Chapter 44 - The Gladiator's Prize

The only person that has ever slapped Eleanor was her mother, and it was when she had cut off all her hair. Sure in the past her mother would give her little hits here and there, but it was nothing compared to the slap she gave her that day. She was the only person who should be able to slap Eleanor. And not the commoner who was currently looming over her.

Hot searing anger burned in Eleanor's stomach and she whipped her head up to look at the girl. If she really thought that she could get away with slapping Eleanor Louis, then she was dead wrong.

The girl's messy hair hung down over Eleanor as she reached down and gripped Eleanor's hair. Her fingernails dug into her scalp and she yanked Eleanor's head back. The pain was so intense that Eleanor's body went into shock for a few seconds. She was sure that blood was being drawn and hair was ripping out. The same hair she took five years to grow back.

Panic seized Eleanor's throat as she let out a cry of pain that sounded hoarse.

"Look at you, all that nobility and money, and here you are, just another dog on the floor." She threw Eleanor's head back and used her moment of disorientation to tie Eleanor's hands together with a rough piece of rope. It burned against the skin, and when she winced, it pushed the girl to tie it tighter.

Eleanor's head began to pound, the bright light of the main area and the noise from the people around her only made it worse. She managed to steady herself against the floor and looked back at the girl who was looking as if she actually had something to be proud of in her life.

"You better untie me right now... or I swear I will use every power that I have to kill you." Eleanor sneered.

The common girl only snorted. "Like you have any power anymore."

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Eleanor asked in a low voice. She did not want to resort to the profane way commoners talked, but the feeling was itching up her throat.

"Using you. Like we planned to."

Eleanor paused, she knew that people would take the chance to use her to get her parents' money, but since Rowan was the one who married her, wasn't he going to get the money? Or did they somehow convince him to go along with their hostage ploy to try and get more money?

"Don't even try to think up what our plan could be. You're not smart enough for all that brainpower." The blond scoffed.

"Says the commoner to the noble." Eleanor spat.

There was a chorus of laughs from the guild members and she was not sure if they were laughing at her or her statement. She didn't care about what it could be.

"You fucking whore!" The girl snapped and swung her arm at Eleanor to slap her once more but Eleanor saw it coming and moved away in time. That seemed to enrage the girl even further.

There was no way Eleanor would be on the floor, be slapped, and get talked down by someone who didn't even know what proper hygiene was. She'd rather drop dead.

"Stop acting like a gorilla, it doesn't look good on you." Eleanor gave her a condescending look. "I guess being raised by a bunch of animals would turn you into one. And yet you want to tell me about not being smart."

Eleanor took pleasure in seeing the reddening of her cheeks. She fumbled to find words and Eleanor could not help but laugh.

"Look at you. Too uneducated to even express yourself properly. And when that happens you act like the gorilla you are and hit me, because that's the only way you know how to think. You're experiencing an emotion called stupidity. Stu-pi-di-"

"Shut up!" The girl roared and sent her foot straight for Eleanor's side. Her body slammed sideways onto the floor and her head hit the ground hard enough to intensify her headache by a thousand. Her skull was trying to rip itself apart. Her vision darkened and tears welled up in her eyes. Eleanor wanted nothing more than to cry out but she held it in. These people wanted satisfaction from her pain and she was not going to give it to them.

"You think that you still have a handle on how this goes. You're just a tool to be used whenever we want." The girl's face was so close to Eleanor's that she smelled the horrors of her breath. That was enough to make Eleanor aware of her surroundings again.

"Win the tournament and then get close to the Louis family. Get them to agree to have you live away from them, and then the rest was all up to timing. Use you up and run you dry, until your parents do whatever we want in order to get you back, but by the time they do, well, who knows if you'll even be alive by then."

Eleanor's head hurt too much for her to try and talk back to her. She figured that that was what they were planning to do. Was it money they wanted, power, or was this a part of their plan in taking over the country? A light went off into Eleanor's head and realization seeped into her bones. A realization so horrible that it threatened to present her lunch to her again.

It wasn't just them. It was him as well. It was Rowan. Win the contest, get close to her parents, push for her to live with him, treat her and give her what she wants. Be nice to her.

He walked away and left her because he knew this would happen. He wanted this to happen. He rescued her from the castle because of his plan. Not because he missed her. Not because he wanted her.

Eleanor did not want to believe it, she knew that Rowan cared about her. He was kind to her and he treated her well. Not like the other guild members. He took her out and bought her pastries. *He bought her pastries*. He did things for her. He kissed her for goodness sake.

*He was just using you.*

Eleanor's eyes burned with hot tears. There had to be another explanation. There was no way that everything they went through was fake. He had kissed her with so much passion and intensity. If he hated her, there was no way he could do that.

*The two times you kissed, it was in front of the Prince.*

She knew the first one was fake but the second one was because she had come to save him. And they had almost kissed before the Prince had arrested him.

*He was just indulging you.*

"No..." It slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. Her chest felt light, and her heart throbbed. She wanted to scream. The girl was lying, she had to be. Rowan was so... soft with her. He was gentle and treated her like she was someone precious to him.

It could not all be a lie.

The blond girl laughed and then roughly grabbed her arm. "Deny, deny all you want. But this had been in the works for five years. If your spoiled ass hadn't cut off all your hair then this would have already been done. But I guess we must thank you, if you hadn't then we would have been able to gather as many numbers as we have now."

Eleanor was pulled to her feet, but she swayed enough to almost send herself back down to the floor.

What happened after that, Eleanor could not really remember. Her head hurt too much for her to properly register anything. But she figured she was carried up the stairs and put into her room. She was momentarily brought back into it when she was pushed onto the floor.

"You were never anyone special to Rowan so get that delusion out of your head. You were just a tool."

That was the last thing that she heard before her door slammed shut and darkness consumed her vision.