Queen of Empire: A fantasy romance (The Relic Trilogy Book 1) Page 5

  In fact, it was strange that Elistair and Cordelia had become such good friends. Cordelia must be twenty years older than Elistair, and there was no obvious reason for their friendship. Anita couldn't think why she hadn't asked them about it before.

  'How did you two meet?' she asked, cutting across the conversation.

  Cordelia and Elistair turned and looked at her in surprise, Cordelia giving her a sad, wistful look. Neither immediately responded.

  'Oh I don't know,' Cordelia eventually ventured, her voice delicate yet decisive. Her tone, as usual, contained a sharp undercurrent that made people think twice before disagreeing with her. 'It was so long ago, I can't think exactly how we met.'

  And with that, Elistair changed the conversation to focus on how Anita and Bass had hated each other at first, when Anita had come to live with Cordelia at the age of three. He started recounting embarrassing stories of how, through Bass' unwavering determination, they had finally become friends.

  At last the torture was over and Elistair and Bass headed for home, but the look her grandmother had given her bounced around Anita's mind. She would do some digging on the topic of Cordelia and Elistair's friendship; they were hiding something.

  Cordelia came back from showing Elistair and Bass out, an intriguing smile spreading across her face as she sat. 'So,' she started, meaningfully, 'I hear rumors that somebody wants to take you to the ball.'

  What? A look of panic shot across Anita's face, a rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins. How could she possibly know? How did anyone know? She looked questioningly at the dog before inwardly chastising herself. 'I don't know what you're talking about,' she said, too quickly, trying to brush the comment aside.

  'Well, the whole of Empire seems to be talking about it.'

  'Talking about what?' Anita asked, confused. Had Marcus told everyone?

  'Whether you'll say yes, obviously.' Cordelia laughed, shaking her head in bewilderment.

  'I haven't decided yet,' said Anita, only just able to form a response.

  'Well, that's a turn up for the books; Bass must be thrilled!'

  'Huh? What do you mean?'

  'That you didn't say no outright,' said Cordelia, looking at Anita as though she might have hit her head.

  'Oh…' and it all made sense. 'Bass and I are just friends, and will only ever be friends. I don't want to give him the wrong impression.'

  'I see,' Cordelia replied, frowning. 'In which case, who were you talking about?'

  Cordelia leaned forward in her seat, really interested now. Anita was furious at herself and got up to leave. 'I'm going for a swim, see you later,' she said, throwing the words back over her shoulder as she hurried away. Cordelia stared after her, intrigue plastered across her face.

  CHAPTER 5

  Two days later, Anita made her way to the riverbank opposite The Island, to where the Chase contestants had gathered. She spotted Bass and moved towards him, hoping he wasn't still in a bad mood. They had announced the Chase yesterday, the day after Bass had presented to the Grand Council. However, this had caused practically no shift in the energy, and he had been in a foul mood ever since.

  'Hey,' said Anita, her tone light.

  'Hi,' Bass responded, visibly perking up at the sight of her. 'Ready?'

  'I was born ready,' she said, cockily. In reality, she was nervous, not that she would ever admit that to anyone. Anita had never competed against the Descendants. She'd never even seen them compete, so she had no idea what she was up against. The thought that they might beat her was unsettling.

  A councilor appeared and ushered the contestants away from the rapidly growing crowd towards the top of the nearest hill. When they reached the summit, they found the Descendants already there, cloaks on, looking regal, standing in a line behind three boxes, Austin in the middle. Austin beckoned to James, the organizer, who brought him an energy speaker, so his voice would carry to the crowd below.

  Austin strongly reminded Anita of Marcus, but with a few notable differences. He was older, grey hairs rippling through his dark locks, face more tanned, with lines both from age and too much time spent out in the sun. He was a little broader, a lot fuller, and had not a hint of Marcus' fun-loving disposition. Instead, he radiated a menacing authority, enhanced by cold eyes that confirmed Anita's suspicions; he was just plain mean.

  'Descendants, councilors, contestants, children of the Temples of the Mind, Body and Spirit,' said Austin. 'We are here today to celebrate the beginning of an historic and momentous occasion: the Crowning of Alexander, son of Theon, and Peter, son of Christiana. As is customary, according to our traditions, those Descendants not currently in power will compete with any and all challengers to become Chase Champion.

  'The Chase Champion will open the dancing as guest of honor at the ball. I am thrilled to see such a turnout to compete here today,' he said, pausing as he surveyed the contestants, 'and I do hope we have a competitive and fair Chase.'

  Austin eyed Bass suspiciously, obviously sizing up Marcus' competition. It's not him you need to worry about, thought Anita, smiling to herself.

  'Contestants, please take your positions.'

  With those words, Alexander, Marcus, Gwyneth, and Peter took off their cloaks with a theatrical flourish, handing them to a waiting councilor. Marcus is attractive, Anita thought, watching him hand over his cloak…Gods, she needed to focus.

  She forced herself to look away; she had to keep her eyes on the prize. Anita would need her wits about her today, as she suspected the 'fair' part of Austin's speech would almost certainly be disregarded.

  The contestants lined up behind the Descendants, who were now in front of the boxes, facing down the hill towards the crowd below. The boxes contained homing pigeons, each with its home in a different location. Austin would pick one box at random, so that, in theory, nobody would know which way the pigeon would fly. He would then release it and the contestants would chase it to its home. Here, the winner would claim their prize, normally just the glory of winning, but today with the added honor of a prominent role at the ball.

  Homing pigeons were used as it was easy to track their energy. Each contestant would be given an energy meter that they would lock onto the pigeon's energy. They would use the meter to track the pigeon. Often contestants struggled with this part, having to either drop out right at the start if they couldn't lock on quickly enough, or follow the other contestants. Anita found locking on easy, she assumed because she was a reader. I must watch Alexander, she thought, he'll be off to a flying start too.

  The other problem contestants often ran into was blindly following their energy reader, instead of also thinking about the best route to take. Contestants might end up at the top of a vertical incline with no easy way down, or swimming across a river without realizing there was a bridge fifty meters downstream. At least she was on home turf; that should be an advantage.

  James was moving around, handing out energy meters, and Anita took the small golden box handed to her. Here we go, she thought, as the meter sprang to life in her hand. She took her place behind the Descendants at the brow of the hill.

  'In the interests of fairness, I shall choose a contestant to pick the pigeon you will chase,' said Austin, motioning to a girl standing beside Bass to step forward. 'Which box shall it be?' he asked.

  The girl, looking a little dazed at the responsibility, pointed at the left-hand box. 'That one,' she said, in a small voice, before stepping back into line.

  'Splendid,' proclaimed Austin. 'Contestants, please ready yourselves,' he ordered, reaching forward and unhooking the latch on the left-hand box. 'I declare this Chase…open,' he roared, flinging the lid open, a pigeon launching itself into the sky.

  Anita watched the pigeon in what seemed like slow motion as it paused for a split second in mid-air. She used the opportunity to point her energy meter at the bird and lock onto its energy, then hurtled down the hill with the rest of the contestants. About halfway down, someone shoved her, sending her sid
eways. She stumbled and almost fell as Gwyn whipped past. Bitch, thought Anita; two can play at that game.

  Anita launched herself off a ledge at the bottom of the hill. It was like she was flying. Not missing a beat, she landed, completed a forward roll, and picked up her pace again. The stunt gave her a bit of a lead, as most other contestants, including Gwyn, she noticed smugly, were taking the path all the way to the bottom, and were stuck in single file where the path narrowed. But Anita knew that Bass would take the route she had, and the other Descendants were right behind her, so she picked up her pace.

  Anita pelted at full speed across a rickety bridge, over the river into dense woodland the far side. Anita sensed someone coming up behind her, and with energy that strong, it had to be one of the Descendants. She didn't know which, and wouldn't waste the time and energy required to look.

  She soon found out. As she came out of the woods, vaulting the fence into an open field, Alexander landed to her right, recovered from his own leap, and raced away. Anita picked up her pace to match Alexander's, not quite believing how fast he was for a Spirit. They flew across the grass, easily jumping the stream that ran through its middle, and leapt at the steep incline the far side. Anita was exhilarated. This was the first time she'd ever truly been challenged in a race, and that spurred her on to new depths of determination.

  They reached the hill's summit and picked their way down the other side, back to the river. 'You could at least pretend to use your energy meter,' Alexander jibed. 'I've already warned you once.'

  'You seem to have a callous disregard for your own safety, whilst being particularly concerned with mine,' she shot back. 'Any specific reason for that?'

  'I'm the Spirit Descendant; people would mock me if I couldn't read energy. You, on the other hand, are a Body, with what seem to be exceptional skills. You are not what you might call normal, and this is a dangerous climate in which to stick out.'

  'You seem to have remarkable Body skills for a Spirit. You seem to be fine, so I'll take my chances,' said Anita, as they reached the river, jumping from rock to rock to cross it.

  The next group of challengers, including Gwyn, Bass, and Marcus, had reached the summit behind them. Anita made a show of holding up her energy meter and pointing in the direction the pigeon had flown. 'Happy now?' Anita called over her shoulder as she launched into a sprint along the riverbank. Alexander pelted after her.

  They carried on at full speed for an hour, going up and down hills, across the river, over fields, through woods, until, at the summit of a small hill, Anita's energy meter started playing up. It was indicating that she should head east, when she could feel the pigeon's energy heading north.

  'That's weird,' said Anita, as they ran down the slope, 'my energy meter's telling me to go east. What does yours say?'

  'It says to head north,' said Alexander, showing Anita his meter, 'and I can feel its energy heading that direction.'

  'I can too,' she said, Alexander's face hardening.

  'Austin…' said Alexander.

  'Um, why?' Anita asked, as they reached the flat and headed north.

  'He must have tampered with the meters because he wants a Descendant to win. Energy meters don't just stop working. They lock onto one source of energy and don't change until they're given a new target. Are you sure you didn't accidently set it to a new target?'

  'No, of course not. I'm not stupid,' she said, indignantly. 'I work at the observatory for Gods' sake; I know how to use an energy meter.'

  'You work at the observatory?' he said, clearly surprised. 'You're an energy expert too?'

  'I wouldn't go as far as expert,' she said, upping the pace a little, 'but I work with Bass and help him monitor the energy.'

  'Brilliant,' he said, sarcastically. 'You're an energy reading Body who also knows all about the…issues we face. It doesn't get much worse than that. You've got to lose the Chase.'

  Anita laughed. 'You're off your rocker if you think I'm going to do that.'

  'You've got to. Austin will know you're a reader if you win.'

  'How? I'll say I saw the pigeon heading north and that your meter was pointing north, so I headed north. It's not entirely untrue.'

  'And what about when we get to the end? How are you going to explain how you actually find the pigeon?'

  'I'll get lucky.'

  'You'll get lucky? Yeah, sure, no one will suspect a thing.'

  Anita had had enough. 'You stay here and keep spouting doom and gloom if you want to, but I'm going to get a move on.'

  Alexander couldn't do much but pick up his pace; he would have to make sure he got to the pigeon first.

  Two hours later, both Anita and Alexander knew they were nearly there. The pigeon had stopped, and its energy was getting closer. They leapt over a gate from one field to another and a beautiful farmhouse, several rickety old barns, and a massive crowd came into view.

  They raced across the field and a cheer went up from the crowd. All eyes turned towards them as they competed to take the lead. As they reached the courtyard, Alexander was slightly in front. They sensed the pigeon's energy behind them at the same time, both immediately whipping around, turning in perfect unison, like dancers performing a routine. They headed for one of the barns, Anita now slightly ahead, having benefitted from the sudden change in direction.

  As she entered the barn, she saw the pigeon sitting on a low stack of rectangular hay bales. Alexander's energy was immediately behind her, so strong that it felt like it might envelop her, but she reached out and snatched the scroll at the pigeon's feet just ahead of his large, muscular hand. She somehow managed to leap on top of the bales to avoid directly colliding with them and tried to slow herself down. Alexander had no option but to do the same, and bowled into Anita with such momentum that he pushed her off the other side. He landed on top of her, leaving them in an awkward heap on the floor, luckily not totally in view of the growing crowd.

  'Happy?' Alexander hissed.

  'I will be when you get off me,' she retorted. 'You know there's nothing worse than a sore loser.'

  Alexander looked spectacular, in a terrifying sort of way, his face inches from hers. She cocked an eyebrow. He stood and stalked out of the barn, visibly trying to regain his composure.

  Anita got up as gracefully as she could, and found herself face to face with Austin.

  'Well, that was interesting,' he said, in a sing-song voice, pinning her with cold and dangerous eyes. 'Congratulations…um…'

  'Anita,' Elistair said, coming to the rescue, 'congratulations. A startling performance, as ever. Austin, this girl has won every contest she has ever entered, and she hasn't disappointed again here today. Well done Anita.'

  Thank the Gods for Elistair.

  'The presentation, Austin?' prompted Elistair.

  'Yes, of course, follow me.'

  Anita followed Austin out of the barn, Elistair stuck firmly to her side. As they emerged into the courtyard, Anita saw a few other contestants finishing, with groups of stragglers still following behind. Anita caught Bass' eye. He sported both a huge grin and an enormous graze down one of his legs. She gave him a questioning look. He inclined his head in the general direction of Gwyn and Marcus, and Anita was glad she hadn't had to deal with the two of them. Poor Bass.

  Elistair ushered Anita after Austin, who was giving off extremely strong negative energy. Maybe Alexander was right; maybe she should have kept a low profile. Well, too late for that now, she thought, as she stepped up in front of the crowd.

  'Descendants, councilors, contestants, children of the Temples of the Mind, Body and Spirit,' said Austin, back in his element. 'Today we have witnessed a spectacular, competitive Chase, with our worthy contestants having battled for three long hours, over difficult and varied terrain. But, as is always the case, there can only be one victor, and today, by an excruciating margin – better luck next time, Alexander – the victor is Anita, of the Temple of the Body.'

  A roar went up from the crowd, much to Anita
's surprise. Normally everyone was indifferent when she won; they must be happy that someone other than a Descendant had finished first.

  'As is customary for a Chase of this importance, we have a spectacular prize for our winner. Along with being guest of honor at the Crowning Ball, and leading the ball's first dance, I present to you, Anita, a vintage energy meter from my own private collection.'

  The crowd gave another roar as Austin took the energy meter from James, who had been nervously hovering with it at the side of the stage, and handed it to Anita. Austin looked pained.

  'That concludes today's festivities,' said Austin. 'I trust that you all had an enjoyable day and I thank the contestants for playing their part. Please make your way to the energy trains, which will return you to Empire.'

  The crowd dispersed and Anita made her way towards Bass and Elistair, but before she could reach them, a hand closed around her arm. The hand belonged to Austin, who looked like a small boy about to pull the wings off a fly.

  'Our champion can't travel back with the crowds. You must travel with us,' he said, in his horrible, over-the-top voice. He pulled Anita towards a floating golden carriage with plush, overstuffed red velvet seats. It probably cost more than Cordelia's cottage.

  The carriage already contained Marcus and a driver, and her energy leapt as they neared. Great; this won't be awkward at all. She took a deep breath and gave herself a talking to; she could handle one short carriage ride. How bad could it really be? But as she reached the steps, an unwelcome hand blocked her path.

  'Allow me to help you,' said Alexander, in his charming, chocolate voice. He took Anita's hand, then moved aside to help her climb the steps. 'Austin, I thought I would ride back with you. I trust that will be okay,' he said, climbing in behind Anita without waiting for a response.

  'Of course,' Austin snarled, as he too climbed aboard. 'Let's get a move on then,' he barked, once he'd sat down next to Marcus. Alexander took the seat next to Anita.