The cheers wash over me like a wave, crashing against the walls of the arena and echoing back in a thunderous roar. I stand at the center of it all, Orvis's blood still drying on my knuckles, my own wounds throbbing with each heartbeat, and I feel something I haven't felt in a very long time.

Acceptance.

Not the grudging tolerance I've grown accustomed to. Not the polite masks hiding contempt. This is real—raw and genuine and earned. The warriors of Rose Heart are on their ...