I awoke with the sun, and I heard the sound of someone moving quietly outside my door, stoking the fire and boiling water. Khalim still slept, a tangle of long brown limbs stretched out on the narrow bed beside me. He slept easy, his breathing deep and even. For the moment, no dreams troubled him.
I do not remember if I dreamt, but now that I was awake, guilt plagued me. Had I made a terrible mistake? Maybe it would have been wiser to keep my distance, so that whatever was to come, I could believe at least I had not made things worse. But it was already too late for that—it had been well before the previous evening.
Not two days ago, I had sworn to protect him and failed. I had failed to protect Fearghus on the cold northern sea. I could not fail again, allow any more harm to come to Khalim, for his sake and for my own.
By all the gods my people swear to, I said, silently so as not to wake him, I will protect you with my life.
Perhaps it was an empty oath, as my first one had turned out to be, but I was resolute that it would not be. The tournament was almost over, and soon the Sword of Heaven would be, if not in my possession, then in the hands of the rebellion. We would go to the mountains, a place more familiar to me than any of the shining cities of the south, and we would be safe.
But there was still much to do before then.
I rose and dressed, and when Khalim stirred I told him to sleep. He would need all the rest he could get. He pulled the threadbare blanket over his shoulders and went back to sleep with a sigh.
Aysulu was sitting by the hearth in the common room, poking at something slightly burned that might have been breakfast. She said nothing, only raising a questioning eyebrow as I shut the door behind me.
When everyone had woken, we gathered all our belongings; we would not be returning to the safe house, and once the festival had ended, it was likely to lose all semblance of safety. We went first to House Darela, to fetch Aysulu’s horse and for Khalim to heal Jahan once more, as he had been injured during his team’s fight against the horned beetle.
“I am in your debt once more,” Jahan said. “Good luck in the arena today.”
A second horse, and a wooden chariot with reinforced sides and great, high wheels, awaited us at the colosseum. There were finer chariots, heavier with armor or light and fast, but ours had been purchased by the miners and donated for our use. I knew little of the art of driving one. My job would be to stand in the back, and with a supply of blunted, wooden weapons, protect our chariot and prevent others from getting ahead of us.
Aysulu fastened her horse and the borrowed one to the chariot. The second accepted this placidly, while her own horse stamped and tossed its head. She spoke to it softly in her own tongue. When both horses were ready, she climbed into the chariot and flicked the reins, and circled the arena three times until both horses were in tandem. She had always insisted that there was no magic in the bond that the steppe people had with their beasts, but I had my doubts.
As she worked, the other competitors began to gather in the arena. By the time the sun had climbed over the stands, a few chariots were already at the starting line. I saw Jin and Heishiro, each with a wooden sword, mount up and nod at me as they passed.
Some of the teams were finishing long rituals to give their riders strength for the contest ahead. The morning air hummed with magic, and the cloudless sky shimmered overhead.
Khalim touched both the horses on their soft noses, and took Aysulu’s hand and then mine. He smiled, and warmth flowed through my body, chasing out the ache that had settled between my shoulders from sharing the cot in the safe house.
“Be safe,” he said, and he followed Garvesh to wait.
I gathered my weapons and climbed into the chariot after Aysulu. I had been given four poles the size and weight of my javelins, and another that was larger and heavier but not quite the heft of my axe. It would have to do. The platform shook under my feet as the wheels turned, taking us to the starting line. It was not quite like standing on the deck of a longship, but perhaps it was similar enough for me to keep my footing. I was glad, at least, that I did not need to ride a horse, or to steer the chariot.
Aysulu pulled her hair back from her face. “Are you ready?”
I was as ready as I would ever be. Khalim’s magic and the thrill of the challenge coursed through me, and the arena was filled with a humming tension. The stands fell silent, pressing forward to get a better look. An attendant, standing by the starting line, held aloft a great white flag that almost glowed in the sun.
For the space of a breath, all was still.
The flag dropped, and like arrows loosed from a bow, the chariots shot forward. Hooves thundered down the length of the arena, kicking up such a great cloud of dust that I could see only the shape of our horses, and nothing of the other chariots.
Aysulu urged the horses onward. The dust began to disperse, and as we rounded the curve to dash across the southern end of the colosseum, it cleared enough that I could see. We were ahead of the crowd of chariots, but only just—I saw Ashoka, his jaw set in grim determination, ready a blunted javelin.
He threw, but the stick knocked harmlessly into the wall of our chariot and clattered aside. I hefted one of my own. It arced through the dust, but Ashoka cast it aside with his wooden shield.
I cursed the waste of my limited ammunition. I would have to wait for a better shot. The Ascended’s champions were pacing us, coming closer by the moment. We swung around the next corner, and they took the inside track. Their horses pulled ahead of ours. I shouted a wordless challenge at Ashoka as he passed.
Aysulu turned her head over her shoulder and cried out in alarm. The Golden Road, their chariot driven by a man I did not recognize, was fast approaching on our other side. Their leader, Gaius, did not have a weapon ready; he was gripping the rail with both hands, his knuckles a bloodless white.
The driver jerked hard on the reins, and their chariot careened toward us. At the hub of each wheel was a spike—not sharp, as the Ascended were not gathering blood this day, but solid iron and hard enough to splinter a wooden wheel. Aysulu pulled our horses up sharply, slowing them down.
The spike met our chariot ahead of our wheel. If I had not braced when we had slowed, the impact would have thrown me to the sands. A shower of splinters mixed with the dust, and I could see the ground move by through a jagged hole that had formed on Aysulu’s left side. Our chariot was still intact, but we had lost our lead—both Ashoka and Gaius were ahead of us when we crossed the starting line.
I readied another javelin. The chariots had spread out in a rapidly shifting line, and the dust had settled to a roiling cloud low against the ground. Alaric of the Lion and Wolf swung a mighty blow at House Darela’s driver, causing her to lose the reins, her chariot slowing and falling behind. Ahead of us, Ashoka’s chariot galloped in front of the Golden Road.
The dust was thicker here, at the center of the crowd. Aysulu regained control of the horses and, with another flick of the reins, drove them to faster gait.
I took up my heavier pole in my left hand, keeping a javelin in my right. A chariot pulled up beside me, and I almost took a swing before I recognized the Dragon Disciples. Jin’s gaze was fixed on the chariot ahead of him, while Heishiro had his pole in both hands, ready to strike. He gave me a nod, half respectful and half challenging, as they passed.
Our chariot was just behind theirs as they caught up to Ashoka and his driver. Jin brought them in close, their wheels almost touching, their horses running together as if the two chariots were drawn by a single team. Heishiro braced his feet against the walls and swung.
Ashoka raised his shield. The pole struck it with a mighty crack, and both weapon and shield were splintered. I felt our wheels crush the shards of wood left in their wake.
In the confusion, the Sunspear came up behind us. Jahan swung at Ashoka’s driver as he passed, and though he missed he was now in first place. I tried another hit as we caught up to the Divine Champions, but Ashoka deflected my blow.
I was growing accustomed to the motion of the chariot, its tilt as we turned and the way it lurched over the uneven terrain. It moved more quickly than a ship, but I had been right to think it not so different. I could stand with my feet apart and both my hands free for my weapons. I kept them ready, waiting for a clear shot.
We slowed only slightly as we navigated the next turn. It was enough for House Kaburh’s chariot to come out ahead of us. Artyom kept his weapon low, making no threat, but his chariot was parallel with Jin’s and we could not get around them. Aysulu’s dark brows, turned light with dust, furrowed in concentration.
“Look out!” I cried.
The Golden Road had fallen back to come up beside us again, and without warning they attempted another crash. The stands cried out in surprise and outrage. Again, Aysulu pulled back on the reins, slowing us down, and the spike missed us. Gaius’s chariot went on ahead, and two more passed us as we struggled to regain our momentum.
The Golden Road was trying to remove us from the race—violently, if necessary. Perhaps I had been wrong to assume that the Ascended were not looking for our blood this day.
The merchants’ guild team was not going to win. Though they had made it this far, they had not done well. They had also almost lost one member to the rhinoceros yesterday. With no chance of success for themselves, why were they so intent on preventing our victory, and no other’s?
I remembered the mysterious dealings I had interrupted between Gaius and Ashoka, after Rhea the bard had narrowly escaped the Serpent. Before then, the Golden Road had not appeared to be aligned with the Ascended, as Rhea’s mocking performance had shown. Under threat of a second attack, had Gaius agreed to work against us? Or perhaps in exchange for better medicine and care for their rider, whom the Ascended’s agents had not allowed Khalim to heal?
I could not know for certain. What I did know was that the Golden Road was a threat, and one perhaps more dire than the other teams, who were still trying to win the race.
We crossed the starting line again, with only two teams behind us and the rest ahead. Five more laps awaited us, and with them, many dangers.
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