"What are you going to do?"
"I'll try to find the ones that were lost." Though I already knew it was futile. The horses had not wandered off and would not be left within miles of this place, or anywhere I might find them.
Once she was in the saddle, I whispered instructions to Callistus to get my sister home safely. After they rode away, I checked every other stall in the stables, just in case there had been some mistake. I knew there wasn't. Nobody accidentally nailed those tablets to the stable door, just as my horses had not accidentally released themselves.
But the fact was, I had no idea what else to do. And when I failed to find my horses in the stables, I merely walked back to the stall where they should have been and slid against one post down to the ground. If magic was strong enough to solve this problem, I couldn't figure out how, and certainly my mind was even weaker for coming up with any solution.
Radulf would send his old team of horses, just as I had asked. But they hadn't been run for two days, and even in their best condition, they wouldn't bring me across the finish line first.
After a while, I gave up any hope for tomorrow's race or of finding the horses, and shifted my thinking to Livia's request to help me. She'd be talking to Radulf by now, and that certainly was helpful, but that wasn't the kind of help she had meant. She wanted to make a difference tomorrow. And no matter how much practice I had put in since bargaining with the Praetors, the reality was that my hopes of winning were not as good as they had seemed even an hour ago.
But though I had promised not to use magic to help me win the race, I had never promised not to use magic to get the Malice. It would have to be stolen from Atroxia's cold grip, if necessary. And it'd have to happen before I completed the race, just in case things went badly.
I didn't want to return to Radulf's house, or to stay with Crispus. So I remained in the stables and eventually fell asleep in the stalls where my horses should have been. I was awoken that morning with a kick to my legs.
Theon stood before me, the red faction leader who had given me the black eye earlier. Considering that, I was lucky he hadn't kicked any harder than he did.
"So the general's grandson spent his night like a slave," Theon said. "How appropriate."
"We have nothing to discuss," I said grumpily. "I'm not riding with the reds anymore."
He peeked in the empty stall behind me. "It looks like you're not riding at all."
"They're at the baths, getting massages. I'm sure they'll return soon." I glanced around. "You've come with no horses either. Aren't you riding?"
Theon licked his lips. "My position was bought out. Every faction had their positions bought out. Except for you."
My eyes narrowed. "Who bought them?"
He grinned. "Faster charioteers than you, I'm certain. I'd wish you luck in the race, but somehow, I don't think that will help."
He left in one direction, and I went in the other. Radulf's men would be here soon with my original team of horses. A team that could never give me a victory.
Once I came to a clearing, I put out a silent call for help. But I was interrupted by Livia calling my name from back at the stables. I ran that way and saw her there with Radulf, two of his servants, and the older team of horses.
Radulf didn't scold me, either for being gone all night or for the loss of his prize horses, both of which I had expected. He only walked up to me and said, "Are you ready for this?"
Of course I wasn't, and he knew that.
He nodded toward the stables. "The Praetors stole them."
"I know."
"They're willing to cheat to win. I'll tell you one more time, Nic. You must cheat too. It's your only choice now."
"I won't."
"Your life is at stake!"
"That's why I can't cheat!" I sighed and took a few steps back. "If I don't earn this win fairly, then they won't respect our terms and we'll be right back where we were before."
"You won't be back where you were before, because you won't win." Radulf motioned toward the horses. "This team is fast, but not fast enough."
"Have your men strip down the chariot to as little as possible. I don't want to carry any more weight than is necessary."
"That chariot protects you in the race."
My smile was grim. "No chariot can protect me today. Strip it down."