Chapter 1
Zalara's POV
I sat in my window seat looking out as the Suns set. The yellows and purples that swept across the sky were incredible. It was a shame my happiness was short lived and ruined by the sound of my father's voice, booming down the corridor and getting louder the closer he got to my room.
"Zalara?!" He shouted as he barged into my room.
"Yes, father?" I answer, turning to look at him.
"The Prince of Corgan will be arriving in two days time, i expect you to be ready for his arrival." He informs me.
"Yes, father." I say in a monotone voice.
"We will be leaving for the arena in an hour, make sure you're ready for that too." He says before leaving, slamming the door behind him.
My father had arranged a marriage with the Prince of our neighbouring planet 2 years ago. Our species have mates, soul mates but I already know the prince and I are not Mates. We met 2 years ago when our parents decided on our match. We looked into each others eyes and knew we were not for each other.
But my father created a law years ago So when mates do find each other, instead of just being together you have to come before my father and he will decide if the match is good or not. It's such an insult to the devine who hand picked each mating pair. But my father rules with fear and violence, no one stands up to him and so our beautiful planet Tork, has become a cage, a dark place.
When father had first told me I wouldn't be waiting to find my mate and that instead I would be given to the prince I wasn't entirely shocked. I had known he would do this to me, after all he makes everyone else abide by the rules and I am no different. I kept my cool after he told me, all the way up to my rooms and there is where I completely fell apart.
My father wants to make a deal with the Corgan ruler, marry me off to the prince and in exchange my father gets a percentage of the valuable metal that's only found in Corgan.
It's very useful in creating weapons and so that's why he wants it.
The last few months as its gotten closer to the day I'll marry my future husband, I've grown increasingly more anxious and scared of my future. I've tried to mask it from my father but there are some that work here that can see through my mask.
I take one last look out my window and at the beautiful sun's that are setting and then decide to get dressed, choosing a long, light blue dress that's tight around my chest and flows out beautifully from my waist. It matches my blue eyes and hair and I pair it with white sandals and just add a touch of make up and put my hair up, with a few loose strands around my face. Once I'm finished I make my way out of my room and out of the palace to wait for my father at the transport bay.
"Let's go." He says as he walks towards me and steps off the last step geting inside the car and I follow behind him, sitting as far away as I can from him.
When we arrive we go straight to the royal seating and wait for the "Show to begin" I hated being here, I didn't want to see people kill each other. But my father loved it, of course he would the barbaric bastard!
I sit next to him in my throne chair, waiting for the Gladiators to come out and put a show on for the crowd.
A few minutes pass and the sponsor comes out and speaks about each Gladiator and how good they are, how many kills they have and gets the crowd really going. Once he finishes the games begin.
The two gates from opposite ends of the arena open up and 10 Gladiators come out from each. They wear protective gear over themselves, helmets, holding Shields. Some have massive swords and some have other big spiky looking weapons.
I remember reading about Gladiators and being fascinated by them as a child. They were the first of our kind and are stronger and bigger than us, their senses are better than ours too. Over the years their numbers have dwindled and we don't usually see Gladiators all that often nowadays, except here in the arena. My father had any Gladiator that was seen, arrested and placed in the dungeons. He came up with the idea to make them fight against each other, hoping to kill off the last of them. He may succeed yet because i heard that this is the last of them, the last remaining Gladiators.
The bell rings and they begin, it's gory and bloody and at times I have to look away in disgust and terror. This was the first time I was seeing all of this, I had refused to come before. I would lie and say I wasn't feeling well or that I was having my monthly bleed and couldn't possibly leave my rooms. My father didn't care before but this was the last games of the year and my father wanted me present, I couldn't refuse and so now I have to sit here and watch these males kill themselves.
30 minutes passes and two Gladiators are left. One looks like he's about to loose conciousness from exhaustion while the other looks like he could go all day long. He's alot bigger than the other one too and I notice his scars from all the way up here.
It's no time at all and the bigger Gladiator kills the other, pushing his massive sword through the others chest, pushing him down to the ground as he goes. The crowd goes wild and chants his name, they know him I realise. He must be a favourite.
"KORRIN! KORRIN! KORRIN!" They chant, over and over again. He raises his giant, bloody fist in the air and the crowd cheers even louder.
My father claps beside me laughing and saying something but I cant understand him as he yells with his mouth full of food. Disgusting!
It's now time that the Gladiator is "blessed by our presence" down in the arena. The horn and drums sound and my father and I make our way down to meet the winner.
The crowd still cheers for the Gladiator as we make our entrance into the arena, escorted by my father's personal security. The gladiator stands tall and proud as we approach and bows respectfully when we stop and stand before him. He is huge, not just his height but his muscles are gigantic! I can see his scars better in all their glory now, some are deep and some are not but there are many.
"Congratulations, gladiator! You put on quite the show!" My father says.
"Thank you, your highness." The Gladiator says in a deep voice that has me clenching my thighs together. Woah.
"Come, remove your helmet Korrin." My father orders but when he does my breath gets caught because the second his helmet is removed and his eyes meet mine, I start to feel a heaviness in my chest. He's my mate! Oh no.
"There we are. Cheer for your winner!" My father roars and the crowd does, they cheer so loudly it hurts my ears. Korrin looks just as suprised as me but that suprise quickly turns to worry. Though he is a Gladiator he would know of my father's law of mates. He subtly shakes his head no, once at me. As if telling me not to say anything, not to lead on who we are to each other.
I want to scream from the roof tops with joy but I cant and my sadness seeps back in, chasing the happiness away just as quickly as it came. Then reality sets in, we can never be together, I'm betrothed to another and my father would never allow his daughter, the princess and heir to Tork to ever be with a gladiator, he would see Korrin as beneath me, beneath my father and not worthy of me. Not that he actually cares about me but that's what he'll say.
My father talks away blabbering and i cant hear a word, my ears are ringing and my palms begin to sweat and shake.
"You have done well, Korrin and for that I will reward you with freedom, for a day. You will be allowed to roam the city, do as you see fit. I also want you to attend the grand feast tonight, in you're honour. Tomorrow, you will return to the Gladiators lodgings and await to hear of my judgement." My father says. I see Korrin's hands clench around the hilt of his sword and nod, bowing as he does. My father is to make a decision on what to do with Korrin, since he's the surviving gladiator. My father won't just let Korrin go live a free life, but I find myself hoping my father will show mercy. We might not be together but he'll hopfully be alive.
"You honour me, your highness." Korrin says and I swear I hear a slight growl in his voice. He must be angry too. My father gestures for us to leave and I turn but not without one last look at my mate, I'll probably never see him again and my heart starts to break.
Korrin's face is hard, he's frowning. Even frowning and angry he's the most handsome man I've ever seen.
His long dark hair it's partially held back and his dark almost black eyes search my own. I walk out of that arena leaving my shattered heart behind.
