The Poisoned Chalice by Starsea

Ashes of Victory

Rated PG

I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face,
But I’ve come through…
Queen

It was close now, so close he could taste it, smell it on the wind. Victory. Jadeite gazed around the stadium, knowing that every single person in it was willing him to lose. But it didn’t matter if every Martian on the planet was willing him to lose, he knew that Endymion, Kunzite, Nephrite and Zoisite were willing him to win and that was more than enough.

“You’d better be careful,” said the referee, standing beside him. He was Jovian and therefore neutral. “He’ll be desperate to beat you, he might try anything.” The referee glanced at Jadeite with professional interest. “Are there any more like you on Earth, Lord Jadeite?”

“There’s nobody quite like me anywhere,” Jadeite said, smiling to himself. It wasn’t conceit, he was just repeating Kunzite’s words, though of course the referee didn’t know that. He did not show what he thought of Jadeite’s apparent arrogance, he just nodded and looked at his watch.

“One minute, then you’re on. I hope you’re used to being booed by now.”

“Thrive on it,” Jadeite answered, thinking that wasn’t too far from the truth. Any kind of negativity or resentment only increased his determination, no matter what the situation, and the resentment in this stadium was enough to make his hair stand on end.

The last strains of the anthem faded away and the referee walked out to announce the finalists. Jadeite felt the adrenalin pour through his body. He wasn’t going to be the overall winner, he knew that, but he was going to have a good score and he was going to show everyone that Earthlings were not barbarians and he was going to enjoy every damn moment. He heard his name called and stepped out. The wave of anger was almost overwhelming: the Martians didn’t boo him, they were far too sophisticated for that, but they just went silent. The message couldn’t have been clearer: You don’t belong here. Jadeite was highly tempted to wave at the crowd but he resisted. He hadn’t won quite yet.

“Are you ready?” the referee asked him, and Jadeite knew he wasn’t just asking about the fight but about the reaction afterwards.

“Yes,” he said, lifting his chin and gazing into the eyes of his opponent. “I’m ready.”

He actually knew the man he was fighting this time. He was one of the eight Martian Princes. The King and Queen of Mars had eight sons and one daughter, the Princess Erinya, who was a lady in waiting to Princess Serenity of the Silver Millennium. Jadeite hadn’t met her yet, although she was apparently here for the Games. There was a rumour going around that the foreigner who scored the highest would win the opportunity to escort her to the celebration ball tonight. Jadeite wondered if that would still hold true, given that he was the highest scoring foreigner. He wondered if the Martian King and Queen would actually let an Earthling near their daughter, let alone escort her to the ball. He lifted his sword, saluting his opponent.

“Prince Ajax.”

Ajax lifted his sword in an identical salute. “Lord Jadeite. I hope you’re not a sore loser.”

Jadeite grinned, knowing that he looked wicked. “Likewise.”

Then they moved forwards and the fight begun, thrusts and parries and kicks and rolls. Jadeite could hear the crowd chanting Ajax’s name, over and over, willing their prince to win and beat the upstart, but he didn’t care. Ajax was a worthy opponent. He didn’t take any notice of the crowd, nor did he taunt Jadeite like the previous opponents. He simply fought. Jadeite respected him for that. But despite its war-like reputation, Mars hadn’t been involved in a real battle for a long, long while. Jadeite had fought in more real wars than Ajax and it was showing. He’d never thought that coming from a violent planet would be an advantage, but apparently everything had its upside.

“Why don’t you do something?” Ajax panted. “Why don’t you cast a spell or make the earth move underneath me?”

Jadeite looked at him and laughed. “So that’s what they’ve been saying. I wondered. Why don’t you use that fire magic that your family’s so proud of and burn me to ashes?”

Ajax glared at him. “What do you know about that?”

“I know your family are renowned for being great pyrotechnicians and that they can call flames out of the very air. I know that even the lowliest Martian can cook his food without ever worrying whether the fire will start. You don’t even have to burn my whole body, you can just take my sword arm, leave me helpless. Spontaneous combustion, isn’t that what you call it?”

“You know too much.”

“I do my research.”

“Research doesn’t help you on the battlefield.”

“And what would you know about the battlefield?” Jadeite asked, taunting. “I first fought in a battle when I was twelve years old. I’ve seen more war in ten years than you will see in twenty. Hell, I’ll probably die in battle. You… you will die in your bed. Just like everyone who’s allied with the Silver Millennium.”

Ajax roared in anger and charged at him. Jadeite leaped to the side and drove his sword hilt right into Ajax’s kidneys. Not a killing blow, but enough to bring Ajax down. It was a simple matter to roll him over and put the swordblade at his throat.

“Yield,” Jadeite said simply.

Ajax stared at him for a moment. “That was no magic,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“No. Just simple strategy. Do you yield?”

“I yield.” Ajax held out his hand and Jadeite pulled him up.

The referee walked over and held up Jadeite’s sword hand, announcing him the winner. There was a deadly silence. Jadeite could feel every single member of the crowd glaring at him. His skin was hot with their anger.

Then someone began to clap and Jadeite realised it was Ajax. He heard more applause and realised that the royal family had followed Ajax’s lead. The crowd could not afford to stay silent now that their rulers were showing approval and began to clap, but as slowly as possible. Jadeite bowed to them, then he turned and bowed to Ajax.

“Thank you.”

“You are a worthy opponent,” Ajax said, still clapping. “I would not do this otherwise.” He nodded towards the royal balcony. “My sister is watching us. I think she approves.”

Jadeite turned his head. It was not difficult to spot the Princess Erinya. She sat on her father’s left hand, glowing in a red dress. The royal balcony was too high for Jadeite to see much else, but he could see that she was clapping hard and that she shared her brother’s dark hair and eyes.

“Come,” Ajax said, putting his hand on Jadeite’s shoulder. “You need to go up there and collect your medal. And my father needs to officially announce your prize.”

Jadeite nodded and followed him. He could feel a thousand invisible knives stabbing into his back as he walked towards the steps which led up to the royal balcony. He knew that some of his former opponents were sitting in the crowd and that they had probably been longing to escort the Princess Erinya to the ball. Well, too bad. He’d won fair and square. They could mutter about it all they liked.

King Ares and Queen Bellona didn’t seem unhappy about his win, despite the fact he’d beaten one of their own sons. They both clapped him again as he came forward. Their seven other sons, on the other hand, seemed less impressed. They all looked at him with cold eyes. Jadeite wasn’t too surprised. After all, he’d beaten one of them.

“It’s not often that we get to see such fine swordsmanship, Lord Jadeite,” King Ares announced as Jadeite bowed. “Thank you for making the Games so interesting. The same people win the same things year after year… a wild card like you makes such a difference. We should invite you back next year!”

Jadeite had an urge to laugh out loud. He smiled politely. “I am not sure that the people would like that, your Majesty.”

“All the more reason to do it,” said Queen Bellona, glancing down at the crowd, which was now muttering. “It does not do to get too complacent about our skills, as you’ve shown us. Earth is our closest neighbour and we need to develop a better understanding.”

The looks on her sons’ faces said that they would be happy if the Earth exploded, but Jadeite didn’t point this out. He bowed again and thanked her for her kind words. King Ares turned to a footman, who came forward with an open red box. The King lifted out a medal. It flashed golden in the light. The symbol of Mars was carved on its front and it hung on a bright red velvet ribbon. Jadeite bowed his head as the King put it around his neck. The royal family started clapping again: it was obvious the people would not have done so otherwise.

“As the foreigner with the highest score, Lord Jadeite has won the honour of escorting our only daughter, the Princess Erinya, to the celebration ball this night!” King Ares announced. There was a stunned silence. Jadeite could tell without looking that the other seven princes had not known about this part. “I hope that you will treat him with all the respect that is due to a winner of the Games,” the King added and he glanced at his sons as he said this.

Jadeite finally looked at the Princess, who was now standing next to her mother, flanked by two identical women. Just as he had seen from the arena, she was wearing a red dress, probably satin. Her skin was milk white, in contrast to her brown brothers. Her hair was not black, like theirs, but a strange deep purple. Her eyes were the same colour, but they flashed red instead of blue. She was exquisite. Their eyes met and Jadeite caught his breath. He felt as if someone had lit a fire inside his chest. Then she looked away and the feeling was gone and he could breathe again. The two women were glaring at him. He turned back to the King and Queen.

“If I am to escort your daughter, I’d best get ready, your Majesties. Please excuse me,” he said, and left quickly, wondering what had just happened.

Fortunately, it was a long way back to his chambers and he had time to calm himself down and remind himself that, no matter how beautiful, she was still a princess, and a Martian princess at that. He could not afford to make any wrong moves or offend her. Jadeite was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice that he was being followed. He didn’t notice anything until someone stepped in front of him and he had stop short.

It was Prince Bellerophon. Jadeite glanced around and saw that he was surrounded. He looked back at Bellerophon, who was smirking.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“We don’t appreciate someone cheating in our Games,” said Bellerophon.

“Especially when that someone is a filthy barbarian from Earth,” said one behind him.

“And we don’t want a filthy, cheating barbarian from Earth escorting our only sister to the ball.”

“In fact, we don’t want you at the ball escorting anyone.”

Bellerophon pushed his face forwards so that his nose almost touched Jadeite’s. “So why don’t you give us that pretty medal and send a note saying that you’re sick?”

“And why should I do that?” Jadeite demanded.

“’Cause if you’re not sick now, you will be,” said someone on his left. “We’ll make sure of that.”

“If I’m the barbarian and you’re so sophisticated, why is it that you’re ganging up on me seven to one?” Jadeite asked coolly.

“An excellent question,” said a new voice and the princes leapt back. Jadeite felt his heart, so steady until now, start to pound.

Princess Erinya was standing right in front of them, her arms folded.

“What are you doing here?” Bellerophon demanded.

“I might ask you the same question, Lero,” she said, raising one eyebrow. “Ganging up on a prince from Earth? That’s grounds for war, and you know it.” Her eyes narrowed. “If you leave now, I won’t tell Mummy or Daddy anything about this. But if you argue, I’ll let them know exactly what you were about to do and it won’t be Lord Jadeite who misses the ball this evening. Do you understand?”

“Erinya, you can’t seriously want an Earthling to escort you – ”

“He won fairly. We all watched him. I would have known if he used any magic. And what I want is none of your business, Lero. Don’t make me repeat myself.” And Jadeite saw a few sparks fly from her fingertips.

Bellerophon glared at her. “Come on,” he said to the others and they hurried off.

Jadeite looked at Erinya. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said.

“You’re a good fighter, Lord Jadeite, but I doubt even you could handle seven Martian princes with a grudge.”

He shook his head. “No, I mean you didn’t have to step in. You could have just let them beat me up.”

Erinya walked forwards a few paces, looking into his eyes. “I like a fair fight,” she said. “That wasn’t going to be a fair fight. You weren’t even armed anymore.”

Jadeite could have argued that, but he didn’t. He bowed to her. “Then I must thank you for saving me from a nasty beating, your Highness. I shall see you tonight. What time shall I call for you?”

“Eight o’clock. Until then.” She walked away and Jadeite allowed himself to watch her for a few moments before going back to his chambers. He had a lot to think about.


DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi. The lyrics belong to Queen.

Author's Notes
'Erinya' - from the Greek 'Erinyes', known as the Furies.
'Ares' - Greek god of war
'Bellona' - Roman goddess of war
'Bellerophon' - rider of the horse Pegasus, slayer of the Chimera, killed by the gods for trying to reach the summit of Mount Olympus
'Ajax' - mighty Greek warrior of the Trojan War, famed for his strength

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