Colosseum

The day of the tournament had finally arrived and the number of people in the city seemed to have doubled. There were people of almost every race and age around, most of them happy but also in a hurry. The kings were coming together again after a long time and different warriors from each kingdom would be welcomed.

I hadn't seen Rose since the evening of our dance. She had mostly communicated with me through letters to avoid arousing suspicion. After all, she was a paladin. I managed to reach the rendezvous point without attracting the attention of the soldiers by blending in with the crowd. When I arrived on the roof, Rose was already there, watching the activity in the palace.

I approached her slowly and squatted down next to her to find out the latest situation. Rose began to speak.

"They've doubled the number of soldiers in the palace," she said. "It's much crowd than I thought."

"We don't need to go in," I said. "I just need to see the kings."

"It's not as easy as you think," Rose replied.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Before you arrived, the paladins received an order from the king," Rose said. "For security reasons, they moved the meeting point to the Coliseum."

"So there won't be any kings in the king's carriages," I said.

Rose was about to continue speaking when she paused. "There's more," she said. "By the time the carriages get here, the kings will have already arrived at the Coliseum. So even if you wanted to, you wouldn't be able to catch them outside. There's only one way - to catch the kings in the coliseum."

"We can get to the coliseum quickly through the banquet," I said. "But how do we get in?"

"Leave that to me," Rose replied. "I have to help with the convoy for the third king for now. I'll meet you at the coliseum so we don't draw attention to ourselves."

Before Rose left, I had a bad feeling that something was wrong. Maybe it was because I hadn't told her the truth despite all her kindness. As she turned to walk away, I called out to her.

"Rose, wait," I said. "There's something I need to tell you."

"I'm listening," she said.

"I'm…" I began, but just then the king's carriages arrived in front of the palace. Rose looked at me one last time before turning away.

"You'll have to save that for later," she said.

For a moment, I wanted to speak from my heart and tell her everything, even if it wasn't the truth, but I couldn't.

"Thanks for everything," I said. "You're a good person."

Rose shook her head at me with a smile and jumped off the roof with a single leap, heading towards the palace. I pulled my cloak back over my head and mingled with the crowd at the feast. Using the path I was on, I could reach the coliseum quickly.

At the same time, I had to be as inconspicuous and careful as possible. Otherwise, speed would be pointless. Rose had said that if the king's carriages had arrived at the palace, then the kings must have already arrived at the Coliseum. With that thought in mind, I knew I had to find the others.

However, there were no familiar faces around for the time being. Following the feast along the road, I managed to reach the coliseum after a short time. People were entering the coliseum in droves and my eyes searched for Rose.

It was impossible for me to continue through the entrance of the coliseum because a mass of soldiers were standing guard in front of it, controlling the flow of people. Apparently, the king didn't want us there at all. The security measures here seemed even stricter than at the feast in the city.

I continued to walk aimlessly, unsure of where to go until I caught sight of Rose. As soon as she saw me, she signaled for me to follow her. Trusting her intuition, I did as she instructed, veering off the main road and meeting her on the opposite side of the Coliseum. We were in a deserted area of the coliseum, where the soldiers were absent and didn't attract much attention. Rose knew the layout of the area very well and was aware of the soldiers' movements.

Without wasting any time, Rose approached me quickly and said, "I've spoken to the King and taken over patrolling this area. The soldiers I sent out could return anytime soon, so we need to act fast and get you inside."

"Did you give them a false alarm?" I asked.

"Something like that, but it won't hold them for long. I spoke to a friend of mine and got him to add you to the tournament," Rose explained.

"I didn't know I was going to participate in a tournament," I replied.

"Don't worry, you won't fight. Our goal is to get inside and get to the King's chamber. That's the only way I can get you in," Rose replied confidently.

"I'm in," I said, nodding my head in agreement.

Rose opened one of the back doors of the coliseum and warned me one last time before we entered, "Once you're in, there's no turning back. If it turns out you're lying, I'll kill you myself."

"I won't disappoint you," I promised.

"Good," Rose said, leading me inside.

As we entered through the door, I kept my head down and my hood pulled low to conceal my identity. We followed Rose's instructions and went through the registration process, using a fake name and nickname to make our lie more convincing.

Rose had portrayed me as a warrior and with her rank and knowledge of the coliseum, it was only a matter of time before we reached the king's chamber. We moved slowly and cautiously, timing our movements to avoid the patrolling soldiers.

When we finally arrived at our destination, there was only a single door separating us from the king's chamber. Rose whispered that once we opened it, we would be face-to-face with the king.

But something felt off. A sense of unease settled over me as I reached for the door handle. I hesitated for a moment before slowly pulling it open. And that's when I saw him - Miron himself, standing before me with a sinister smile on his face.

"Surprise," he said.