Cate sat before the sacred book she trusted with her life and reflected on the past few days. She had taken a loss, her first loss. But regardless of the wisdom Siran might give her, she wasn’t about to give up just yet. Jessalyn Hart was without a doubt a tough woman, but even the toughest could get lost in repeated waves of technical proficiency. Everyone taps eventually.

Cate opened the book and struck a match to see the text that would illuminate the path ahead.

Though no words appear on the page, Cate begins to read out loud

“In the first years of the White Empress’ reign, the gods placed before her a challenge to her throne. The Advisors to the Empress had formed a conspiracy against her.”

Cate paused, stories involving a conspiracy against any of the three Empresses were a sign of bad things to come or at least difficulties ahead.

The White Empress, award of the danger posed to herself and her kingdom, gathered the conspirators in the Mountain palace.

The Empress gathered her treacherous advisors and ordered her guards to murder them, but the Empress was most unfortunate as the Imperial Guards had declared allegiance to the conspirators.

The Empress, now with no one in her court to rely on, resolved to end the conspiracy herself. In the night of the third moon, the White Empress murdered each and every conspirator while they slept.”

Cate smiled, the White Empress always achieved her ends through violence. No matter the odds or the stakes the White Empress always resolved things in her favor violently. In her heart, Cate wanted to be the White Empress. She wanted to be strong, fearless and most of all to be feared.

Cate banished her desires from her mind. It didn’t matter what she wanted for herself… the stories from the book of Siran weren’t told to her so that she could fantasize and daydream. The stories were a call to action, the inspiration she needed and a warning all at once.

She thought about her Wednesday opponent, Jessalyn Hart, and pictured her face. Her eyes, her voice, “you have a pretty face.” Jessalyn had said. Cate touched her face, it was swollen and rough from some may burn she had picked up against Random.

Random. Now there was a guy she wanted to kill in his sleep. But Jessalyn didn’t make her feel like that. She wanted to like Jessalyn, but she wasn’t about to lie down on the mat for her.

Cate wondered if the White Empress ever wanted to like an enemy or if she only ever felt violent hated. Probably the latter, she decided, perhaps she hated everyone because she felt conflicted emotions about them. Now that, Cate could relate to.

On a scrap of paper Cate kept for communication purposes, she wrote in big block letters:

JESSALYN -

I WISH THAT SOMEONE WOULD MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP.

WIN OR LOSE, I AM GOING TO HURT YOU.

Cate stared at her words. Why did she write that? Did she really want to hurt this person? In her heart, she felt a fury, not a desire to win, but a need to cause pain. Below the above writing she added:

I WANT TO SEE YOU BLEED.

Cate folded the paper, struck a match and watched her written emotions turn to smoke and ash.