Chapter 1757 - The First Day Of The Tournament (5)

~ 50 kilometers Northwest from Borodin ~

When Sarah, Aiden, and Hong reached their destination, they were directed to go to one of the three-story barracks.

The man gave them keys to their rooms with several reminders: "We are not responsible for your personal belongings… Fighting is not allowed outside the tournament… In your rooms, you will see a schedule for meals… The second round of the tournament starts tomorrow at nine o'clock in the morning and by eight-thirty you will see who your opponent is…"

"Why is my cell phone not working?", Sarah asked innocently.

The man smiled. "We have bad reception here and I would be surprised if you have a signal. There is a free Wi-Fi that you can use to make calls, and if your phone does not support that feature, we will provide you with one."

Sarah asked for one phone before they went toward their building. She plans to use it to verify what frequencies are going through, if any. They know better than to make calls through the provided Wi-Fi network, those will definitely be recorded.

As Natalia's team, they got two rooms with two beds each. One was probably for men and the other one for women. It was convenient that rooms are next to each other as the organizers grouped participants based on the team they are representing.

Sarah and Aiden took one room, and Hong said that he will stay in the second one.

Hong joined Aiden and Sarah in their room, to discuss what they observed so far.

Aiden was not happy that rooms don't come with bathrooms attached.

They counted twenty-eight rooms on their floor and two community-style bathrooms. Each bathroom had ten sinks, ten shower-stalls, and fifteen toilets.

"At least there are separate bathrooms for males and females…", Aiden grumbled.

"It's fine. We will manage.", Sarah tried to pacify him.

Aiden could see Iskra jumping on Sarah as soon as she gets a chance… Or maybe bribing someone to attack Sarah. "Be careful when you go to the bathroom."

Sarah was not worried that someone will attack her. She is more than capable to defend herself. She was more concerned about the lack of privacy that those flimsy shower-curtains are providing. With her blonde wig on, it will be challenging to take it off and shower without anyone noticing.

There is nothing they can do about bathrooms no matter how much they talk about it and she wanted to change the topic.

"It's good that we are on the third floor, at the end of the building. We have easy access to the roof." 

"We didn't see any cameras, but that does not mean that there are none.", Hong reminded them.

Sarah and Aiden agreed that he has a point. As much as they know, the rooms might be bugged as well so they should not talk carelessly.

Sarah turned on the device to jam the jammers and sent a text to Sophia and JoAnna that they arrived. Within a second, Sarah received a response, and she was happy that the device works, and they have a way to communicate.

…

Dinner was uneventful.

In the large cafeteria, Sarah spotted Iskra at one table, and Vanya was a few tables away. Both of them glared at her and Aiden, but they didn't do more than that.

Hong wore a light hoodie jacket and had a hood on, just in case if someone might recognize him. 

"Do you see anyone familiar?", Sarah asked Hong.

"No one, so far. I don't expect that these youngsters from other bases will know who I am. And the older generation from the main family will probably arrive toward the end of the tournament."

They all wished to know how long this will take, but they were unable to find out more than how the next round starts tomorrow morning.

After dinner, they took a walk around the area, following most of the other people present.

They saw an artificial running track with a rubberized running surface, areas for long jump, disk throwing, archery, and a shooting range. Everything was modern and scoring boards were digitalized.

"Wow… this is worthy of Olympics.", Sarah mumbled. "Look… they have a huge indoor swimming pool…"

They walked next to the obstacle course and behind the building where the swimming pool is they saw six fighting rings with seating around them.

"This is where the tournament will happen tomorrow…", Hong said. "Let's not linger. The more we are outside, the more we are at risk of allowing troublemakers to approach us."

"They will find us even if we go to our room.", Sarah said.

"If that happens, we can get rid of them with fewer witnesses.", Hong responded. "And I hope that at least some of them will be disqualified tomorrow…"

Aiden and Sarah laughed. Hong is usually a grumpy old man, but since they got here, he is more like a concerned parent.

…

Aiden was super-nervous until Sarah returned to the room after a shower. And he visually inspected her for any bruises and cuts even though she told him that she is fine.

Sarah observed that two beds are on opposite sides of the room, with an armoire in-between them. Every bed had a side-table with a small lamp on it.

There was plenty of empty space, and Sarah concluded that this room usually has at least four beds, eight maybe if they use bunk beds. The layout of the room was recently adjusted to accommodate two beds, and the marks on the wooden floor confirmed that theory. 

"Should we put our beds together for more sleeping space?"

Aiden refused. "No need. We will squeeze into one. I love squeezing with you."

Sarah had no counter-arguments. Aiden was already in the bed and his arms were outstretched toward her, silently inviting her to join.

Sarah turned off the lights, snuggled next to Aiden, and relaxed. "No matter where we are, as long as we are together, I am at peace."

Aiden hummed in approval of that thought. "I feel the same."

The two of them laid in silence and they could hear crickets through their slightly open window.

Sarah would think that Aiden slept off if not for his palm gently caressing her abdomen.

"Sarah?", Aiden called after some time.

"Hmm?"

"When this is over… let's get married."

Sarah was confused. "Aren't we married?"

"Three years ago, I married the love of my life… and I would love to have another wedding with the mother of my children."

"Oh…", a sound escaped Sarah's lips.

"What do you say?"

"Sounds to me that you want to have a party where we get to dress up."

Aiden hummed in approval. "And I also want to invite our friends and family and to stream the event to the public while I tell you how amazing you are and how happy you make me feel. You changed me. With you, I accomplished things I never thought are possible. I want everyone to know that. You will wear the prettiest dress and you will be my queen."

Sarah exhaled helplessly. "How can I say no to that? But I have a condition."

"Anything…"

"You need to wear a matching suit and be my king."

Aiden chuckled. "Sounds like I have a wedding to plan."

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