by Pam Uphoff
"I wonder if it's taught much of anywhere else? None of you have a Princess, right? And neither of the other women riders went to the Princess School." Izzo's hand dipped into a pocket but emerged empty.
Ezli shook his head. "No political movers or shakers here. Other than Paer, maybe."
Izzo nodded. "I'll check sisters and old flames. And all those fly-by-night magic schools, as well as the more prestigious universities with actual magic departments."
Rael brushed the rust off into the trash. "So we need to be aware of magical sabotage. Izzo, start with Isgu and Efro."
"The obvious beneficiaries." Izzo nodded.
Ezli hesitated . . . "Actually . . . all of us. Only six people will go to Delhi, and only four show in the Olympics. So all of us have a potential motive in sidelining a couple of other riders. We've never had much trouble, and certainly no one's ever done something that so easily could have been fatal."
Izzo raised an eyebrow. "The way you lot ride? Any tack failure could be fatal."
"Oh, and let's not forget all the other Teams that competed in the last few shows. Paris Division is the defending champion. Never hurts to take the champ down a few pegs, well in advance."
Izzo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Rael, what's the time frame on that spell?"
"It's immediate, with little lingering effect, apart from the natural tendency of something rusty to continue to rust. A large area like that . . . I'd need a good solid minute to get it all, good and hard. And . . . all the different alloys under there . . . I doubt the person had any idea what would fail. I mean, you could see if anyone's been buying old cars and immediately junking them, I suppose, but they may have been acting on expectations, not knowledge."
Izzo sighed. "The lab boys are going to love me."
"I sent in some other stuff, too." Rael had never felt less like giggling. "Ask if there's any excessive oxidation involved."
"What and when?" Ezli frowned. "All of us except Yip and Good were at the Berlin qualifier."
"Stirrup leathers. Snip thought the sudden surface crackling the day before was suspicious, and swapped out everything except the saddle itself."
"And a range of a couple meters?" Izzo gave up and grabbed a toothpick.
"Measure that fan of rust. Assume it's part of a circle, find the center and you'll have our perps range. I wonder why he or she held still?" Rael gnawed at her lip. "Damn we need extras of everything, well broken in and then stored away from here."
Ezli hissed out a breath. "I hate to believe any of us would go so far as to kill. Either man or horse."
"But the horses are equipment." Paer walked out from behind Crystal and leaned on the stall door. "Valuable and unique. But not actually irreplaceable, in the long run. If you happen to think that way, hurting one, even killing one wouldn't seem so bad."
They all glared at her.
"Or maybe they just didn't think the van would fail while moving. People can be amazingly fixated on one outcome, and not see all the possibilities."
Rael eyed her . . . the girl was looking inward, thinking. But what? What did she see? What does she know? And will she say anything specific against any of her horsey heroes?
A glum Yip headed home the next day. "Davy's staying with Noir. If he gets in shape, if any other horses have problems, let the others give him a try. Once you head for Delhi, I'll get him shipped home. Or, of course earlier if it's just one horse too many."
Ezli grinned. "No problem, we've got extra grooms, courtesy of the Black Horse Guards." But he still had tense worry lines around his eyes.
Chapter Thirteen
20 Yusef 1398
Linz, Paris Division, One World
Paer suppressed curses as Master Ibja made them take every sort of jump out of every sort of possible corner. Run, then collect and jump. Turns close to the arena wall were a favorite of his. Any lingering anxieties Paer had were steamrollered. With lots of equine and human sweat.
When she left the arena, she found two new rigs in the yard, and Isgu and Efro glaring at each other.
" . . . by half a point. I ought to be the only one under consideration." Isgu broke off to glare at her as she led Crystal up.
"No need to fight." Paer eyed them dubiously. Damned poor substitute for Yip! "Yip's been sent home. I suspect Ezli will make both your acceptances official very quickly. Unless you get into a fist fight in public."
She led Crystal past them, and into the first barn. Twelve stalls in each of the two barns. The newcomers just raised the total to seventeen horses. I don't know whether to hope they split them up, or put them both in the other barn.
Wtdy and Reyc were just saddling up their second string mounts.
"Is it really worth having two grand prix jumpers? I barely have time to get Crystal warmed up, cooled down, and ready for a jump off."
Wtdy snorted. "You have to treat it like a business, and delegate things to employees. But think about it. The circuit judges the horses, but the Team judges the riders. Isgu's only as high up as he is because when Askar has a bad round, he gets a second chance with Juniper. You and Efro matched him with a single try in each show."
"Oh. Hmm, I hadn't thought about it like that." Paer turned back to Crystal. Snip already had her unsaddled and the lightweight cool out blanket ready.
He grinned. "I'll walk her, you go watch."
Reyc grinned. "Yeah, come watch us experts get scolded."
Master Ibja didn't cut Reyc any slack merely because of experience, and in one of the outside arenas, Madam Kiol set herself to make Wtdy lengthen and shorten strides between jumps.
The third Coach, Master Ughi, was setting up jumps while Ezli warmed up his best horse. Escalade had jumped in three Olympics, and at nineteen was still incredible.
She watched . . . and thought. So two of us get left behind. No doubt about it. Isgu, Efro and I are bottom of the heap. Only one of us will go.
So . . . who is doing this and how can I stop them from damaging any horses or riders? Any more horses or riders.
Ezli got a nice gentle ride. More exercise and conditioning than training. Must be nice to already know it all!
Behind her Xiat snorted. "Do you see what they are doing? They're reviewing the basics. Both the horse and rider know so much, that they occasionally get sloppy. At their level, if they've got the basics solid, they can do anything."
Paer grunted. "And I get all the nasty turns."
"Yep. Of course, the coaches don't know either you or Crystal. I suspect you'll be doing different things every day."
"And then maybe a little respect?"
"Maybe. Coaches are tough to impress."
"Hmm, like the Wicked Witch of Ash."
"Is that from Endi's book?"
"Yep. She the big mean head witch. One of the witches finally impressed her by making a purple bunny. Unfortunately it was not a good impression."
Xiat snorted. "Dying a rabbit purple?"
"Well, according to the story it was a genetic change, the rabbit escaped and lived happily ever after. And purple cottontails are still spotted on occasion."
"That's almost as bad as chocolate growing on trees."
"Xiat . . . I thought it did? Cacao beans?" Paer gave Xiat her most innocent expression.
"Smart ass. It is not even close to edible, straight from the bush."
Chapter Fourteen
1 Nicholas 1398
Linz, Paris Division, One World
"So. Let's try a team building exercise, shall we?"
Paer looked up the table at Ezli. One knows we need it, but . . .
Morning briefs and bitch sessions over breakfast were the norm. Everyone was up, dressed, horses checked . . . then meet in the dining room.
"We've got seventeen horses, I think it's time for all of us to ride each horse." Ezli glance at the three new people. "Don't scowl Isgu. If there's a late injury, any of us could find ourselves riding one of the extras. I want to see how we could best mix and match, at need. So i
f you're all done eating, let's saddle up."
Paer gulped. Seven virtual strangers riding Crystal? But . . . I get to ride Escalade! He won his first Olympic medal when I was three years old. And, and . . . Holy One!
Escalade reminded her a bit of Herc, all whipcord muscle and leap. Well, apart from being a lot bigger, and impatient when she tried to tell him how to do his job. Noir was fun, powerful, enthusiastic, needing a bit of management of his stride lengths to set up for jumps, and reluctant to slow from a fast hustle.
Crystal, to her surprise, was very opinionated. Didn't like Wtdy or Okqi. But for Isgu she fired up and gave her best.
"Sweet horse!" Isgu gave her a pat as he handed the reins to Veggie.
Snip shortened the stirrups and gave Veggie a leg up.
Crystal swiveled a disapproving ear, but moved out obediently. Jumped short on the water obstacle, crashed the second element of the in-and-out, slammed on the brakes before the big spread . . .
Ezli shook his head. "Nope. That pair isn't going to work." He waved her in. "Let me try her."
Paer chewed her fingernails while Ezli circled Crystal to settle her down. Jumped the spread. Galloped around and jumped the water correctly this time, but her ears were unhappy, and paying too much attention to her rider instead of the jumps.
Paer turned back to her next ride, and only caught glimpses of Efro and Reyc riding her. No disasters, at least.
Efro's purebred thoroughbred mare was excitable, with a huge leap and lots of speed. Seaside Zephyrs Triumph. Soup, around the stable. A very challenging ride.
Then Isgu's pair, Askar and Juniper . . . By the end of the day she felt like she'd been put through a wringer.
The other horses were all damned good horses. Excellent jumpers and she'd have been happy to ride any of them any time, but none were as good as, well, all right. They probably were as good as Crystal. Some . . . might even be better.
But Crystal is the best mount for me.
They put the horses away, and collapsed with drinks for a long bull session, dissecting each other's horses now that they'd ridden them.
Crystal did not fare well, in the critique.
"Oh, she can jump. But she's a bit spoiled." Wtdy flapped a limp wrist. "She's been allowed to have opinions above her station."
A couple of nods.
"Paer, you're being quiet. What did you think of Escalade?"
"He doesn't like being told what to do by an infant."
That got laughs, and nods as well.
"At least I only got in a serious fight with one horse." Okqi rubbed his shoulder. "Noir dumped me, for those of you who missed my ungentle descent."
Paer blinked. "I thought he was fun."
Veggie snorted. "Oh, he wasn't bad. But he's young, you have to tell him everything, and he doesn't like it."
Isgu nodded. "He was difficult."
Paer watched Ezli and the three coaches watching them, and wondered what conclusions they were coming to. We'll take two spare mounts to Delhi. Probably ones that anyone on the team can do well on. Or we could ride the mounts of the two who don't make the final cut. Ouch! Crystal won't be seen as a good spare . . . they might prefer to take Efro and his horse that everyone liked.
Crystal was a bit nervy in the morning. Paer took her for a gallop around the grounds first things, and jumped a few brushy obstacles out in the fields.
Humor restored, they had another lesson, this one involving a whole bunch of water obstacles, in-and-outs, and triples.
She stayed in the barn and oiled her gear.
"She didn't like someone . . . or someone rode her just wrong, on purpose." Paer kept her voice down and watched Snip working her over, and the mare slowly relaxing.
The next day Crystal was fine, but the coach wanted Paer to work on the flat.
"If the basics are right, you can do anything. Fancy work is excellent on a solid foundation of those basics. Fancy work without the foundation is a disaster waiting to happen."
Paer decided that she definitely liked Master Ughi.
Chapter Fifteen
9 Nicholas 1398
Paris, Paris Division, One World
And then the Paris Grand Prix
For multiple reasons. A bit of fan appreciation, and publicity. A bit of a tune up after so much practice. A last glimpse of their actual competitive riding, for the coaches.
Not the least that they'd be flying out of Paris . . . next week.
It was almost a shock, to suddenly be back in the city, with familiar fans . . . familiar newsies . . .
"Hey Paer, are you sorry Endi can't see you in the Olympics?"
Paer grinned. "Of course. Maybe in four years we'll be on good enough terms with Target Forty-two that they could send a team."
She bounced happily off on that thought and managed to drag the nearest team members into the next three ambush interviews.
"Of course we going to win," was everyone's standard answer.
Eight riders, seventeen horses. Ezli rode three, everyone else had two rides. Paer on Crystal won, Paer on Noir was fourth, Ezli was second and fifth . . .
Her acquaintance from Homestead managed to get a hoof in the door with a third place finish, but the home team dominated.
One last Newsie, late at night. "Paer, did you and Endi ever . . . "
"No! Good grief." Paer turned her back and flounced away, well she would have if she'd had a clue how to do it in riding boots and jodhpurs.
Veggie made a snotty comment about Paer's nymphomaniac tendencies, and got glares from three guards.
Paer boggled. "Umm, Veggie, I thought I heard a rumor about you feeling up Yip in the parking lot. Very low brow, don't you think?" Holy One! I don't believe I said that!
Veggie stiffened. Nose in the air. "He kissed me. I think he prefers grown women."
Paer shivered. She didn't deny it happened . . . and in the parking lot.
Rael said laying the rust spell over that large an area would take a good solid minute. Could a woman, even one used to handling horses, keep Yip under control while she threw a spell? Paer thought about kissing an unwilling man for a whole minute while throwing a hard chemical spell, under a low slung vehicle and out to a meter. Her eyes crossed at the thought.
Maybe Yip wasn't unwilling. He may have claimed to like boys to keep me away. Because most men do seem to prefer grown women, thank the One.
And I have no idea if this place in the parking lot was anywhere near the van that failed. Veggie's just pissed because her best was sixth place.
When I have some privacy, I'll call Rael. She could ask Yip just where they were when she kissed him.
"All right." Ezli stretched. "Get some sleep. Get breakfast. Then my room at nine."
Paer swallowed. He's going to announce the final team.
Chapter Sixteen
17 Nicholas 1398
Enroute to New Delhi, Delhi Division, One World
"Right. Okqi, Boomer's got a mild sprain . . . I've got to cut you."
Paer swallowed as Ezli looked toward the three newcomers.
"Sorry guys, but experience does matter. Isgu, you're out. Paer, you're first substitute, Efro, second substitute. Vueg, Wtdy, Reyc—congratulations."
Grins and nods, scowls, and, well, Paer tried to look neutral and knew she was failing. I'm going to Delhi! Maybe, maybe . . . Dammit, I will not wish for anyone to have a problem, but . . .
"Okqi? Isgu? You're on call to drop everything and come if anything comes up. We'll have a week and a half to acclimate, and more to the point, for the horses to acclimate." Ezli frowned down at his list. "We can take eight horses, so, all of our first string, Veggie, I think Haggard is the best choice if we need a sub and Noir."
Paer subdued a wince. None of them wants to ride Crystal. I'm lucky we're going along as subs.
They loaded up Monday. Fifteen hours in the air. Paer was delighted to fly in the transporter plane. Veggie rolled her eyes; read and slept all the way.
When Pae
r settled down and checked her computer, she found more reports from Target Forty-two. She eyed the horses in the background . . . and then watched the Earth evacuate their army. The last section of their vehicular line up stalled out and didn't go. Then Endi popped out of nowhere.
Paer watched in fascination as the "Natives" came and went, apparently teleporting, apparently on moderately good terms with the remaining Earthers . . . I'll bet they're the ones who've been here the longest. They weren't abandoned. They decided to stay.
They loaded up their remaining vehicles with things from various buildings, then drove off.
Then the Natives started making buildings disappear. Pear eyed their process, two on the ground, two on the roof, pantomiming holding the corners of nothing and scooping up the building. Like the Bags of the Prophets? But there are no signs of handles. like Ra'd's. And he said the bags were made by Those Left Behind. I think they didn't stay behind for very long. Holy One!
She watched them remove underground tanks, and scrape off the soil, to about a meter deep, over the whole site. Shook her head. How did they do that? What is their history? Do they know the history of the Prophets from before the Arrival? What different techniques, what talents, what spells . . .
Why do we keep attacking those people? I want to go talk to them, spend a month, or several years, in a library there. Attend their version of the Princess School. She smiled a little. Check out their horses.
The horses were no worse off than after a long drive. They were all veteran travelers. They walked off the stiffness, got fed and left to relax in their nice unmoving stalls while the humans got a quick guided tour of the Olympic facilities then explored the equestrian venue.
Collapsed in the dormitory-style housing.
I'm here! Doesn't matter if I miss the final cut. I'll make it next time.