Belvedor and the Four Corners (Belvedor Saga Book 1)

by Ashleigh Bello

  Shaking out of his reverie, he shoved through the group, coming to stand beside her. For a moment, he only stared before taking her hand in his. Saying nothing, they put their attention back on General Ivo. Arianna’s heartbeat quickened and Liam squeezed his grasp tighter.

  “Before we get started,” said the general, “let me introduce the panel of judges this evening. Now remember, you must score a six or higher on average in order to qualify for your freedom. If you’re critically wounded, you will obviously be disqualified.” He chuckled along with many others seated in the elder’s section. Arianna chewed on her lip. Everyone knew disqualified was just a fancy word for dead.

  The general went on to list the names of ten other people, but Arianna just couldn’t find her concentration. She searched the crowd for Solomon and Talis, needing a sense of reassurance. She did find a face, but it didn’t belong to either of the masters.

  “Lessa?” she mouthed, cocking her head to the side.

  Sure enough, the young healer stared back at her from behind General Ivo, seated in the elder’s section. Arianna recognized her big eyes before anything else. They stood out bright against her cream skin, and a pair of fiery ones peeked out at her from behind the cover of blue satin lining. She sat high at the top of the stone steps, her blonde hair hanging loose around her shoulders under her hood.

  Arianna shook her head but smiled nonetheless as Lessa pulled something out of her robes and waved it about.

  She has more guts than I thought. Lessa slipped the bronze key back into her robes. “Outwitted,” she saw her mouth back. Arianna clasped her hand tight over her lips in order to trap in the laughter that threatened to betray her panic.

  When the general finished introducing the panel, he began to relay the most important part… the rules.

  “Each slave will have a weapon of choice, as usual. Whatever means of survival you deem necessary will suffice during today’s challenge. You will then be called out in teams of two by random drawings from the panel. When your number is called, you will have ten minutes to fight to the death.”

  Arianna shifted her glance to Liam, his face stone cold.

  “Only one of you can survive,” he said, “and there will be a few surprises along the way. The fewer wounds you suffer, the better your score. If, by the end of ten minutes, no one has died, you will both be executed on the spot. Best you finish the job quickly.”

  Arianna cringed away from his words as her nerves began to grow.

  “If you’re lucky enough to be granted citizenship, you will be free of the Four Corners at the end of this week. In this case, you shall be guided through the Vanishing Tunnels and directed towards your new lives.”

  Arianna closed her eyes, picturing that life. My name is Arianna Belvedor, and I am slave. She shook her mind free of the mantra, ready to face the day which could rid her of the forsaken title forever.

  “Now,” said the general, “as there are so many of you participating in the celebrations, we won’t have time for everyone. Don’t worry, there are plenty events to be held during the course of the week. You’ll have your time to shine in the coming days.” He took a long pause and scanned the crowd until his eyes landed on the nervous contenders awaiting their ultimate judgment. “Now is the time we celebrate the strong, and eliminate the weak from our world. Let the Free Falls Festivals begin!” He finished to a standing ovation.

  The ring of the Grand Bell sounded throughout the Square as the general signaled the start of the festivals. Arianna let go of Liam’s hand to cover her ears, but he snatched it back.

  The regulators ushered her and the rest of the contenders to sit behind a large stone wall separating the battle ground from the viewers. It stood right on the sidelines, which the regulators guarded in case a contender got nervous and tried to run. No one ever got away, but someone always tried.

  As the eighteenth years awaited their probable death sentence to be called, the crowd grew anxious. Arianna watched as a wrinkled woman on the panel pulled two numbers from a large, decorated centerpiece bowl. “Slave numbers ninety-seven and twenty-six, please take your place,” she said. Her face sagged in all the wrong places, and her hair hung loose on her scalp. Swathed in luxurious pink robes, large jewels adorned her fat neck.

  A tall, lanky boy stepped to the middle of the Square, and a small girl with stumpy legs followed. Arianna recognized the boy as Herald who she used to train with their eleventh year. The girl she could not place.

  Herald dropped dead within seconds as the little girl buried her axe in his throat. She scored an even eight, and the crowd roared as the first of few earned her freedom.

  “I saw you die,” whispered Liam. He still clung tight to her hand, but he focused on the battle, never looking at her.

  “Yet, here I am,” she said, her voice soft. She willed him to look at her.

  “Arianna,” he said. His voice cracked. “I thought I lost you.” He started to shake, trying to control his emotions. “Do you have any idea what was going through my mind when they announced you dead? I should’ve protected you…”

  “I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you. It’s so complicated, but I’m here now.” He met her gaze, and she shrank back as his eyes burned into hers. Anger or relief, she did not know.

  “You don’t understand!” The crowd drowned out his voice. “I—” He shook his head of the thought.

  “Tell me,” she said. “What?” His lips pursed in a hard line, and she waited for a long moment.

  “I could’ve stepped in, and I didn’t… I thought you had her,” he said, looking away. For some reason, Arianna felt he meant to say something more.

  “Liam, please don’t feel like this,” she said. “You can’t protect me all the time. Not in this world. Let’s just get through this, alright? After it’s all said and done, I’ll fill you in on everything. I promise.”

  “Don’t let your guard down out there,” he said. “I won’t hesitate to save you this time.” Arianna flushed, trying to make sense of his thoughts.

  “I never need saving,” she said, trying to lift the mood.

  She stared into his face a long time, and he studied hers. She became lost for words. Their friendship grew strong over such defining moments that one should never experience so young. Here they sat, with blood flying all around them, and yet the thoughts circling Arianna’s mind all revolved back to Liam and his feelings. Does he love me? Do I love him?

  “Slave numbers forty-five and three hundred,” called a husky man who sat to the right of the fat woman on the panel.

  Already Arianna saw three people die and live. The bell sounded for the next two candidates to begin. The slaves swung their swords back and forth in a myriad of fancy tricks. Arianna knew the girls as long-time roommates and close friends. She saw the hesitation plain on their faces, their hands shaking as they half-heartedly battled. Neither could do it, not even close.

  The crowd turned as two gates on either side of the Square creaked open, a loud hissing sound resonating from within the gated chamber. Everyone on the sidelines rushed to the low stone wall to peer down onto the snow-clad floor.

  As the noise grew louder, Liam snatched Arianna’s robes and yanked her back just as a long, purplish-black cobra flew where her face fixed moments earlier. “Saved you,” said Liam, turning his frown into a smile.

  Another at the far end of the sidelines proved less than fortunate. A snake caught her in the neck with its fangs. Green venom oozed from her skin, and she writhed in agony for a while before she died.

  Arianna watched in horror as the regulators dragged her body away. “Snakes?” she said. She recognized more and more long, scaly bodies slithering towards the only movement in the Square. Some even had two heads. It looked as if somebody dragged thick, black and purple ropes through the snow as they glided about towards the center.

  “That’s sick,” said Liam. His face turned up in disgust as the events played out.

  In no time at all, about twenty
snakes encircled the two slaves. Hissing, the creatures raised their heads, their tongues licking the air in menacing taunts as they cornered their prey.

  The girls pointed their swords away from each other and towards their new enemies. They stood trapped, back to back. Flailing their swords around in a panic, they tried to waylay as many of the creatures as possible. The crowd cheered them on, but to no avail.

  After severing about ten of the snakes, the girls suffered several bites to their legs. A few moments passed, and the venom started to take its course. Green liquid gushed from the many wounds, their final judgment obvious to all.

  The girls became slow, their faces twisted in torment as their screams echoed across the arena. They fell to their knees, trying to fight off the attacks, trying to fight for each other, but the snakes sank their fangs into their skin again and again.

  The bell sounded, declaring the battle over as the girls fell to the snow, arms linked to meet their maker together. The last few cobras continued to slither about in victory, wrapping around their kill, but their reign soon ended as well. A shield of arrows rained down from archers hidden throughout the unsuspecting crowd. The viewers swung their heads around to glance for those with bows, cheering them on as the arrows struck the last remaining serpents.

  “Next up are numbers one seventeen and two thirty four,” said the fat lady.

  Two boys sauntered onto the field. One looked rather confident, carrying a large, two-headed flail. The other wielded a large mallet with something less than enthusiasm on his face.

  “The one with the flail is Kinas Bleridon. Do you remember him from training?” said Liam.

  “No,” said Arianna, “but he’s one of Risso’s lot, isn’t he?”

  “That’s right,” he said. “He’s her right-hand man. That little guy doesn’t stand a chance. I don’t even recognize him.” Liam frowned.

  “He reminds me of Pippa,” she said sadly, studying the boy. Short brown hair touched his shoulders, and his pale eyes surrounded in a bed of freckles, knees shaking under his robes. He could’ve been her twin.

  Liam paled at the mention of Pippa’s name, his fists balling up at his sides.

  “I don’t know why she had to go running around with that crowd,” he said. “She was smarter than that.”

  Arianna’s head snapped up.

  “I knew it!” she said. “What happened that night? I mean… I heard how she died, but why was she out past curfew?” She stuttered, trying not to give too much away.

  “Slave numbers fifty-three and six, make your way to the center,” called the panel as the regulators dragged the boy’s body to pile with the others. Kinas’ flail dripped with fresh blood as he strode back towards his friends, triumphant. Grinda and the rest of their gang showered him with praise. He scored a nine, receiving his freedom card with gusto.

  Liam looked down at Arianna, his face pained.

  “The same thing that always happens when someone joins that lot,” he said. “It was initiation night.” He shrugged his shoulders.

  “What do you mean?”

  “That’s how they form their group,” he said. “Only Pippa was just for a laugh. They knew she wouldn’t be able go through with it. I overheard them talking, and her challenge was to sneak into the Dining Hall and kill one of the pigs they keep there for the elders. She got caught, and the regulators killed her for it. Made a damn right show of it too… practically tortured her for a week.” He shook his head. “She didn’t deserve that.”

  “No,” said Arianna, “she didn’t…” She stared at the blood-splattered snow, and the little dead boy stared back.

  For the battles that went on longer than ten minutes, the panel introduced more lethal creatures. Most of the slaves who had to fight off an extra enemy died in pairs. Twice, Arianna watched her friends slain by a shower of arrows to the field when the ten minutes finished and no one had died. It seemed almost two hours of sitting and waiting as more and more people became absent from the sidelines. The winners made their way through the crowd, receiving their congratulations. The losers piled in the corner, outweighing the winners by half.

  “Slaves ninety-one and fifteen take center,” said a stern voice from the panel.

  Arianna felt Liam’s whole body clench, and he fingered the silver ninety-one embroidered on his cloak. He squeezed Arianna’s hand. “Just one more battle. Then we’re free,” he said and then let go. Standing, he drew a slender sword from his sheath.

  Liam glanced back one time, catching Arianna’s gaze. She was frozen, stunned with the reality of the situation. Suddenly the bodies piled in the corner seemed to weigh on her heart, the slaves who would never fly free. He leapt the small wall, walking proudly towards his fate, and Arianna felt herself shrivel with the pain of possibly watching him die. Now she understood how he must’ve felt, which made her feel even more helpless.

  She searched for his opponent and recoiled as she spotted Grinda Risso waiting front and center. “No, no, no.” She leaned forward, grasping the stone wall before her as she tried to steady her crumbling world. Of course this would happen. Her luck had run its course. Grinda dressed in all black, leaning on her trusty axe with that familiar sneer twisted on her face as she waited for him to approach.

  “I had hoped for a worthy opponent, but I suppose this will do,” she said, gesturing towards him.

  Arianna watched, her eyes glued to the scene as Liam said nothing. His lip curled at the sight of her, his sandy hair exposed as he pulled the hood from his head, Grinda following suit. The falling snow speckled her black hair, making her look as pallid as the walking dead. Arianna hoped that foretold her fate.

  Blood drenched the ground all around their feet where their peers had fallen. Grinda sniffed the air, sucking the taste through her nose as she passed her weapon back and forth between her hands, her eyes conveying disturbing intentions. Liam tilted his head side to side, preparing his muscles for the battle to come, not seemingly worried. Arianna couldn’t quite say the same. Can he beat the odds?

  The crowd stilled and quieted, waiting for a good show. With Liam Black as her opponent, it might even be as epic as Red Risso’s last fallen challenger. Arianna’s knuckles turned white as she clenched the wall tighter, the seconds ticking by slowly. In ten minutes time she knew very well that she may, or may not, have to say goodbye to Liam again and forever.

  The bell sounded and Grinda lunged forward.

  She took a heavy swing with her axe but missed as Liam fell to his knees, sliding just under her weapon as it sliced through the air. He maneuvered quickly, jumping back to his feet. He jabbed his sword forward, slashing at her thigh, ripping her robes but missing her flesh as she side-stepped him. Returning his attack, she landed a round-house kick into his gut, and Arianna winced. She winced and he screamed, clutching his ribs as he stumbled backwards from the impact. Regaining his balance, he shed his cloak and darted forward.

  Now he moved faster, angrier than before as he ran towards Grinda with his sword. Feigning his attack, he returned her earlier kick with one of his own. His foot smashed into her chest, and she buckled as the wind was knocked out of her. As he came down to land a final blow with his weapon, she blocked it with her axe, forcing him backwards. For a few moments they spun, locked in a war of metal. Blocking and aiming relentless blows, the crowd stood on edge for the end.

  Arianna chewed on her lip at the edge of her seat with the rest of the crowd as Grinda lunged at him with the dull end of her axe, swiping him off his feet. Liam landed hard on his side, losing the grip on his sword as he fell. Before he could push his way back up to find his weapon, Grinda kicked it out of reach.

  Arianna knew this move well. She could even feel the agony of knowing she had lost as Grinda hovered over her the day she died.

  Now Grinda stood over Liam with her axe raised high. Without hesitation, she brought it down to open up his skull. Liam Black closed his eyes to block out the noise and the world, trying to grasp onto one pleasant tho
ught as he waited to die. Arianna flickered across his mind as he let the taste of snow kiss his tongue one last time.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  WALKING DEAD

  The crowd grew louder and louder. Screaming, chanting, and cheering as Liam lay on the ground, still as stone on a bed of crimson snow. The roar of excitement echoed all around the Square, so loud that not even the walls of Blancoren could lock in the noise, a noise that might even stir the dead.

  Liam’s eyes flew open to the mass of onlookers. Is this death? He found Arianna standing across him, her swords out in front like a protective shield. Shock and relief swept over him as he quickly recognized his luck. She held off the force of the axe just long enough for him to crawl to safety.

  Grinda’s gray eyes doubled in size as she registered who blocked her. Liam grabbed his weapon and rolled to his feet, facing Grinda as she tried to process what happened. “But I killed you,” she said, her mouth curling up into a sneer. Arianna saw her hands trembling with anger… or maybe fear? She hoped the latter.

  Arianna said nothing, the adrenaline pumping through her veins and giving her more courage than she thought reasonable. She stepped forward to challenge Grinda Risso one last time, and the crowd went wild.

  Liam put a hand on Arianna’s shoulder as he moved to the side, knowing himself no longer welcome in this battle. “Are you sure this is want you want?” She nodded, and, in one rapid move, Arianna spun, manipulating her swords in intricate attacks. Grinda struggled to block with her axe, but she still held her own. She always did. The crowd stood awestruck at the turn of the events, no one certain as to the identity of the new opponent. Arianna was still dead to them.

  Not even General Ivo and the elders knew what to make of it. Wanting to see it play out, he lifted his hand in a gesture of halt as the regulators moved in on the undeclared battle. Grinda thrashed her weapon back and forth, but Arianna dodged her in a dance about the Square, never losing her grip.