by K M Martinez
“Mel,” Thrash said, “as soon as she found out you were missing, she raced to find you. She loves you. She’s always loved you. She has an incredibly bad way of showing it, but she does.”
“Incredibly bad?”
“All right, that’s an understatement.”
“Hell yeah it is, but it doesn’t matter. That woman is dysfunctional, and do I look like I’m stupid? Do I look like I’m the kind of woman who’s going to fall for someone who’s treated me like shit for years and years?”
Thrash looked sheepish, and said nothing.
“The answer to that question is no, cousin,” Mel said distinctly. “The answer is no.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence, finally finding their way through unfamiliar halls and staircases to the library, where sunlight shone weakly through the curtains.
“It’s early,” said Thrash. He too must’ve lost track of time in the darkness of the hidden floor below.
“Yeah. Do you think Charlotte has already left for Ambulant Laboriosum?”
Thrash looked at her. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Let’s go find out.” Mel removed her sandals and took off at a dead run.
They sprinted out the doors and toward the Kale tents, startling early risers on the way. Mel knew she looked ridiculous running barefooted as fast as she could, sandals in hand, Thrash running beside her, his arm in a sling. But she didn’t care.
When they arrived at the tent and burst into Charlotte’s sleeping quarters, her cot was empty.
“Damn it!”
Mel’s heart sank. A part of her had been hoping to catch her so she could still be her Second.
“Hey! What’s up, cuz? You look good for a sick woman.”
Mel turned around. Standing before her was Charlotte, dressed in Kale gold.
Mel wrapped her in a hug. “I thought I missed you!”
“Almost did! I’m leaving in five minutes. Are you coming? Oh, tell me you’re coming with me!”
“Yes! I’m coming with you!”
Charlotte screamed, and the two jumped excitedly like girls.
“I have to change,” Mel said.
She looked for her bag under her cot, but it wasn’t there. She looked quizzically back at Charlotte and Thrash.
“Uhhh,” said Thrash. “We meant to tell you, but since you were sick and all, it sort of got pushed to the back burner.”
“What? Where’s my bag?”
“Someone took it,” said Charlotte. “We’ve been searching for it, but so far no luck.”
Mel grew quiet. She knew someone had gone through her things the first night of the Agora, but to actually steal her entire bag? Unbelievable!
“They didn’t take those,” Thrash said with a smile. He pointed to the gold Kale tunics under Mel’s bunk.
“Not happening,” Mel said. She grabbed her boots from under the bunk and turned to Charlotte. “All right, cousin, I know you got a shirt and pants that fit me.”
Charlotte pulled out a thick green long-sleeved shirt (“To hide that damn glowing from your pendant”) and pale yellow trousers. While Mel dressed, Charlotte packed her a bag including a water bottle, toiletry items, snacks, and other necessities.
“Just in case,” Charlotte said with a smile, handing Mel the pack.
“Let’s go, before they leave us,” Mel said, shouldering the bag, and the trio rushed out into the early morning sun.
A crowd of descendants had already surrounded two helicopters.
“Hey, Mel!”
Mel turned to see Justine Wiley standing with her brother, Andrew. Andrew was tall and wiry, with light-brown hair and chocolate eyes. He was so quiet, though, that if not for his size he would have blended into his surroundings and been erased from memory. He tried every year to compete for the games, but he was never chosen by the clan. That was unfortunate, Mel thought, for he was one of the most intelligent descendants she knew. But again, he was so quiet he was practically invisible, even in his own clan.
“Where’d you get off to?” Justine said. “I haven’t seen you for days!”
Mel sure as hell didn’t feel like explaining what had happened to her. “Oh, hey, Justine. Sorry, can’t talk—me and Charlotte gotta get to the helicopter.”
Justine looked at Charlotte approvingly, then slapped her brother’s arm. “Well, help her to the helicopter, Drew!”
Andrew stood up straight and yelled in a booming voice that surprised Mel. “Make way! Make way! Competitor for Kale! Move your ass! Move it! Move it!”
And just like that, Mel, Charlotte, and Thrash were given a clear path to the helicopters.
“Just in time,” Mel said as they stopped at the first chopper.
“This is where I leave you guys,” said Thrash. He took Charlotte into a warm embrace and whispered some words into her ear. Then he embraced Mel as well. Mel returned his hug with gusto.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said.
When she pulled away, she saw that Jonah had Charlotte in his arms. Where he had even come from, Mel didn’t know, but here he was, disheveled, with worried green eyes, holding Charlotte tightly and whispering fiercely into her ear. Charlotte kissed him and made to move away, but Jonah’s hold on her was firm. Mel was about to intervene when a hand pulled Jonah away from Charlotte, and a body stood in between the two.
Mel went cold when she realized it was Anton Morel who had inserted himself so close to Charlotte. He sneered down at Jonah like the man was nothing more than a worm.
“You’re in my way,” Anton said, roughly pushing Jonah back before striding toward the helicopters.
“Asshole,” said Charlotte. She then turned back to Jonah. “What were you saying to me before?”
Jonah opened his mouth, but no words came out.
“Don’t worry, babe,” Charlotte said. “I’ll be back in a few days, okay? Love you.”
And with one last kiss, Charlotte moved toward Mel. “Ready?”
Mel nodded, her attention still on Jonah. His green eyes were turning red and glassy.
“Good luck,” Thrash said.
It was time to board the helicopters. The Sapientis were gathered there, all dressed in their clan colors, seeing everyone off. Most looked at Mel and Charlotte with approval, except for Rudolph Kelser—who gave Mel a look much like the one Jonah received from Anton—and Grandma Mari, whose eyes were boring holes into Mel’s head.
“Going after all?” she said tightly.
“Yes,” Mel replied.
“It would be better if you stayed at camp,” Grandma Mari said firmly.
“It would,” Mel said with a wide smile. “But I won’t.”
Grandma Mari turned her attention to Charlotte. “Good luck,” she said, and embraced her. “I’m proud of you for this. So proud. I know it was hard to go against your mother.”
“It was, but I need to do this,” Charlotte said. “I need to see what I’m capable of.”
“All right then. We’ll see you in a few days. Take care, be smart—and don’t take any chances, okay?”
Charlotte nodded, and she and Mel picked a helicopter. Mel made sure it wasn’t the one that Anton Morel was stepping into with Sapienti Reddy.
“You!” Grandma Mari shouted after Mel. “Make sure her head is right before the challenge!”
“I will!” Mel assured her.
****
The helicopter sat fourteen people, not counting the pilot and co-pilot, and it was just about full. Two descendants were already blindfolded next to their Seconds, which reminded Mel that she needed to make sure Charlotte was blindfolded before the helicopter took off. One Sapienti, Janice Bartley, was also in the helicopter, along with four Journeymen who would make sure the rules were followed. Mel knew one of them would shadow her and Charlotte the entire time they were together, to ensure Mel didn’t tell Charlotte anything about where the location was.
Mel grabbed a blindfold from a Journeyman and handed it to Charlotte. “Well, put it on,�
�� she said.
Charlotte began wrapping the thick black cloth around her head.
“You as well.”
Mel looked up in surprise at the Journeyman. He was of medium height, thick around the waist, with broad shoulders. His dark-gray hair fell over black eyes that seemed both piercing and ominous. A thick neck supported an oval head with a flat, ruddy face, its features mushed in. Mel couldn’t remember his name—Craig or Blaine or Shane—but she knew he was at least ten years her senior.
“I wasn’t aware that Seconds had to be blindfolded,” Mel said.
“New rule.”
“When was this decided?”
“Recently.” The Journeyman’s ruddy face turned ruddier.
Mel wanted to ask how recent, but then she overheard a similar conversation taking place between Sapienti Bartley and another Journeyman—a young woman whom Mel recognized as a relative of the Sapienti. Tabitha, her name was.
“I wasn’t made aware of this at all,” Sapienti Bartley was saying. “Someone would’ve mentioned it to me.”
“I just heard about the new rule as well, Sapienti. It’s to ensure none of the Seconds accidentally let on to the location,” Tabitha was saying apologetically. “So now everyone but the Journeymen ensuring a fair contest have to be blindfolded.”
“Do you take me for an idiot? Who would accidentally give away the most important clue to Ambulant Laboriosum?”
“Aunt Janice, please,” Tabitha begged. “My hands are tied.”
Sapienti Bartley looked at Tabitha crossly, but grudgingly took the blindfold. “My proud niece,” she said to anyone and everyone.
When Janice Bartley wrapped the blindfold around her eyes, Mel knew there was no point arguing. She put the blindfold on as well, and shortly after, she felt one of the Journeymen roughly put his hands on her face. She grabbed the offending hand and twisted hard. She heard a hiss of pain escape her offender’s lips.
“Keep your hands off of me,” Mel snapped.
“Mel, let him go,” said Tabitha. “We’re just trying to—”
“To ensure no one sees the location. I know. But I don’t need some guy I hardly know grabbing my face.”
“Kane, you check the others,” Tabitha said. “I’ll check these two.”
Mel let the hand go and relaxed into her seat. Tabitha checked her blindfold and Charlotte’s, and found no issue. In minutes, the helicopter doors closed, and the rotors started.
The flight lasted hours. Mel knew they were following a weaving pattern designed to disorient the competitors so they wouldn’t know north from south, east from west. Frankly, she found the trip nauseating. She normally enjoyed flying, but this was rough and uncomfortable. Bile rose in her throat, and she prayed that the ride would end soon.
Finally, the helicopter started descending. The moment the rotors slowed and the door opened, she ripped off her blindfold, unlatched her seat belt, and leapt from the cabin. Falling on her hands and knees, she heaved up her dinner from the night before. She couldn’t care less about the sounds of disgust from those nearby.
Finally she stood up and took a look at her surroundings.
They were in a small clearing surrounded by trees. All around her, she could feel the Texas wildlife alive and thriving. She breathed in the fresh air and immediately started to feel like herself again.
“All right there, cousin?”
Charlotte stood behind her, leaning on the helicopter. The others had already moved a good distance away.
“Yeah, I’m good now,” Mel said.
“Good.” Charlotte handed Mel her bag. “We should move on. The pilots want to take off.”
They trotted away, and the two helicopters lifted off and departed. Mel knew enough not to care what direction they took; they wouldn’t head back to camp.
“You should know there are a few people over there that are judging you,” Charlotte said.
Mel looked slowly toward the others, who were making camp. “Oh really.” She wasn’t at all surprised. “Let me guess: my reputation as the weak link is still intact?”
“You can say that.” Charlotte smiled. “That guy Kane has been walking a little taller since you spewed your guts in front of everyone. I guess it made him forget that you made a chicken wing out of his arm.”
“Oh, let him. He’s got very little to walk tall about.”
Charlotte laughed. “I had to shoo Cori away,” she said after a moment.
“Aw, hell! I forgot she was competing.”
Mel spotted Cori in the camp helping her Second, an older Ferus named Jack Teller with shaggy blond hair and a disheveled beard.
“Yup,” Charlotte said. “I had to tell her to scoot while you were sick. I told her you would prefer privacy to concern.”
Mel rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t stop the warmth that sparked within her. It was strange. Every ounce of her soul rebelled against the warmth, opting for the safe bubble of self-preservation. She took the distaste, annoyance, dislike, and distrust she felt for the red-haired woman and slathered those disagreeable feelings over the warmth until it fizzled out, leaving only a smoky ruin to show it had ever been there at all.
Then Cori looked up and met Mel’s eyes… and just like that, Mel felt a stirring in her gut again.
She looked down at the grass, and let her bag drop off her shoulder. “Let’s get unpacked.”
****
The next few hours went by quickly as the descendants worked together to get camp set up. The competitors hardly talked to each other, however. It wasn’t from lack of wanting, but due to the Journeymen referees shadowing them.
Mel was annoyed. Twice she’d tried to speak to another competitor, and twice Kane, the Moors Journeyman, had shut the conversation down. She felt that the Journeymen referees, with the exception of Tabitha Bartley, were going out of their way to spread disunity. Mel also found it odd that there were no Kale Journeymen or Ferus Journeymen; instead there were two Moors and two Jansos, with one each from the other three clans.
The other Clan Moors referee, in addition to Kane, was his brother, Claus Connelly. Claus was just as unpleasant as Kane, and even looked like his malevolent twin. He talked in a harsh, loud voice that Mel found at once irritating and obnoxious. She decided early on that she would avoid the two brothers, but that plan was trashed when Claus broke off from the main group and walked toward where Charlotte and Mel were making their camp. Charlotte had been talking to Mel about what she would do once the competition started, and Mel had been offering suggestions. But Claus Connelly plopped down on a rock and made a point of shooting down every one of Mel’s and Charlotte’s ideas with disdain and contempt. Needless to say, Mel and Charlotte were not feeling warm and fuzzy toward Claus.
As for Kane, he was shadowing Anton Morel and his Second, Rafe Bledsoe, a wiry, pale descendant with brown eyes and black hair. Rafe’s eyes were always moving, always scanning. Mel thought he was shifty. He didn’t speak to anyone but Anton and Kane. Anton pretty much kept to himself under the watchful eye of Sapienti Reddy, who sat with his gold blades at his hips. Mel got the impression that Sapienti Reddy had come along solely to keep Anton out of trouble, and perhaps to keep things civil.
The Clan Janso referee was Gale Norris, who seemed in a foul mood, throwing things around without care. He was shadowing Cori and Jack Teller. Teller looked ready to punch Norris in the face when the Janso threw one of their backpacks roughly out of his way. Cori had to keep a firm grip on Teller’s shoulder to keep things civil.
A male and female descendant were representing Clan Tam in the competition. Mel didn’t know either of them, nor which one was actually competing, and would’ve liked to have asked them, but the Clan Ivor Journeyman shadowing them always found something the two needed to do when they were approached by another clan.
The Clan Moors competitor and his Second seemed to be the only ones enjoying themselves. Luke Grayson and Brett Stanley were just about in love with Tabitha Bartley; the three of them laughe
d and joked and flirted the entire morning and afternoon.
The Clan Ivor descendants, Henri Rigor and Helena Carter, were matched with a Tam Journeyman named Lorena Shearer. Henri Rigor was short, with light gray eyes and dyed blue hair. Helena Carter was tall and slender with fair skin and blue eyes. Lorena Shearer had silver hair that looked odd around her young face. All three spoke fluent French, and they talked quietly among themselves, but to Mel, they didn't look very motivated. The three sat in a small group while others bustled around them.
The Clan Mayme descendants were shadowed by the second Janso referee, Meredith Steele. Steele was a hard-looking woman, all sharp angles and weathered edges. Her auburn hair just touched her shoulders. Her gray eyes kept looking surreptitiously toward the Clan Janso competitors, not minding her own two competitors at all.
It was her behavior that set off Mel’s warning bells.
“There’s something going on here,” she whispered to Charlotte.
It was late afternoon, and Claus had disappeared into the woods, presumably to answer nature’s call. It was the first time he had left them alone.
“What do you mean?” Charlotte asked.
“Look around,” Mel said. “Steele keeps looking over at Anton Morel and Bledsoe, and those three…” Mel nodded at the Clan Ivor descendants with their Clan Tam referee. “Those three are doing nothing to prepare for tomorrow. Nothing. You know how dangerous Ambulant Laboriosum is. What kind of idiot goes into the competition without preparing? Neither has a pack. It’s like they’re waiting for something.”
Charlotte looked over at the three descendants sitting quietly by themselves. “Well, I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve met some dumb descendants who think they’re just going to go out there and wing it.”
That was true. Mel, too, had seen some descendants who didn’t give Ambulant Laboriosum the respect it deserved. Some had lost their lives because of it. Too proud even to use the emergency GPS phone, they’d died lost and alone in the woods.
“No,” Mel said. “Something’s off.”