"Yss, I'd be interested to hear the finer points of your argument." Alizadeh cast his gaze out over the racecourse, as if he'd just noticed it. "So, races today? Anyone I should cheer for?"
"Javier. He's there on the white stallion."
"He does cut a fine figure," Alizadeh remarked.
Kiram felt his cheeks warm slightly. "He has a good chance of taking first place in the next two races."
"Well, I'll cheer for him as loudly as I can. Is there somewhere in particular that I should stand?"
"Anywhere as long as you keep behind the rope barricade. It's my job to keep people back, you know."
"In that case I'll slink away as quickly as I can." Alizadeh quickly slipped back behind the rope barricade. Kiram watched him go, wondering what it would take to convince Alizadeh to take his side and help him stay at the academy. Then the loud clang of the starting bell captured all Kiram's attention.
Javier and Hierro Fueres took the lead immediately. But even before the second lap Kiram could see Hierro Fueres' mount tiring. The Helio twins steadily gained ground. One of them edged into third place and the other fell in just behind his twin in fourth.
Lunaluz cleared the last stone wall, but Hierro Fueres' horse shied from the jump and the Helio twins surged ahead. The first of them cleared the wall but the second didn't.
A sick horror flooded Kiram as both rider and horse crashed down, half across the wall half over it. The horse let out a wrenching scream and the Helio twin's body flipped through the air and then smacked into the muddy ground. Two men in Sagrada colors rushed past the barricade and pulled him up to his feet. He hung between them, sobbing as they dragged him back off the field.
Hierro Fueres turned his mount aside and jumped the wall a little to the left of the convulsing horse. The five other riders followed his example.
The fallen horse thrashed in a revolting, spastic manner. Its hindquarters collapsed over the wall. The horse tried to stand but its legs splayed out, buckling like broken sticks. Its head twisted at a wrong angle and still it cried out. Firaj folded his ears back and shivered in seeming sympathy.
The surrounding crowd went silent and motionless as the horse's cries carried over the course. Kiram felt like he might vomit but he forced his revulsion back. He couldn't believe that the horse was still alive, or that the race was still going on.
Then suddenly Javier wheeled Lunaluz around. He cut across the field, riding back to where the horse lay, thrashing and crying. Lunaluz balked as they drew near, shaking his head and whinnying. Javier swung down from his saddle and ran to the fallen beast.
Terror coursed through Kiram as the horse flailed, nearly striking Javier with its hoof. Riders raced past Kiram, crossing the finish line, but Kiram hardly noticed them. He stared at Javier and the pathetic, trembling ruin of a beautiful roan stallion.
A tiny flicker sparked up between Javier's hands and then it spread into a luminous glow. Javier held his hands out, basking the horse in the white light and the horse quieted. It stared at Javier, shudders still passing through its body but it made no noise. Javier moved closer, kneeling beside the animal's head.
Javier lowered his face and whispered something to the horse. Then the soft light between his hands crackled like lightning and a blinding bolt shot straight down through the horse's head.
The horse went entirely limp, its head falling into the mud and its legs drooping like hot taffy. Javier returned to Lunaluz and stood for a long moment, stroking the stallion's neck. Then he rode back to the starting line, clearly forfeiting.
Neither of the Helio twins took their places for the third race, and Kiram was shocked that the war masters hadn't canceled the final race. The remaining riders were called to their places and the bell rang.
The start was slower than either of the two before and the cheers from the crowd were thin and subdued at first. But after the second lap, as Javier and Hierro Fueres rode neck and neck, voices rose and groups of men chanted in booming voices. Elezar managed to shout over everyone, howling out Javier's name and taunting Hierro Fueres.
Kiram was silent, just watching and dreading the moment Lunaluz approached the last stone wall. He didn't want to look and at the same time he couldn't pull his gaze away. A red smear colored the gray stones. He tried to convince himself that it was just mud.
Then Lunaluz leapt and soared over the wall. Javier came charging towards the finish line. His expression was set in that arrogant smile, as it often was in duels. But for an instant he glanced to Kiram and Kiram saw his entire countenance slip like a mask. He looked overwhelmed with sorrow. Then he glanced away and his satisfied smirk returned.
He and Lunaluz tore through the ribbons of the finish line a full length ahead of Hierro Fuere. The last five riders came through the line in quick succession. Kiram watched them, feeling both numb and raw. He wanted to be able to roar Javier's name in triumph, but he couldn't stop thinking of the terrible heavy thud of the roan stallion's body breaking over that stone wall and how little it seemed to have impacted anyone else. It disturbed him that a living creature could have suffered so terribly so recently and that the crowd of Cadeleonians would already be cheering and hooting.
Prince Sevanyo presented medals to the winning riders. Javier took a silver and a gold with a fixed smile. Hierro Fueres accepted his gold and two silvers with a grin that reminded Kiram a little of Fedeles in the grip of near madness. Cocuyo Helio received his gold, and a bronze medal in his brother's stead. He managed a thin smile for the prince. The remaining medals, two bronzes, were presented to a Yllar student who Kiram didn't know, but he wore a bright orange ribbon on his sleeve.
Kiram suddenly wondered what it took for a Cadeleonian to admit weakness or to express open sorrow. Did they always force a confident smile and charge thoughtlessly ahead like brave soldiers? Maybe that's what made them such great warriors, but also such terrible intellectuals.
"Are you needed for anything else?" Alizadeh once again ducked under the rope barricade and stood beside Firaj. He wasn't smiling and Kiram found it relieving to know that at least he hadn't forgotten the fallen horse.
"No," Kiram said. "Master Ignacio just signaled our dismissal. One of the grooms is already on his way to take Firaj back to the stables. After that I'm free until sixth bell."
"Good." Alizadeh said nothing more as the groom drew closer, but the tension that Kiram had noticed the first day he'd seen Alizadeh had returned to his bearing. He glanced up at the blue jays circling overhead. Kiram stroked Firaj's jaw for a few moments before handing his reins over to a young groom. The entire time Alizadeh's disquiet seemed to increase.
Alizadeh stepped closer to Kiram. "Do you know what it is that your friend Javier did to that fallen horse?"
"He opened the white hell and…killed it." Kiram glanced quickly to the bloodstained wall and then back to Alizadeh. "He had to, it was suffering."
"I have no doubt that it was a merciful killing. That is not what concerns me," Alizadeh said. His gaze flickered to the throng of Hellions surrounding Javier and he lowered his voice to a whisper. "It wasn't a hell he opened. That was a shajdi. The same one that opened this morning."
"That's what I was trying to tell you before the race," Kiram said. "I think that the white hell is actually a shajdi."
"This changes things," Alizadeh said. He turned his attention back to Kiram. "We have to go now."
Alizadeh caught his hand in a tight grip.
"But I haven't gotten a chance to talk to Javier or Nestor," Kiram protested. "I should at least tell them where I'm going."