I grimace, that sounds even worse than potential death by dragon.
"And my sister?" I whisper.
"She'll be sent the standard payment given to any participant's family."
"But she won't be brought into the Duels?"
"No, Miss Mason. You're the one who has been selected."
"But how? I didn't put my name in anything." I struggle to understand how this has happened. Did I sign up for something accidentally and forget about it?
The woman flicks open my file and pulls out a sheet of paper, pushing it towards me. I scan it, recognising the words, but not what they mean. According to this, I filled out an application for the Dragon Duels two months ago. Except that it's not my handwriting on the page in front of me.
"I didn't submit this..."
The woman scoffs. "The number of times I've heard that is unreal. The facts are the facts, Miss Mason. You filled out this form, now you've been selected and you must go. Your sister and your employer will receive the standard compensation owed to them for this."
"My employer?" I squeak.
"Yes. They lose an employee, they are compensated. That's how it works."
Horror wells up inside me as I realise what's happened. Someone in the company filled this out so they'd get a payment for me going. And now I'm trapped.
The woman takes my silence as agreement, though at this point, I'm not sure what else it can be. It seems I don't have a choice about any of this.
"You'll be taken directly to the holding facility for the Duels. They begin in a week, and you'll have time to rest and eat between now and then. You are not to try and escape. Any attempt to abandon the Duels will result in your immediate execution. Should you win the Duels, you will be offered a position with the Dragon Defenders."
"And if I turn that position down?" I ask.
"I wouldn't worry about that," she dismisses.
Ah. I see. If I turn down the position, I'll end up dead. If I even get there.
"Can I say goodbye first?"
"There is no time for goodbyes. Your transport is waiting for you in the yard."
My eyes sting with the threat of tears, though I try and fight them off. I refuse to let her see my true emotions. She doesn't deserve them, especially because I'm certain she'll enjoy them too much.
"Can I at least write a letter?" I ask.
She considers for a moment, but to my surprise, hands me a pen and paper.
"Thank you."
She shrugs. "It's nothing to me. You have three minutes."
I consider how to explain the situation to Mila, but I don't want them to take the letter away for saying the wrong thing. Instead, I scribble down something vague about doing this for us, and that I love her and I'll see her soon.
I hope I'm not lying. To my sister, or to myself.
Chapter Four
The numbness of what's about to happen starts to fade around the same time I'm herded into a reception room and abandoned. There's nothing around except for some paper cups of water. I hope someone tells me what to do sooner rather than later. I don't want to spend the next few days doing nothing except contemplating my fate.
And whether Mila's going to be okay.
I close my eyes in an attempt to chase away the pain of abandoning her. I haven't done it on purpose, but that's not the point. She's going to come home from work later today and find that I'm not back. Hopefully, they'll actually deliver the letter I wrote, but if not the first explanation she's going to get is the payment for me taking part in the stupid Dragon Duels.
At least that's something. The money will make her life easier, which she's going to need if she's lost my income.
The door opposite me crashes open, finally chasing away the thoughts of home. If I'm honest, I'm grateful for the distraction. If I spend too much of my time fixating on what I left behind, then I'm going to drive myself crazy.
A pair of guards march into the room, dragging a girl in rags behind them. She doesn't look much older than me, but it's hard to tell through the matted hair and thick layer of grime covering her from head to toe. I'm guessing her story isn't like mine.
Without saying a word to either of us, one of the guards shoves the girl down into the seat next to me. She winces as her back hits the hard plastic of the chair, but doesn't make a sound. She's probably trained herself not to so she doesn't attract the wrong kind of attention.
The guards march off, not even bothering to give her instructions about what to do next. I suppose I haven't had any of them either, but somehow that doesn't seem as bad as what's happening to the other girl, even if I haven't had a choice about coming here.
A violent cough racks through her, as if she has something stuck in her throat.
"Do you want some water?" I ask her, gesturing to the paper cups.
She nods through another bout of coughing.
I smile uneasily at her and get to my feet. The water sloshes against the flimsy container. Why they think it's a good idea to use paper for something like this is beyond me. Maybe everything is going to be like this once we're outside this room in case we make any of it into a weapon we can take into the Duels. I hope not, it'll make the next few days far more tedious than they need to be.
"Here you go," I say, offering the girl the cup.
She takes it, clasping it between her still handcuffed hands and drinking it down quickly.
"Do you have a name?" I lean back in my chair and wait for her to answer.
"What does it matter?" Her voice cracks, as if she hasn't used it in a while.
I shrug. "I suppose it doesn't." But there
