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'Astounding--oh, thank you.' Two plates of Colovian roast turkey were set down by a server, who excused herself and left the room. 'So, the Face of Akavir was a Dragon Knight?'

Bloodies had already started eating and swallowed his first bite before answering. 'He never told us what he was, but in hindsight you're probably right.'

'Most Dragon Knights claim heritage to Akavir through direct lineage or someone who trained them, and your mentor certainly had the power of an exceptionally strong one.' Bloodies shrugged and took another two bites as he listened. 'I know he taught you both how to fight, but I want to know if he taught you how to use those powers.'

Bloodies stopped eating, this time putting his cutlery down on the plate. 'He told Fleet and I that we would "learn how to bend earth and fire to be our scales" in our fifth and last year of training,' Bloodies said. His features darkened when he spoke again. 'But in our fourth year, the Longhouse Emperor arrived.

---

Bloodies rubbed his eyes groggily and willed them to open. His eyelids threatened to return him to slumber, so he beat back the temptation by thinking of the mop and bucket. He turned over and saw Fleet was still asleep. He give his lover a kiss before sitting up and massaging his sore neck. Although it had been fourteen years, Bloodies was used to sleeping on the floor with a modicum of straw but he wasn't used to the crick in the neck it provided.

It was early on a Sundas morning--the day after training with the Face--and though he bore bruises hidden behind ragged cloth, Bloodies permitted himself no audible show of the pain he felt. He awoke early that morning every week, ever since the Face taught Fleet and himself about the Eight Divines.

'Of the Eight, we venerate Akatosh the Dragon God of Time,' the Face had told them. 'Through him we find the strength and endurance to withstand adversity and stand indomitable.'

Bloodies rummaged through his straw pile and pulled out an amulet of carved oak.

'Hide it well and hold onto it when you call his name.' Bloodies clutched his claws carefully but firmly around the figure of the dragon and held it close to his heart as he bowed his head to the wall.

'Akatosh, hear my prayer...' Bloodies whispered, 'lend me your strength that I might endure. Lend me your impervious scales so I may stand against all evil. And most of all, grant me your wisdom that I might understand your will.' Bloodies took a deep breath as his grasp tightened. 'As you will it, so shall it be.'

After a few moments, Bloodies raised his head back up and quickly checked his friends. All of them still slept soundly. A heartfelt smile tugged on his face and he replaced his amulet in the straw pile. He then laid back down beside Fleet. When Fleet let out a quick but quiet snore in his sleep, Bloodies had to stop himself from laughing. He started to think about the future, after they fought their way together to freedom. There was an entire world outside of the bloodworks, which seemed unbelievable in itself. Bloodies had no idea where he would go, but whenever he looked at Fleet he knew he would go anywhere as long as it was with him.

It was a few months before their run-in with the Face years ago. Bloodies remembered sitting in this same corner, trying to hide his quiet sobbing from the others. He had wandered in front of a training sword mid-swing that smacked him on the side of his forehead, and only then was it swelling.

'Why are you crying?' Fleet had asked. When Bloodies saw it was him, he showed Fleet where he was hit. 'You poor thing. Here...' Fleet gently planted a kiss on his injury, which made Bloodies wince. 'My egg-mother once told me that kisses make it better. Are you feeling better?' Bloodies never answered but instead just hugged Fleet really close. He couldn't even remember ever letting go.

That was the day they fell in love.

'Get up, pit dogs!' Gaius bellowed as he swung the door wide open. The combination of his voice and the door slamming into the wall made everyone, especially Bloodies, jump up in a jolt of surprise. 'Early start this morning, we've got a big day ahead of us,' Gaius reminded, 'get your lazy bones up and get to work double-time!' The most notable feature of Gaius' voice was how unfailing it was in motivating the Argonians to move faster. Bloodies, still supressing groans of aching pain, got up as hastily as his egg-kin.

They got to their jobs much faster than normal, with Gaius paying much more attention than he usually did. Fleet ended up with mop duty while Bloodies dusted shelves in the storerooms. He turned to Lulu, one of the other Argonians that were sold to the arena by the Dark Elf slavers.

'Hey Lu, do you know what the big deal is?' he asked.

Lulu gave him a serious look. 'You know the emperor is coming, right?'

'Oh yeah, I heard that from the others,' Bloodies replied.

Lulu had dark brown scales, like the leather armour some of the gladiators wore, and her eyes were red like the embers of a fire. The quills on her head grew black and dense enough she had tied it back in a braided knot. But the most notable feature of all, which intimidated many of the other Argonians, was her jet-black tongue. Bloodies dusted another shelf before asking again, but Lulu answered him pre-emptively.

'There is a big tournament happening today,' Lulu said, 'that is why Gaius is on edge.'

It was rare for Gaius to actually 'lose his shit', as one of the older Argonians told Bloodies once. Although he had expectations and punishments that were as stern as his expression, Gaius was never a man to get immeasurably violent to the point of causing permanent injury. Most of the time, he seemed as calm as an ocean with a storm brewing on the horizon. Today, however, Gaius looked as though the storm was about to hit and he a captain of a ship about to be caught in it.

After only an hour, their cleaning duties were finished in good time. Bloodies checked the waiting area of the bloodworks to see Brother Cirro had arrived. He smiled and Cirro waved back happily. Gaius took Kero to the side, and after a few moments the two headed out of the bloodworks. Everyone else was excused as normal to spend their weekly hour with brother Cirro. They all came together and sat on seats before Cirro in the speaking room. Bloodies sat next to Fleet, who beamed happily, and Lulu sat next to Bloodies on his left.

Brother Cirro was a priest of Akatosh. He took charge of visiting the arena to preach the good word of Akatosh and the Eight Divines to all the denizens of the bloodworks. He also offered his friendship to anyone who needed someone to talk to. He spent most of his time with the Argonians, most notably, and they loved him for it. He started coming to the arena five years ago, and back then he was just a humble acolyte. Since then, he had traded his modest brown robes for white robes trimmed with red dragon braids and he cut his brown hair down to a priestly tonsure.

Back then, Bloodies never cared much for his sermons and often just messed around with Fleet in the back row. But ever since he learned about the Eight Divines from the Face, Bloodies started to pay more attention and started to have a little faith. He and Cirro started speaking two years ago and ever since he has confided in his counsel on Sundas each week. Once, after getting teased by one of the gladiators for being with Fleet, he asked Brother Cirro if it was okay that he was with another boy.

Cirro happily told him that nowhere in the doctrines did Akatosh ever say it was wrong.

'Lord Akatosh, lend us your might! Lord Akatosh, grant us your light!' Brother Cirro began his sermon with prayer. Most of the Argonians reiterated this prayer in an unusual chorus of reptilian voices. Bloodies looked at Lulu mid-prayer, and saw she kept her mouth shut. After the prayer, and as Cirro began his sermon, Bloodies turned to Lulu.

'You really don't believe in the Eight?' he asked her.

Lulu looked back at him, as severe as ever. 'I do not,' she flatly replied.

Lulu was only one year older than Bloodies but the way she spoke and held herself lent her the appearance of many years bearing wisdom. He remembered first seeing her years ago: she was the Argonian shivering in the cage beside his. After they were sold to the arena, she kept to herself mostly. When she was asked for her name, she pronounced a name that Gaius didn't understand. Instead of repeating it, she told him her name was Lulu. It was short for what she said before.

It was short for her Saxhleel name, as she told Bloodies once.

Lulu always acted a little differently to the other Argonians. Sometimes she whispered things in her sleep that nobody understood. She learnt Tamrielic from Fleet like Bloodies did, and the three of them became close friends. While Lulu came across as aloof, the two of them still gladly called her a friend. She learnt much more educated Tamrielic from a High Elven gladiator who stayed at the arena a few years back. Lulu also took a lot of her personality after her, too.

'Unlike the rest of you, I know the taste of the sap and I give thanks to the Hist.'

Bloodies tilted his head and his brow furrowed. 'The Hist...?'

Her breath hissed as she exhaled with annoyance. 'Clueless as ever.' Her quills settled but Bloodies still looked to her for an explanation as Cirro preached the virtues of Akatosh. 'The Hist is everything we are. Though we live far away from the roots, it still sustains us,' Lulu explained, 'even Saxhleel like you, who no longer hear its call.'

When Lulu mentioned the roots, Bloodies thought of the great tree from his home. Though a distant memory, he remembered the elders that sat before it and spoke in hissing voices. But he remembered it mostly because it was where he was taken for his naming ceremony. There was a name they called it by in their tongue, but he couldn't remember it. In fact, Bloodies could barely remember any of his native language now that he thought of it.

'It is sad,' Lulu added, and for a moment Bloodies thought she read his mind somehow, 'because your body does not know but your spirit yearns for the Hist's guidance.'

Bloodies thought about it. 'Maybe I don't really need this Hist.'

Lulu let out a quiet laugh. 'Maybe so, but do you ever want to return home?' The question pierced Bloodies more than the sharp tongue that delivered it. Just as he had forgotten how to speak his native tongue, he couldn't even recall what his village looked like; he could only remember the tree. 'If you return, they may welcome you but to them: you will always be an outsider, like a hatchling that has not come of age.'

Lulu's words cut deep but Bloodies knew she was right. He never understood the naming ceremony, but he knew it was important. He imagined coming home to egg-sires that would not recognise him at all, because he never received the name they would know him by.

'... And through him, we become inexorable,' Cirro spoke, 'our faith both an unyielding shield and a judicious sword.' Bloodies looked back at him and listened. 'Now, who remembers the commands of Akatosh?'

One of the other Argonians raised her hand and Cirro pointed to her. 'Worship the Eight!'

'Very good!' Cirro commended, 'Indeed, if we must honour Akatosh we must honour too his fellow divines, for he is not a jealous god. What about the other commands?'

Another Argonian raised his hand and Cirro pointed to him. 'Akatosh commands we do our duty.'

'That's correct.' Cirro affirmed, 'from the highest lords to the lowest servants, Akatosh expects all of us to complete the tasks we are given and those that are expected of us.'

Fleet raised his hand, and Cirro nodded to him. 'Another command is that we study the Covenants, but we don't know what they are,' Fleet brought up.

Cirro nodded. 'The Covenants are the written agreements sworn to by Akatosh's faithful, especially those of legendary Alessia and her descendants,' he explained, 'we must read them and understand that as his followers, we swear to remain faithful in the Divines and stay the temptations of the evil Daedra.' The Argonians nodded in understanding.

'Now, we know Akatosh commands us to do our duties,' Cirro went on as he raised his hands with palms upside and flat like a beggar's own, 'but he commands us to also abide by the saints and priests, for their word should be considered Akatosh's own.' The Argonians nodded in obvious agreement, Bloodies and Fleet among them. 'But above all: Akatosh commands us to serve and obey the emperor, who is chosen by Akatosh to lead the Empire since the beginning.'

'Even your priest teaches you that!' Everyone turned immediately to the entrance where a large man entered. He wore rich northern attire draped with furs and a gold crown with protruding spikes, a red gemstone embedded in its crest. He had hazel eyes and dark black hair that slipped under his crown in a partial fringe over his left eye. But what struck the Argonians most was how he his hand was clasped around Kero's throat, who was sobbing as he was dragged along down the stairs. As they entered the bloodworks, they were followed by brutish guards clasped in black-gold armour that looked worlds apart from the armour of the Imperial Guard. On their shoulders were pauldrons cast in the shape of a skull. Only ominous rumours surrounded the 'Black-Gold Guard' of the Emperor. Just behind them was Gaius, sweat beading on his forehead as his expression remained immutable.

'So why is it you...' the Emperor pulled Kero before his feet, and then began beating him down with each word. 'Couldn't. Follow. My. Instructions!?'

Bloodies stood up when the beating began, but Fleet stood up to hold him back. 'Red, don't...' The other Argonians stood up in shock. Brother Cirro stepped forward as they did.

'Your majesty, please...' he began. The Emperor stopped and looked at the priest, before letting go of Kero who fell to the floor weakly. Bloodies could see the lump that Cirro swallowed in his throat.

'You would stand up for these scaly cretins?' the Emperor asked, a barely veiled venom in his voice. Brother Cirro said nothing but instead helped Kero up and whispered to him to move away. 'What god do you serve?' the Emperor asked instead.

Brother Cirro hesitated before answering. '... Lord Akatosh, your majesty.'

The Emperor nodded sagely. 'Ah, "Lord" Akatosh.' He then looked to his black-gold guards and jerked his head. The two armoured brutes stepped forward and before Cirro could react, everyone was witness to a priest of Akatosh being assaulted by the royal guards of the Emperor himself.

Where all the Argonians winced and looked away, Bloodies could not and instead with wide eyes he took in every moment of the atrocity. Kero hid behind a nearby column, quaking at every smack and whimpering when he heard bones crack. Lulu just looked away calmly, and Fleet's breathes faltered as he kept his eyes on Bloodies' shock. The guards stopped when the Emperor stepped forward. Brother Cirro's once bright white robes were marred by dirt and some of his own blood, his face bloodied and bruised, and eyes straining with the left black eye he had been given. He looked up at the Emperor, despite how much agony he was in, and through weak groans he pleaded for mercy.

The crowned man leaned down with a bejewelled dagger and held it at Cirro's throat. Bloodies strained against Fleet's arm, but his lover held him firm.

'I want you to remember this moment forevermore' the Emperor told Cirro, 'where I had you beaten within an inch of your life and your "Lord" Akatosh did nothing.' His words dripped with cruelty and malice to match his criminal act.

'Emperor Leovic,' Gaius spoke up, 'the crowds are waiting for your opening address.' Bloodies looked back at him and saw for a moment a flash of fear in Gaius; a man whom he thought could never be cowed. Emperor Leovic sheathed his dagger and stood to turn back to Gaius.

'In a moment, I have one last command.' Emperor Leovic looked briefly at all the Argonians. If he saw the blatant rage in Bloodies' face, he ignored it. 'I expect all of these Argonians to participate in the tournament. Every able-bodied man--or slave, as it were.'

With that said, he brushed past Gaius and out of the bloodworks with his guards in tow. Bloodies loosed himself from Fleet's grip to run to Cirro's side. Cirro groaned weakly as Bloodies picked him up in his arms. Bloodies then looked at Gaius, who stared at the Argonians. Bloodies followed his gaze and saw Gaius' fear mirrored in the faces of his egg-kin, and it dawned on him as to what the Emperor meant.

They were going to be forced to fight in the arena.