The Tale of Tiernan (The Graelian Chronicles Book 1) by James Colson

Author:James Colson [Colson, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: James Colson Books
Published: 2024-05-27T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Forty-Five Kilometers

At the starting line stood twenty runners lined up in groups of four. In the second row were Enid, Voron, an Abrian runner from Idlewind named Dair, and a Clericsfold runner named Grosvenor.

The emcee paced with a frustrated look on his face, unable to start the event since the crowd was cheering too much to control. He looked at the four judges, who just shrugged their shoulders and laughed at his plight.

High in the stands, Davien and Borun sat side by side. Borun let out a loud, boisterous laugh as well. “This is going to be great!” Davien agreed, and leaned over to his wife, who was sitting on his left, to ask her a question.

“What do you think, hon? Should I try to get control of the crowd? Exert my ‘kingly persona’ for once today?”

Kyrie smiled as she welcomed the surrounding joy. “Nah. Let them enjoy it. Abria is one. Let’s keep it that way.”

Elsewhere in the stands, Tiernan and Wayland sat side by side. Wayland was smiling, his eyes fixated on Enid. Tiernan noticed and elbowed him.

“Ow! Hey, remember what I told you? This section,” he said, pointing to his mid-section once again. “No more punches. Elbows count in that too.” Tiernan did it again and punched Wayland’s arm for good measure.

“Better?”

Wayland returned the job, physically saying no without verbalizing it. Wayland’s stronger hit made Tiernan wince. “Okay, man, I got it. No more punching. I’ll stop.”

“Liar,” Wayland retorted, knowing his friend would do it again soon.

“For today, anyway.”

“Thought so.”

After a bit, the emcee noticed the crowd was beginning to settle down. He stood within eyesight of most of those in attendance and raised his hands. He began waving, signaling for the people to quiet themselves.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Laaadies and gentlemen! Please. Thank you. Welcome to the big event! A forty-five-kilometer run through the Abrian and Clericsfold country sides. The same rules apply here: we’ll award five points for first place, three for second, and one for third. Let’s introduce our athletes.” He rambled off the names of each of the twenty runners, mentioning the names of their parents and the city they were from. In the case of Enid, no mention was made of her parents’ status. Instead, he referred to Davien as a carpentry tradesman along with his beloved wife Kyrie, a stay-at-home mom.

Everyone knew, of course, but respected the King and Queen for their modesty.

After introducing those in the final row, the emcee moved back to a central position. “Runners, are you ready?” Each athlete responded in their own way, some with cheers, others with raised hands.

Enid placed her hands on her hips.

“Excellent! Judges, are you ready?” Each signaled they were with a thumbs up. “Okay, then let’s get started. Runners, on your mark, get set, and…GO!”

BONG! The big race was the only event with a special starting bell, an enormous gong made by Borun himself to commemorate the event. The runners in the first row sped off, side by side for the first few dozen meters.

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