Chapter Text
Mel sighed as she stared at the blueprints. Jayce had provided them as instructed and now she needed to make sense of the designs in front of her. She refused to ask him to elaborate, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of needing his help. The man could barely fit through doorways with the size of his ego. Mel made a mental note to speak to Viktor about it. Jayce knew a lot about hextech but so did his partner and Viktor had no interest in rubbing his immense knowledge in other people's faces.
A light knock on her door pulled her out of her inner musings. "Enter." Elora opened the door, flanked by two enforcers. "Have they readied the gallows?"
Elora chuckled as Mel stood and made her way over. "I'm sure the opening ceremony won't be too painful." They fell into step as the enforcers trailed a few feet behind and made their way towards the courtyard. "Think of it this way. At least it's a beautiful day outside."
Mel spotted Torman as they reached the tower entrance. "Ah, Councilor Hoskel. On your way to the opening ceremony?" She dismissed Elora with a slight nod before approaching the man. Torman humphed. He always found displeasure in each day and today, Mel was grateful for his ill-temper.
"Waste of time is what it is. We should just line them up and pick one who looks most like a champion!" he exclaimed.
They exited through the doors, following the enforcers' directions over to a sectioned off seating area on a makeshift stage. Mel scanned the crowd of hopeful champions. The numbers were striking having already dwindled down to what appeared to be fifty people. "It's been two days and already they've lost a majority of the recruits from the enrollment."
"Good." Cassandra slid onto the seat beside her. "The smaller selection will make this process simpler for us."
Mel hummed, continuing to survey the crowd. "Not all hope is lost. At least there are some Zaunites left." It was very easy to see the difference between the undercity dwellers and those from Piltover. Even as they wore the same uniform, those from Piltovan clans stood out. Her eyes snapped to Salo approaching the podium. "What is Salo doing?" Mel asked, hoping the man hadn't gone rogue.
"I assigned him the opening speech to finally stop his whining," Cassandra muttered. "He refused to stop complaining about his clan name not being included in our pamphlets."
Mel straightened in her seat as Salo's voice boomed across the courtyard. It was going to be a long day.
~-~-~-~
Sevika glanced around at her competition. The numbers plummeted even more over the last two days since the start of the boot camp. A considerable amount of people quit first thing the next morning when enforcers awakened them at daybreak to go on a three mile run. They then spent the next 48 hours doing everything from jogging to sit-ups at all hours of the day and night. It appeared sleep deprivation was the first test and Sevika was barely passing.
Maddie and Yrsen stood to her right. The short woman stared at the stage, captivated as though each word held all of life's answers. They were already on their fourth speaker and Sevika had no idea how she stayed interested. Sevika's eyes met Yrsen and he glanced down at Maddie before rolling his eyes playfully. She smirked before looking away with a scowl.
Try as she might, she couldn't shake the two topsiders who seemed to have attached themselves to her. Sevika wasn't used to the continuous company. Her meetings with Silco were short and to the point or else she grew irritated, and they never discussed much outside of ways to improve Zaun. Her other work only required barking orders at incompetent henchmen and providing extra authority and muscle when needed. She never kept anyone around for an extended period of time, preferring the lone wolf approach. Not even her assistant chatted with her. She gave him orders and he reported back whenever necessary. Even her romantic life was direct. She paid for a specified time and the brothel provided that. No risk of clingy exes or even clingier partners trailing after her in the undercity.
So why she hasn't told either of these two topsiders who orbited her like lost puppies to shove it? She still wasn't sure. Her only guess was that eventually they may be an asset to her mission and any inroads to this topside hellscape was a bonus.
Sevika's attention snapped back to the podium as the Kiramman matriarch greeted everyone.
"Good day to our future champion. I want to take this time to introduce our council to you."
Sevika tuned her out as she scanned the small group of councilors sitting on the stage. They looked as stuck-up as their name and titles suggested as Cassandra rattled off their accomplishments. Her eyes landed on a young woman who seemed more interested in whatever conversation she was having with a balding man next to her than the ceremony. They whispered back and forth, their heads close together with deep frowns on their faces. Sevika smirked. It seemed not everyone was as enthused about this as the Kiramman who continued with her grand ego-stroking fest about the council's commitments.
The woman looked to be a similar age. Her hair was pulled into an up-do showing off her delicate neck. An ivory outfit hugged her body, complimenting her rich, brown skin. Sevika's eyes trailed downward, raking across her body. She was jolted out of her staring by a sharp elbow and glared at Yrsen. He gave her a knowing look before nodding his head towards the enforcer behind the podium. Sevika sighed, grumbling under her breath and took another glance at the councilors. Her eyes landed on the woman again only to find her gazing back.
Sevika tore her eyes away. She swallowed as she tried to fight down the blush blooming on her cheeks. It was another thing out of the ordinary for her. Normally, she'd rise to the challenge by maintaining eye contact or even giving a suggestive expression, but this mission required she kept her head down. Until she was named champion, getting on a councilor's radar was a big risk. She tried to focus on the speaker only to have her eyes slide back over for another look. The councilor was back to conversing with the man next to her.
"In closing, I will state your vows for this program. You will swear to them before your council if you wish to proceed. If not, you are free to leave." The speaker cleared his throat. "I pledge loyalty above all to the council. I vow to provide my service in times of need and my arms in times of war. I vow to not give in to bodily desires nor harbor outside influences in spouses or family. I vow to never take lands,claim titles,or hoard any wealth. I shall never refuse the call to aid. This, I swear it."
"I swear it," the crowd spoke in unison.
"Welcome, new recruits," the enforcer said, grinning. "Enjoy the rest of your day. Tomorrow, the real work begins." The crowd exploded into cheers as some recruits hugged and others scattered to take advantage of the downtime.
Sevika tilted her head back, grinning to herself. She made it into the program.
"What should we do today?" Maddie asked, nearly bouncing with excitement. "I wonder if they'll let us meet the council?"
Sevika scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. We have to do more than swearing to an oath before that happens." She looked around. "You two entertain yourselves. I have some things to sort out before tomorrow."
She ignored their protests as she made her way back to the barracks and to the second floor. Sevika spotted the barber lounging at his station and walked over before plopping down onto the chair. "Hack it off." The man nodded and covered her torso with a cape. Sevika stared at her reflection as the first strands of her hair were sliced away.