Evelyn smiled, really smiled, when she saw her beautiful black birds attacking the Ravenclaw. Oh they were going to be SO rewarded when this was over.

She stood back for a moment, watching the attack take place. It was too bad one of her spells destroyed a bird, but there were plenty more for her entertainment. And hopefully the spectator's entertainment as well. Smiling, she looked over to the stands, spotting the woman there and...two other people who had arrived. A man and a girl. That girl looked mighty familiar, though she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Whatever. Probably wasn't important. Turning her attention back to the Ravenclaw, her mouth dropped when she saw that her birds were gone. Where did they go?! OKAY! That was it! First the girl destroyed her snakes, now her birds were gone. Narrowing her eyes, she lifted the wands up to cast a spell on she suddenly had to put a tight grip on them. One of them flew out though, she didn't have time to see which one, but a second later, she put up a hasty "Protego". It was strong enough to block the body binding spell, but not strong enough to really keep up with the confundus.

Flying back a few feet, she landed on her back, breathe knocked out of her and sore everywhere. That was going to be one big bruise. But she couldn't give up now! Not when it was just getting good! Coughing a little, and trying to get a few flower petals out of her wound on her neck and shoulder, she stood up and pointed the lonely wand towards the Shorty, sending a Bat-Bogey Hex her way.

Well no wonder the shield was crappy. This wasn't her wand! It was Mr. Stutter's wand. Gah! Her wand must have been the one to be caught by the disarming spell. And it was...laying on the dirt. With these dead flowers. In the dirt. Getting dirty. Huuuuuuuhhh...

Turning around, she tried to spot her wand, looking for the dark wood in the midst of the flower petals and stems. Trying not to panic, since she wasn't used to using this wand yet, Evelyn turned back around to see what was happening with the girl, only for a split second though before throwing another spell at the girl.

"Expulso!" she yelled out, not really knowing if she aimed correctly at the Shorty or not. She had to find her wand! She couldn't duel without her wand...

Yes, Evelyn was panicking. Which was definitely...not good.

As Cela continued to murmur, Propsero took to watching the duel most intently. It was nice. Kinda. Watching while Cela seemed to sing to herself. At least he took it to be singing, and thus thought nothing more on it as he himself possessed the habit of humming when met with almost any task.

"Make it? You know I wouldn't miss this for the world. It's not every day we get to see a thing like this. One of your best productions, Hux! If not your very best." His smile was large and had a rather unfeeling quality to it as that of a fully engaged sociopath, but this was perhaps one of the most honest words he spoke in a while.

His smile grew yet larger. "That you can see." He said offering Huxley his omniocculars. "Snake's AFLAME!" He declared with an almost maniacal glee pointing towards the arena.

"Ivory." Celandine whispered, though her eyes weren't on the little Ravenclaw, they were instead burning into Evelyn, a still kind of interest and wariness coiled in Cela's body. She continued to murmur, repeating each and every spell she heard uttered as if it were a mantra and only stopped when 'Samuel Huxley' approached. She pressed her lips together and flinched visibly as they bantered about marks that may or may not be on her.

She wasn't sure who was worse. Prospero had mostly treated her kind of... kind of like a beloved pet, dressed up and paraded around. But there was a tension hanging about as if, much like a kitten that had grown into a cat and lost its cute, Cela could so easily lose favour with the man and he'd drown her in the well in a snap. So to speak. She blinked rapidly as her mind attempted to run away for a moment or so.

The 'bartender' Cela hadn't managed to learn much more about. She knew he wasn't a bartender of course, she also figured that Samuel Huxley wasn't his real name and suspected that the real Samuel Huxley was tied up somewhere or dead and this one was a polyjuiced version. She couldn't tell if it was money or actually seeing the duels that was fueling all this, but even that was something she suspected was a cover. Like there was something else driving all this.

She stared at him with unusually dead eyes, her usual bright and inquisitive self hidden away somewhere deep. If he was the one who had used the Imperius curse on students last term, the one who had killed Professor Forrester and possibly the been the reason those Hufflepuff students died too...

... and maybe before that, the reason that the assembly had gone wrong and Professor Lu...

Celandine blinked cautiously. It all kind of came back to the Runes professor didn't it? It wasn't in Cela's head right?

But why? And who was he?

Ivory's heart rate was still increasing rapidly and she felt it thunder in her ears as she stayed on one knee for balance.

And there went Big Foot's wand. Her eyes followed the upward arc of fall and saw it land some distance away. Yes, now they were on even grounds again.

Lifting her wand she used the hot air charm to blow all the dead flowers over that whole area so it would hopefully be hidden from the Slytherin's view. "Siccus aerous"

However right after casting this, she was caught unawares of a spell hitting her right in the face. Immediatly she felt a funny sensation deep in her nose and whatever it was blossomed outward in small flapping gooey wings. Stupid annoying things were blocking her field of sight they were everywhere.

Shaking her head to try to see around them, she randomly waved her wand."Relashio!" Bright sparks exploded from it in a blinding red light and she used the second to cast "Finite!" on herself before dropping down to her knees once more.

She was starting to feel very weird and knew she couldn't last much longer. Seeing a flash of light headed her way, Ivory rolled to her side only to be blasted alarmingly close to the fiery edge of the arena. The slytherin's hap-hazardous spell had hit a large root head on and the entire network underneath exploded sending debris everywhere. The force of the impact jarred her entire body and she almost the entire arena was littered with its results. Shaking herself of the debris she crouched and aimed her wand.
"Locomortor Mortis!" she whispered taking a few deep breaths against the pain of new gashes and cuts and probably a few bruised ribs in addition to her now aching side. Touching a hand to it, she felt a sort of hard something poking through her jacket and her eyes widened. The snake fang had stayed in her!

Clenching her jaw, she brought up her shield and was almost feral in the growl that escaped her lips as she circled closer to the Slytherin so intent on finding her other wand. Pfft! Wasn't one enough! The greedy snake! As she brought herself closer to her opponents side of the arena she made sure to stomp her feet. The wand had to be around here somewhere and it would serve the cheating Sasquatch right.

Aiming at the ground in front of the Slytherin she casted one spell right after the other one. Hoping she would be intent on blocking the first more dangerous one, letting room for the second one to pass through.
"Confringo! Levicorpus!"

She wouldn't be able to cast while in the air could she? Even though a small part of her mind realized that her opponent could in fact, she instead concentrated on her shield and continuing to stomp around.

Break wand! Break!

Scrambling around, Evelyn dropped to her knees, quickly scooting all the dead flowers around to try and find her wand when a huge wind blasted more towards her. NO! Her wand! She needed it! She HAD to have it.

Idiot girl! Didn't she realize what would happen if she couldn't find her wand?! They BOTH would be in danger! Frowning, she turned and glared at the Ravenclaw, her black eyes practically piercing a hole through the girl's head when suddenly a small smile played across her lips. So her hex hit the girl? GOOD! She deserved it.

Ducking her head as a few red sparks zoomed past, not even close to her but still pulling out her instincts of making sure she was out of the way. Crawling around, still holding on to the lighter wand, she desperately tried to find her wand. Where did it land dang it?! She didn't even respond to the explosion behind her, whether it was from her own spell or something else. Wand...wand wand wand...

Sighing in frustration, Evelyn stood up and turned around to face the Shorty, only to quickly put up a shield. This girl WILL find her wand for her! Her shield though, was already incredibly weak from the first spell hitting it, and when the second hit...it was now completely down.

Suddenly finding herself upside down, she fought to keep her shirt UP, having to now tuck it into her pajama bottoms. Although, the legs of her pants scooted down to her knees, showing her now bloody feet quite clearly with the dead flower petals and dirt covering them. Flailing around slightly as if that could get her down, she somehow turned herself so she could see what the girl was doing, putting up a quick shield. "Protego."

Now, what was the Shorty girl up too hmm? Wait, what...what was she doing? What was SHE DOING? Her wand could be somewhere around there and she was stomping around...

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP IT YOU FREAK!" she yelled out, horrified and angry as the realization of what the girl was trying to do. "Incarcerous! Incendio!"

Her precious wand! The girl was going to break her wand! The thought of trying to get down from hanging upside down didn't cross her mind as of yet. She was looking to the ground, looking at each little spot, each little opening in the flowers, or anywhere in the shadows as well to find her wand.

If this girl...broke her wand...Evelyn was not going to be holding back anymore.

STOMP.STOMP. STOMP. STOMP.

Ivory continued her frantic stomping. For some reason in her venom muddled mind seemed to thing that her victory, if any, would be connected to the snapping of the wand.

Looking up suddenly as the Slytherin was suddenly upside down in the air, Ivory couldn't resist a smile.

STOMP. STOMP. STOMP. JUMP. STOMP. JUMP.

What was she doing? Well wasn't it obvious? She was winning! Giving her opponent an innocent smile she started jumping with more force even though her vision was beginning to blur around the edges.

Hearing the two spells shoot down at her, Ivory looked over mid-jump as the ropes passed diluted through her shield, wrapping around her waist tightly sending her falling down with the pain for the second time today. Nevertheless it was better then being completely tied up. Hmm...maybe the wand she had in her hand wasn't her main one.

Gasping as she got to her feet, she watched a blast of fire shot by her and hit one of the dead flowers, a small fire quickly spreading. Taking a few steps back, she had an idea. Letting them grow beneath her opponent, she took a few more steps back and waited until the flames were a decent dangerous height.

"Glacius!" she yelled loudly as the flames crawled closer making the them into spiky deadly stalagmites which actually worked for her advantage in case the Slytherin somehow came down from her restraint in the air she would be met with an unpleasant pain.

Breathing deeply, her hands struggled against the binding on her waist which felt as if they were breaking her ribs and making breathing even more difficult.

Gasping for air, black spots merging in her vision, she took a few steps closer and aimed her wand at the hanging Big Foot."Relashio!"

Sparks flew in every direction clearing her sight for a mere second, enough time to cast one more with all the determination she could muster."Stupefy!"

Had she been paying attention to anything else maybe things would've turned out differently, but instead she'd been intent on the victory that had been so close she could taste it and had consequently forgotten the side of arena she was on. Forgot about the trip jinx that she herself had casted earlier.

As her foot came into contact with it, she found she couldn't control her balance as she usually could. Maybe it was from having already lost too much blood from the wound at the back of her head, maybe it was because of the venom in her bloodstream, or her cracked ribs. Whatever the reason, Ivory lost her balance, one second looking at her opponent straight in the face the next an up close view of the ground just barely missing her face on the frozen spikes. Unfortunately, her arm had no such luck.

Her bloodied head banging on the ground, her vision slowly blackened around the edges as she mentally lectured herself on stupidity until her mind process slowly lessened until she was just looking. Evelyn, the spiky ice, the scattered dead flowers the still up ring of flames where she could make out the faces of the horrid boss man bartender,some man, Cela, another man, the tree line not so far away...

Huh? She was so sleepy she wasn't sure if she was hallucinating.

Cela? If only she could just have a few minutes of rest then she'd be able to get her attention and then-At that precise moment the blackness closed in enveloping her in the safest embrace. Unconsciousness slowly being the victor in that battle.

The idiot of a girl wasn't listening to her! For a Ravenclaw, she had no brains whatsoever! Struggling against the invisible force that was hanging her upside down, she was beginning to feel a little, light headed and dizzy, as all the blood was rushing to her head, making her face start to turn red in the process. As if it could be anymore of a sight, the blood from the wound on her should right next to her neck decided it wanted to help with turning her head red too. Ugh, she did NOT look good in the color red.

But fashion and color would really have to wait until later. This stupid wand she was using was weakening her spells. Those ropes barely did anything! Although, her fire spell was pretty good, she had to admit to herself. Just...look at those flames. Underneath...her. Ohhh okay. So now she knew why she herself did not get put into Ravenclaw. All the dead flowers on the ground were just fuel for the flames, making them grow bigger by the second, and the Shorty wasn't doing anything about it!

Was she going to let Evelyn hang and cook there?! No, no she wasn't. She made the flames freeze. Which was a good and bad thing. For one, the flames had almost reached her and she was hoping it didn't singe any of her hair off, and two, the now frozen spikes were just inches away from her head. Although others were quite closer to the ground, the almost middle of them that she was handing over were quite large. Now she had no way of getting down without getting hurt. Oh how she HATED the SHORTY!

In the next second though, she saw the girl's wand being pointed at her, making her reflexes kick in. Using pretty much the little amount of stomach muscles she had at the moment to pull herself up, she barely dodged most of the sparks heading her way, though she could feel at least two hit her back, making her wince. This was not fun. She was like a pinata for the girl!

Lowering herself down again, her eyes widened as she quickly brought up a shield, making the stunning spell bounce right off. Although, the force of it would have sent her flying through the air, it just made her swing back and force above the death trap of the frozen spikes.

And she made the stupid mistake of trying to grab onto the tallest one to make her stop. Instead of grabbing onto it, her hand slipped upwards and sliced a quick, deep, and quite clean cut. "Argh!" Those things were definitely dangerous, there was no doubt about that.

Still swinging slightly, she held her hand close to her, not realizing that it was in fact her wand hand that had been cut since she was holding the actual wand itself in her left hand.

A few tears had finally decided to spring up in her eyes as the pain started to settle in. Everywhere hurt! Though the worst part was her neck and shoulder where it was still dripping quite a lot of blood. She had a suspicion that the snake had bitten her there, since it felt like the pain was spreading more down towards her arm as well. Stupid venom.

Gasping, her eyes blurry from tears, she looked around, trying to find the girl and to see what she was doing, but she couldn't. Where did she go?! Finally though, Evelyn slowly felt as if she stopped swinging enough to really see what was going on around her. The fire light flickering off the sleek ice of the frozen spikes only made her head start to feel even more dizzy, and the sound of the thundering fire around the arena was hurting her ears. Where was the girl!?

A minute later though, after a few deep shaky breathes, she saw a small foot closer to the little frozen spikes on the ground. The Ravenclaw girl was wearing those shoes. So she was hiding on the ground? Well if Evelyn didn't think she was stupid before, she would definitely be thinking it now! Obviously she could see the Shorty, but the foot wasn't moving and there were no spells shooting her way. The girl...wasn't even moving. Frowning, Evelyn tried to turn in the air so she could have a better look at what was going on, and she regretted doing so at the sight.

The top of one of the smaller spikes towards the ground was red, and the could see the girl's elbow. Did the spike, go through her arm? Evelyn gasped slightly, whether from the now new knowledge of what just happened, or from the pain, one could never know. Whatever though, she had to get down. How could she get down though?

The girl was obviously unconscious and Evelyn needed to use this opportunity to find her wand just in case the girl woke up. But HOW could she get down?! Ummm..."Confringo!" she yelled, pointing the wand at the spikes, but there was no time to put a shield up. Covering her head as sharp ice flew everywhere, she was EXTREMELY relieved when she only felt the pain in her foot, side, and arms. At the last second when saying the spell, she was sure that something would have went through her head, but it didn't.

Now having a small hole like cave in the middle of the frozen fire, and another quite dusty dirt cloud surrounding herself, Evelyn took the wand with her bloody hand and pointed it towards her feet. "Finite...Incantatem." she said, and dropped to the ground, landing on her back with a loud THUD and audible groan.

Did this mean she won? She didn't win yet though! She NEEDED her wand! But...she didn't want to move. And she was stuck in the frozen fire, the taller spikes around her like bars as if she was in a cage or prison.

Giving Prospero a small incline of his head, Samuel couldn't help but grin even if it was only a very small one. It had been a very entertaining show if he did say so himself. "Perhaps you could spread the word around then." He could see it now, sort of like a traveling side show going all around the world.

He took the omniocculars from Prospero and hit the replay button and laughed evilly and then turned back to the man beside him, "We're really getting our money's worth with these two." Samuel handed the omniocculars back and continued to watch the duel in live action.

And then in true spectacular form they had themselves a winner!

Samuel moved forward and waved his wand over the arena cancelling out all the spells that had been cast and then stood over the winner. "You won. Congratulations" he said in a sour voice. Not one to show any emotions was dear old Samuel, "Now get your butt back up to the castle."

He walked over to the other girl the one had lost and pointed his wand at her. Samuel sent a silent 'enervate' and then bent over her. "Oi. Time to get up sleepy head and get yourself back to the school." And just as he had with every other duel, Samuel walked away not caring about their injuries or state of mind but on how much money he head earned that night.

He stood beside Prospero but his eyes were on the blond that was beside him. "I need her back" he said and finally looking away from her and his gaze resting on Prospero. "Would you have a problem with that?"

"Aye! And, the girls fight tougher than the boys!" Prospero watched as the littler fighter fell out cold. Aww, she was plumb tuckered out. He stood and watched as Huxley dealt with the unconscious girl, his end of the bargain with Cela not far from his mind.

That was when Huxley declared he needed her back. Time to play up the worth of the object being sold. "Perhaps." He said sitting back down strategically blocking Cela. "What's it to ya, Huxley?"

Cela turned her eyes to Prospero, expression caught somewhere between imploring and pointed. They were hurt down there. They had a deal right? He'd make sure they got back to the castle... right?

A startled look came over her face. 'Samuel Huxley' needed her? She blinked and shrunk into herself a little, remaining silent, waiting to hear what would happen to her.

Evelyn suddenly realized that she wasn't seeing the top of the trees anymore, but the face of the bartender man. She won? She did win didn't she. And now...

Now she just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep; For a very long time. Nodding, she slowly sat up and looked down at her arm, side and foot. There were pieces of ice sticking out, but the one in her side was the largest. It even hurt to touch it. Wincing, she leaned forward, feeling the sharp ice poke through her stomach even more, as she took the ice out of her feet. Perhaps she should just leave it there on the rest of her body. It would melt eventually right?

Standing up, she looked around, only to see the ring of fire, dead flowers, snakes, and prison of frozen fire gone and looking almost exactly like when she got here. And...HER WAND! Oh thank Merlin, her wand. Limping over to the side of the arena, her face screwed up in pain, she slowly bent down and picked the dark piece of wood up with her now almost completely red hand, still holding the other wand as well.

It felt good to have it back and in one piece. Turning around, she looked at the Ravenclaw girl on the ground, before spotting that wand as well. She did say to herself that she was going to take that wand as a reward, what with it's beautiful blue flame and all. What was it's core? But...

She didn't want it anymore. It was the Shorty freak's wand and that just grossed her out, no matter how amazing it was. Although, she would like to snap it in half like the girl was trying to do with hers. Shaking her head, she clamped her hand on the wound on her neck and shoulder, before slowly shuffling her way back towards the trees of the dark forest, heading back to the castle without a backwards glance.

The man was obviously going to play hard ball. Samuel had been expecting it, in fact he would expect nothing less from a man like Prospero.

And the fella was rather smart too and apparently knew Samuel better than he thought he did. If Prospero hadn't of sat in front of the girl, he would of snatched her and simply apparated.

He clenched his jaw slightly and looked the man straight in the eye, "How much do you want?"

Prospero began to laugh. Not for any joke, of course. No. But in part to cushion being read so well. He hadn't expected to come across so clearly.

"You think I want money?" He laughed again, though this time it was less sincere.

"22 galleons and the little dead-ish one still in the arena. I got quite used to having a little slave, but a younger one would much better suit me." He said, focusing his eyes away from Ivory.

This time it was Samuel's turn to laugh and not because he thought Prospero was being funny but because he was expecting the man to ask for more.

"Done" he said fishing in his pockets for the money. He couldn't care less about the girl lying on the ground. She was nothing to him. Neither was the blond for that matter but he had the feeling if he brought her back to the school, things will be so much easier.

Samuel handed Propsero the little leather pouch containing 22 galleons and then stepped around the man and looked down at the girl. "I betcha you thought you would cost a lot more eh?"

Cela's eyes bore into Prospero's back, was he going to make good on their deal or put Ivory through something close to what she'd had to put up with? She looked out across the Arena, her eyes finding Ivory's form and worrying over it.

Strange. Why did she almost feel like she could trust Prospero? She hoped she could. For Ivory's sake. Cela could do no more.

She looked up at the man who now apparently owned her or whatever and shook her head once. 22 galleons was practically nothing in Cela's eyes, just as she was probably nothing in their eyes. She had ridiculously priced socks that cost more than that. It was probably a good thing that she kept her mouth shut about it all though.

Honestly, if they had known who she was, the price would have been much higher. For Cela too since it would mean she'd never be able to return to Hogwarts. Her family wouldn't allow it if they knew about all of this. She just figured it was probably a precise amount that Prospero needed for something.

Right now she was trying to do a few calculations. How long had the duel been running? How long has they been out here? Had she seen 'Samuel Huxley' drink anything? She lifted her chin and met his eyes, trying to see the person who was really in there.

No, No. 30 galleons! No. 40!!!

Blast.

Had it known it would be that easy to get his asking price he would've asked for more. He stood, reached out and securely gripped the pouch. "Well, it's been a pleasure doing business with ya."

He stepped down the seats like a staircase and approached the little bruised up fighter.

Samuel patted his pockets and the galleons inside rattled. The 22 galleons he had just given to Prospero had barely made a dent in what he had made tonight. "Oh believe me mate, the pleasure was all mine."


Now onto other business, Samuel reached down with hand and grasped the blond by the upper arm and hauled her back to her feet.

"Aww look at you trying to figure it all out. I can see all your little theories running around in that pretty head of yours." Samuel let her arm go and trained his wand on her instead.

"Why don't you tell me what you have come up with." Because in the end it wasn't going to matter if she was right, she wouldn't be able to tell anyone anyway. Not for what he had planned for her.

Ivory came to groggily, the pain in her side and arm almost too intense to bear. Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to focus on the man in front of her.

...back to school...? Yeah that sounded right.

Glancing at her arm her eyes widened alarmingly. There was an ice spike impaled on her arm. How in the world?

Tears coming to her eyes, she yanked it up instinctively and winced when with a small squelching sound it came off leaving a horrible open wound. Clutching it to herself, she felt around her waist feeling for the thick fang that was still embedded there. Trying not to concentrate on the blood (since she'd always been a bit woozy) she took a few deep breaths and kept her eyes open. Just concentrating on getting enough energy to stand up.


...a little slave?"

What?

Ivory stood up with what seemed like way too much effort and looked around with wide eyes. Did she leave? She wanted to, but something left her rooted to the spot. Swaying on her feet she stared blankly at two men and one girl at the edge of the arena .

"Don't move." He told the girl in her weakened state. "Stay down. You're going to bleed to death if you don't." She had already removed what appeared to be a glassy sharp object from her arm? The ice spikes, of course. She probably shouldn't have removed it as doing so would open the wound and cause severe bleeding.

Prospero drew his wand in an almost violent fashion as he knealt down to the girl. He made to make it look like a threat, but what came out of his mouth was far less fearful. "Because I do not like going back on my word, you're to follow me and make it look very unpleasant. That is, if you ever want to make it back to that castle." What followed was a soft murming of sorts as he healed her arm and summoned the tooth from within her side.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlytherinSistah

"Don't move." He told the girl in her weakened state. "Stay down. You're going to bleed to death if you don't." She had already removed what appeared to be a glassy sharp object from her arm? The ice spikes, of course. She probably shouldn't have removed it as doing so would open the wound and cause severe bleeding.

Prospero drew his wand in an almost violent fashion as he knealt down to the girl. He made to make it look like a threat, but what came out of his mouth was far less fearful. "Because I do not like going back on my word, you're to follow me and make it look very unpleasant. That is, if you ever want to make it back to that castle." What followed was a soft murming of sorts as he healed her arm and summoned the tooth from within her side.

Ivory didn't know what to believe. A new man was approaching her and telling her to make the journey back to the castle look unpleasant? As if she could pretend?! Gosh.

But then she didn't think of questioning anything he said because suddenly the wound on her arm closed and the fang in her side was finally removed.
The numbing sensation dulled to a shallow pain.

"Alright..."

Nodding her head as slightly as she looked up wide eyed and confused., she began to wonder who this man was and took the beginning step toward him.

Celandine winced but didn't say a thing at being manhandled in such a way. She'd probably have a few fingerprint bruises on her arm though.

She shook her head roughly.

"I don't know anything. You're making people duel for money and you aren't a real bartender."

Lies! She'd figured out so much more than that!

She peeked down at the Arena in relief, holding in a choked little sob.

why did she kind of feel like she owed Prospero now? The fact that he was sticking to his side of the bargain and helping Ivory... Celandine mentally thanked him but now she had to face this 'Samuel Huxley'.

Holding the wand to her back, Prospero marched her away from the arena and into the forbidden forest to heal her other wounds and send her back towards the castle well and obliviated.

Samuel laughed harshly at the girl, "You're not a very good liar. It doesn't matter anyway." With his wand pointed at the girl, he cast a very strong 'Imperio' on her.

"Now my little detective if you so much as open your mouth and try to blow my cover you're going to wish you were dead." He cast again at her so that anything she said, he didn't like, she was going to feel excrutiating pain.

Ivory let herself be led away from the arena and into the forest where to her intense surprise she was healed of her major wounds.

Her lower ribs didn't feel cracked anymore, the burns on her legs were tolerable, and even the gaping wound in her arm wasn't leaking that much blood.

Even the snake bite was without the enormous fang.

It pained her for some reason that she hadn't been able to win. The duel had brought out something in her that she hadn't known existed. A hard competitive edge she hadn't known she had...and then- Poof. Every realization she'd just had had been erased and all that was left was an imperative need to return to the castle. Which is just what she did.