"[color=gray]Quinn…Quinn I’m so sorry…[/color]"

Quinn sucked in a pained breath. She had [i]never[/i] heard Besca sound like that. She had never seen her [i]act[/i] like that. She was acting like...like...[i]her.[/i] But why would she be—

[i][color=skyblue]He talked to the board, got them to agree to let us step in as their proxy.[/color][/i]

Toussaint had let them step in as a proxy. [i]Duel[/i] proxy. But...RISC only had one pilot, right? And from what she knew, Helburke had tried and failed to beat [i]Dragon[/i] on [i]multiple[/i] occasions. So why would they agree to—

Then that pained breath left her in a mangled half-noise. Because...

[i][color=gray]Quinn…Quinn I’m so sorry…[/color][/i]

Because RISC had [i]two[/i] pilots.

She staggered backwards, falling almost limp into a chair herself. No. No, they [i]wouldn't.[/i] The board wouldn't—

Suddenly that deep fear she felt all made sense. Because they [i]would.[/i]

She'd seen footage of duels in the past month. Well, only in the past two weeks really, so her knowledge of them was pretty limited. But there were a few things that she knew very well.

One, once a duel had been agreed to? There was no pulling out.

Two, they were always unrelentingly brutal and painful for everyone involved.

And three...someone always died in the end.

"[color=FFE63D]B-but...[/color]" Her teeth were chattering like they hadn't since that first horrible week. She clenched her jaw to try and force them still, but they just wouldn't stop. Her eye was wide and disbelieving. "[color=FFE63D]But I...I haven't even d-drawn my weapon yet.[/color]" Her voice grew frantic. "[color=FFE63D]H-how am I supposed to—to [i]fight a duel!?[/i][/color]"

It had to be some kind of terrible mistake. A terrible mistake, or a cruel joke of fate. Helburke...they had pilots prepared [i]specifically[/i] for dueling, she knew that much. 

She had maybe a little more than one month of training. And she [i]HADN'T. DRAWN. HER. WEAPON. YET.[/i]

She was hyperventilating crazily and couldn't stop herself, and she hugged herself tight, digging her fingernails into her arms. Her eye was staring out at something she couldn't see in the distance. Just like that, she was right back where she'd started. 

Casoban was...

[i]"[color=FFE63D]They're sending me out to die![/color]"[/i]