Chapter 9

Ellery

"Come wrestle the giant!Take on the great monstrosity and win!"

I twisted to the side to avoid the crowd swarming the makeshift wrestling ring in the empty lot off the side of the road. I'd seen the ring before; it had become a popular pastime over the last two years, but this call to take on the giant was new.

Pausing, I turned to watch as the crowd pushed closer to the ring. A murmur went through the mob, and their talk grew more excited.

A body suddenly flew over the top of the ropes and bounced across the road to land near one of the buildings. The crowd laughed as the call to take on the giant started again.

Amused and curious, I looked to Scarlet before jerking my head toward the stage. She shook her head, but I had to see what was happening.

Turning sideways, I pushed through the crowd. Having spent a lot of time in The Hollows, I was used to the smells of this place and the unwashed immortals, but having so many crowding me was a little overwhelming. I'd bet half of them hadn't bathed in a week and the other half in a month.

Trying not to breathe through my nose, I finally broke through the crowd to get to the side of the stage. When I got there, I laughed as I took in the giant on the stage.

While he wasn't an actual giant, as they stood at least a hundred feet tall, the man was well over seven feet tall and had to weigh at least three hundred and fifty pounds. He was by far the biggest man I'd ever seen.

"Come, take on Ianto the Giant!"

If giants didn't exist, I suspected this man might be the tallest immortal in all the realms. His shaggy brown hair framed a handsome face with a broad nose and full lips.

His brown skin shone with sweat from his efforts, but he wasn't breathing hard and didn't look like he'd overexerted himself by tossing the man out of the ring. If his warm smile was any indication, this man was having the time of his life.

"Come on!" he called as he waved his hands, beckoning his next victim to join him on the stage.

At first, it didn't seem like he would get any more opponents, but a group of young men across the way were pushing each other as they tried to talk one of them into getting on stage. I recognized a few of the men; they were my age and used to come to the manor to attend school when they were younger.

My mother was determined that all the kids near our manor receive an education. She taught some classes and was the first to tend to wounded knees.

She ensured every child who went through her one-room schoolhouse could read better than most nobles by the time they left. But that was when we had more help at the manor and she had more time.

Now, she'd shuttered the schoolhouse, and it had been a year since a child sat at one of the desks, as our focus had shifted to keeping the manor running, the crops tended, and our breeding program with the horses functioning. Without all those things, we would lose our home.

One of the boys, a handsome man with pale blond hair and green eyes, clambered underneath the bottom rope and onto the stage. Callan.

He was a year older than me and had always been a bit of a tease and flirt. He'd enjoyed being the center of attention and was friends with everyone.

But what I remembered most about him was how he played the lute and the kiss we'd shared beneath the red willow in my yard. It was my first kiss, a stolen moment with the most handsome and popular boy in school, that made me feel special.

I doubt he recalled it, but I did, and heat crept up my neck from the memory. It hadn't been an earth-shattering kiss. It was awkward, and I didn't expect to have his tongue in my mouth, which almost made me gag, but I went along with it and eventually managed to feel warm and fuzzy like I was supposed to.

The kiss ended almost as soon as it began, and then we'd stood and stared at each other until one of his friends called to him, and he took off. He moved on to other girls while I moved on to thievery.

Of the two of us, I'd guess most would have bet Callan would end up the criminal instead of me, but life had a way of becoming something completely unexpected. And I was the thief while Callan continued to play his music while traveling through the towns.

That awkward kiss didn't mean I couldn't root for him against the giant, but everyone here knew Callan didn't have a chance. Still, cheering was fun when the barker shouted at them to start wrestling.

Callan and the giant circled each other as they stayed to the outside of the ring. The giant kept his feet apart and stomped them while grinning at Callan. Each powerful blow of his feet caused the ring to shake, and the crowd chuckled as Callan bounced across the mat.

After a minute of circling, the crowd started getting antsy and shouted at Callan and the giant to get on with it. The giant didn't care about this turn of events, but Callan glanced anxiously around when the crowd started turning on him.

The crowd's catcalls weren't the kind of baiting he could resist, and unfortunately, it would cost him the match—something that was proven a second later when Callan rushed the giant and the man stepped out of his way.

Callan crashed into the ropes and staggered back. Before he could fall on his ass, the giant bent, grabbed his ankle, and plucked him off the ground.

The crowd laughed as Callan dangled in the air, his hands flailing while his tunic fell to cover his face. His muffled cries filled the air as he hung from the giant's massive hand and the crowd laughed.

I smiled but didn't laugh as loudly as the rest of the crowd. When the giant swung Callan back and forth before heaving him over the ropes, the crowd parted to let him plop onto the street in a tangle of limbs and clothes.

His friends picked him up as the laughter grew, and the giant waved his hands in response to the cheers, encouraging them to be louder. The noise intensified until it rebounded off the homes and echoed all around us.

When Callan jumped to his feet and threw his hands in the air, the crowd cheered while he bowed in every direction. He somehow managed to look elegant and dignified despite having been tossed on his ass.

I laughed as the giant boomed out, "Are you ready for round two, young fellow?"

Callan stopped bowing. "I only go in for one tossing a day… unless it's with a woman."

The crowd laughed again as the giant guffawed. "Who's next?"