Belvedor and the Four Corners (Belvedor Saga Book 1) (26 page)

She looked around, desperate to see a familiar face. Too many people blocked her vision as everyone blurred together. Three quarters of the amphitheater was already filled with a herd of blood-red cloaks, and the commotion reminded her of the day she died. She tried to shake the unwelcome thought as her lost battle with Grinda flooded her head. The only section not colored crimson stood reserved for the elders and General Ivo.

As she pushed through the crowd, trying to keep Solomon and Talis in sight, she heard a chant coming from some of the already seated slaves. She felt a lump growing in her throat. No matter how many times she had sat and watched the annual Free Falls, she never grew desensitized to all the death and dying. Never once had she participated in the chants or cheers that many of her fellow peers enjoyed.

Regardless of how hard she tried to turn off her emotions for the sake of her sanity, she always felt a small pang of sadness for those lost during the festivals. Now that she stood as a contestant, she hoped her friends sitting in the crowd knew better than to smile at the pain of others.

“This way.” Solomon gestured for Arianna and Talis to follow as he carved a path through the crowd. “Talis and I must leave you now to join the elders,” he said. “Go make your way around to the bottom with the other contenders. I’ll slip your number into the pot. Wait for directions. The general will be relaying them soon.”

“But what if I—”

Solomon rested his hand on her shoulder, stalling her growing panic. “Don’t worry, Ara. I know you can do this. You were meant to live, and so you shall. Go now, and earn back your freedom.”

Talis gave a reassuring nod, and Arianna whimpered as she waved goodbye. They sauntered away, taking leave with the other trainers who hoped their apprentices lasted the night.

After a few minutes, Arianna pushed her way through the roaring crowd of people. She saw the large group who shared her ceremonial year. They huddled about on the floor of the cleared Square, waiting for their destinies to show their faces. Now, she joined them in the spotlight.

Looking up towards the sky, she saw the flag of the Four Corners limp in the still air. So many times her eyes rested upon that flag. So many days she’d counted to see the hour when she would look up to this flag waving over the Square on the day of her judgment. Now that day was here, and she would never need to look upon that flag again.

Her eyes tore from the sky and swept the stone steps, the display of people overwhelming. She couldn’t remember there being this many people around for any other Free Falls Festival. Then again, she never paid this much attention before.

Her head snapped up as Grinda’s chilling voice filled her ears. Tensing at the sound, it took all of her willpower not to make herself known. As much as she wanted to cut out her tongue, she waited for the element of surprise as Solomon advised. Patience… she just needed patience.

Arianna looked around at her peers, judging them to be just as nervous as she. She hoped they fared well in the festivals, but from past observations she knew better than to get those hopes up too high. Her heart sank at the thought.

“I’ll be fine, now go on,” said a familiar voice. “Get out of here, and cheer me on like you’re supposed to.” Arianna’s heart began to flutter, and she turned to find Liam with Noah close by his side.

“Okay, okay,” said Noah. “I’m going. I’ll find you after. Keep your head on out there!” Liam smiled and pulled Noah to his chest, rustling up his already shaggy hair.

Arianna fought the urge to scream his name. Between Lessa Thur and hunting down knowledge of a veiled, magical history, thoughts of Liam and Noah faded into the background. She couldn’t help but feel ashamed. Now they stood so close, so near, and she longed to make her presence known.
Patience.

“Will this year’s contenders please make their way to the front,” echoed the booming voice of General Ivo. The crowd grew excited, and Arianna felt all the nerves in her body spring alert.

With heads hung low, the group ambled into the huge center of the Square where General Ivo stood in his long robes, perched high on the elevated platform. Arianna raised her eyes to his.

As she waited for instruction, she felt someone grasp at her elbow from behind, yanking her close to his body. She froze. “I know your secret, Arianna Belvedor,” said the man. The icy hiss sounded all too familiar, the smell of whiskey clinging to his tongue.

The man let go of his grasp and shoved her aside, knocking her into other wary slaves. She gaped as Sir Westing moved through the slow-moving crowd of her group. Glancing back, he caught her eye, and she thought no one ever had worn such a sinister smile before. 

Sir Westing walked up the stairs and took his place by the general’s side, wearing a soft expression. He looked rather at ease in the presence of
his
master. Arianna wished for hers. Her mind roared as it flipped through all of the possibilities of his words…
I know your secret.
She kept so many secrets these days, but she felt sure any one of them meant an assured spot in the Tombs of Blancoren.

The general raised his hand, and the amphitheater fell silent. It seemed as if even the birds stopped chirping and the wind ceased howling in order to usher in the start of the week-long festivals. Arianna pushed aside Sir Westing’s words for later. She couldn’t process more than one threat to her life at a time, so she decided to focus on the matters at hand, the Free Falls.

Squeezing through the hundreds of contenders, she tried to get nearer to where Liam stood and as far away from Grinda as possible. General Ivo opened his mouth to speak, and everyone in the crowd leaned in to listen.

“I am delighted to commence the 287
th
annual Free Falls Festivals of the Warrior’s District!” he said, his voice booming through the air, reaching the ears of all. A few scattered people began to clap, but they froze as the general continued.

“Now, let us not waste any time. If you recall, last year’s festivities were quite successful. One of the highest success rates we’ve seen in all of history.” His eyes narrowed as he wet his cracked lips. “I do hope you all have trained as hard as your predecessors for we have something quite challenging in store for you this week.”

Arianna felt sweat begin to drip down her forehead as her nerves began to build. The temptation to expose herself because of the cloak’s discomfort became hard to ignore. Even in the bitter cold and snowfall, she felt her skin burning. Glancing around, she noticed others shared her panic. If anything, it made her feel comforted watching others swallowing back tears and fighting the urge to run. At least she wasn’t alone.

A pair of roaming, light brown eyes caught hers and she found Liam staring straight at her across a row of slaves. He faltered, mouth agape as if trying to decide if she was real or a figment of his imagination. Arianna forced her lips into an apologetic smile and mouthed ‘hi’. 

Shaking out of his reverie, he shoved through the group, coming to stand beside her. For a moment, he only stared before taking her hand in his. Saying nothing, they put their attention back on General Ivo. Arianna’s heartbeat quickened and Liam squeezed his grasp tighter.

“Before we get started,” said the general, “let me introduce the panel of judges this evening. Now remember, you must score a six or higher on average in order to qualify for your freedom. If you’re critically wounded, you will obviously be disqualified.” He chuckled along with many others seated in the elder’s section. Arianna chewed on her lip. Everyone knew disqualified was just a fancy word for dead.

The general went on to list the names of ten other people, but Arianna just couldn’t find her concentration. She searched the crowd for Solomon and Talis, needing a sense of reassurance. She did find a face, but it didn’t belong to either of the masters.

“Lessa?” she mouthed, cocking her head to the side.

Sure enough, the young healer stared back at her from behind General Ivo, seated in the elder’s section. Arianna recognized her big eyes before anything else. They stood out bright against her cream skin, and a pair of fiery ones peeked out at her from behind the cover of blue satin lining. She sat high at the top of the stone steps, her blonde hair hanging loose around her shoulders under her hood.

Arianna shook her head but smiled nonetheless as Lessa pulled something out of her robes and waved it about.

She has more guts than I thought.
Lessa slipped the bronze key back into her robes. “Outwitted,” she saw her mouth back. Arianna clasped her hand tight over her lips in order to trap in the laughter that threatened to betray her panic.

When the general finished introducing the panel, he began to relay the most important part… the rules.

“Each slave will have a weapon of choice, as usual. Whatever means of survival you deem necessary will suffice during today’s challenge. You will then be called out in teams of two by random drawings from the panel. When your number is called, you will have ten minutes to fight to the death.”

Arianna shifted her glance to Liam, his face stone cold.

“Only one of you can survive,” he said, “and there will be a few surprises along the way. The fewer wounds you suffer, the better your score. If, by the end of ten minutes, no one has died, you will both be executed on the spot. Best you finish the job quickly.”

Arianna cringed away from his words as her nerves began to grow.

“If you’re lucky enough to be granted citizenship, you will be free of the Four Corners at the end of this week. In this case, you shall be guided through the Vanishing Tunnels and directed towards your new lives.”

Arianna closed her eyes, picturing that life.
My name is Arianna Belvedor, and I am slave.
She shook her mind free of the mantra, ready to face the day which could rid her of the forsaken title forever.

“Now,” said the general, “as there are so many of you participating in the celebrations, we won’t have time for everyone. Don’t worry, there are plenty events to be held during the course of the week. You’ll have your time to shine in the coming days.” He took a long pause and scanned the crowd until his eyes landed on the nervous contenders awaiting their ultimate judgment. “Now is the time we celebrate the strong, and eliminate the weak from our world. Let the Free Falls Festivals begin!” He finished to a standing ovation.

The ring of the Grand Bell sounded throughout the Square as the general signaled the start of the festivals. Arianna let go of Liam’s hand to cover her ears, but he snatched it back.

The regulators ushered her and the rest of the contenders to sit behind a large stone wall separating the battle ground from the viewers. It stood right on the sidelines, which the regulators guarded in case a contender got nervous and tried to run. No one ever got away, but someone always tried.

As the eighteenth years awaited their probable death sentence to be called, the crowd grew anxious. Arianna watched as a wrinkled woman on the panel pulled two numbers from a large, decorated centerpiece bowl. “Slave numbers ninety-seven and twenty-six, please take your place,” she said. Her face sagged in all the wrong places, and her hair hung loose on her scalp. Swathed in luxurious pink robes, large jewels adorned her fat neck.

A tall, lanky boy stepped to the middle of the Square, and a small girl with stumpy legs followed. Arianna recognized the boy as Herald who she used to train with their eleventh year. The girl she could not place.

Herald dropped dead within seconds as the little girl buried her axe in his throat. She scored an even eight, and the crowd roared as the first of few earned her freedom.

“I saw you die,” whispered Liam. He still clung tight to her hand, but he focused on the battle, never looking at her.

“Yet, here I am,” she said, her voice soft. She willed him to look at her.

“Arianna,” he said. His voice cracked. “I thought I lost you.” He started to shake, trying to control his emotions. “Do you have any idea what was going through my mind when they announced you dead? I should’ve protected you…”

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you. It’s so complicated, but I’m here now.” He met her gaze, and she shrank back as his eyes burned into hers. Anger or relief, she did not know.

“You don’t understand!” The crowd drowned out his voice. “I—” He shook his head of the thought.

“Tell me,” she said. “What?” His lips pursed in a hard line, and she waited for a long moment.

“I could’ve stepped in, and I didn’t… I thought you had her,” he said, looking away. For some reason, Arianna felt he meant to say something more.

“Liam, please don’t feel like this,” she said. “You can’t protect me all the time. Not in this world. Let’s just get through this, alright? After it’s all said and done, I’ll fill you in on everything. I promise.”

“Don’t let your guard down out there,” he said. “I won’t hesitate to save you this time.” Arianna flushed, trying to make sense of his thoughts.

“I never need saving,” she said, trying to lift the mood.

She stared into his face a long time, and he studied hers. She became lost for words. Their friendship grew strong over such defining moments that one should never experience so young. Here they sat, with blood flying all around them, and yet the thoughts circling Arianna’s mind all revolved back to Liam and his feelings.
Does he love me
?
Do I love him?

“Slave numbers forty-five and three hundred,” called a husky man who sat to the right of the fat woman on the panel.

Already Arianna saw three people die and live. The bell sounded for the next two candidates to begin. The slaves swung their swords back and forth in a myriad of fancy tricks. Arianna knew the girls as long-time roommates and close friends. She saw the hesitation plain on their faces, their hands shaking as they half-heartedly battled. Neither could do it, not even close. 

The crowd turned as two gates on either side of the Square creaked open, a loud hissing sound resonating from within the gated chamber. Everyone on the sidelines rushed to the low stone wall to peer down onto the snow-clad floor.