a place on the ledge but at least she hadn't torn anything.

My brothers didn't understand my reaction. The days after that were the first in which more then just my group of boys tried to talk to me. I wasn't nearly as rude to any of my brothers but I didn't expect any of them to understand, and I expected anything I said to get back to both the sister I offended and the matriarch. Not that I really thought anyone cared about the oddities of the wilder yet.

It had only been two days since the unexpected visit when the trainer stopped me halfway through a practice session. "Mother wants to talk with you."

The room became a lot more quiet then you would like a room with so many people in it could be. "All she needs to say is when."

The trainer smiled, "Now. Let's go."

The trainer led me a way I had never been before. Up to the higher landing then through the door to the side that was opposite the side I had always been on. More stairs led up and I followed the trainer above ground. Two months was a long time to be trapped underground with only the bouts to get sunlight. I knew my other brothers had to have some way of getting out in the sun more or they wouldn't be as dark as they were but I had never asked.

House of Estro was written above the gate that led out of the yard next to the outside of the arena. Some of the men ran by and they sent me a puzzled look but they didn't say anything, or stop. The trainer led me out into another courtyard. This one had women sitting on blankets, talking to each other and keeping an eye on little children that were too young to be left alone.

The ones watching the most children would be of middle rank for the house. The ones cleaning and working, low rank and the ones that seemed to have no children and nothing to do, those would be the Matriarchs own daughters. Men weren't normally foolish enough to try and cross the line without being asked to. I kept my head down as we walked. We didn't walk very far through the house. The women had designed the house and they didn't invite many of the dirty, brutal men here. I could completely understand why. So they had laid out the house so that if a woman wanted a man here, she could maintain control. Also since they didn't want men wandering the house the room the matriarch wanted to meet me in was only a small hallway beyond the men's entrance.

The room was large and polished. There were chairs around but I didn't think they were for me or the trainer. The matriarch was sitting on a couch fanning herself as she talked to one of her daughters. The daughter looked like she just wanted to get away from the woman. The matriarch looked up as we entered and she let her daughter excuse herself instead of holding her there longer. I recognized the woman as she all but ran out of the room, I held my features still as if I had not.

The matriarch was watching me anyway. I came to a stop a step behind the trainer and kept my head down, not looking around. Almost everything I saw I saw with my other sense. I had come to trust it more over the past 4 matches. It gave me more information than just that a person was there. It seemed to tell me a bit about the person's state of mind. I was also getting the feeling that it was a bit more then just a sense but I didn't know enough to do anything with it.

The matriarch bit her lip as she looked at me and I could feel her annoyance. She didn't want me dead, but she wouldn't miss me if I died as long as that death was in the arena. "Are you going to continue to request a match every two weeks?"

Straight to her point, she had better things to be doing anyway. "Unless I get hurt to the point were I cannot recover in two weeks."

"Matches are normally planned a month or more out. I called you here because I was pretty sure you knew that considering everything else you seem to know."

"I am aware."

"Matches that are requested out of line up tend to get worse terms, since I cannot truly count on your survival you are leaving me no recourse but to continue to accept bad terms, since I am accepting bad terms for you the other house are pushing me harder to accept bad terms for your brothers as well. If you keep this up your actions will hurt this house."

I held my tongue. There wasn't a question and I had pushed my luck last time by responding at all.

The matriarch sighed, "Are you going to continue to ask for matches every two weeks?"

"Unless I am hurt to the point were I cannot recover."

The matriarch growled, she asked the question more to herself but she did ask, "What do you think I should do then?"

I felt her anger rise again as I responded but without looking up I had no normal way of justifying that the questions had not been directed at me, other then that a woman would never expect a man to have thoughts, and I knew that too. "I can think of two solutions, schedule two matches for me a month and take the penitally if I cannot be present for the second match, which should be less then what the house would collect if I die or you can take out of my surplus if I should be so unfortunate enough to not die. Or you can see if any of the other houses want to take you up on a new form of match that you thought up."

The matriarch raised her eyebrow, "What new form?"

"A four on four from the same houses, not a royal. If multiple of the same house are left in the arena the match can be called and the pay split between the survivors. The houses would get the same reward as a one on one match. It would encourage a house to take a lesser participation cut per person as it would be easier to arrange. The odds would be similar to a one on one match so the fighters might be more likely to agree to it. The other benefit would be that as long as you didn't lose all your fighters you can arrange more matches a month by only agreeing to the number of fighters and to try and include certain ones, but not have to pay a penalty if they cannot compete since you can switch them out. Which would also mean you don't have the time penalty and you can match more of your men a month, meaning a higher base line for the house, even if you lose."

"You would think that men would agree to this? What are your thoughts, Travis?"

The trainer took a breath to buy time while he thought, "Sounds great to me, you would be able to schedule few matches in total but the expected payout would stay the same as a one on one for most men. They would have to fight just as often the odds would be similar at least at start so they would need to fight just as often, but it sounds like it would solve the problem you were having and another problem that you have just been living with."

"If a son gets hurt in training too close to his match or sick. With this format I could promise a skill level overall and just adjust the players when there is a need. If any of the houses will take up this format and the priest approves it anyway. I will think about it. You two may leave."

I bowed and backed away, I turned and followed the trainer out of the house. We didn't stop or talk until we were back on the first landing. I got the impression that the trainer didn't feel safe unless he was in the tunnels. "I am surprised at you, the flaw is obvious."

"That only one person can leave the arena?"

"Yes, if she does do this you will get our brothers killed."

"If you can make the time ask one of our sisters to read to you the actual commandments from our lord that revolve around the arena."

"Sounds like a better question for a priest."

"Not really, and you seem to visit them as much as I do."

The elder man let nothing of his thoughts show on his face but I could feel his curiosity. "When I have the stakes and details of your next match I will let you know."

"Thank you, brother." And with that I walked away.