The Column Racer

by Jeffrey Johnson

  Sofi

  Areli collapsed onto the ground. Tears filled around her eyes and rolled over her cheeks and hand that was used to keep from screaming. Fides looked down at Areli and was quick to console.

  “Areli, what is it?” asked Fides, “what is that?”

  “I-it’s n-noth-i-ing,” choked out Areli. Fides gripped the parchment away from her. Areli grabbed it back, but Fides had already gotten through the message when Areli’s fingers swiped it away. Fides lunged for the box and flung open the lid. The inside of the box was perfectly molded to hold the gold knife sitting perfectly in the middle, covered in a bath of royal silk.

  Fides stood up and stormed off, leaving Areli broken on the floor. Students started running in the direction of the screams. Areli stood up, not even realizing that Fides had left her. She entered into the current of students following the commotion, her lips screaming for Fides. The stream of students led Areli right to her.

  Fides was tangled in a mess with Sofi. Areli fought her way through. The two girls were wrestling on the ground. Sofi was struggling to get Fides off her. Sofi had her hands on the lower part of Fides face, trying to keep Fides’s hands away from her throat. Fides pushed the long, dainty arms away, and with a rounded fist, punched Sofi right in the face, causing a streak of blood to spray across the marble floor.

  Areli reached Fides the same time Amer did. They pulled her off Sofi, even though Areli really didn’t want to. The royal born was in tears and was screaming incoherently. Yats rushed through the crowd, and Sofi’s cousin had done the same. Haskel knelt by Sofi and then looked up at Amer, Areli, and Yats, as the three made a barrier between him and Fides. He screamed at them, tears pricked in his eyes as he tried to break his way past them. They didn’t budge. And he refused to quit.

  Professors came running into the hallways, trying to break up the fight. There was a war going on and Areli was at its center. Students tugged and pulled. Sides were being picked. The professors and guards infiltrated the crowd and put out the flames. They sent the royal bloods, Areli, Fides, Amer, and Yats to the principal’s office. Sofi, of course, denied writing the letter, and strained that the knife wasn’t hers.

  In the aftermath, only Fides was punished. She was suspended for a week. And the issue concerning the knife was left unresolved, as none of them knew if Sofi had done anything at all. But Areli knew. And she told Fides everything that happened when Haskel and Sofi came to visit her earlier that year. Fides features became severe as Areli re-told what happened. After hearing everything, Fides said that Sofi was lucky she didn’t kill her.

  Areli told Fides she was mad to attack Sofi.

  “She can’t do anything to me,” said Fides, “the Emperor adores his riders more than he loves his own blood.” Areli wasn’t so sure of that one.

  “What if it was her?” asked Areli, “if she did this just because I hurt her cousin. What do you think she would do to you?”

  “Nothing,” said Fides for about the hundredth time, “she can’t do anything to me. And she knows it.” Areli hoped Fides was right. Hurting someone verbally was one thing. Punching someone in the face was something else totally. She was glad Fides did it, but not if it would jeopardize her friend’s life. Areli knew she would have two saddles to inspect from now on.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sofi had not come to school the day following the incident, or the day after that, or any day for the entire week. Areli wished she could have disappeared like that. To still have people stare at her the way they did, with nothing but pity and remorse in their eyes . . . She couldn’t stand it. The fall was over. Winter around the corner. And the next official race wouldn’t be until the spring months leading to summer. And technically, Areli wouldn’t be able to compete in any of them. But there was to be a fix. A fix that would burden her more than killing the Follower of Degendhard. Someone was going to be injured. Someone on the team . . . was being targeted by the Emperor. And there was nothing she could do about it.

  Areli still had something to be excited about, as she received a new saddle from Jax in just a few days. But during those four days she didn’t have equipment for training, Areli laid in her large rectangle room, just inside the doors of her personal training area, with Kaia lying next to her. Even if she did have a saddle at that time, she wouldn’t be able to fly anyway, for her dragon’s mouth was still sore from the brute nature and damage from the bit. Areli wished she could tell Kaia in words just how sorry she was.

  She whispered it to her dragon many times and wished dearly upon the stars that Kaia hadn’t become afraid of her task. Areli had heard terrible stories of how heavy-handed riders wind up blowing up their dragons, so that they turn crazed, resulting in finishing a successful column as the least of their problems.

  Aubrie had to reassure Areli that Kaia still loved her job. Everyone had to. Yats, Fides, and even Amer. Areli knew if they were to survive through the season, Kaia had to have the mind to perform.

  “She will only be scared,” said Aubrie, “if you are scared. You need to attack, Areli. I will double check your equipment myself . . . if that’s what it takes for you to be confident about the run. Whoever did this . . . don’t let them take your confidence away . . . or your heart. You have to decide your destiny.”

  During Areli’s first practice – kicking off winter training – on top of her second new saddle while poised at the top of the elevation with Kaia, she had to fight with herself. She had to remind herself what she and her dragon were capable of. The wind came across her face, welcoming her back to her second home. The adrenaline in her blood told her that she was standing on the doormat leading into the foyer of happiness and bliss. She could feel the joy crashing into her like a turbulent wave of water, gently licking her as it ebbed back and forth.

  She moved Kaia to the edge and let her eyes shut. Areli felt the release of fear. She felt its hideous nature leak out from her pores, being exhaled from her lungs, coming in streams out of her eyes and ears. She opened her eyelids and allowed herself to dive. She allowed the air to engulf her, as she let the mountain become the road. She saw her destination. It was there, in every surface of her brain.

  They leveled off. Areli was free. She was free. They flew through the chains, mimicking the alley and to the first column. She performed everything to perfection, starting with the first leaf to the right, and then circling left around the second. The third column approached. She pushed Kaia towards it. She had to conquer the black and retched stain that was created by Sofi. Areli had to protect her family, her dragon, her love, her friends. She had to live. She was going to become a professional column racer. She was going to win the World Race. Areli loved Fides. But she was going to get the one spot that opened up. Die here, die now, she couldn’t, she wouldn’t.

  Areli pulled the reins, instincts climbing into every muscle and taking over. Her left hand held out the reins to Kaia’s left shoulder. Her right leg dug into Kaia’s skin. Areli’s heart raced. Her mind screamed. Her right hand found the saddle horn. A smile crawled onto her face. Her butt sank into the seat and Kaia fumed with her rider’s emotions, like smoke shooting out of enormous fires.

  Kaia turned her body, letting Areli’s adrenaline and excitement feed her, push her, overwhelm her. They cleared the column and went full speed back towards the chains. Areli wanted to scream when they passed through them. She was home. She was alive, and she was home.

  Following the roster change that took place after the Sorting Competition, Areli’s locker was moved one over to a slightly larger more decadent one, and Kiley was moved to Areli’s previous one. There were no other shifts in the roster. Fides was still in the locker held for the best rider on the team, and Tegan occupied the one next to her. Followed by Perla, Amira, Dulce, and then Nadia.

  After each winter practice, Areli stepped out of her locker with heavy breaths when she looked over and saw Tegan next to her friend. That spot should have been hers. The papers were calling the incident horrific bu
t a spectacle nonetheless.

  Areli had never heard of anyone riding a dragon without a saddle before. She never even thought of doing such a thing. If the Emperor was mad at her for not performing well, which was not her fault, he could at least be happy that he endorsed a rider who had ridden a dragon bare-back and had still finished the pattern.

  The fact that she was still breathing made it easier to step in and out her locker every day. Even though she knew, as well as everyone, she should be occupying locker number two. She just had to be patient. The Emperor told her he would fix it. But how? And when? Months had already passed, and next week was the start of the season, and Areli was still seventh on the depth chart.

  Knowing how Auxiliaries became premiers, Areli hoped against odds the Emperor would just kick a person off the team. They would be furious . . . but they would be free of injury. She would look at the stars at night and wish it. But when Areli looked up, she envisioned the clouds had taken away the stars from her, telling her the inevitable. She found herself crying a lot. Yats would ask her what was wrong. Fides knew what was bothering her, and she told Areli it was either her or another. The Emperor had made up his evil little mind.

  Dark and painful thoughts started to enter Areli’s mind. She contemplated sacrificing herself so another could live. But if she were to kill herself, she wouldn’t just be ending her life. She would be ending the life of her dragon, the life of her mother, and the life of her father. Areli felt a tearing of her soul. She kept wishing it didn’t have to be like this.

  She hated herself sometimes, as she wished to the stars that the Emperor would bring injury to Tegan, or even Perla. As Areli lay awake at night, she tried to reconcile the situation. She told herself she was supposed to be second anyways. If anything, Nadia should be seventh, because she was currently sixth. If Sofi hadn’t done what she had done, then Nadia would be the auxiliary and Areli the premier. Areli confirmed to herself that she knew who it was going to be. Nadia would be able to take it, said Areli to herself, trying to calm her conscious, she is only a premier because of Sofi anyways. She deserves it. The last sentence made Areli feel like her soul was evaporating. What had become of her? Sofi might not have damaged her physical body, but her spiritual body was carrying a heavy share of self-inflicted wounds.

  Areli kept her eyes open for Sofi, but she was nowhere to be found. It was nearing the end of the week and approaching the first ever competition of the season, and Sofi hadn’t been seen anywhere. She had been missing since Fides made her spit blood ten times the length of her tongue. She would have healed already, thought Areli, knowing the power and strength of the medical ointments and treatments at the city’s disposal.

  Areli would see Haskel roaming the halls. He would look at her, and she would always look away quickly. She could feel his feelings of resentment and hate, confusing them and blurring them with her own. Nothing had been done to her locker. Nothing had been done to her dragon. She couldn’t eat at the Hall cafeteria, afraid it may be poisoned. To compensate, she had Aria tell the chefs to make her bigger portions at home and to make her sandwiches and snacks that she could conceal in her bag, which she carried to every class. Areli knew Sofi was vengeful, and it disturbed her that she or Fides weren’t in the medical wing right now.

  The days passed. No Sofi. Just Haskel. Areli would warn Fides every night that she should move with care. Fides would just laugh and tell Areli for the millionth time Sofi was harmless and she was more of a pet to the Emperor than his niece.

  “The Emperor would take better care of his whores than he would her,” joked Fides.

  “It’s not a joke, Fides,” said Areli, “you saw what she did to my reins.”

  “And do you know what happened to her?” asked Fides, “do you want to know why she is no longer in school?”

  “Because you embarrassed her,” said Areli.

  “No,” said Fides, “but I wish. Anyways, this is the rumor spreading in the halls of the Emperor’s palace. After the fight, the principal had delivered the parchment to Emperor Ailesh himself, and explained in heavy detail everything that happened.

  “The Emperor was furious, so furious in fact that he almost strangled the principal to death, only because there was nothing else around him to release his anger on. Later, he sent word for his niece to visit him. Word is, he hit her. He hit her so hard and so many times that he broke every bone in her face and body.”

  “You’re lying,” said Areli, “he would never do that. It’s his own blood. His brother’s child.”

  “He hates his brother,” said Fides, “he hates his sister. He hates anyone that might be in line to take his throne. I mean the man kills his own babies he has with the women he carries. Don’t you see? He doesn’t even care about his own children! What makes you think that he cares any more for his brother’s and sister’s children? Fact is – he doesn’t.” Areli let Fides words sink in. As horrible as the situation was, Areli was teetering on the line of disgust and gratitude.

  “Also,” said Fides, “the Emperor had Sofi lay there for two days. Her only water and food was the bodily waste he would leave beside her.”

  “She had no medicinal ointments?” asked Areli, surprised, with her footing swaying on the line, “none what so ever?” Fides just shook her head with a smile.

  “And he went . . . you know, in his own throne room?”

  “Stars no!” said Fides, “all the stars in the sky would have to explode simultaneously before that would happen. He beat and left her somewhere in his dungeons. Anyway, you want to know what I think?”

  “What?”

  “I think the Emperor beat up Sofi so bad, that he made her ugly enough that she could no longer live in Abhi.” Fides had a wide smile on her face. Areli gave a faint smile. She knew she should be happy, but she could feel her past-self looking at her, shaking her head in disappointment at what had become of her. Her morals were starting to become crumbs, splayed on the floor to be eaten by dogs.

  “Areli,” said Fides, “did you hear me? She will no longer be seen again.”

  “I heard you,” said Areli glumly, as she still had the picture of the innocence of her past self . . . and longing for her.

  “What in the stars is wrong with you?” asked Fides, “you should be happy. The stars know I would be. She tried to kill you Areli. Kill you. And your dragon. Are you at all happy that she is being punished for what she did?”

  “Of course,” said Areli, “I mean . . . yes. I was just thinking about . . . about how the Emperor was going to fix things.”

  “I don’t know what you should be thinking about,” said Fides, “we both know who it’s going to be. And the Emperor loves his riders. The injury won’t be serious, just serious enough that she won’t be able to race this season.” Areli tried to hide her grimace. When did an injury, serious or not serious, become acceptable to her? She wondered if they were to open her up right now if they would discover she no longer possessed a heart. And worse, she wondered if anyone would be surprised by that fact.

  “It’s just that . . .”

  “Areli,” said Fides, “the Emperor has made up his mind. And when that’s done . . . there’s no going back. Besides – we both know she’s a good rider, a strong rider, but she didn’t earn the right to be a premier. And the Emperor is setting that right.”

  “I know.”

  “Hey, enough of that. It’s a game, Areli. His game. Play or be played. Race to win, or be prepared to die. Those are the real rules. His rules. Don’t you dare let me see those pity eyes again. I love you, Areli, but this self-loathing has got to stop. You’re doing no one any favors. Least of all yourself. And worst of all, your dragon. You are going to have to race past the truth that someone, in who we know deserves it, not because they’re a bad person, but because they got something not deserving of them, is going to pay consequence. If it makes you feel better. We’ll visit that person every day. Encourage her to look forward to next year, because I’m sorry, Areli, this is
just not her year.”

  “I could run away,” said Areli, without almost a thought to her words. Fides stared at her. Anger in her eyes. They were so fierce that Areli wanted desperately to look away, but she knew Fides would not allow it. She would force Areli to look at her. Fides sniffled, and then sniffled again. She looked away at the burning fireplace in Areli’s room.

  “Promise me,” said Fides, “that you will never say that again. Ever.”

  “I promise,” said Areli, softly. She knew she had nowhere to go. The Emperor would send his guards, probably even his battle dragons, to search for her like they were Degendhard. They would be after her even before she was part way through Abhiraja’s trees. She had to accept it. The Emperor was going to hurt someone. Injure them. And take away their ability to fly.

  Chapter Twenty

  She looked again at the gold piece in her hand. It was a mighty beautiful coin, as diamonds hovered around the outer edge. She did exactly what Talon had told her to do. The rest of the coins in the basement were dispersed evenly amongst the servants, and she had each servant compile a list of families they could think of that truly needed the money.

  It was such a risk these days, to carry such money around, especially when the money she was holding was the cause of so much destruction and the loss of so many lives. But it was also a symbol of hope. And it made her heart light again, just as she had felt when Areli was still there. She missed her former charge very much. She and the other servants keep a space on the wall in their shared living quarters of all the wall clippings carrying the news from Abhi.

  Tears still came to her eyes, as her mind frequently traveled back to the article about the sorting competition. Areli was too good of a rider. How could she have not placed as a premier? Many nights after reading that, she would stay up extra late, directing prayers towards the stars, to give Areli strength during dark times. And then she would cry, weep herself to sleep in her bed, because she wasn’t there to comfort her. The only thing she hoped for now was that Talon had made it up there, so hopefully he could lift some of the pain away.