Sera

Victra turned and beckoned toward the colonnade. "Sera. Come here."

A figure emerged from the shadows, and Cassia's breath caught.

The futa who walked into the training yard was... a beta? She was small, like most beta, with her hair pulled back in a practical knot, she wore the same wrestling garb as the rest of the students. Chest wrappings, and a loincloth. Although, hers was lighter. Her features were pleasant enough, pretty even. Her body carried the softness of someone who was predisposed to delicate work rather than combat.

But it was her eyes that held Cassia's attention. They were calm. Completely, utterly calm, like the surface of a deep lake. It was a look Cassia had never seen in a beta before, not even her mother.

"This is Sera," Victra said, and her voice had changed. There was warmth in it now, and something else, pride, perhaps. "Sera is a special gladiatrix trainee of mine. She has willingly ceded her will to me for the past year in exchange for my personal tutelage."

A shocked murmur ran through the students. None of them could ever imagine giving up their will willingly.

Sera stopped beside Victra and bowed her head slightly. "Instructor."

"Sera," Victra acknowledged. Then she turned back to Julia, her blue eyes glittering. "You think betas are weak. I think you're wrong. Let's settle it."

Julia's eyes narrowed. "What did you have in mind?"

"A will duel. You and Sera." Victra's voice was casual, as though she were suggesting a friendly spar. "First to yield loses. Standard rules."

Julia laughed. It was not a pleasant sound. "You want me to wrestle a beta? That's not a duel, Bellator. That's an execution."

"Then you won't mind the terms." Victra's smile was sharp. "If you win, if you make Sera yield, I will give you one of my betas' wills as your prize. You'll become a Duotis before the sun sets."

The training yard went utterly silent.

Cassia stared. An alpha's beta, the will of someone who had ceded themselves, was not something given lightly. For Victra to wager one of her five...

"And if I lose?" Julia asked, and for the first time there was a note of hesitancy in her voice.

"If you lose, you cede your will to Sera." Victra nodded toward the brown-haired futa. "She graduates from her training and becomes an omega again, and you become her beta until you are able replicate her feat."

This time the silence was absolute. Cassia could hear her own heartbeat.

Julia frowned and her eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "You would really wager one of your wills, on the likes of-"

"Absolutely," Victra interrupted. She touched her chest, where her own will resided, and Cassia felt a faint pressure in the air. "I swear this oath on my will as a Quintis. Sera is my trainee and my beta, and I have the right to wager her contract."

"This is a trick. You’re tricking me somehow." Julia accused.

"Maybe." Victra's voice was reasonable. "You can walk away right now. No one will think less of you for refusing an unfair match." Her smile returned. "After all, why would an omega risk herself against a weak beta servant?"

The trap was elegant in its simplicity. Julia Crestus had publicly declared her contempt for betas. To refuse this duel was to admit that contempt was hollow.

Cassia watched the calculations play out across Julia's face. The confusion, the stubbornness, the greed. Finally, Julia’s spat on the sand between them.

"I accept."

The will oath that followed was formal and binding. Julia swore on her own will, the only one she had, her omega self, that she would yield to Sera if Sera could make her yield first. Victra swore on one of her Quintis wills, Sera's, that it would automatically be transferred to Julia if Julia won.

The magically binding oath settled over the training yard like a held breath.

"Clear the yard," Victra commanded. The students scrambled back, forming a loose circle around the packed earth. Cassia found herself pressed against Antonia's side, their shoulders touching, both of them watching with wide eyes.

Sera and Julia moved to the center of the circle and faced each other.