Ashlords by Scott Reintgen

Author:Scott Reintgen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2020-01-20T16:00:00+00:00

You don’t sleep well. You’re still hearing the howls.

The benefits of the sacrifice ritual haven’t manifested. You wanted more of an explanation from Mother about what to expect, but Father’s presence the following morning made that impossible. You’re left with a lack of sleep and an empty feeling inside. It took most of the night to figure out that you’re not even mad that she cheated. A tool is a tool. Mother is right. Other riders in her year had the same benefits that she did. No, the part that makes you angry is that she didn’t give you a choice. She forced you to play the same hand that she did.

You deserved better than that.

The unfairness of her decision has you leaning more than ever toward Bravos. A new life is waiting in the distance for both of you. It feels like the only way forward now is together.

It’s a blessing when the official knocks on your door to announce the coming dawn.

You dress in sponsored racing gear and head for the second room. On your left, a glass partition reflects back your image. You cross the room and knock twice. There’s a flicker of movement behind you in the mirror. Ghost and gone. You look back, but no one’s there.

Before you can start feeling like you’re going insane, the glass wall grinds to life. It lifts, revealing a second official who’s haloed in blinding light. “Step forward, contestant.”

White briefly scalds your pupils. You blink through the blind and find yourself staring into a room of white walls, white lights, white storage units. Seven cameras watch you step into the Powder Room. The feeds go straight to a vigilant team of infraction judges. It’s their job to make sure no one cheats during the crucial moments before the Races begin.

The official waits at the edge of a silver barrier. When you’re in position, she offers you the race-standard cubes. Five black boxes linked together, each about the size of a clenched fist. You inspect the container and nod your approval. The official takes it from you and inserts the plastic into fitting grooves along the fixed, circular railing. As it clicks into place, a series of automated systems hum to life inside the room.

“Five powders,” the official says. “You have five clockturns to decide.”

In the white cabinet grid behind the official, vibrant colors stare back at you. Thousands of powders sit in thousands of compartments. Every imaginable substance in the Empire can be found in the Powder Room. Each one collected, ground, and refined. You step up to the barrier and inspect the seemingly endless list inscribed upon the surface.

Some are so common you can find them in fields outside the city, but others are so rare that they’re nearly worth the cost of the entry fee. Endless combinations and endless rebirths. It makes the competition even more unpredictable. You know that the alchemy will matter as much as the riding. A rider can’t just be a horseman and a warrior.

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