The Rings Fighter Read Online Free PDF

more media and cameras clustering, too.
    Being the first Rings match with a female human contestant, the whole city was talking about it... and probably betting obscene amounts of money on the outcome.
    Trazen himself had to work, of course.
    As lead designer of the run, he had to be there early to ensure his operators––or “pullers,” as they called them––manifested his design accurately. He also had to be there personally to guide the runner and make adjustments as needed.
    He’d left the house not long after they spoke over breakfast.
    Rather than deal with the other servants, or even a Rings match she couldn’t bear to watch after letting herself harbor hopes that Kiji might be able to follow that path some day, Chloe sat alone by the pool and watched Trazen’s birds.
    True to Mira’s promise, the indoor pool was a beautiful, tranquil spot, surrounded by potted trees, some of which grew up through the open sunroofs into the domed sky. Crystal blue water snaked around rock formations and sculpted waterfalls while birds played and flitted among branches overhead. Fish nibbled at her bare feet stuck in the water and sunlight created dappled patterns on the stone walls and floors.
    She heard the occasional shout and laughter from the media room down the corridor, but otherwise, the house was quiet.
    Eventually, someone found her, and told her she needed to get dressed.
    True to Trazen’s warning, the clothes weren’t... .ideal.
    She’d worn less before, of course.
    Living under Agnon’s roof, she’d worn nothing at all a lot of the time, even in quasi-public settings. But that didn’t make her feel much better as she fingered and stared at the water-thin, pale blue material that left gaping holes around her waist and hips as well as up the sides of her legs almost to her rear end.
    It took her a few good minutes from when she first examined the dress before she actually put it on. It took her a few more to stop frowning at herself as she stared into his bathroom mirror, looking at her own pale skin, some of it still bruised from Agnon’s hands and tail.
    Another group of servants showed up at the bedroom door not long after she shimmied into the dress. Chloe found herself seated in front of more mirrors while she was primped and fussed over for another hour. By the end, she barely recognized herself in the mirror at all.
    Even the color of her hair looked different, the blond strands highlighted with a green-gold powder that made it look even more fake and doll-like.
    She’d always hated her blond hair.
    She’d been picked on for it as a kid, called “lab rat” and worse. It made her a target and fascinated the Nirreth. Her mother dyed it for her when she was young, but the dye was no good and always rubbed off in her hands.
    Part of her blamed her blond hair for Agnon taking her.
    Chloe had always envied Kiji’s normal, dark-colored hair.
    She fought Kiji out of her mind again as she sat in the trolley outside the Rings stadium, hands clasped in her lap, twining her fingers together as she fought nerves and waited for Trazen. She’d almost managed to distract herself, watching the crowd and listening to the excited jabbering in Nargili, when the crowd outside exploded into excited yells.
    Chloe turned to see reporters swarming around a tall figure who emerged from the double doors of the stadium’s exit.
    It was Trazen.
    She watched him make his way through that crush of Nirreth and humans. He talked to reporters as he walked, laughing at something one of them said, his dark eyes flashing in the artificial sunlight, his tail snaking languorously out behind him. Looking away when she realized she was staring, Chloe focused out the opposite window, watching banners snap in the wind over the stadium grounds.
    It made sense he would come out first. Whatever the outcome, the girl fighter would be injured from her run, at least in small ways.
    Even so, Chloe was disappointed.
    She’d hoped to catch a