I step forward. “I’ll purchase it from you. Right now. With cash.”

He looks me up and down. Maybe he’s trying to figure out where I could be hiding the money.

“No.” He crosses his arms over his chest.

So he’s choosing to be difficult. I don’t understand why. Doug and I have never had much to say to each other. Now isn’t any different, apparently.

“I will pay you triple what you paid for it, then.”

He just stares at me, and since I can’t read faces—and don’t do staring either—I avoid looking at his face. I have no idea what’s going through his mind, but when I glance up again, he’s staring at Jenna and smiling. A quick look at her confirms that she is not smiling at him.

I should be happy that she’s angry at him and doesn’t want to be his girlfriend anymore. I’ve liked her for so long and it’s angered me all these months that she was with him. I have no claim on her now, but someday…I will.

But right now I’m worried that she’s going to change her mind. That she’s going to decide she wants to be with him after all, even if it is just to get her tiara back. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Jenna wear a tiara—or any sort of expensive jewelry. This must be worth a good sum in order for her to pawn it for two thousand dollars.

Doug’s now looking at me with his head tilted to the side. “I see why she brought you in here. You’ve got money. Isn’t your brother a billionaire or something?”

I shake my head, annoyed now. “I don’t have a brother. You mean my cousin. Yes, he’s a billionaire, but I don’t spend his money. I have my own job. Now, if I give you fifteen thousand dollars today, will you give her back the item?”

He holds his fist up in the air and makes a sound like a buzzer at a game show. I have no idea what that means. “Try again.”

Jenna is tugging at my arm now. “Come on, Wil. We can take it to the clan council. They’re meeting after lunch.”

“Yeah, you do that, Jen,” Doug taunted. “Go—and take your idiot with you. You know what they say, like attracts like.”

I stiffen. There it is again…that word. Idiot. Just like the others I’ve heard throughout my life. Moron. Retard. But this is much worse. He called Jenna that name, too.

Her fists tighten at her sides. “How dare you—”

“Jenna,” I interrupt, stepping forward and putting my arm out to block her from advancing on Doug. I can fight my own battles. To Doug I say, “I haven’t insulted you. I don’t care if you insult me because your opinion means nothing to me. But you won’t insult her. Apologize.”

“Not gonna happen.”

I take another step toward him. His eyes get round, but when I think he’s going to step back, he doesn’t. We’ve just had a confrontation while both dressed in armor. This feels much more real, more immediate, just inches from each other and no metal between us. “Whatcha gonna do, retard?”

Suddenly, heat rushes up from the depths of my being and my skin is on fire. I reach out and grab a handful of Doug’s t-shirt. “Stop trying to provoke me.”

He pushes against my chest and I let him go. He takes two steps back, brushing himself off. “Back off, psycho.”

“I don’t need to back off. You just did. Now apologize.”

Silence.

I’m getting ready to take another step toward him when he holds out his hand. “Fine. I’m sorry. Get the hell out of my tent.”

“You should be ashamed of your unchivalrous behavior toward Jenna.”

Doug’s face scrunches up. “Get out.”

Jenna tries to push past me again and I hold her back. “Let’s follow the rules of the clan, Jenna. We can take this issue to the council.”

She mutters under her breath, saying a lot of unchoice words about Doug. I won’t argue with that opinion of him. He was never going to be a friend under the best of circumstances, but now, not ever…and especially not after the way he spoke to her.

And to think that they were together until today. He had called her his girlfriend, and yet he turned around and treated her this way. I can’t understand how he could be so cruel to someone he once liked or even loved.

Doug is not a good person. And now I am even angrier with myself for having made such stupid mistakes during the duel. I could have won. I could have proved what I’d set out to prove all those months ago when I’d challenged him. All those hours I spent working out, and all that time and money spent with a private martial arts trainer. I could have been the better man…I could have been worthy.

But I hadn’t proven myself. I’d failed. Yet again.

That same frustration stabs painfully in my chest. My fists tighten and I escort Jenna out of the tent. She has her head down and her skin is flushed.

“Are you all right?” I ask. I can’t tell by looking at her—or anyone, really. These are things that come so easy to everyone else, but I have to study

mannerisms, gestures and tone of voice. Even then, I rarely get it right.

Jenna doesn’t say anything for a long time, but finally she nods. We are making our way up to the center of the park. There’s a large main tent where the council will meet shortly. I turn to her. “You need to eat. And so do I. When the council meets after lunch, we can speak to them.”

She reaches out for my hand, and before I can pull it away, she squeezes it. “Thank you so much. It was very kind of you to stand up for me. I…” Her voice trembles and fades away as she blinks rapidly. “It means a lot to have a friend with me for this.”

She drops my hand, and I’m left confused as we make our way over to the cook fires to buy some lunch. What did that mean? That’s the second time Jenna has taken hold of my arm. She likes to touch people. But I’ve never been able to understand exactly why and under what circumstances she touches them.

We are served bread and stew in wooden bowls, along with mugs of mulled beer. We’re sitting down on opposite sides of a nearby picnic table when my knee brushes against hers. She doesn’t pull away. I look up and she’s staring right at me.

Oh crap. My eyes drop to her hands on either side of her plate. She wears a plethora of rings—one on almost every finger, even her thumbs. Some are made from semi-precious stones. I recognize hematite and tiger-eye. And the fingers themselves are long and slender, half the size of mine. I’d like to know what it would feel like to wrap my hand around hers, to hold it tight.