Chapter 3: Breakfast

This was absolutely insane. Urzul attempts to sign up for the arena and instead of just being an ordinary fighter, gets chosen as the Grand Champion's trainer's new prodigy? Did Urzul want this? Urzul couldn't decide if this was a blessing in disguise or a recipe for disaster. She would've rather been turned away than get some sort of special treatment.

But then again, she was in. Urzul couldn't deny the fact she was now a "pit dog" (whatever that meant). She got what she wanted and more. She should be really happy about this—but all that was going through her head was worry. Would this make the other combatants angry? Would they see her as some rich and spoiled brat who got anything she wanted? Sure, it was probably better than how they usually saw her, but attention in general was something Urzul wanted to avoid at all cost. At least being an Orc was something she didn't have control over.

Still, she didn't complain, and went straight home after the event in the bloodworks. The sun was barely setting, but Urzul just wanted to go to sleep after all of this turmoil and recover. Being around people for so long wasn't very easy for her. She knew this was something she would have to get over, having chosen a career in a very public forum. The idea scared her, but that was the least of her worries. What would she tell her father?

Urzul's father was the critical type when he wasn't drunk. If he hadn't been hung-over that morning, Urzul likely would have gotten a judgmental lecture before leaving the house that she would have ignored. He would give her 50 reasons why what she's doing is bad and why her fighting would destroy their family. It's not like he would even notice if she went to the arena regularly; he could barely remember what day it was anyway. So why tell him the truth?

When she got home, Bogrum was in his usual spot on the table still, except now he was eating a cooked meal. It was astounding he was able to muster up the strength to do that, but Urzul didn't care. When she walked in the door, Urzul tried to hurry to the top of the stairs before her father started flapping his lips, but she couldn't avoid it.

"Urzul!" Bogrum barked right after the door shut, "Where the hell did you go?"

Urzul rolled her eyes. "I told you when I got up this morning, I went to sign up for the arena."

"What the hell are you thinking? Don't you know what'll happen in if you get killed in that place? The commerce office will have my head, and this house. We'll be homeless and you know it. How can you be so selfish?"

It took everything Urzul had not to flip the table and spill his food in his lap, but she held it in. "If it'll make you feel better, I didn't get picked."

"You didn't? Why?" Bogrum asked. Why did he care?

Urzul held up her hands, "Fists. Not a suitable weapon." She lied.

Bogrum let out a disgusting laugh, "Hahaha—you actually tried out to be a Gladiator with your bare fists? Oh Urzul, you're just a dimwitted as your old man. Luckily all that arena talk should be out of your head by now, then."

Urzul didn't respond. If only that were the case. "I'm going to my room."

"Just a sec," he said quickly. Urzul rolled her eyes again. "You made sure to tell them your last name was gra-Bogrum right?"

God, not this again. "Of course I did. Why would I tell them my real name? And how many times are you going to ask before you realize I'm not an idiot?"

"Whoa, calm down missy." He responded jovially. "You know, it really is for the best that you didn't get picked. The arena politics are something else."

"…Politics?"

Bogrum stopped licking the excess off his plate and nodded at Urzul, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Yeah, a person like you getting far up in the ranks? That's just asking for a controversy. They'd sniff you out and have us both killed quick than you can sneeze. It's always better to keep low, not draw attention to ourselves."

Urzul went solemn. "…What mom did was really that bad?"

"Urzul, we've been over this. What your mother did doesn't leave our lips for as long as we're both alive. Because the second somebody finds out, you and I are done."

Urzul nodded and went upstairs.

Could that really be true? Would being in the arena attract that kind of attention? There's no way anybody could find out something like that by themselves. Urzul could recall her mother being the whole reason they left Bravil, they wanted to get away from the chaos and live somewhere where people would leave them alone. But so many years have passed and nobody has caught on—and Urzul liked to think people forgot all about her mother.

This was just something Urzul needed to get over. If she focused too much on this, she'd slip and lose everything. If she didn't draw attention to it, nobody would notice or care. It was just an arena, who cared?

It was only the middle of the afternoon, but Urzul was exhausted from a week's worth of work building up in her system, and wanted nothing more than to sleep it off and let it all rest away. Her bones and muscles were aching, and if she had to add training to her daily regiment, she'd fall apart if she didn't sleep enough. So, after drawing her bedroom curtains to hide the sun, she collapsed on her bed and drifted to sleep.

That night, Urzul dreamt of fighting in the arena. She was at the bottom of a fishbowl surrounded by a stadium of people—and she was bare naked. Her father was in the stands, glaring down on her with disappointment and sting. The faceless spectators all had their hands crossed, shaking their heads and booing Urzul for being an Orc. She felt humiliated.

Suddenly, the gates opened, and the fight had begun. Urzul ran forward trying to figure out where her opponent was, her skin burning from the boiling sun over the stadium. A war cry came from behind her; she turned around quickly and saw Agronak, the Grey Prince, lunging towards her carrying his steel sword. He wanted her dead.

Urzul dodged his first swing, but she couldn't move her fists. She couldn't fight back. Urzul tried screaming to the referees that it wasn't a fair fight, but nobody was listening to her. Agronak was waving his sword violently at Urzul and she had no way to fight back, only trying to dodge and run away.

The crowd began to boo and wave thumbs down. Urzul saw their looks of distain… and then the revelation hit her. This wasn't a fight for the Championship—this was Urzul's execution.

Urzul was struck by a wayward spell from the audience and her body was frozen with paralysis. Roars from the crowd bellowed, "Murder! Killer! Kill the beast!". The Grey Prince faced Urzul with a disgusting, violent expression, and pointed his sword forward before beginning to charge.

All Urzul wanted to scream for him to stop, but she couldn't do anything. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move, she couldn't even breathe. The last thing she saw was her father looking away in anguish, and Agronak's sword ramming straight into Urzul's stomach.

Urzul jolted awake with a desperate gasp. She had a moment of panic—for a moment she thought her clothes were covered in blood from being stabbed, but it was really a drench of her own sweat. Thank the divines it was only a dream. Urzul's eyes were crusty and groggy even after opening them in panic. The sun still hadn't risen, but peering out her window she could see a glimmer of blue emerging from over the mountains, so she chose to get up. She wasn't going to be able to rest after that, anyway.

There was no way of knowing what time it was, but it truth be told Urzul didn't really care. She didn't have to do much to get ready in the morning, so she was just going to put her hair back up in a knot and then wash her face by the river before heading into the city. She had to meet Ysabel at 6 for training, but odds were she would get there early. Hopefully that meant she could get off early in time for work.

Her father rested quiet in the room adjacent to hers. It was a miracle to ever hear snores from that room, going off Bogrum's drinking record. He probably needed to catch up on all the bad nights passed out on the table. Urzul tip-toed quietly downstairs and was able to leave home without making a peep.

There was just enough sunlight outside for Urzul to see where she was going. It was a very curious of time—it was still night, yet not the middle of the night—but definitely not morning. It was dawn and dusk having their daily meeting, before one of them left and the other one hailed.

Urzul walked to the edge of the Niben and splashed some water in her face to wake herself up. She gazed onwards at the mountains, admiring its beauty but reveling in its melancholy. It was the neutral zone—a zone Urzul was more than accustomed to. She lived her whole life in this middle state, never terrible but never what she wanted. It was at this moment Urzul began to realize she might never see the chill of dawn ever again, depending on the events to come, it could either go phenomenally well or devastatingly awful. Was she ready for that?

But, enough thinking, she thought. She wanted to get this over with. She wasn't necessarily looking forward to training, but she wasn't dreading it. When Urzul first went there to sign up, she figured there wouldn't be much work involved and she would just have to fight until she died. Any extra work seemed frivolous and silly. However, since Ysabel was the only one there who even though she'd be good enough, she wasn't in a position to say no.

And so, Urzul took the walk once again into the Imperial City. Nobody roamed the streets that this hour, only the faint whispers of the night watch and the occasional bellowing snore from somebody who left their window open. Through most of the Talos Plaza district, Urzul was completely alone. It was comforting.

That is until she, to her surprise, came across another guard patrolling in the arboretum. And even more coincidentally, it was the same guard from before. When she first saw Urzul, her eyebrows rose up and she said "Well, good morning citiz—oh! It's you, from yesterday. You were looking for the Arena, wasn't it?"

"Uh, yeah." Urzul said awkwardly. She had to stop her movement to talk to her.

"I do hope that went well." The guard said politely, "I've been curious about that place for a while now."

Curious? Her job was to patrol the entire city, why was it curious? "I got picked, somehow. Right now I'm going to training."

The guard gasped, "Training? At this hour? My…I guess they do make the new blood work hard." She smiled through her tight iron helmet, and then continued, "Are you new to the city?"

Urzul shrugged and scratched the back of her head awkwardly, "No…well, yeah, I guess so. I live in Weye."

The guardswoman nodded, "Aah, so you're not too far then. Well, since we're sure to see each other often, my name is Avelina. I used to work and patrol in Chorrol before I was transferred here. So I'm just as new as you!"

Urzul wanted to smile back, but it wasn't really her thing, so she just nodded a few times. Why was this guard being so nice to her? Urzul was used to people turning away in disgust when they saw her face, not smile. She was probably just paid to be nice.

"Well, I won't keep you." Avelina bowed, "Good luck today in training."

"Thanks." Urzul said, before nodding and continuing onto the arena.

The sun had almost completely risen at this point, and Urzul was approaching the arena. It was nice to see the building when it wasn't flooded with a crowd of obsessive teenagers. It was calm. Even though Urzul couldn't imagine the number of lives were lost in this space, it was oddly comforting, like she walking among the ghosts of legends.

Urzul walked through the door to the bloodworks and walked down the stairs, expecting to hear some sort of training already happening, but there was nothing. A strange breeze was blowing through the room, a feeling that gave Urzul goose bumps when the cold air grazed her green skin in this underground dungeon. She tried not to think too much about it.

"Hello?" came a voice from somewhere in the room. Urzul recognized it was Owyn. "Who the hell is-"

Owyn's moldy face sang around the corner and took Urzul by surprise. He was wearing very dirty sleeping clothes that looked like it was covered in old blood stains that turned black. "Oh, it's you," he said, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Training?"

Owyn scoffed, "Training, huh? Figures she'd give you that. Well Ysabel isn't here yet, so just hang around here and—"

"I'm right here!" screeched Ysabel's voice from up the stairs. "—and don't tell my trainees what to do!"

Urzul though Owyn would get angry and fight back like last time, but he just rolled his eyes, "It's too early for this, I'm going back to sleep."

"No you're not!" Ysabel marched down the stairs and threw what seemed like a large sack of equipment on the floor that made a clanking metal sound. "Picked these up last night—they're the swords for next season. The people at Slash N' Smash got them done sooner than expected, and I want them all put away PROPERLY."

Owyn arched his eyebrows angrily, "Why don't you have your new Pitt Dog do it? Men need their rest."

Ysabel clenched her fist and her face went red with rage, "YOU THINK THAT'S A WOMAN'S JOB?!"

"What?! NO! I—God damn, you're such a cranky old hag sometimes."

Ysabel picked up the large bag of swords and threw them at Owyn's feet. This woman was as tough as nails. "And this cranky old hag is your boss. Now organize these swords in the armory by size, and if I see one inconsistency I'll write the emperor and have you living on the streets by the end of the week."

Owyn shook his head in frustration, "Whatever.", continuing to mumble curse words to himself while struggling to pick up the large sack of equipment.

Ysabel turned to Urzul without wasting time, "Right then, morning. What are you doing here so early? You weren't needed for another half hour."

Urzul shrugged, "I thought it wouldn't hurt to get an early start."

Ysabel smiled and scratched her nose, "That's a nice thought—in theory. Have you eaten anything?"

That was a weird thing to ask. Urzul wasn't much of an eater, it never really crossed her mind. "No."

"Good." Ysabel replied, "I'll order breakfast then. Wait here"

Ysabel took off out of the bloodworks and left Urzul alone. She was really going to give her breakfast? This was turning too good to be true. But even if this was some huge set up and Urzul was going to end up dead in a back alley, she didn't have much to live for anyway.

Urzul walked around the bloodworks, now empty unlike last time, and just the area in. The name definitely fit; the walls were covered in blood and Urzul could see footprints and handprints stained into the crevasses from people who probably never saw life again. It was amazing this place wasn't haunted. But despite that, there was a certain roominess to the place she couldn't look past. Even though it was the campground for brutal aggression, at least there weren't any corpses.

Ysabel came back quickly and moved at a fast pace down the stairs. "Breakfast is on its way. Now, I need to get you situated with your raiment."

"Raiment?" Urzul asked begrudgingly.

"Well you can't very well go into combat looking like that. You're vulnerable in every spot—and you aren't even wearing any damn shoes."

Urzul looked down at what she was wearing, and regrettably, Ysabel was right. Her dirty suspenders and bare feet weren't going to get her anywhere in combat. But what was she going to wear? She didn't want some chunky piece of armor to lug around, if she did then she couldn't dish out punches.

"Come with me." Ysabel said, motioning across the room. Urzul followed her.

They approached a boring storage closet, and when Ysabel opened it, Urzul saw a plethora of blue uniforms piled up carelessly in a huge lump. Ysabel shook her head, "By the nine, Owyn is a slob. Can't even hang up a uniform. No matter—do you want the light or the heav…no, I'll answer that for you. You're getting light."

Ysabel did a quick dig in the closet and pulled out a standard raiment with a dull blue color. Urzul wasn't very impressed. "Put this on." Ysabel said, throwing the uniform over to Urzul.

Urzul didn't say anything and did a quick change, which didn't really bother her. The more she put on the raiment, the more uncomfortable she felt with all the visible cleavage and distasteful sexualization. It was tight, and with every movement Urzul still felt like she was naked. Is this really what she was expected to wear?

"Well?" Ysabel asked hastily.

"Do I have to be so revealing?" Urzul said in distain.

"You're right, I hate the female outfits." Ysabel gruffed, almost like a gag. "You'd look much better in male's. I don't even know why there had to be a difference in the first place. Probably so old Uriel could get a feast for the eyes."

So while Urzul took off what she wearing, Ysabel went back deep into the closet. It didn't take her long to come out with a slightly bigger raiment that had a wider torso and more robust arms. At first glance, Urzul thought it was perfect. "This should work better." Ysabel commented.

After putting it on, Urzul felt one hundred times more comfortable. The chest wasn't as low, and though the raiment was larger, she didn't feel restricted and felt like she could kick ass. Ysabel took a mirror from the corner of the room and showed Urzul exactly how she looked—for the first time in her life, Urzul actually felt confident.

"It's perfect." Urzul said. "So when do I start fighting?"

Before Ysabel could answer, Urzul heard the door to the bloodworks crack open, and a Breton woman with short blonde hair and a blue dress came down the stairs carrying a large tray. She said politely, "Breakfast order for two?"

Quickly, Owyn came snooping around the corner and his dirty face lit up with a smile, "Ah, delicious, thank you thank you—"

"THAT ISN'T FOR YOU!" Ysabel barked from across the room, which made Urzul flinch. "You can order your own food when I see that sword cabinet looking flawless!"

The waitress walked across the room and sat the tray on the table beside the archery dummies. Ysabel paid her and thanked her for her time, and she left. The tray of food looked very nice, nothing Urzul had ever feasted on before. There were two plates of grilled ham, eggs, toast, and a glass of plain milk. This wasn't something she'd ever had before.

"Well then, eat up!" Ysabel demanded before sitting herself down and starting to eat.

Urzul snapped out of her gawking and started to eat her breakfast. It was probably the best meal Urzul had ever had in her life. Everything was cooked right—the eggs weren't too dry, the ham melted in her mouth, and everything was washed down perfected with milk that didn't have a hint of expiration. Urzul couldn't stop stuffing her face, it was like she was eating for the first time after living 10 years in prison.

In between her swallows, Urzul asked, "How did you get this?"

"It's from the Tiber Septim hotel. I tip the Arena district guard to order delivery for me. He's been doing it for years, old Brutus." Ysabel said calmly. "I can tell that you like it."

Urzul's plate was already licked clean by the time Ysabel finished that sentence. She let out a fulfilling burp and leaned back in her chair. "I didn't think food could be like that."

Ysabel looked confused, "Don't tell me you've never had breakfast before. It's the most important meal of the day. The best too, if you want my opinion."

Urzul shook her head, "No, I usually don't eat until after work. And if I do, it's usually just fruit or occasionally just a cooked piece of fish."

"Hmm." Ysabel said. She set her fork down and crossed her arms together, "So let me get one thing straight. If I'm going to be your trainer, I need to know something from you—why are you here? Why the arena? Is it money? Fame?"

"I just want something to do." Urzul said bluntly. She didn't know what else to say.

"Something to do? You think this is a hobby?" Ysabel hissed, "This is the arena. You do it, or you die. If you think this is some fun hobby to do on the side, think again. Your life is at stake."

Urzul nodded, "That's why I'm doing it. My life is miserable, and my physical strength is the only thing I have. I know I can do it, but if I die, I won't have any regrets. I don't care about the money, I just want to do something meaningful before I'm too old and realize I wasted my life fishing."

Ysabel didn't respond. It probably wasn't the exact answer she was expecting. She had finished her food, and the both of them were just sitting at the table looking each other in the eye. Ysabel seemed to have a mixed reaction of curiosity and confusion.

"Alright." Ysabel said plainly. "If you're serious, then we shouldn't be wasting any more time."

Urzul nodded. She wasn't completely sure how Ysabel believed her, but for now she decided to just stay quiet about it.

Ysabel got up from the table and clapped her hands together, "Right then, time to start stretches. Give me 50 push-ups."

Urzul was taken aback, "Wait, you mean now?"

"That's right, now. Up on your feet."

Urzul wasn't surprised, so she did was Ysabel said. She hadn't done a push-up before, but she'd seen others do it so she figured it didn't have much momentum to it. So without complaining, she got up and onto the floor and got into the position and began lifting herself off the ground as many times as Ysabel said.

Ysabel counted each one, looking over Urzul like a hawk. Urzul didn't feel very strained, in fact it was almost too easy. Her eyes were glued to the floor, and she refused to look anywhere else until she felt like her body had been worked up enough.

Ysabel kept counting, "33…34…35…" but Urzul didn't want to stop. Once she got in the forties, Urzul began to clap her hands in between each thrust off the ground. It was this that actually made Urzul start a steady breath, but she still wasn't breaking a sweat.

"50…51…52…53…" Ysabel continued to count because Urzul didn't stop. This was too easy for her. "57…58…59…"

Urzul made a personal goal in her head to go past 100. It didn't sound hard at all at this point. So she kept going, keeping a steady pace in her movement and breaths so she wouldn't falter and mess it up at the last minute. This kept going until Ysabel reached the triple digits."

"98…99…100…101…Alright, you can stop now, for Mara's sake!"

Urzul broke her push-up and leaped onto her feet. No sweat, no pain. It was a good stretch.

"Pretty impressive." Ysabel said, grabbing Urzul a cup of water. "Usually Agronak is complaining once we get past 35."

Urzul felt like smiling. She knew she was better than that pompous prince. She chugged half the cup of water and poured the rest on her face to get it energized. "What next?"

Ysabel chuckled, a look of mischief smeared on her face, "Don't get too excited, dear. That may have been easy for you, but that was just the stretch. I will test your limits. Training with me isn't over until you're begging to stop."

Urzul chuckled back, "Then I guess the fun will be seeing which one of us cracks first."