Berlin gave her a sidelong glance and firmly said, "I know you are."
Her praise gave Cherry all the confidence she could possibly need.
The sponsor show was essentially just practice with an audience. She and Berlin ran drills, showing off Cherry's unique skills and her best moves. She suspected Berlin was holding back but trusted her judgment.
When it was over, she sat off to one side as Berlin talked to the sponsors, and her worry set back in. What if no one wanted her? How long would it take her to get out on her own? Was it even possible?
Berlin came back, a dark haired businessman at her side.
"Cherry, this is your sponsor, Sir Neel. Sir Neel, Cherry."
Neel held out a hand, which Cherry gratefully shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir."
He smiled at her, an actual smile that reached his eyes. Maybe he was thinking of the money. "We'll have you in for a fitting tomorrow morning. I must talk to the Lord now to handle paperwork … I don't anticipate any problems, but I'll let you know if any arise. Good day." With that, he swept off, guard following after him.
Cherry turned to Berlin, a confused expression on her face.
"As your sponsor, he gets in on ticket sales and to an extent so do you. I told him you're only a short term investment, and he's eager to make the most of it. I warned him not to mess with you or he'd answer to me."
"Short term?"
Berlin grinned at her. "You're getting out of here, aren't you?"
Cherry's face broke into a beautiful smile. Yes, yes she was.
At Neel's order, the two women were escorted into the area outside The Zone to meet with the tailor who would be making Cherry's armor. Neel was already there, going through designs with a middle aged woman with frizzy orange hair.
He greeted them with a smile. "Everything's all set. Emmaline just needs your measurements." He went to wait in another room while Cherry stripped out of her clothes.
The tailor—Emmaline—was thorough and try as she might, Cherry couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as she measured between her legs. When she went to measure Cherry's bust, Berlin stopped her.
Swooping down, Berlin sucked one of Cherry's nipples into her mouth, enveloping it in tight wet heat. Cherry couldn't hold back her whimper of pleasure, but as soon as Berlin transferred her mouth to the other breast, Cherry suddenly remembered Emmaline.
"Berlin!" she gasped. "What—?"
Berlin grinned at her, sly triumph in her eyes. "You're going to be so turned on when you're fighting. Don't want your armor to be too tight."
Cherry fought to cool down as Emmaline finished making notes and hurried to pull her clothes back on.
"All set?" Neel inquired when they opened the door, oblivious to Cherry's blush.
Emmaline nodded. "Should be ready in five days, maybe six because of the chain work."
Neel nodded. "Excellent. Thank you very much." He held the shop door open for Cherry. "I'll talk with the officials, have you in your first fight in about a week." He nodded good day and set off.
"I've been fighting for four years, Cherry, and I've never met anyone like you."
Berlin's unexpected praise and the strange events of the day left Cherry in thoughtful silence until the guards returned them to Berlin's house.
"What did you do before?"
Berlin froze and didn't turn as she asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Before you became a fighter. You said you've been here since you were a teenager." Cherry wasn't quite sure what had given her the motivation to push Berlin lately, but she felt it was her right.
Berlin took a breath and answered, "I had sex for money."
Cherry's eyes widened. "You …?"
Berlin finally turned to look at her. "That's right. When I got here, they sent me to be everybody's wet dream, and to earn my keep I gave people whatever they wanted from me. Until I had Kage."
"You got pregnant?"
Berlin snorted "When I was seventeen. I was lucky it didn't happen sooner."
Cherry wasn't sure what answer she had expected, but Berlin's answer was the absolute farthest from her mind.
*~*~*
A few days later, Berlin came across her writing a letter on the front stoop during her afternoon time. Sitting beside her, Berlin asked, "Who you writing?"
"My father."
"I thought he stopped writing you."
"Yeah." Cherry shrugged. "But I still write him every time I get the chance."
"Cherry … he sold you into this life. And he hasn't tried to pay his debt and buy you back out."
Cherry grew still and quiet for a moment before softly saying, "He's still my father. He's the only family I have left."
Berlin nodded, tracing patterns in the dirt with the toe of her boot.
"Do you remember your family?"
Berlin hesitated then simply said, "Sometimes."
Cherry waited for Berlin to continue.
"I was eight when they died—an ill wind, the doctor said, that killed a lot of people in our town. I was brought to the city to find someone to take me in, but no one did. I ended up in an orphanage, but even when I came of age, no one would hire me. So they sent me to The Zone to keep me off the streets and out of the way of the nobles."
Not knowing how to comfort her, not knowing what would make Berlin run, Cherry laid her head on Berlin's shoulder. Berlin tensed at first, then shifted closer and rested her head against Cherry's.
*~*~*
Neel brought her armor, waiting in the hall while she tried it on. She turned from side to side, watching herself in the small mirror she had on her shelf. It was beautiful and exotic, like a sexualized version of a desert warrior. The green bikini was held together with thin gold chains; green material hung from her hips like a cape, covering her bottom but not her front. The top was the same silky green material wrapped around her breast, with one sleeve. The other side was held up with gold chain matching that around her ankles, wrists, and hips. Finally, a heavy gold bracelet with a green stone was fastened to her braid as an additional weapon.
When she came to stand before Berlin and Neel, Berlin froze. Neil looked delighted, and Berlin … Berlin looked like she'd forgotten how to breathe.
When Berlin finally managed to get a breath, she choked, "Good. She looks good."
Neel nodded. "She looks fantastic. I'd fuck her."
Cherry's spine prickled at Neel's words, but Berlin's breathless reaction gave her confidence.
"She'll lose the first two, marginally but enough to keep her an underdog?" Neel directed his question to Berlin, who nodded.
"I already spoke with Amee and Mriah. It's set."
Cherry wasn't sure what they were talking about, and Neel was already on his way out.
"I'll see you at the fight."
Cherry smiled at him until the door shut, then turned to Berlin.
"You look so hot." Berlin's voice had a rough edge.
"What were you talking about?"
"I'm thinking green and gold around your eyes. Just a touch so you still look young but with a fierce—"
"Berlin! What were you talking about?"
Berlin seemed distracted by thoughts of Cherry's appearance, and it took her a moment to understand what Cherry was talking about. "I told you some fights are rigged. You're going to lose your first two to increase the odds against you and make a fortune when you win the third."
"And everyone's okay with you rigging the fights?"
"Would
you
complain if you got a guaranteed win?" Berlin gave her a look. "C'mon. Let's go break in your armor."
*~*~*
"What do you mean, he's going to fuck me over?" Cherry accused, eyes flaming. She had almost been asleep when Berlin had decided that it was the right time to let Cherry in on the little secret about sponsors.
"It's nothing personal. Sponsors are greedy; he'll take more than his share. We're nothing but a means to an end for them."
"Then why did you get me involved with them?"
Cherry was furious, standing over Berlin as she lay on her pallet.
"What's the big deal, Cherry? Everyone here wants to fuck you; just don't let him. Everyone here wants to take from you; just don't let him take too much. Everyone here wants to screw you over—"
"I just won't let that be you." Cherry glared, betrayal in her eyes and on her face. She tightened her jaw and left.
Outside, the moon was high in the clear sky, surrounded by clusters of stars. It was cold and windy, and she shivered as she started walking, hugging herself tightly but only partly to ward off the late night chill. It was past curfew and she had nowhere to go, but she needed to get away from that room and Berlin's announcement.
Her sponsor was going to screw her over, just like everyone else she'd met since coming to The Zone? What about Berlin? She trusted Berlin; maybe she shouldn't. Maybe Berlin was just using her too; maybe—
"Hush, Marya."
Cherry drew up short, hiding behind a group of trees as she listened to the soft sound of approaching footsteps. They quickly came into view—two adults and what appeared to be a child, out after curfew. They kept to the shadows as they crept through town, constantly on the look-out, clearly up to no good.
Cherry slunk along the houses, watching the group. Something about them didn't feel right. They were dressed like those from The Zone, but maybe they were upperclassmen in disguise.
"Who's there?" one of them called out, and the entire group stopped, staring at the tree shielding Cherry from sight. "We heard you—come out now."
Knowing it would only make them angrier if they had to come in after her, Cherry stepped out from behind the tree, and finally got a good look at the group. There were three of them—a man, a woman, and a young girl. They clearly weren't from outside The Zone.
"What are you doing?" Cherry asked.
"What are
you
doing?" the woman retorted. "It's after curfew."
Cherry gave her a pointed look. "I was getting some space. What are you doing out here?"
The woman glanced at her male companion, who hesitated before nodding. "We're getting out."
"You're
escaping
?"
The woman nodded. "Nataniel's going to distract the guards so that the two of us can get over the gate, and then we'll make a distraction so Nataniel can get out."
"That's crazy! You'll be caught. Stay and buy your way out, like me."
The woman shook her head. "We can't. We have to go
now
."
Cherry glanced at the little girl and understood. If they stayed much longer, their daughter would be assigned an occupation. "You'll never make it," she tried helplessly. "At least here your daughter will get to live."
"We have to try."
Cherry backed away slowly. "I'm sorry." She ran, not wanting to have any connection to these people. When they failed, she didn't want the guards to have any reason to suspect her as well.
At dawn, a horn sounded, calling all the townspeople to the square. Cherry walked alongside Berlin with a heavy heart, already knowing what they would see. It was no surprise when she saw three people on the gallows, shivering from more than just the early morning wind.
Cherry glanced over at Berlin, whose jaw was tight and eyes were hard. She swallowed a lump in her throat, not quite sure why she was getting choked up over strangers. She had
told
them not to try to escape; it was their choice not to listen to her.
"—found guilty of the heinous crime of stealing from The Lord of The Zone—" The Lord's personal assistant read off the sentence.
'Stealing from the Lord of the Zone.' Everyone in The Zone was there as a marker, a holder to ensure that their debt or that of a family member was paid. Even Berlin, who didn't have an original fine, had racked up a debt from the cost of living in her years there. If anyone left before that debt had been settled, they were accused—found guilty—of stealing from their overlord.
"—and sentenced to hang by the neck until dead."
The Lord's assistant stepped back, and the executioner stepped forward. He unceremoniously kicked away the crates beneath the three on the gallows, and they dropped with a sickening choking sound.
Cherry looked away, unable to watch as an innocent child was strangled to death. A cheer went up from the crowd, and her stomach clenched. What was wrong with these people, cheering for the deaths of three of their own?
"This is disgusting," Cherry muttered to Berlin.
"This is the way it is."
"No." Cherry shook her head. "Not on the outside it's not. I'm going to get out of here, and I'm never going to watch another person die again."
*~*~*
Cherry didn't sleep the night before her first fight. She lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, a thousand thoughts racing through her head. What was her father doing just then? Was he even alive?
What if something went wrong in the fight? What if she got hurt? What if she broke something? What if she wasn't good enough?
What did Berlin think of her? Didn't she realize just how badly Cherry wanted her? Were her own flirtations just a game? What was holding her back?
About to go crazy, Cherry sat up and pushed a hand through her tussled hair, considering sneaking outside briefly.
"Couldn't sleep either?"
Cherry nearly jumped out of her skin and had to fight to catch her breath. "Berlin?"
Berlin was sitting up on her pallet, watching her. "C'mere."
Obediently, Cherry sat beside her.
"Couldn't sleep?"
Cherry shook her head. "Too many thoughts."
"Like?"
Cherry shrugged "Everything. My family. The fight." She hesitated. "You."
Berlin kept her eyes emotionless. "Turn around."
Berlin tugged her shoulder to get her into the position she wanted and began massaging her shoulders. Cherry let her head drop forward, let herself get lost in the feeling of the warm steady pressure of Berlin's hands pulling her apart and putting her back together.
When Cherry tried to stifle a small moan desperate to escape, Berlin whispered, "Relax, Cherry. Just let go."