AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“On no,” he says, spinning me around very slowly until my head rests again naturally on his shoulders. “Didn't I tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“A box arrived this morning from them. It was full of mirconium. His note said he made the discovery of a lifetime.”
“Are you serious? Rylan, that's amazing!”
“Yeah,” he says, “He said they hated to miss our big day, but he’s taking my mother on a long vacation.”
“Good.” I smile, patting his chest. “She deserves it.”
“Yeah,” he says. “I guess fate was looking out for them all along.”
“It was, just like it was looking out for us, too. You’ll see.”
“I'm sorry I didn't tell you until now.”
“That’s okay.” I smile slyly. “I guess it's only fair.”
“What do you mean? What haven't you told me?”
The flutter in my stomach swims again. “Rylan, we’re gonna need a bigger tent.”
Dawn breaksover the training grounds on a cool, dark day. 28 contestants from all over Kiphia gather to compete as they have, generations before. Some humans, some Kiphians, and some hybrids take the field for the first time in its history.
“Wave to your sissy,” I tell Renell, my ten-year-old son. He sticks his tongue out at Juni, who returns the gesture from across the field.
“Xanath, you’re up,” her instructor calls her onto the course.
“Well, Iara.” Rylan turns to me. He looks the perfect picture of a proud papa donning a shirt with her name across his chest. “What kind of competition do you think she’s up against this year?”
Maxe beats me to the punch. “Well, obviously, the returning champion, Lena, trained by two repeat trial challengers, is her biggest threat.”
Thippe and I exchange glances at the pair of them. Rivals, friends, it never ends, no matter how many gray hairs they have. They’re still aspirants, deep down.
A thought occurs to me, something I haven't called up in a decade or more. “Hey. Does anyone even remember who won the year we took the Challenge?”
Silence answers us well enough.
My hand squeezes into Rylan’s as I see the lines cross his face. He’s like this every time she competes.
“She’ll be okay,” I remind him. My fingers entwine with his. “She’s a tough girl.”
He leans over and kisses me. “Just like her mother.”
The End
