21. The Blood Chalice

Kinch waits beneath the Blood Chalice arena amid the stench of fear as Urkus, the famed master of ceremonies, whips the half-giant crowd into bloodlust. Holter is selected first, chooses axe, javelin, and piecemeal armor, and faces an unseen foe. After desperate pleas in his tongue, Holter dies brutally, his last word “Moxie,” the name of his dog.

Soon after, Kinch and Galva are matched together against a true giant during the Winter Folly, where luck and mismatches prevail. Anticipating a giant, Galva guides Kinch to arm with a gisarme and fight in close coordination, echoing goblin wedge tactics she taught the ludus. The giant wields a fallen slave as a flail, then seeks its dropped axe while a vicious heckler aids it by shouting.

Galva commands footwork and timing: Kinch hamstrings and scores quick cuts to draw reactions, while Galva slashes beneath the giant’s girdle and stabs under the arm, aiming for the heart. Their mismatched rhythm and positioning break the giant’s offense. The giant collapses and dies, its last breath audible in the stunned arena.

Kinch taunts the heckler; the crowd reacts. From a silk-draped box, Princess Renata laughs and claims Kinch as her favorite, with King Agraias beside her. As petals rain and trumpets blare, Kinch and Galva are led out in triumph, their victory placing them under royal notice and setting larger wheels in motion.