Page 65

“If I make it to the combat round, I’ll ask. And Vysh, if you get through and I don’t, I’ll make sure he doesn’t choose you. Either way, you’ll be free to be with your fated one.”

“What do you mean,ifyou don’t get through? He’s yourkalehshun, isn’t he? That means the stars have spoken. You’re destined to be with him.”

Kara toyed with the braid on her wrist.

“What if destiny can be rewritten?”

“I don’t believe that. Maybe the story can change here and there. But the ending has already been written by the gods.” Vysh stretched. “I can’t wait for you to win shaa’baara.Then everyone will see that humans and Vraxians can be together. Plus, Layahn will be livid.”

“She really will, won’t she?”

“It’ll be worth it just for that.” Vysh stood. “Goodnight, Kara.”

“Night, Pink.”

Kara watched her leave, hoping like hell she was right.

She toweled off her hair before getting into bed. Her body still tingled from Vahn’s love-making and she hoped she would see him again the next night. Not just to repeat what they’d done – though she definitely wantedthatto happen – but to get some insights into what theshaa’baarachallenges would entail. In the heat of the moment, she’d forgotten to ask.

But either royal business kept him away or he didn’t want to risk it. Whatever the reason, she spent the following day training with the other Potentials and the evening alone.

And then the waiting was over. At the next dawn,shaa’baarabegan.

Twenty Eight

Kara tried to wipe her face dry but it was impossible. The rain was so intense it plastered her hair to her head and ran beneath her collar in long streams down her back.

The other Potentials were faring no better. In fact, they were probably suffering more because they weren’t used to this kind of torrential downpour. Even the high-and-mighty Layahn resembled a drowned rat.

So this is the other side of the planet.It was certainly different. Kara and the others had arrived here soon after sunrise. Mercifully, the trip had been smoother than the brutal ride she’d endured to the palace. She’d had a seat for a start. But the new location wasn’t half as comfortable.

For a start, there was nothing here. It was a field, more or less. A wet, soggy field under glowering clouds and rain.Lotsof rain.

Secondly, they were hungry and disorientated. They’d been woken well before dawn and ordered to get dressed. There was no breakfast and no explanation. Each of them had been handed a rucksack with instructions not to open it until the briefing.

After a high-speed quadrasonic flight lasting more than three hours, they’d been decanted into the dampness to find General Solarun waiting for them. She was the only one unaffected by the elements because a small generator hovered over her head, creating a force-field that kept off the rain. Wherever she moved, it moved with her. She was as dry as a bone.

Kara was jealous. Back on Minerva-6, she and Vahn had spent weeks living through downpours just as violent as this one. What they wouldn’t have given for a force-field generator back then.

“Welcome to the southern province of Vraxos,” said the general, ignoring their misery. “The climate here is, as you can see, far cooler and more precipitous than the north. Geographically, our agricultural sector begins fifty clicks west of where we’re standing. We will not be entering that area.”

Vysh leaned towards Kara.

“That’s where my sister works. Nice to know she’s not too far away.”

Ela pointed in the opposite direction.

“Ten clicks that way is the start of the Verudiun Wildwood Forest. It is uninhabited, except for indigenous flora and fauna. This will be the location of your firstshaa’baarachallenge.”

Everyone straightened, listening intently.

“You all have a rucksack which carries everything you need. You will be dropped in different but equi-distant parts of the forest. Each of you must find and retrieve a xantha sphere like this one.”

She clicked her fingers and out of the gloom flew a golden orb. It was about the size of a basket-ball, dipping and weaving autonomously through the air.

Kara knew what a xantha sphere was. She and Vahn had passed many hours on Minerva-6 talking about inconsequential things. One memorable conversation had been about childhood games.

Kara had maintained that building a den and swinging from an old tire on a rope were about the best things a kid could ever do. But Vahn had argued for xantha. Essentially, a high-tech game of hide-and-seek.