The shrine to Tamarau is the most colorful, painted with rainbow murals. The statue of the goddess has long, purple hair which has been extended with carvings into the walls itself, so it loops and curls around the pillars. She has more arms than I can count, each one holding the symbol of another type of art—an ocarina, a paintbrush, a sculptor’s chisel, a book, a pen, a mummer’s mask, a drop spindle…
I’m frozen, staring in awe, and for a moment, I think I see the statue’s eyes focus on me. Then Rinari nudges me and the illusion is gone.
“Show some respect,” she whispers, kneeling down on the floor to pray.
I hurry to follow her, lifting my hands up to the altar. My mind races for an appropriate prayer.
“Amena?” a familiar deep voice says behind me.
I whip my head around. “Deryt?”
Deryt is standing right behind me, dressed in the local fashion, with a look of surprise on his face. He takes a step closer and holds out his hand. “Amena, it is you! I can’t believe it, running into you so far away from home.”
I take his hand and let him help me to my feet. “Wow, what a coincidence, huh?” I raise my eyebrows at him. There’s no way he just showed up in Serynda. He must have been looking for me. “What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to keep my tone light.
Rinari jumps to her feet and looks up at Deryt. “Hey, who’s this? One of your adoring fans?” She glances at me, eyes flashing. “Or should I be jealous?”
I shake my head. “No, no, he’s just a friend from back home. Goes to my school.”
Deryt blinks in surprise at Rinari. “Yeah, school friend,” he says, forcing a smile. “She left so fast, I didn’t have time to say goodbye. Why don’t we go chat somewhere and you can tell me what you’ve been up to?” He puts his arm around me, making it clear that this conversation is not optional.
“Sure.” I smile at Rinari in a way I hope will reassure her. “Thanks for lunch. I’ll meet you back at the theater later, okay?”
Rinari sticks her lower lip out in an exaggerated pout. “I guess I have to let you go for now.” She leans forward and kisses me on the cheek. “Have fun. You can tell me about your friend later.” She winks at Deryt and goes back to praying at the altar.
Deryt steals a look at Rinari over his shoulder as he steers me to an empty part of the temple. “She’s an awfully pretty girl. Is she the reason you took off with no word?” he whispers in my ear.
I duck my head to hide my red cheeks. “Um, no,” I mumble. I look around the building. The alcove we’re in seems to be secluded, but there’s so many nooks with all the different shrines it’s hard to tell where the nearest people are. “Are you sure it’s safe to talk in here?”
Deryt lets go of me and leans against the wall, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You didn’t leave me a lot of choice. I’ve been tailing you for two days, but you’re always holed up in that theater or the hotel, surrounded by guards. What’s this dumb competition you’ve gotten into? Some singing thing?”
“Star Search.” I fold my hands, pleading with him. “Just hold on and I’ll try to explain. I’m sorry that I left you in the lurch back in Pisan when we were on that job together, but I didn’t have a lot of choice. A security guard made me and I barely got out—no time to contact you. I was afraid they had caught you, too.”
Deryt runs his hands through his hair, making it stick out at odd angles. “Yeah, I know, I saw the guards all descend on the place.” He sighs and hangs his head. “My fault for being a bad lookout. I thought they arrested you for sure. How did you get away?”
I doubt he would believe the truth if I told him. “I was arrested, but I broke out of the handcuffs and made a run for it,” I say, slipping my extra set of lock picks out of my sleeve to show him. Mission or no, I haven’t gone anywhere without my tools since that day. “But then I needed a place to lie low until things cooled off, so I hitched a ride here.”
He scowls. “You call this lying low? Your name’s on the radio being broadcast to the entire empire!”
I hold up a finger. “Only my first name. I, uh, had a spare set of forged papers so they think I’m Amena Qumejola, from a school in Pisan. I can’t be traced back to the rebels or any of my past criminal records.”
“Spare papers, huh?” He shakes his head. “And you waste them on some silly competition?”
“My dream!” I place my hand on my heart, taking a dramatic cue from Rinari. “I told you I didn’t want to be stuck in that life. This is my chance to do what I want, to be a singer. Didn’t you say we were fighting to have a choice? Well, I choose this, and you can’t make me go back!”
He lunges forward and grips me by the arms. “What about the people you left behind? Do you know how worried your mama was? I had to go back to the village alone and tell everyone I had no idea where you were. Until we heard you on the radio, we all assumed you were in jail or—or dead!”
I stare up at him, seeing the pain in his eyes. I didn’t stop to think of what Mama or anyone else thought about me—I didn’t want to think about it. I guess I was so mad when I left, I thought I was teaching them a lesson. But now I just feel guilty. I hang my head in shame.
He lets go of me and takes a step back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap like that. That’s not why I came.” He takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I mean, I wanted to check to see if you were okay, but they sent me to deliver a message. The leaders, they—they think this might be an opportunity, for you to gain more support for our cause.”
I wrap my arms around myself and stare at the ground. “I can’t tell anyone I’m a rebel. That’d be way too risky.”
“I know, nothing that obvious. More like… subtle propaganda?” He runs his hands through his hair again. “Let me see if I can say it right. Everything you sing, or say on stage, is being broadcast to the entire empire, and people can be sympathetic. Remember that anthem thing you wrote to get people pumped up?”
I look up, eyes narrowing. “‘Road to Freedom’? That’s way too political for me to sing! The chorus literally says, ‘I’m watching the empire crumble around us.’”
Deryt shifts back and forth from one foot to another. “Well, um, maybe you can change some words around a bit.”
I groan. “I have less than two days until the next round of competition, which is pretty short notice to rewrite an entire song.” I place my hands on my hips and stare him down. “Why should they tell me what to do?”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper, handing it to me. “If you don’t do what they want, I’m supposed to give this to the people running Star Search. The rules say you can’t have a criminal background, right?”
I snatch the paper from his hand and unfold it. It’s a wanted poster from Pisan, with a description of my attempted break-in at the warehouse. They’ve also linked me back to my previous arrests for petty theft and vandalism. All minor stuff, maybe not enough for Serynda’s police force to bother arresting me and sending me back to Pisan. But plenty to get me kicked out of the competition. The photo is old, from my arrest last year, but still recognizable as me.
Oh, Qachmy, you said you would help me. I can feel her power when I reach out for it, waiting for me to do something, but what can I do? I can’t erase an entire criminal record. I could destroy this piece of paper and threaten Deryt, but I’m sure the rebels have other copies. Worse, they’ve got a lot more dirt on me if I don’t play along.
I slump against the wall, dejected. I’ll never be free from the rebels, not so long as they think I’m valuable. I hand the paper back to Deryt with a sigh.
“Fine. I’ll sing the song, but I’m the one who decides where the line is. I’m not getting kicked off this competition because the radio censors think I’m too controversial.” I lift my chin up. “You tell those bullies I plan to win, and if I pull that off, I get a tour. The chance to sing ‘Road to Freedom’ in every major town and city across the Arqan Empire. Does that sound like enough to gai
n support for your cause?”
Deryt folds the paper up and tucks it back into his pocket. “Sounds fine to me. I’ll be staying in town to make sure you keep your promise.”
I nod. “Great. Keep in touch. I can get you a free ticket to the concert, if you want. My manager offered them to me for any friends or family I have in town.” Bymonten calls himself my assistant, but I can tell when I’m being managed.
He shakes his head. “That’s not necessary. I’ll hear it on the radio with everyone else.”
“Fine by me.” I turn to leave.
“Amena.”
I spin back around. “What now?”
He holds up his hands and looks guilty. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to say good luck.” He manages a faint smile. “I do want you to get your dream.”
“Thanks,” I say, softening a little, but I won’t smile at the boy who’s helping to blackmail me. I hurry back to the theater. I have a lot of work ahead of me to rewrite that song.
The second round of the Star Search competition is finally here. I’ve spent days preparing for it, but I’m still nervous. Is my song going to be subtle enough for the judges while making the rebels happy? I guess I won’t know until I sing it.
Waiting backstage in the green room, I can hear the crowd cheering, echoing through the whole building. I smooth down my skirt for the third or fourth time and twist my hands together, trying to keep them still. Some singers are pacing back and forth with pent-up energy, but I’m afraid to walk too much in these heels Bymonten picked out for me. They’re taller than any I’ve worn before, almost four inches. One foot wrong and I could twist my ankle. Fortunately, I’ll have back-up dancers behind me tonight so I won’t have to fill the whole stage.
Rinari takes the seat next to me and grabs my hand. “Hey, don’t get yourself all worked up,” she says with a reassuring smile. “Want to do some breathing exercises?”
This kind of distraction is the last thing I need. I pull my hand away and shake my head. “Um, that’s okay. I’d rather just be alone.”
She pouts a little, but she lets go of me and moves off to another seat. “Sorry.”
I feel guilty for turning her away, but I don’t call her back. I have to focus. I close my eyes and pray silently to Qachmy.
Then, before I know it, the stage manager is calling me. I check my outfit a final time and head into the wings.
The announcer says my name and the audience cheers. I step out into the bright lights of the stage and the applause hits another level of intensity. Did they remember me? I smile and wave at the sea of the faces. Their energy lifts me up and fills me. I grip the microphone and lift it from its stand.
Seated at their table, the three judges show no emotion beyond bland smiles. Nysa glances at her papers. “Welcome back, Amena. Last time you were on, we asked you for a song that showed a little more of your personality. What do you have for us today?”
I flash her a confident grin. “My song is called ‘Road to Freedom,’ and it’s a little autobiographical,” I say, using a word that Bymonten recommended. “It was inspired by recent events in my life.”
Osev makes a note on his paper. “Sounds interesting.” He looks up and his gaze pierces me. “I’m intrigued by this concept, freedom. What does that mean to you?”
I swallow hard. This is the key to my whole song, but also the part that could get me into trouble. “I would say freedom means being able to choose what I want for my life,” I say carefully. “Instead of being controlled by someone else, like—like a lover.”
I’m not singing about a lover, but it was better than the other options. I can’t say a controlling parent, because I’m not even supposed to know my parents. Complaining about school or a teacher sounded too childish and also too close to targeting the government itself. But a lover is a personal thing that most people can relate to.
Osev raises his eyebrows. “Well, I guess we should hear this song to find out more. When you’re ready.”
I signal the musicians. As the opening notes play, the back-up dancers shuffle out and arrange behind me. After last week, I made sure this song starts off fast and up-tempo from the beginning. I raise my hands up and clap along to the beat, summoning Qachmy’s magic, and the audience picks it up. My smile grows wider. They’re already in the palm of my hand.
In these last few moments,
I take a deep breath and open the door.
Gazing straight ahead,
we take our last kiss and walk away…
I blow a kiss to the audience and spin around, walking away from them for a few steps. There’s not much time to mime most of the lyrics because it goes so fast.
“Truthfully, I’m crying inside as I watch the sky crumble around us. I must leave you on this road. Your fate was decided by the stars,” I croon, looking up as if I could see the night sky above the concert hall. “But I chose another path.”
I’m coming up on the chorus, the most important part.
In Freedom I was born, in Freedom I will live.
This road is lonely, but I’ll keep on running.
The audience continues to clap along, and I can see some people swaying back and forth, dancing to the beat. It’s catchy, like an anthem should be, and by the second chorus, they’re singing along. I can feel the energy of the crowd filling me up and amplifying my words just like the power of Qachmy. It’s intoxicating. I don’t want the song to end, but my three minutes fly by. I end with a fighting pose, pounding the air with my fist, and the audience goes wild.
The judges wait in silence with their arms folded while they wait for the crowd to die down. Dunruis makes one note on his paper, but Osev just stares off into space like he’s bored. Only Nysa smiles at me.
Finally, the applause ends. The dancers bow and slip off-stage. They have to change and get ready for the next song with another contestant. I don’t envy how hard they work.
I step up to the judges’ table with my mic still in hand and bow. I’m breathing hard and my heart is pounding from the exertion. My gaze flicks from one judge to the next, hoping for a sign they liked it.
Nysa leans forward and grins. “We’ve got some girl power going on in here tonight!” she says, pounding her fist in the air like me, and the audience lets out another cheer. “I love it. You’re not afraid to make your own way.”
I bow my head again to her. “Thank you.”
Dunruis scowls and shakes his head. “Personally, I don’t like a girl with too much attitude. Doesn’t love require some sacrifices? Your song says you love this boy, but you’re leaving him anyway.”
I can’t help but give him a cheeky grin. “I never said it was a boy.”
The audience screams in support.
Dunruis grimaces. “Fair enough.” He leans forward. “My point is, wouldn’t the goddess of love say you just weren’t being brave enough to take the chance?”
Nysa rolls her eyes and smacks his arm, which makes the audience laugh. “You idiot, she’s not running away scared. Some people just aren’t right for you, no matter how much you love them. The song’s message is you shouldn’t give up your own soul for someone else.”
Osev clears his throat. “Setting aside the theme of the lyrics for a moment, I’d like to talk about the technical aspects of the song. It’s very catchy and engaging, the kind of tune that can get stuck in your head.” His eyes narrow at me. “In fact, I get the feeling I’ve heard it somewhere before.”
I swallow. There’s no way he could have heard my song before unless he was in the rebellion. I’m not sure that many people outside of my village know it. “Um, I don’t think so? I wrote it myself,” I say truthfully.
Osev watches me, as if he could read my mind, and I hold very still. Then he shrugs. “I can’t say what it reminds me of, so maybe I imagined it. Anyway, we’ve heard two good pop songs from you now, with lots of energy.” He leans back in his chair. “I wonder if you could sing anything else, maybe a ballad? I’d like to see you get more emotiona
l.”
I lift my chin. “Bring me back next week and you’ll find out.”
He lets out a small chuckle. “We’ll see about that.”
Nysa puts her hand on his arm and smiles at me again. “Thanks for singing for us, Amena. It’s always fun.”
Time to go back and wait. I drop a curtsy and give a final wave to the audience, who send me off with more enthusiastic applause.
Rinari is waiting for me in the green room with a hurt look. “Your song was a little harsh,” she says, taking my hand before I can move away from her. “You’re not trying to tell me something, are you?”
I shake my head and give her a reassuring smile. “It wasn’t about you.”
She brightens up and leans closer. “That’s good to know. What about that mysterious boy you met? The tall, dark and handsome one?”
I open my mouth to deny it, but she’s just going to keep asking questions. “Something like that,” I say, ducking my head to hide my blush. “That’s ancient history, though. I told him when I saw him I don’t want to go back.”
She puts her arm around me and pats me on the shoulder. “Oh, you poor dear. So he followed you all the way here?” She shakes her head. “Some guys just don’t know when to quit. Don’t worry, I’ll keep that jerk away from you.”
She holds me until she’s called for her turn, and I don’t pull away this time. There’s something comforting about her warmth, and there’s nothing she can distract me from now. I relax into her arms and try not to think about the final results.
But the night has to end. Twenty-five contestants file out onto the stage. This time, only five will be chosen for the final round. After the mixed reactions I got from the judges, I don’t think my chances are good.
Amena’s Rise to Stardom: Divine Warriors #0 Page 6
