"Move on, Phoenix."
Phoenix looked at Cassie, watching her hand go tight around her ladle, the other on her hip. It made sense, it did, that was for certain, the question was if it would get in the way of Phoenix keeping her end of the deal. Phoenix opened her mouth to speak, but Cassie held her hand up, her eyes so cold and dark when she shook her head.
"Let's not go there," she said. "I'm not going to get in trouble for you again, you understand? You get nothing until you learn your lesson."
Phoenix closed her mouth, her forehead lining in a crease, and then she heard Belfire sigh, "Cassie…"
"Stay out of this, Belfire, this has nothing to do with you. She knows what she did."
"It's fine," Phoenix shook her head, and then she sat at the table with the others. He stared at her when he came back with his bowl, his face so tight, his eyes never blinking.
"You went to the Master, didn't you?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Phoenix!" he snapped, his eyes going wide as he stared around the room, and then leaned in closer. "You're going to get yourself killed."
"I'm not going to talk about it again."
He gasped then, a big, loud gasp that was almost a laugh. "By The City, Phe, you'd better not. What happened? You get the rod?"
"No," she shook her head and then she saw him watching her. "Nothing happened, Belfire, I'm fine."
He shook his head, his eyes darting around the room again, and then he did laugh. "I can't tell if you're just lucky or there's something else going on."
"Maybe he's going to make you a Favourite," Mia said, her voice just barely above a whisper.
"That's possible," Belfire nodded.
"It's not," Phoenix shook her head. "We've only ever talked about me being a Fighter."
"What?" Belfire asked, whipping around to stare at her. "So you've talked about what he wants from you? What does he want? Why didn't you say something?"
"It's-," she started. "I don't know, Belfire, I didn't think it mattered."
"Hmm…" he hummed, his face scrunching up in a scowl. "I see what you're doing, Phe, you're getting your answers from him and now you think you can ditch the rest of us," he said, those eyes surprisingly cold and dark, and then he sighed, shaking his head and passing her his half-eaten bowl. "What does he want?"
She looked at his food, her eyes flicking to Cassie back up at her pot and she shook her head again, pushing the bowl back towards him. "I'm not exactly sure," she said. "He talked about me being a Fighter, but not using me in the Fights. He said I had to build a reputation."
"Hmm…" Belfire nodded, staring out at the yard, his eyes going distant and hazy. "Slaves can build a reputation in a lot of different ways," he said. "Some of them dance, some of them sing, some are just beautiful," he shook his head, his eyes flicking back to her. "So you don't have to fight?"
"I don't know," she said. "He said he was going to use me next time, but then he said something about him trusting me with my crossbow in front of the other Masters."
"Now see," Belfire nodded, leaning in closer over the table and staring at her. "That makes sense. He's going to have you do a show."
"A show?"
"Hmm… Eat up, Phe, I'm not hungry."
Her eyes flicked down to his bowl, her forehead lining in a crease, her stomach burning. She should take it, she knew that, but somehow she couldn't.
"I'm fine, eat it," she said. "I'm not close to starving yet."
"I can't eat with you just sitting there staring at me," he said.
"I wasn't staring."
She hadn't expected him to laugh then, a soft, warm laugh as he shook his head. "Eat it or it'll end up on the floor."
That crease grew deeper, her eyes narrowing into slits as she watched him. "It's your food, Belfire, you do whatever you want with it."
"Just take it, Phoenix," Mia said.
"You want to starve too, is that it?" she asked, glaring at Belfire.
"This isn't really eating anyway," he sighed. "I miss real food."
"It's better than starving," Phoenix said.
"Just take it," Belfire nodded, a soft smile on his lips, his eyes half-closing. She stared at him, watching and waiting, but that smile always stayed there.
"I will when I need it," she said, her voice so quiet, and that smile grew then, his hands whipping out to grab his bowl and he started eating.
She watched him so closely, watched him look down at Mia and smile again, nudging her with his knee and making her laugh. There was a strange burning in the pit of her stomach then, something that was almost like hunger, something that made her heart beat a little quicker and leave her breathless, but she shook her head, clearing her throat, her voice a little tight and strained when she asked, "What's a show?"
"Hm!" Belfire hummed, leaning in closer and licking his fingers. "I don't know much about them, but I have an idea. From what I've heard, when a Master has a slave that's good at something, he has them do it at gatherings and parties or whatever," he shook his head. "You any good with your crossbow?"
"Yes."
"Then that's probably what he's thinking. It's a good deal, Phe," he nodded. "Chances are he won't use you in the Fights if he can use you like that."
Those words stayed with her for a long while, but there was a burning in the pit of her stomach a few nights later, a burning she remembered, a burning she knew. She wasn't quite there yet, but she was getting there with her mouth so dry and her head always aching. She could go one more day, maybe only half, and then she would have to take Belfire's food. She still didn't want to, not with that colour that was in his cheeks, not with how easily and warmly he could smile, but she was getting there.
She didn't know what to think when her armband flashed, her forehead lining in a crease, her heart beating a little quicker. Some part of her hoped that he would offer her something, some part of her knew that he wouldn't. He stared at her when she stood there, his eyes unblinking, his finger tapping at his arm, and then he sighed.
"Get your stool."
She didn't say anything as she sat down beside him, rubbing at her eyes and taking a deep breath in through her nose. She nodded, her eyes flicking up to the screens, as she waited for him to start, but he only sat there, that finger tapping, those Implants flickering.
"Talk to Cassie," he said, and she looked at him, her forehead lining in a crease, and then she rubbed at her eyes again.
"I get it."
"Do you?" he asked. "So you weren't just going to take Belfire's offer?"
"I-," she started, and then she shook her head. "I get it."
"I mean it, Phoenix, I don't need either of you starving."
"I get it!" she snapped, whipping around to glare at him. "I get it, alright? I'll talk to her."
He stared at her, those eyes narrowing, his Implants flickering furiously. "What do you want?" he asked, and those Implants flickered even quicker when she didn't answer. "What do you want to eat?"
"I don't know," she shook her head. "Anything."
He tutted, his face so tight, his eyes so dark as he glared at his screen. She watched him from the corner of her eye, resting her elbow on his desk and rubbing at her forehead, but he didn't say anything, not even after a House-slave had been and gone and left a plate of sliced fruit and cut meats in front of her, his finger always tapping at his arm, his face growing tighter the longer they sat there. She couldn't wait for him to tell her she could start, her fingers shaking a little as she reached for a slice of fruit, but then he sighed, snatching that slice from her and biting into it.
"You think someone's strong because they have all the answers or because they know what they're doing?"