Blood Descendants (St. Clair Vampires Book 1) (22 page)

The program was
amazing. Amongst the events today would be a relay and the 800
meters. I was excited about those more than anything and prayed the
races would be competitive. While I was discussing the events with
Pleasant, who I had just found out was a track fan as well, the
Robesons came to our box. They bowed deeply toward Efia and then the
rest of us before Matthias spoke. He instructed two young boys to
come forward to set two large boxes at Efia’s feet. He was
going on and on about trips to Egypt and Israel for the finest linen
money could buy. The man made me sick.

Efia smiled amicably at
the man and, as if reading my mind, simply pushed the boxes under her
seat stating that she would open them later. Matthias smiled and
tried not to show how put out he was. Wyatt, on the other hand, had
no such training and his mouth hung open as if being ignored
horrified him. The sight was too funny not to laugh and I failed at
covering it up with a cough. The nerve of these people to think they
could influence us like that.

As a family we
collectively found other things to do while the Robesons clucked
around our viewing box. They were clearly there to campaign, making
the most of the time that they were being given. The young green eyed
girl from the banquet hall scrunch up her nose as Wyatt passed her.
She was a St. Clair clan member but clearly not the prize that the
Robesons wished for.

As if reading my mind,
Chloe and I rose at the same time and walked over to the couch where
the girl and her family sat. They were respectfully honored by the
attention of Royals, but nowhere near acting like their lives hinged
on our favor. That scored them big points with me. We sat on either
side of the girl and introduced ourselves. Her name was Adrianna
Eklund and she had just turned 18. She was an Elemental Vampire by
birth but had experienced trouble with her attributes. Her parents
were hoping that Efia would offer to foster her in an effort to
obtain better training. It would be a great opportunity for me to
have someone to talk to about the concerns I have with my own
attributes. Tabitha, being a Cereb, could be sympathetic to a point
and Chloe was not yet at the stage of development where things were
going haywire. In anticipation for a future training partner that
wasn't trying to kill me, I told Adrianna that I was sure that it
would be okay since we had plenty of space.

Preparing to tell Efia
that I had just offered to foster Adrianna, I stood and collided with
Matthias. Wyatt and his mother trailed so closely behind him that it
was evident all of them heard the conversation. Obviously, the
Eklunds had just become more important to the Robesons now that they
knew she would live in the royal compound. I wanted to wipe the smug
look off of their faces as they greeted the Eklunds and their
daughter for the first time since they arrived.

I returned to my seat,
equally frustrated and relieved, to wait for the beginning of the
track events. There were a few ceremonial procedures before the MC
announced the time for the first event. We would have to watch some
sprints and a distance race before my coveted 800 and relay. Rillae
and Nicole warmed up for their events. They had refused to tell me
their best times so I was anxious. Their body types couldn't even be
used as a guide, being that Fare were all perfect athletic beings. I
remembered the Steward from the day before and how he had run the
marathon so well. So, I sent silent wishes that they would do well,
not that it would matter in our selections, but because I knew that
they wanted to make their families proud.

Thirty minutes into the
meet, Adrianna made her way to sit on the couch with me. The company
was much appreciated since Tabitha was in the Miklos box with Jordan.
I had been getting a bit lonely. At first we just enjoyed a
comfortable silence. The weather was great and there was a
comfortable breeze passing through. We ate and cheered and waited for
the next events. It became clear that she wanted to ask me something,
so I broke the ice.

“
So,
are you as confused as I am or do you know who you are selecting?”

“
I
know who I am NOT selecting, that’s for sure.” She looked
directly toward the Robeson family sitting in the stands close by
when she said it. I didn’t blame her. They had ignored her
until she seemed more important and that was insulting.

“
Well,
I may have my female Fare picked out, but I have no idea with the
male. We are supposed to ignore looks but they are paraded around
here like teen heart throbs.”

“
Well,”
Adrianna said, looking around to make sure she wasn’t being
overheard, “I have the opposite problem. I know the male Fare
and not the female. One of my mother’s Fare has a brother who
has visited us. He's great, but not in the romantic way, you know,
since that is frowned upon.” She winked at me then and I had to
close my mouth before I caught a fly.

This sweet, innocent
looking girl was going to pick a male Fare to have a relationship
with. I glanced at Solomon and thought about his background. If he
was the standard to be measured by, then mixed relationships were
alright by me.

“
Who
is he?” I asked, wondering if she would trust me with the
information.

“
Cameron
Tenison. His family isn't like the Robesons even though he is High
Caste. And I've known him most of my life. I think my mom is okay
with it, but my dad might be upset.”

Mr. Eklund obviously
loved his daughter. Anyone could see it in the loving way he looked
at her. I knew how rare her birth had been and the fact that she had
all of her mental faculties was nothing short of a miracle. How
disappointed her father would be when he found out?

Finally the MC called
the 800 meter runners to the waiting area. The last of the distance
runners were finishing their events and the track needed to be
cleared. Runners were stretching and checking their spikes and I
wondered what types of shoes they had used through the years. Today,
they wore state of the art shoes and aerodynamic suits. They had the
freedom to wear whatever colors and designs that they liked and the
result was sometimes a comedy of errors.

The High Caste Fare had
opted for flashiness in their racing singlet. I was looking for
Rillae when I saw the most horrendous outfit of all. Wyatt Robeson
had stepped out of the shadows in an all white unitard with a bright
red Calla Lily on the front of it. Efia and Pleasant must have seen
it at the same time because all three of us let out a gasp followed
by hysterical laughter. The Robesons had gone too far this time. Had
any of us even considered Wyatt before then, none of the St. Clair
clan would be selecting him after this stunt. No one wanted to be
thought of as succumbing to bribery and sweet talk. How they could
not know that their behavior was unacceptable was beyond me.

The females were to
race first. They had combined the Steward and Fare into preliminary
heats for the sprints, but now they were going to let the field of 15
fight it out in one race. I could see the Stewards standing almost a
head taller than some of the Fare; they were not necessarily bulkier,
but they were stronger and more svelte looking. We told Solomon that
we were going to let him choose the Stewards but I made a note to
myself to ask him about one in particular. She had bright red hair
and I could only assume green eyes. She stood about 5’8”
and had the body of an athletic model. Several of the male Vampires
had been watching her and I hated to think that she would be made
into some sort of concubine guard. But she had a quiet grace about
her that drew me to look at her every time she was around. She was
articulate and polite and didn’t seem to care that every male
present was looking at her. My catalog said that she had a twin
brother who was also an Electus. I wondered if twins would be
separated or if they were a package deal.

The runners had taken
their marks by the time I was done making my notes and I nearly
missed the start. It was frantic; all elbows and shoulders for the
runners who were sharing lanes and unfortunate knee kicks for the
runners who ran too close to the leaders. Of course the Stewards were
out first. They had longer strides and looked like they would still
be able to kick in the end. Rillae and Nicole were towards the rear
of the group. The MC was talking about the first three runners as if
they had the race in the bag. He went on and on about their athletic
and academic accomplishments as they battled for position. As he
spoke, however, I noticed a group of Fare moving up. One by one they
picked off the runners in front of them and they were in the middle
of the pack by the bell lap. The MC had yet to see Rillae and Nicole
break away from their group and gain on the leaders. It took a few
seconds for the spectators to see what was happening in the race, but
when they did, the stands erupted in cheers. They had 200 meters left
to go and I could see Rillae nod to Nicole as they both took off. It
was almost in slow motion but the two of them rounded the last curve
and over took the Steward leader with ease. I almost cried when they
crossed the finish line; one, two. The Lower Caste Fare sections of
the arena went ballistic and Chloe almost strangled me with a bear
hug. It took a few seconds for us to hear the MC read off their
names. Clearly he had not even thought they were contenders and
didn’t have their information in front of him. It was sad that
the Lower Caste Fare were always underestimated, but they had proven
themselves worthy.

The men’s 800 was
not as exciting. It was clear that the Stewards entered were too big
to beat the Fare, so it was no surprise when the Fare finished one
and two. What was surprising to some was that the first runner was
Ethan Piedmont and the second was Cameron Tenison. Adrianna had a
hard time containing her emotions, so I covered for her until she got
it under control. Once her Cheshire Cat smile was gone, she simply
shrugged her shoulders and made a note in her catalog. Wyatt Robeson,
dressed in all white, came across the finish line in 6th place. His
time was excellent on human standards but his father looked like he
was going to faint.

Waiting for the
announcement of the relays proved disappointing; they had been
canceled due to damage to the racing surface. The MC said, the Ludos
was going to conclude with an orienteering event. The participant
teams had been randomly selected beforehand and their assignments
would be available in center field. The information I had about
orienteering was sparse at best; you get a compass or GPS, a list of
coordinates and tasks to complete. When you are with a team, no
member of your team can be left behind. This was not traditionally a
spectator event but there were large viewing screens in the arena.

The teams gathered in
the center of the field, possibly going over their coordinates and
strategy. The big screens blinked on and displayed the course in
which the teams would have to navigate. At first glance it looked
fairly simple until the controller zoomed in on specific portions of
the map. There were white water rapids, 50 foot gorges and
underground tunnels. Instantly grateful that I didn’t have to
prove myself with this obstacle course, I was equally frightened for
my new friends.

The teams stood at the
edge of the arena; groups of three with at least one female per team.
They were given 4 hours to complete the course or fail to earn any
individual points. When the starter’s gun went off, only the
teams with more than one Higher Caste Fare in them started with a
sprint. The others simply looked at their GPS and began a slow trot
from the arena.

After each team had
departed, the screens flashed a list of teams and their participants.
The Steward that I liked, Gretchen Filmore, was teamed up with
Cameron Tenison and Nicole Martenson and Rillae was teamed up with
Wyatt Robeson and a Steward named Tyler Filmore, Gretchen's twin. I
felt sorry for Rillae and wondered how Wyatt would treat her. He was
such a pompous jerk that I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to
leave her. The only saving grace for their team was that a Steward
was bred to protect Fare and Vampire alike and would not let anything
happen to her.

We watched the big
screens for the teams to arrive at the first obstacle. It was a
narrow stream with swiftly running water. Several rocks in the water
made a natural path and the first few teams were able to cross with
no trouble. Rillae and Wyatt’s team arrived ahead of many other
teams and proceeded to cross the stream. Rillae went first then the
Steward and Wyatt brought up the rear. When Wyatt had crossed the
stream, he picked up the last two stepping stones and threw them
downstream. He then looked right into the trees and smiled for the
cameras.

There was a collective
gasp from the crowd and everyone started to look at the Robesons. At
first, Matthias Robeson appeared proud of the actions of his son. He
glared at the Lower Caste Fare, daring them to question his
superiority. The smugness lessened as he saw looks of shock and
disgust run through the Middle and High Caste Fare. He sat down hard
and glanced back toward the royal boxes. Several of the Mute Vampires
were smiling admirably and even giving him thumbs up. It was the rest
of the Vampire Royals who looked at him scornfully. Cheating was not
something that attributed Vampires respected. If you didn’t
have the talent to beat someone, then you simply don't get to win.

Nicole’s team was
next and Chloe almost yelled out a warning to them. Cameron was the
first to slip and fall, followed by Nicole. If it were not for
Gretchen grabbing both of them by the waistband, they would have been
swept away. After getting to the other side, the three of them
decided it was best to try to replace the missing rocks. As they
wasted valuable time making certain that other teams would be able to
cross safely, the arena cheered. Adrianna's father made a note in his
catalog and I hoped, for Adrianna’s sake, that he was noting
the gracious way in which Cameron was working with the Steward.