Chapter 276: v3 - 37: a way forward I

Chapter 276: v3 Chapter 37: a way forward I

Robert returned to the quarters with considerably more energy than when he had left.

Cassian noticed immediately.

He was sitting on the edge of his bunk, still recovering from the wounds he had received during the challenge, when Robert entered with a grin that was impossible to miss.

"What happened to you?"

Robert laughed.

"They bought me."

Cassian looked up.

"What?"

"They bought my contract."

For a moment, Cassian simply stared at him.

Robert dropped onto the bench opposite him.

"Fifty thousand gold coins."

Cassian’s expression barely changed.

Robert shook his head.

"I know. I couldn’t believe it either."

"So you’re leaving?"

"An hour."

Cassian blinked.

"An hour?"

"That’s what they told me."

Robert glanced around the room.

"I’ve got to pack."

Cassian watched him begin gathering his belongings.

"So it happened quickly."

"Very."

Robert smiled.

"I didn’t think I’d ever say this, but I won’t complain."

Cassian almost smiled.

Robert told him about the terms.

The three-year initial service.

The salary.

The training.

The medical care.

The quarters.

The expectations.

Cassian listened carefully.

Three years.

Another three years of service.

It was not a small commitment.

But it was also three years outside the Arena.

A chance to learn.

A chance to become stronger.

A chance to live without having to fight for his life every few days.

Cassian understood why Robert had agreed so readily.

But he didn’t know whether he would.

Not yet.

There was too much he needed to consider.

If someone approached him, he would have to know what they wanted.

And what he wanted in return.

He had spent twenty one months in the Arena.

Almost two years since he had disappeared from the Empire.

Almost two years in which the world had continued without him.

Adrian had already had nearly two years to strengthen his position as Emperor.

By now, his authority would be firmly established.

Cassian had no illusions about what awaited him if he simply walked back into the Empire.

His dukedom was almost certainly gone.

Reverted to the Crown, most likely.

He could petition for its restoration.

If he were even permitted to enter the country.

And if Adrian learned that he was alive—

There was no telling what would happen.

Cassian had thought about it countless times.

How could he return?

How could he reach Marian?

How could he reclaim anything when he no longer had the influence, the allies, or even the protection that had once belonged to him?

That was the problem.

Freedom alone was not enough.

Even if he walked out of the Arena when his contract ended, what would he have?

Some money.

A sword.

And a name that had been buried for more than three years by then.

He would still be standing outside the Empire with no one behind him.

No connections.

No protection.

No way of knowing what had happened in his absence.

Most importantly, no way of knowing what had happened to Marian.

That was what had kept him moving through every fight.

Every wound.

Every night he had wondered whether he would survive until morning.

He had endured because there was still somewhere, someone he needed to return to.

But returning was no longer as simple as surviving long enough to leave.

He needed a way back.

He needed people.

Connections.

Information.

Something that could give him a foothold before he ever set foot on Imperial soil again.

Perhaps that was what a patron could provide.

Perhaps.

But he couldn’t know until he heard the offer.

And he certainly couldn’t assume they would make one.

He had shown them what he could do.

That might have interested them.

It might also have made them wary.

His Imperial swordsmanship was not something a prudent patron would overlook.

If anything, it made him more difficult to trust.

Cassian had accepted that when he changed his stance.

He had taken a gamble.

Now he would have to wait and see where it led.

Robert finished gathering his things.

Then, almost as an afterthought, he said,

"They asked about you."

Cassian’s hands stilled.

"What?"

"Carlo."

Robert smiled.

"They asked what I thought of you."

Cassian stared at him.

So they were interested.

Not merely in what he could do.

In him.

That changed things.

"What did you say?"

"The truth."

Cassian waited.

Robert smiled.

"I told them you’re dependable."

Cassian looked away.

"And loyal."

"Robert."

"And that I’d trust you with my life."

Cassian sighed.

"You talk too much."

Robert laughed.

"Maybe."

He lifted his belongings.

"The man speaking for them was one of the challengers."

Cassian looked at him.

"Which one?"

"The one you fought."

Robert continued.

"His name is Marcus. He was the one sitting there and explaining everything to me."

Cassian nodded slowly.

"Did you meet the patron?"

Robert shook his head.

"No."

"Do you know who he is?"

"No idea."

Robert adjusted the strap of his belongings.

"Marcus seems to be the one in charge, though. At least that’s how it looked."

Cassian said nothing.

Robert continued.

"He’s not an ordinary man, Carlo."

Cassian glanced at him.

"Why?"

"I don’t know."

Robert shrugged.

"Just a feeling."

He thought for a moment.

"The one I dueled with was with him and he listened to him. Also, he doesn’t carry himself like someone who was simply sent to deliver a message."

Cassian’s expression became thoughtful.

That much he could believe.

A man capable of fighting at Marcus’s level would already be valuable.

A man entrusted with recruiting fighters for a powerful patron was something else.

Robert smiled.

"Anyway, I should go."

Cassian nodded.

"Good luck."

Robert paused.

"Thanks."

Then he grinned.

"I’ll see you outside."

He left.

Cassian remained seated.

Outside.

The word stayed with him.

Robert was going outside.

And perhaps Cassian would be given the same opportunity.

But he refused to let himself assume it.

For now, he had only learned that they were interested enough to ask about him.

Nothing more.

Robert left the Arena less than an hour later.

Cassian saw him only briefly.

There was no ceremony.

No grand farewell.

Robert simply passed through the gates carrying his belongings, accompanied by the men who had come to claim him.

For twenty-one months, the Arena had owned his contract.

Now it no longer did.

Cassian watched until he disappeared from view.

Then he returned to his quarters.

Later that day, Alex was summoned.

Then Gary.

Cassian noticed the pattern.

They were being approached one by one.

But his name was not called.

He waited.

Perhaps they would come.

Perhaps they wouldn’t.

He had no way of knowing.

And he would not build expectations around something that had not happened.

The day passed.

Then the evening.

Still nothing.

Cassian lay awake that night, thinking.

If they did approach him, he needed to be ready.

He couldn’t simply accept the first offer placed before him.

Three years was too long to give away without understanding what he would receive in return.

He needed more than freedom.

He needed a future.

A connection to the world outside these walls.

Perhaps information about the Empire.

Perhaps a means of reaching it safely.

Perhaps protection.

And if they truly had the resources to take men like Robert from the Arena, perhaps they possessed the kind of influence Cassian needed.

But that remained speculation.

He would have to hear what they offered.

Then decide what he was willing to give.

The following morning, the attendant finally came.

"Three Hundred and Nineteen."

Cassian looked up.

"You’re summoned."

He stood immediately.

The waiting was over.

As he followed the attendant through the corridors, he remembered what Robert had told him.

Marcus.

The man he had fought.

The man who had conducted Robert’s interview.

Cassian expected to see him.

He expected the same kind of arrangement.

A representative of the patron.

Questions.

Terms.

Perhaps an offer.

The attendant opened the door.

Cassian stepped inside.

Marcus was there.

Standing.

But there was another man in the room.

Someone Cassian had not expected to see.

He sat behind the desk.

Marcus stood behind him.

Not beside him.

Behind him.

Cassian slowed.

His gaze moved from Marcus to the man seated before him.

And in that instant, he understood.

Marcus was not the one he had come to meet.

He was here to serve the man sitting in front of him.

Cassian’s eyes narrowed.

The patron had come himself.

And suddenly, the gamble he had taken in the Arena felt very real.

--

Tbc