The Column Racer (30 page)

Haskel

Areli wanted to rip the letter into pieces, but what could she do? Maybe Haskel had some vital piece of information. Would he actually betray his cousin?
Doubt it
, thought Areli to herself. But she felt compelled to find out what he had to say. When she returned home, she kissed her parents and only stayed for the length of time it took to inhale and exhale, and then she was back in her carriage, heading to Flame.
What is he up to?
thought Areli. She started to have her doubts, but Haskel’s words came funneling back to her, like fish swimming in her mind. She read the letter again, using the lights of the city. She had to find out what was so important to give a message to her driver, making sure she received it.

She entered into the beautiful restaurant. Areli was greeted by the hostess, who told her her party had been expecting her. She followed her to a private room she didn’t even know existed. The walls were a combination of dark green marble columns, elegant paintings of dragons, black marble floors, and a gold table in the center, along with gold chairs adorned with comfortable red cushions, all bathed in the shadow of a hanging chandelier.

Haskel stood up. He wore an all light blue outfit, everything from leather trench coat to the pants to the jacket he wore underneath and his silk shirt and shoes. He waited to seat himself until Areli took a seat next to him. She hated him. She hated everything he stood for. Her heart was racing. She couldn’t understand why. She narrowed it to nerves.

Areli watched as he picked up a menu and started to look through it.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” asked Haskel casually. She glared at him, into the eyes not used to the word
no
. She wanted to smile as she said the word he was unaccustomed to, wanting the sting of it to spread across his face. But he wasn’t hurt. He simply set the menu down, and said “okay.”

“You said you had something to tell me,” said Areli, “I’m only here because of that. You said you had information pertaining to Fides.”

“I did?” asked Haskel, “my bad.”

“Then we have nothing to discuss,” said Areli with bitterness in her notes. She stood from her chair and slapped the napkin into the gold plate for effect.

“No, what I have to talk about,” said Haskel, “pertains to you.”

“I’m not here for me,” snapped Areli.

“Well . . . you’re not going to be of any use to anyone if you’re dead.”

“What did you say to me?”

“Trust me . . . you are going to want to hear this . . . now sit.” Areli took up her place next to Haskel. “Napkin,” said Haskel staring at it. She swiped it off the table and placed it in her lap. The waitress came in through a special door and took their orders. Haskel ordered for them. Steak for him – bloody and a medium-rare porterhouse for her. Areli could stab her fork into him. Maybe his neck or his stomach. She found everything about Haskel disgusting to the senses.

“Why did you ask me to come here, Haskel?” asked Areli with spite and malice. He smiled at her and then reached into his bag, pulling out a gold folder. He tossed it in front of her.

“Read it,” said Haskel, “you can keep it, that’s just my copy.”

Areli opened it. It had personal information in it. It contained everything about her. Her entire life written out in elegant writing.

“What in the stars is this?” asked Areli as she continued to flip through pages. And then she found the sheet. Her fingers could do nothing but tremble when she saw it. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t think she could breathe. She felt tears rise viciously to the corners of her eyes. She let the rest of the folder drop to the table, except for that single sheet.

“The warning is from Sofi,” said Haskel, “not me. Quite frankly I’ve had enough of her. She has a vengeful temper and too much pride. I want to assure you I had no idea she was planning to sabotage your run like that. I knew she cut up your bag, but that’s the extent of it.” Areli could hear Haskel talking, but she could barely hear his words.
This is where Sofi had disappeared to
, thought Areli.

“Areli,” said Haskel, “if you keep on interfering with Sofi’s mission, she has told me to tell you . . . she will not hesitate to share your folder with the Emperor . . . and I assure you – it won’t end well.”

Areli spent the entire carriage ride home in silence. She wondered if this is how Kaia felt, knowing she is capable of flight, but locked in a stall for most of her life. Areli looked at the folder she had let slip from her lap, its contents strewed across the floor of the cab. She couldn’t hold it in anymore. She cried. She sobbed. She felt like she let Fides down. Areli couldn’t protect her. She couldn’t save her . . . and trying to do so anymore would lead to her and her family’s execution. And in this moment, she knew exactly how Edsel felt. The hopelessness of the situation – the chains of past events. They sought to drown her.

Areli had her driver bring her to Yats. There, she told Yats everything. She showed him the folder and cried into his arms that were wrapped around her. She couldn’t believe how careless she was. She couldn’t believe just how evil Sofi was.

“You know what we need to do,” said Yats.

“There – there is nothing we can do,” said Areli, “didn’t you see the folder . . . if this gets in the hands of the Emperor.”

“Don’t talk like that,” said Yats, “Fides is your sister . . . your sister Areli.” Areli cried even harder into Yats shoulder, turning his shirt into something that looked like it was just washed but not yet dried. “If Sofi wants to play this way,” said Yats, “we are going to have to do the same.”

“But the folder.”

“The folder doesn’t matter,” said Yats, “as long as we get as damaging of information on Sofi.” Areli looked at him, and then his words struck her. It was what they should have done in the first place. The informants weren’t the ones they should have subdued. Why chop away at the roots, when you can cut down the entire tree?

The first thing they had to do was find Sofi, but without knowing her whereabouts, Areli and Yats knew their most ideal plan would be to keep a close eye on Haskel. However, Areli and Yats tried to come up with an easier way to find her, a less dangerous and exposing approach. They went through everything they knew about the informants, wondering if there was a correlation between each of them – a certain location that they went to, perhaps, or a location particularly out of the way.

“You know,” said Yats, “we aren’t going to do this by ourselves.”

“What does that mean?”

“We’re going to need help.” Areli didn’t want to say he was right, but she knew he was, and she hated that fact. Yats told her in politics, there was a student in her array he knew would have access to the community used by the Emperor, his siblings, his closest advisors, the Senate members, and most importantly . . . Haskel and Sofi.

“I hope it’s not who I think you’re talking about,” said Areli.

“We have no choice.” Yats was right. Areli lived in the Riding Community, Yats in the Roping Community. “He will be perfect for us. He’s rebellious, intelligent . . .”

“Cold, opinionated, and stubborn beyond reason. Besides, why would he help us? He hates me.”

“Are you done?” asked Yats, “Listen, Areli, I don’t like the guy any more than you do. But if we are going to have eyes and ears beyond those walls, then there is nothing else we can do . . . there is one more other thing.”

“And what is that?” asked Areli with a venomous tone.

“We are going to need another set of eyes around school,” said Yats.

“And . . . and what does that mean?”

“It means that Haskel knows the kids in his array. There is only so much I can do until he suspects me.”

“Are you saying there is nothing you can do from your end?”

“He would see it coming, Areli,” said Yats, “there is only so much you can do as well. If we are to pull this off, we are going to have to tread lightly.”

“And what do you have in mind?”

“Finn . . . Finn Sparks.”

“Absolutely not!” said Areli, “I’m not . . . I can’t. I don’t want anything to do with him.” It took all her resolve to agree to Yats first issue, but to agree to bring in Finn Sparks, the person who had a deep crush on her and was unafraid to show it . . . an un-late Talon. She couldn’t do that to herself, or to him. It would bring about too many memories of Talon. And those were things she wanted to avoid right now. If not forever.

“I can’t exploit him like that,” said Areli, “there has to be another way. Why can’t we have a jejune or a doyen for an extra pair of eyes?”

“Because who would we ask? They wouldn’t want to help Fides or you. But Finn would. And so would . . .”

“Stop!” said Areli, fuming, to Yats delight. Somehow, he settled her. He told her she was beautiful when she was mad. Not as beautiful as when she was happy, but beautiful nonetheless. How could she stay mad at him? She also knew Yats was right about Finn, and it killed her to tell him so. Protecting Fides was her responsibility, but to do so, she and Yats had to be resourceful and avoid detection.

The following week, amidst school work, training and preparing for the next competition, Areli and Yats started to assemble their team. Finn was easy to convince, as he was completely taken with Areli. She knew just doing a favor for her gave him time to be with her, to study her, to hopefully find out her favorite flower or snack. She felt a pang of guilt when his eyes would look at her, seeing Yats hands were in hers. She felt his sorrow, his forlorn heart. It was how she felt when Talon . . . now, apparently lied to her. To what? To protect him? To protect her? Look how that turned out. She’s with Yats, and now he’s alone. As she spent more time around Finn, she also saw something else. His eyes, his ears, all his senses were taking in everything that was her. Its pull was powerful and overwhelming. Someone who looked at her like that, it mirrored the eyes of both Yats and Talon, those eyes that declared to the stars they have beheld the only person they ever care and wish to see ever again.

Brynn Huff was also easy to convince to join them. He was tired of the Empire, of the Emperor, and most of all, of Haskel and Sofi. He and Areli had to settle their differences, though. He took it too personally when she rejected him. However, after their first meeting as a group, he proved to be invaluable as he held vital information, and most importantly . . . the potential whereabouts of Sofi.

“I’ve been studying those two ever since I was granted access into the politics class,” said Brynn, who gratefully hated them more than he disliked Areli, “I know how they operate . . . they live off the power of information, and they use it to destroy, control, and create lives. If you’re looking to try and destroy them . . . then you have come to the right place.”

Beyond their investigation, Areli went to bed with sore hands and her floor covered in marble chips as she was way behind on Fides present. Luckily, however, with the help of both her parents, Amira, Yats, and even Finn (Brynn couldn’t be bothered); they were able to finish the statue in time for Fides Seventeenth birthday party which was held at Estate Number One. It was a larger party than Areli had expected. Friends of Edsels. People swathed in such luxurious clothes that Areli and her parents in their more modest finery, felt out of place. But Fides wouldn’t let them feel like small fish in a foreign sea. She clung to Areli and her parents, forcing the party to almost seem like it revolved around them. Areli was introduced to more people than she could possibly remember. At one point, it seemed like the whole night was a collage of faces and exotic colors of blues, reds, and pinks.

Areli almost vomited when she saw the Emperor walk into the back garden. She watched as Edsel and him laughed and talked as if they were good friends. Areli wanted to sneer every time the Emperor looked her way, but she buried her hatred for him deep within herself.

She didn’t know how Edsel did it. Tricked the Emperor as he did. It brought a smile to her face, knowing that the man the Emperor appeared to be on such good terms with, was actually his most hated enemy. Areli wondered if she could do that.
I already am
, she thought. She had to look away then, as a dark pit started to carve a hole in her stomach.
Fides should know
, she thought. She hated keeping this secret. She hated having anything between them. But Areli knew it was for the best. Fides shouldn’t have to deal with this.
I’ll deal with this
, she thought,
this is my burden. I will never let anything happen to Fides. EVER!

Fides presents were vast and luxurious. She received everything from precious stoned necklaces and bracelets, to gold earrings and diamond covered heels. But Areli’s gift was the only one that made her cry. Chiseled out of a solid block of red marble, was Fides and Areli, sitting next to one another with their dragons on one of the Pillars of Abhi, overlooking a waterfall. It had taken her more time to sculpt it then she had originally planned, and it was her mother’s hand that put on the finishing details. Areli was proud of it. And she hoped that Fides would appreciate it as well.

“I LOVE IT!” said Fides, pulling Areli next to her.

“The one you made me was better,” said Areli trying to sound sullen.

“That’s a bunch of dragon sass,” said Fides, “it’s . . . gorgeous. And it will be true Areli. I can already see it. It’s perfect.” Areli watched as Fides tried to shove the tears back into her eyes.
It will be true
, thought Areli,
I promise.

The next day, Fides was aggravated again, as Areli already had plans set in place for the week.

“You’re lucky I have Amer,” said Fides, “or I would not hesitate to interrupt your plans.” Areli would give a laugh, as if merriment could chase away the tension.

“We’re still on for dress shopping next week though,” said Fides, “right?”

“Oh, next week?”

“The Spring Dance!” said Fides, “I’ve told you about this . . . there are posters everywhere. Remember? I wanted to go dress shopping like two weeks ago, but you were busy. I wanted to go last week . . . busy. Areli, the dance is next week. All the best dresses have probably already been taken. You cannot poop out on me again. I’m sure Yats can spare you one night to spend with me.” Areli nodded.

“Of course, next week,” said Areli, “I’m free next week.” Fides held up her index finger.

“Areli,” said Fides, “I’m not leaving until you promise.”

“I promise,” said Areli, “I promise. I promise. I promise.” Fides smiled a smile as beautiful as the sun and brought Areli into her chest, wrapping her arms around her. Talon all of a sudden danced into Areli’s thoughts. She wondered if he was okay. If Fides still saw him around the house. Areli had to shake his hold on her. She was with Yats . . . Talon was nothing to her now. But then why did his words still circulate around her head, cleaning her ears with their syllables. ‘I love you.’

After training, Areli would make an excuse that she was going to go out to eat with Yats. Her parents would allow her to go, and she would go along with Yats to the locations Brynn had walked them by earlier, gesturing with his head towards the buildings known to have frequent visits by Sofi.

“Why would Sofi ever come here?” asked Areli as they walked through a community of townhouses in Abhi. “It makes no sense.”

“If you see the reasons Sofi goes in,” said Brynn, “and if you know Sofi, the place is perfect for her.”

The first night Areli and Yats came by one of the places, they stood outside the entire night and came away with nothing. The second night gave them the same results. But the third night was different. Areli and Yats were walking down one of the raised side-streets, when Yats pulled her out of the way.

“What?” asked Areli, “what is it?” Yats had pulled her behind a covering of pillars leading into a building.

“I know that person,” said Yats, “she’s in my array. Daughter of a senator. She has no reason to be here, especially at this time of night.” Areli was allowed a quick look from beyond the pillar. Yats next to her, his breathe like a warm summer’s breeze flirting with her hair. Thoughts of Talon came rushing back to her.
Knock it off, Areli
, she thought,
please, you’re with Yats. You love him. You would do anything for him. You love him, Areli. You love, Yats.
The night was dark, but the wonderful random display of lanterns cast plenty light on the girl. Areli used the girl as a distraction, an escape from her thoughts. She had dark brown hair, was thin as a twig, and was watching the same building they were.

Areli looked at her and then at the building.

“What do you think she’s doing?” asked Areli.

“I think she’s doing the same thing as us,” answered Yats, his lips next to her ear. She had to focus.

“But . . .” Areli stopped herself there. She had a glimpse as to why. It was either Sofi’s informants wanted to get a hold of her . . . or Haskel. Or maybe she just happened to piss off somebody else.

The door to the townhouse opened and Areli’s heart started to flutter with wings of adrenaline. If Yats hand wasn’t wrapped around her, she was sure she would have walked out into the street, maybe even finishing what Fides had started.

Sofi wasn’t alone as she exited the door. The man she came out with was beyond beautiful, not even close to Yats in her mind, or Talon for that matter, but more than the average male walking the halls of her school. Which was saying something. In the shimmer of light, the man looked older than Sofi. He held her as if they were lovers. And then they kissed. A long, lingering kiss, that made Areli want to vomit. The thought of someone loving Sofi was almost unbearable.

A carriage came to life a block away. Areli and Yats lowered themselves into the shadows and watched Sofi and her supposed boyfriend choke each other with their tongues. As Sofi parted from him and then came back for one more kiss, Areli felt a pang in her heart as she noticed Sofi’s face was as beautiful as ever, which made her insides burn, as she wished the stories of her uncle beating her were true.

She entered into the carriage and was off. Areli would have chased after her right then and there, but Yats controlled her.

“No!” said Yats in a frustrated whisper. He motioned silently with his head towards the girl in his class who was waving down her own carriage and was off after Sofi’s. “If she’s following Sofi . . . then all we need to do is follow her.”

When the girl’s carriage started moving forward, Yats whistled for his driver. He told him to follow the carriage that had just left. Areli could feel her heart beating with excitement as the wheels started to turn. She almost wished she was riding in front so she could make sure the driver was following the right carriage.

They weaved through limestone streets, through one elegant community after another. Yats gave his driver specific directions to drive past the trailer they were following and then turn down the nearest side street. He told Areli that they would double back from where the driver parked and try to figure out where Sofi had gone.

They continued through the streets. Areli’s heart pounded so hard that it hurt. She kept moving from window to window. If Yats wasn’t there to keep her calm, she would have certainly exited out of the carriage and ran after Sofi and the trailing brown-haired girl.

“Wait!” said Yats harshly, quietly, “wait.” He grabbed Areli’s arm and pulled her into the seat next to him.