Rami helped me off the ice and tried to impress me by unfreezing it using his solar-sword. The ice hissed and melted away, leaving a thin layer of steam lingering over the pond.
'Come on frosty' he said with a smile, sheathing his sword 'Training's about to start.' He took my hand in his and I felt his thumb gently grazing my knuckles, his soft skin filled with warmth. A contrast to the chill still clinging to my skin as we walked back to the ambassador's house.
We were almost there when we heard a fight begin breaking out over at the barracks, raised voices carried through the warm summer morning air, sharp and undoubtedly angry. We shared a glance and Rami had an infectious grin that he got before we started training sessions, we ran between the Norse and Greek barracks to find two of the Greek demigods, Maria and Jessie, were practically at each other's throats, yelling at each other maliciously, attracting the attention of a loose circle of demigods. Cora is in the middle trying to intervene and stop them fighting, arms spread wide, blocking their paths to each other.
'Guys, just stop trying to pull each other's hair out! Save it for training!' she shouts at them. She spots me and shoots me a desperate look, she mouths. Help me over here.
Rami doesn't hesitate and rushes over, putting himself between the two feuding demigods, and placing a steadying hand on each of their shoulders.
'Whoa, ladies. What's happening here? Why are you two fighting?' Rami asks, his voice calm as always but edged with amusement. His grin hadn't faltered and I could tell he was enjoying the challenge of trying to diffuse the argument. I stood next to Maria who is a child of Poseidon, which explained the humidity lingering in the air—her emotions were tied to water, and from the dampness creeping over her sleeve, she was furious.
Her deep-seated hatred for Athena's children wasn't a secret, it doesn't help that Cora was the one trying to break up the fight.
'She tried to dump a whole bucket of seaweed with her stupid water powers!' Jessie retorts first, pushing against Cora as she holds her back.
Maria's eyes darkened like the depths of the sea. 'Oh, come on! You deserved it. You were flirting with Arne right in front of me! I thought you had a little brains up there, but you must be completely hollow if you couldn't tell that I like him!' Maria yelled at her.
She lunged. I barely manage to keep hold of her, digging my heels into the ground as she struggles against me, trying to claw her way toward Jessie but I manage to hold onto her.
'Hey, hey,' Rami said, his grip on Jessie's shoulder tightening as she tried to lunge forward. 'Let's breathe for a second. We all like Arne—'
Maria turned on him. 'What? Do you?' she said defensively.
He blinked repeatedly, then quickly backtracked and thought carefully about his next words. 'Figuratively!'
The girls took a pause, but Maria was still furious, her chest rising and falling like waves in a sea storm. Jessie wasn't faring much better, her face red with frustration, her blonde curls frizzing slightly from the water in the air, looking like she hadn't fixed it in days.
Cora sighed softly, stepping between them again and pushing them further apart. 'Look, Maria, Jessie—this is stupid. Arne isn't worth you two getting thrown into the infirmary again.'
Rami glanced at me and muttered, 'Again?
I sighed and whispered to him. 'Yeah. Last time it was over who got to sit next to him at dinner or that Maria had spent the whole day with him working on their water powers at the pond.'
'Gods, they really are Greek,' he whispered back. I fought the urge to laugh, I elbowed him softly.
Maria tried to lunge at Jessie once more but I caught her by her sleeve and gave her a she's not worth it look. She finally let out a long, frustrated breath. The humidity in the air lessened slightly and I felt the sky return back to its summer warmth. 'Fine,' she snapped. 'But if she ever tries flirting with him again—'
'I'm not the one who should be worried,' Jessie shot back. 'You know he flirts with everyone at camp that isn't already taken.'
Maria's eyes flickered and I noticed that they were filled with hesitation, and for a brief second, she actually looked… uncertain. She glanced at me and I shook my head, I had heard Arne talking about Maria before and the way he talked about her was so overwhelmingly sweet, I knew he felt differently about her than he did the other girls he flirted with, then she looked at Cora who went to say something but stopped herself, and finally back at Jessie. With a grumble, she yanked herself out of my grip and crossed her arms.
'Whatever.'
Jessie rolled her eyes, stepping away from Rami's hold as well. 'Whatever.'
I glanced at Rami. He gave me a small shrug and that ever-present, lopsided smile. The girls walked off in different directions and I met Cora's eyes.
'You okay Cor?' I asked her, she had been my best friend since she arrived at camp almost seven years ago and I knew her better than anyone else here, she just nodded and smiled at me.
'Yeah, I'm good, Maria is just a lot sometimes' she sighed 'I told Erik I'd meet him before training started so…' she pointed behind her and walked off, holding the sides of her arms as if she was cold, I knew she and Maria didn't get along but I was almost certain that wasn't what was bothering her. She couldn't look at me, because she knew that whatever happened, she would lose one of the two most important people in her life to the games. I looked at Rami and couldn't help but smile, he was grinning like crazy.
'What I want to know' he said to me 'Is, how come Arne has two girls fighting over him, and I still can't even get you to admit that I'm a better fighter than you…' I blushed at his words. It was no secret that Rami had… feelings for me. But I couldn't let myself think about it. Not when the possibility of losing him forever was creeping closer by the day. I looked away from him and I could almost feel his smile fade.
'We should head to the fields…training is about to start.' I say softly, my voice filled with apprehension and unease as we begin to walk in silence towards the training fields, I glance over at Rami, the hurt in his eyes was unmistakable, I look to the ground and allow myself to wonder what it would be like for me and him to be together, sitting on the side of the fields together looking out at the open sky, seeing the faint lights of Český Krumlov in the distance. To have a life with him beyond this camp. I long for that feeling, the safety of being free of all worry and doubt. I also felt a painful nagging that I would never get that feeling.
As we near the training fields, Rami glances at me with a small smirk.
'Meet me here afterward?' I ask him with a somber look on my face.
He nods softly 'You always get this look before a fight—like you've got something to prove. One day, you'll realize you don't have to prove anything to me.' His voice is light, teasing, but there's something quieter beneath it. Before I can respond, he jogs ahead toward Azia and the others, leaving me with the thought.
I spot Erik and walk over to him.
'Ready?' I ask him with a smile on my face
'Always.' he says with a smirk, and holds his arm out, a few seconds after, a hammer comes shooting towards him, he catches it and laughs softly as it sparks with electricity.
'You know I can lift that thing right?' I say very matter-of-factly.
'Never.' he replies smugly 'This is an exact replica of Mjölnir. Only the worthy can lift it' he says jokingly, I roll my eyes and look back to the demigods, I spot Arne and remember the two girls fighting over him less than ten minutes ago.
'All right! Fall in.' I yell, and the twenty-eight Norse demigods all ordered themselves into four lines. 'We are working on combat today as we only have five more days…before the selection ceremony.' hushed whispers breakout among the demigods.
'Pair up!' Erik yells over the whispers and everyone draws their weapons, getting into fighting stances and readying themselves to fight, I twist the silver ring on my right ring finger, I press it softly and it grows into an icy-Grey sword with sharp blades situated on one side and a clean but sharp edge on the opposite side. I twirl it around swiftly and smile 'Arne, you're with me.' I say and walk over to him, he unsheathes his silver dagger.
'Let's do this Astrid' he says with a smirk and lunges at me, I step out of the way and hit him in the ribs with the hilt of my sword making his t-shirt grow freezing cold and wisp with cold air. He falls to the ground and shivers for a few moments, the sounds of swords, axes, and daggers clashing fill the peaceful air, the grass messy and torn from all the fighting and sparring, making it smell like a Demeter or Ceres kid had just hugged you for a few minutes, and from personal experience it smells like a fresh field before a football match.
He stood up again, chuckling coldly and still shivering, and looks me in the eyes 'Gods I hate that sword' he swings at me again and I deflect his dagger, he kicks me backward and I retaliate, swinging my sword at him, careful not to pierce his skin, if I did the ice from my sword would make its way into his blood and he would end up staying in the infirmary for a while.
'Sharpen your stance.' I tell him with a cocky smile. He sheaths his dagger and holds his hands out, I press the hilt of my sword and it shrinks back into a ring. The air was still full of humidity from the little fight between Maria and Jessie, he willed the water to his hands so he could throw it at me, it materialized around his hands and I smirked.
'Bad move water boy.' I laugh and my eyes shimmer softly, the water around his hands turning to pure ice.
'Oh come on. You cheated,' he complained.
'Did I? Or did you just not see it coming?' I chuckle and glance over at Erik, he nods and we both walk to the front of the demigods again 'Alright! Back into lines.' The demigods fall in and start sparring together. I start sparring with Erik and I get the better of him, he falls to the ground and I grab his hand to help him up when lightning cracks across the sky, a blinding purple light and a contrast to the sunny blue sky. I stumble backward.
Erik stands up and looks at me, 'Thor and Loki are fighting.'
'Over us.' I remind him, my expression darkening, I've always been afraid of thunderstorms and especially lightning. It almost hurts to wonder about who will win… if Thor won then Erik would be chosen. And if Loki won… it would be me.
'Hey. Don't stress, we have a few days at least until we have to face the music.' Erik said calmly, I sighed and looked at him.
'You spend too much time with Cora. You're turning into a rule follower.' I say the uneasiness in my voice masked by my jokes.
Erik laughs and so do I. 'I guess she is rubbing off on me, but she's being too calm about this week.'
Erik is silent for a few moments before he takes a deep breath, running his hand through his hair. 'One more round?'
I sighed 'Yeah, okay. One more round.'
Erik barely had time to raise his hammer before I lunged. Our weapons clashed, the impact ringing through the humid air. He stumbled back but recovered fast, grinning. 'Someone's eager to get their teeth kicked in today.' he said cheekily.
I didn't answer. I just pressed forward, swinging my sword with more force than usual. He parried, but each of my strikes forced him to retreat a step at a time. I could see the surprise flicker in his eyes—this wasn't our usual playful sparring, I was being malicious.
'You mad at me or something?' he asked me, breathless, as he barely ducked a swipe aimed at his shoulder.
'No.' I said curtly, pivoting and swinging again.
He deflected it, his muscles tensing as electricity crackled along the head of his hammer.
'You sure? Because this feels personal.'
I gritted my teeth, twisting my sword in my grip, it grew colder, and the temperature dropped more every second, a few more seconds, and if I struck then there was a likely chance that Erik could end up an ice cube. Maybe it was personal. Maybe it wasn't just training—it was frustration, fear, the weight of everything pressing down on me.
Erik exhaled and, in an instant, flipped his hammer, catching me off guard. The blunt end slammed against my sword, knocking me off balance. Before I could recover, he hooked his foot behind my ankle and sent me crashing to the ground.
I landed hard, my breath knocking out of me. I glared up at him as he stood over me, offering a hand.
'What was that?' he asked, frowning as I took his hand and let him pull me up.
I dusted myself off, brushing the ice that had formed on my arms away, avoiding his gaze. 'Nothing.'
'That wasn't 'nothing,' Madden.' he pressed, his eyes searching my face. 'You fight like that when something's bugging you.'
I sighed, rolling my shoulders. 'It's just—' I hesitated and took a deep breath, then shook my head. 'It's Cora.'
Erik's expression shifted, his teasing demeanor softening. He nodded knowingly, his eyes somber. 'Yeah. I know.'
I glanced over to where she stood on the other side of the field, arms wrapped around herself as she analyzed the Greek's training. 'She won't talk about it,' I admitted. 'She just keeps pretending it isn't happening.'
Erik was quiet for a moment, then sighed. 'I just want her to be happy.'
'She won't be,' I said, my voice quieter now and filled with fear. 'Either way, she loses one of us.'
Silence settled between us. The weight of it was unbearable. Until we heard a piercing shout from one of the demigods, I walked over to see what was happening and saw Bryn, a daughter of Tyr with an open cut on her forearm, fighting with Ivar, a son of Freyja. She was yelling curses and slurs at him in old Norse, I walked over to her before she could lunge at him with her axe.
'Woah! Bryn! Calm down. He didn't mean to hurt you. Did you Ivar?'
Ivar shook his head so hard i thought it would roll off his shoulders. He backed away from Bryn 'I didn't mean to hurt you I swear, we were sparring and I tried to move and she moved as well. Please don't hurt me.' he says, his voice laced with remorse and fear, Bryn was a force to be reckoned with and someone you didn't
want to tick off.
Bryn's chest rose and fell sharply, her fingers flexing around the handle of her axe like she was still debating whether or not to use it. I stepped forward, placing myself in between them, my hands raised in an attempt to keep them at a distance.
'Bryn,' I said firmly, meeting her angered gaze. 'It was an accident. He didn't mean to hurt you. Stand down.'
She clenched her jaw, her teeth grinding together, her knuckles white against the worn leather grip of her weapon. For a second, I thought she might ignore me and attack him. But then, with a frustrated grunt, she slammed the axe back into its holster on her belt.
'Fine.' she muttered, pointing a finger at Ivar. 'But if he tries that again—'
'I won't,' Ivar cut in quickly, holding his hands up in surrender. 'Promise.'
The tension didn't leave Bryn's shoulders, but at least she wasn't about to hack Ivar to pieces. She stalked off toward the weapon racks, kicking the grass and muttering something under her breath in Old Norse - what she said I will not repeat but let's just say her vocab is that of a sailor.
Ivar exhaled heavily as if he didn't realize he was holding his breath. 'I swear, she's going to kill me in my sleep one day.'
I gave him a cautious look. 'You'll be fine. Just… maybe don't spar with her again today. And maybe give her a peace offering later.'
He nodded quickly, already putting as much distance as possible between himself and Bryn.
I turned back to Erik, who was watching the whole thing unfold with an amused smirk.
'Nice save,' he remarked.
I rolled my eyes. 'Not the first fight I've broken up, today.'
Rami jogged over, a lazy grin on his face, he was surely watching me break up the fight. 'Man, I leave you alone for twenty minutes and you're already solving another crisis. What happened this time?'
'Bryn got cut, almost took Ivar's head off.' Erik said dully as if it were no big deal.
Rami let out a low whistle. 'Classic Norse diplomacy.' he laughed softly.
I sighed, feeling the exhaustion settle into my bones as the adrenaline from sparring and breaking up the fight wears off. 'I'm starting to think I should just carry a whistle and call fouls every time someone tries to kill each other.'
Rami nudged me softly with his elbow. 'That, or charge a fee for every fight you break up. You'd be rich in a week.'
I let out a small chuckle, but my heart wasn't in it. The weight of everything—Cora ignoring me, the Selection Ceremony, the growing tension between the demigods—pressed heavily on my chest.
Before I could dwell on it, Erik clapped his hands. 'Alright, unless anyone else wants to throw more punches today, let's wrap up training before someone actually loses a limb.'
I glanced at Bryn, who was still simmering, and then at Ivar, who looked relieved to be alive.
Training might be over, but the tension hanging over camp? That was far from gone. It was only a matter of time before the fights became camp-wide complications.
The demigods began making their way back to the barracks, Ivar staying as far away from Bryn as she headed off to the infirmary on the other side of the fields. Rami taps my arm and smiles at me.
'Race you to the trees and back?' he offers with a cheeky grin, seeing that my mind is wandering.
'Yeah… You're on,' I say softly 'three… two… Go!' I sprint forward and Rami falters as he tries to catch up
'Trickster!' he yelled一what did he expect really. I could hear him laughing as he tried to catch up to me, I see the trees getting closer and I place my hand on one of them before turning and sprinting the other way, the grass being kicked up behind us as we run, the wind whipping against my face as I laugh, Rami closing in on me as we reach the spot we started from, I chuckle and lay down on the ground gasping and laughing.
Rami lays down beside me 'okay…' he gasps and laughs 'okay, you're faster…'
'I know,' I say softly, rolling onto my front and looking into his eyes. 'I'm just glad you finally admit it.'
He looked into my eyes with that smile I love, he reached up and tucked a strand of ginger hair behind my ear and propped himself up on his elbow, his hand lingering on the back of my neck, his eyes lower to my lips and he leaned in softly. I look at him with longing, wanting to kiss him so badly, wanting him to hold me in his arms as we watch the sunset together, but I know we can't. I know that if we did, we would only be hurting each other more. I gasp as he is about to kiss me, I pulled away, rolled back over and sat up, hugging my knees gently.
'Rami…' he sits up and looks at me wearily. 'We can't' I feel his hand slip into mine.
'Why not?' he asks me quietly. 'I know you won't admit it but we have something, Astrid. I know you feel it too.'
My eyes grew blurry, tears forming in them as I heard his words, his thumb tracing over my knuckles 'We can't.' I muttered softly.
'Why?' His voice was shaking slightly 'Why not make the most of the next few days and be together?'
I shake my head 'I can't do that, I can't be with you for a few days then have you torn away from me…'
He rests his head on my shoulder and closes his eyes. 'I'll win.' he says confidently 'Then I'll make you my wife and we can be immortal, together forever.' I take a shaky breath.
'And if I get chosen as well?' I wipe my eyes. 'We can't risk losing each other, Rami. You can't lose what you never had.' I stand up and he grips my hand. I take a shaky breath and I pull away from him and leave him sitting on the fields, my eyes filled with tears as I think about what might have been between me and Rami but if I'm supposed to lose everything in five days then I would not get involved in a relationship I've longed for, for years because the one thing I refuse to lose is Rameses Hassan.