Belvedor and the Four Corners (Belvedor Saga Book 1) (6 page)

She locked eyes with him for only a moment then pushed back to her feet without a second thought. She ran faster now.
Nine
. The threatening voice of the Grand Bell enveloped her body, but she could see her barracks nearby. Her feet thundered on the ground, a cloud of dust racing behind her.

Ten
. The door stood open. She leapt the stairs in two bounds and landed piled on the floor next to the other girls that cut it too close. The regulator slammed the door shut, locking them in and the late ones out. She made it.

As she lay there panting, she wondered if the boy had made it back as well. Would he be missing from lectures tomorrow? If so, his body would be at the bottom of the Pit by morning, so she would see on her way to the Square. She tried not to care, but she did.

After a moment, she regained her energy and walked to her bunk where her roommate, Pippa, sat waiting to scold her on curfew again.

Arianna cocked her head to the side, studying the freckled girl as she babbled on about the regulations. Then, to Pippa’s surprise, she embraced her in a long hug. Arianna’s relief turned into a fit of infectious giggles, and soon the whole room stirred in rare laughter. Nobody cared why. The girls just needed a laugh this night. 

After undressing and washing for bed, Arianna tried to free her thoughts of battles won and lost, or dying in the mountains, or the festivals inching nearer. Now, there was only one thing that pressed on her mind… Lessa Thur, ‘Ghost Girl’ of the Four Corners.

Trying to coax her mind to sleep, she continued to think at a stubborn pace. She saw hundreds of colored images swimming around the back of her eyelids like a pond of dancing fish. Lessa Thur with a bow on her back, Solomon with his sword at her neck, the waterfalls in her secret cave. It felt like she had only just fallen asleep when a nightmare snapped her wide-awake as she found herself tangled in the blanket wrapped around her like a prickly cocoon.

The bitter air had dried her throat, and unbidden tears streaked her face. She clutched at her chest as her heart thrashed against her ribs, her mind clinging to the already fading dream of her mangled body and chilling black eyes. She looked around the silent room to see if her roommates stirred at her disturbance. Some gazed at the ceiling, lost in their own thoughts, but most still slept.

She sat up in her bunk only to be confronted with a pair of squinty blue eyes framed in an upside down freckled face and a mop of brown hair. “Nightmare?” asked Pippa.

Arianna gave a weak nod, wiping away the remnants of her tears with the blanket. She felt no shame. All of the slaves experienced nightmares too. Although, she wondered if it was normal to have the same one so often.

Pippa gave her a warm smile. Out of all of the girls she roomed with, she liked her best. “Me too,” she said with a yawn.

Pippa crawled back up to her bunk singing a lullaby that Arianna knew well.

I see you down below

As I’m flying in the sky

Up above the mountains

To the other side

The air here is sweet

And it’s warmer by the sun

Nobody can catch me

No one, no one

Even if Pippa did talk too much, none of the girls bothered her when she sang. Not so deep down, everyone wished the song would come true.

Can you see me so far up?

As I’m soaring ‘cross the sea

Higher I go

No jar can keep me

My hope keeps me lifted

My wings help me fly

I am free

I am free in the sky

As the tune continued, Arianna heard someone sniffle from across the wide room. She sighed, knowing they all faced the same struggles in their nightmarish reality.

Now I only see ahead

As I’m sailing with the clouds

Drifting with the wind

Happiness I’ve found

Free and alive

Goodbye, I’ve left my past behind

It is my dream

Finally, I am free

She lay back on her pillow and tugged the blanket to her chin, letting the song wash away the dark fragments of her nightmare. The Song of the Free Bird always drove the fear away, her hopes lifting and soaring with the lyrics as she vowed to one day be liberated of her cage. Just like the little bird in the song, she would one day taste her freedom.

Soon, she drifted back to sleep, a dreamless and peaceful one. She welcomed the rare peace of mind, and, for the moment, at least she felt safe inside her head.

CHAPTER FIVE

Arianna woke to the bell the next morning, and she let out a yawn. She felt hazy, as if still in a dream. “Did I only imagine her?” she said with a queer smile on her face.

“Imagine who?” said Pippa. She startled Arianna out of her trance, her eyes reminding her of Lessa’s as they looked down at her with a burning curiosity.  

“Don’t worry about it!” She didn’t mean to snap at Pippa, but the secret scared her just as much as it excited her. No one could ever know about her encounter, about any of it.

“Well, sorry…” she said, “but if you don’t want people to ask questions, then maybe you should watch what you say in your sleep. You mumble about the most
interesting
topics.” She rolled her eyes and disappeared back onto her bunk.

Arianna pouted, sliding out of bed and yanking on her robes. “I’m off to breakfast. See you later,” she said, storming towards the door.
Do I really talk in my sleep?

“She’s right you know,” said a voice that made Arianna’s skin crawl just as much as General Ivo’s. She turned to find Grinda Risso still in her bed clothes, resting on her pillow with her arms behind her head, her lips twisting into a smile. Her friend propped up on the other side, tending to Grinda’s cloaks like a slave to a slave.

“Mind yourself, Risso. I’m in no mood to play games with you today,” said Arianna, tensing up at the sight of her.

Grinda sat up in bed as her minion began brushing her silky, black hair as per custom each morning. Arianna glared at her rival with as much disgust as she could muster so early in the morning. It annoyed her to no end that there was something dangerously appealing to her. Grinda Risso or, more appropriately, Red Risso, was one of the fiercest slaves in the district, not to be trifled with. The two girls had always butted heads since they both claimed private masters of an exceptional sort, and Arianna knew she couldn’t wait to sink her teeth into her.

“Oh, bother, and I had rather hoped to play today,” she cooed, flipping her hair back as her friend slaved to comb out the tangles. “I do apologize, little Ara. I did forget that you were… how should I say? I suppose, unable to make your own decisions regarding
playtime
.” 

Arianna fumed. “I can practice with whomever I want,” she said through her teeth as she tried to keep calm.

“Well, it’s just been such a long,
long
time since I’ve put in my request with your master. Does he still refuse to let us duel? It’s too bad you’re treated like a slave
and
a child. It must be terribly boring to be so sheltered,” she said in a voice so smooth and so sharp that it began to pierce straight through Arianna’s nonchalance.

She tightened her grasp on the edge of the door. Solomon wouldn’t want her to mix with Grinda Risso so close before the Free Falls Festivals. She turned to leave, respecting her master’s wishes.

“That’s what I thought,” said Grinda. Her laugh made Arianna’s emotions twist and convulse as she struggled to keep calm.

“You want a duel? Fine!”
Stop talking, stop talking.
“Meet me in the Square at sundown. Don’t be late.” She locked her gaze on dark, gray eyes that smiled in victory.
Too late.

A fire burned inside Arianna that yearned for Grinda’s head, and the words had just slipped out. She had invited Red Risso to a Warrior’s Challenge. Of all people… really?

Grinda flashed a toothy grin at Arianna’s words. “Don’t forget your swords, Ara, or your skill. I’ve been practicing.” She winked.

Arianna’s heart dropped into her stomach.
What have I done?

She recalled a regulation which forbade intentional killing during a training duel, but accidents did occur and the general almost never penalized for it. He didn’t care.

Since being chosen as Solomon’s apprentice, she only ever trained with him or a few trusted friends. They always took extra precautions not to cause drastic injuries to one another when they dueled. Grinda knew no such boundaries. A Warrior’s Challenge often ended fatally for one opponent or the other since slaves extended them in order to prove their skill in front of the town.

Several of Grinda’s opponents had suffered injuries so catastrophic that the Well Center could do nothing for them. Of course, her master always passed the losses off as accidents, and Grinda never received more than a simple slap on the wrist from the regulators. They enjoyed the battles with bloody endings the most.

Arianna hated to socialize with her at all, but sharing the same quarters made it very difficult not to cross paths. Solomon would be irate, but not even he could halt a Warrior’s Challenge. If she wanted to keep her respect in the district, she would have to honor the challenge and put up a damn good fight.

The threat trailed behind Arianna as she let the door slam behind her, snow sprinkling from the rooftop. With long strides, she soon found herself at the bottom of the wooden stairs, jogging towards the Dining Hall. When she reached it, she saw her usual breakfast buddies lounging in the scattered sun.

A short, chubby boy, just two years younger than she, swayed back and forth on his feet. Arianna sometimes practiced with him on her down time. His form lacked skill, and she wanted Noah to have the best chance at his freedom card when the time came. He deserved something good after his time here.

“Mornin’ there, Miss Belvedor.” He bowed as she came nearer. “Breakfast awaits us. What do you think we’ll be eating today?” He chuckled, holding the swinging door open. Arianna didn’t crack a smile.

“Not today, Noah.” He frowned.

“Morning,” said another boy leaning up against the wall of the building. His blonde, wavy hair always caught the sun on the miraculous days when it decided to show. Today he didn’t wear his red cloak, revealing his tanned skin. He wore only black pants and a white shirt which stretched tight around his body. She blushed. Still, after a lifetime of friendship, she never got used to his allure.

“Morning, Liam.” Her head cocked to the side as she surveyed him. “Where are your robes? You’ll freeze.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said with an infectious grin. “I was getting some early practice in.” He feigned wiping sweat from his brow. Liam Black, another skilled slave with a private trainer to his name. 

“Hungry?” he asked. He raised an eyebrow at her and Arianna looked away. She didn’t want him to know about the challenge.

“Starving…” she muttered as she sauntered into the building. Her friends followed at her heels.

“Been enjoying the sun have you?” asked Noah. “It’s not often we get a day like this.” He piled a glop of food on his plate, the same food as they served every morning.

Today, bright sunrays chased some of the gloom away so that even the air warmed a little. Regardless, Arianna felt sick in the pit of her stomach and cold all around.

They grabbed their trays of food and walked to a wooden bench in the middle of the empty room.

“Ara, what’s wrong? Why so quiet?” Noah asked, tearing at his stale bread. The freckles on his face mixed with the crumbs, so she couldn’t tell one from the other, and his orange, shaggy hair suggested he did little to cure his bed-head this morning. She shook her head, locking into his bright green eyes.

“Oh, Noah,” she sighed. Too many thoughts raced through her brain. Her head sloped to the side to relax on one hand as she stirred the cold slop in slow circles. Liam didn’t look up from his food, but she knew he was listening.

“I just had a really taxing morning. That’s all,” she said, unwilling to relay the full details of her morning’s events.

“Why is that?” asked Liam as Noah looked up from his scattered meal. The two sat across from each other, and she smiled knowing that Noah also had Liam as a friend to lean on.

Liam always tried to protect them both when he could. During a duel, he wouldn’t even let the backside of a wooden sword meet her skin. He cared about her, and she trusted him. Still, she didn’t have the guts to ‘fess up. His hazel eyes bore into hers, demanding answers. “Well?”

“Nothing… it’s just Risso. You know how she’s always trying to cause trouble with me. It’s Hell living with her, really. She’s completely cruel, and she needs a night in the Pit, if you ask me,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. She tossed her spoon aside, not bothering to attempt to stomach the food.