The audience had given up on training. This was entertainment now.
Elara uncrossed her legs and crossed them the other way, settling in. Hale, beside her, had the expression of a Beta watching a carriage wreck he could have prevented and had chosen to observe instead.
"Should we intervene?" Hale asked.
"We should," Elara replied. "Are we? No, we are not."
Aegon's tongue found Aurelia's ear again. The lick was long, deliberate, and carried the energy of a wolf who had decided that grooming his mate in a military arena was a hill worth dying on and had packed provisions for the siege.
Dex: He is going to charge.
Aegon: Let him.
Xeon charged.
The impact sounded like two boulders colliding at speed. Aegon saw it coming and braced, lowering his center of gravity a half second before contact, but Xeon's momentum carried both of them sideways across the arena floor in a skidding tangle of black fur, black teeth, and extremely personal grievances.
