Tempest was furious.

Unfortunately there was nothing that she could do.

"You can’t just force him to go fight in some death match." Tempest tried to protest but Dron reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Whatever the prince wants is what should be done." Dron looked at her hard.

It was almost as if he were trying to get her to go along with what was happening. Maybe he knew something that she didn’t. She couldn’t see how. Not after it seemed like this was sprung on the both of them without any of them knowing.

"But it’s not right. It’s not fair." She whispered in Dron’s direction. She didn’t want him to go off and fight. Not that she thought that he couldn’t take care of himself but simply because she didn’t know if the people in this match would play fair.

Dron was formidable but even the best fighter would fall if he were jumped twenty to one.

"How can you say it’s not fair? You don’t know of our culture." Prince Jaqen added in.

"Are you saying that this is normal? This is part of your culture?" Tempest glared at the man.

"Yes. If the fighter is strong enough to be offered a match at the royal coliseum is seen as a blessing." Prince Jaqen shrugged his shoulders.

Tempest looked up at Dron and he smirked softly at her as if to say that the prince was telling the truth.

Tempest didn’t know what to think. Was this good for him or not? It didn’t seem as if it would be.

"So you’ll be safe?" Tempest moved in closer.

"He’ll be safe if he is as good as everyone says he is. Unless of course you have doubts about his ability...?"

"No, Dron is the best just like you’ve been told." Tempest nodded once.

She was trying to seem confident. Trying to make it seem as if she had no worries in the world. It was a hard mask to wear.

She reached out to Dron one final time as the guards surrounded him. She grabbed his hand and squeezed once and then just like that Dron was taken away.

"Where are they taking him. What’s happening?" The anxiety was running rampant in her body.

"They are simply taking him to get ready for the match. This is all last minute so it’ll be a little while until everything is ready. Of course the other royals are going to want to see this as well. Dron’s reputation proceeds him."

Tempest didn’t want to be alone with this so called Prince but she knew that she couldn’t go back there with Dron while he prepared. She didn’t know anything about what was about to happen but it just didn’t seem like a safe place for her to be.

"Now that we have some time on our own, how about I give you a more thorough tour of the class?" Prince Jaqen gestured with his hand so Tempest could move ahead of him.

She sighed and walked a little forward. She looked over her shoulder once in the direction of the door that Dron had disappeared behind.

The guards that were around Prince Jaqen all followed Dron inside but five new guards instantly took there place guarding the man.

At least Tempest would be safe. She hoped she would be.

"Where are you taking me?" Tempest asked as she realized that she was getting further and further away from the colosseum.

"Not far. Don’t worry, we’ll be back in time before the start of the battles."

A cold shiver slithered up Tempest spine. She hated the way that he said that word...battles. It sounded as ominous as anything she’d ever heard.

"Okay." It was all Tempest could say in response. She wasn’t very knowledgeable when it came to how to act around royalty but she knew doing too much or being too disrespectful was frowned on. She already let him have it verbally when he met them at the gate and that resulted in one of the guards getting taken who knows where and punished simply for being a jerk.

She wanted him reprimanded but she wasn’t sure the punishment fit the crime in this case.

She really needed to learn when to fight her battles.

"This area here is more of a lounge space." Prince Jaqen gestured with his hand to an open space with what looked like a few benches scattered around. Trees were strategically placed to give shade.

It was cooler.

Tempest stopped for a second and looked around. She wiped the back of her neck and realized that she wasn’t as hot as she was on the outside of this class. She wondered if the temperature suddenly dropped but that didn’t seem likely. Since she’d been on this planet it’s been nothing but scorching hot.

"Why is it so cool here? Is it because we are higher up?"

"Oh, no. The heat can be a bit oppressive to the residents here. The scientist have created an filtering system that goes through the ground. Warm air is pulled down and cool air is slowly filtered up." Prince Jaqen shrugged once and continued walking.

Tempest had to rush to keep up with him. "Wait a minute you mean the entire class is air conditioned?"

"Yes. It’s wonderful isn’t it?" He leveled his eyes at her for a second. Not rudely but more as if he were trying to gauge her reaction. "This building here is an arts department. Every moon cycle the pieces are changed out. Maybe you would like to see it?"

Art? It seemed so out of place. But Tempest guessed that every culture had things they considered beautiful. "Sure. I’d love to see it." Tempest smiled at him and Prince Jaqen examined her expression.

"You only made the expression with Dron. What does it mean?" Prince Jaqen asked.

She sighed but she understood that no one on this planet knew what a smile meant. Still she didn’t want to give this man the impression that she was happy with anything that was going on here. She wanted to get back to Dron. Wanted to get back to their little slice of peace back in the woods between the lower class and the military class.

Dron was right, there was nothing like this where they lived but it didn’t make Tempest envious in the least. In fact she was overwhelmed. Even outdoors it seemed like everything belonged in a gallery somewhere.

Jaqen held the door open to the large building.

The outside was gilded and ornate but the inside looked as if it were plucked directly out of heaven.

"Oh my god." Tempest gasped. "It’s beautiful."

"Yes. It most certainly is."

Tempest turned to see what Prince Jaqen was looking at. To her surprise she wasn’t looking at anything displayed.

He was looking directly at her.