Ashlords

Adrian Ford attends a meeting of the Reach’s prominent figures, presided over by his father, Ben. Ben calls the meeting to order and states that it is time for the Reach to rise in a second rebellion against the Ashlords. The others are enthusiastic but wary. Ben has Adrian stand up before the group, and his impressive stature reminds them of the potential of the Reach.

Adrian pulls out a blade and swings it at another attendee, Sweet Maggie, stopping just shy of her throat. Another attendee, Bad Maggie, points a gun at Adrian’s head, but he does not flinch. Ben explains that Sweet Maggie is an Empire spy. Sweet Maggie admits to it but claims that she gave them bad information. Bad Maggie puts down her gun. Sweet Maggie draws a knife to stab Adrian, who disarms her and pins her down. Sweet Maggie is taken away, and Ben asks the group who is ready to go to war.

Pippa watches the Alchemist’s “Trust Fall” video as a stylist does her hair and makeup. She is impressed by the number of views the video has received—not bad for a Dividian. Pippa is called to the stage for an interview, and her parents, both former victors in the Races, take their customary seats in the back left of the crowd.

Maxim, a famous showman, does the interview, and Pippa’s responses are rehearsed and perfect, delivering her catchphrase and product placements where appropriate. Fans are randomly selected to ask Pippa questions, and the first fan asks Pippa what happened with her boyfriend, Bravos. Pippa claims that she and Bravos broke up because they will soon be enemies in the Races.

The second fan asks if she is prepared to take on her Ashlord competitors, Etzli and Revel. Pippa is confident in her training—and she is one of three contestants riding a purebred phoenix in the Races. The third fan asks how she plans to handle Adrian Ford, the Longhand, but Pippa dismisses him as a threat, saying that she’ll be the lightning ahead of his thunder.

The next question breaks Pippa’s composure, as the fan asks about rumors that Pippa posed for lewd photos for the Beholder. Pippa panics and ends the interview. Backstage, she assesses the damage of the situation with her publicist, Zeta. Zeta promises a new branding strategy. Internally, Pippa is panicking, but she shows no outward fear.

The popularity of Imelda and Farian’s latest video continues to grow. They skip the second half of the school day to go to Amaya’s bar and calculate their earnings. Farian says that between the video and the auction for the sponsorship of their next video, they have made 6,000 imperials. Neither of them has ever seen so much money. The publicity came from Etzli and Bravos sharing the video, and Martial was even interviewed about Imelda. Martial and Farian’s enthusiasm for Imelda’s riding makes her uncomfortable. She knows she is good at alchemy but has no delusions that she can make it into the Races.

Concluding their business, Farian takes Imelda to the bar’s front room where, to Imelda’s chagrin, her entire family yells surprise. It is Imelda’s birthday, but she hates birthday celebrations. She wades through the crowd to reluctantly thank her parents, and her mother takes the opportunity to worry about Imelda’s riding. Her father is more enthusiastic, but her mother tells him not to encourage her.

Imelda greets family members, some of whom came from the distant mountains. She also avoids the Shor brothers, annoying her mother, who hopes that Imelda will marry one of them. The revelry ends with the arrival of Oxanos, the town’s Ashlord overseer, who claims that the party has incurred noise violations and threatens arrests.

Oxanos says that he will let them go if Imelda agrees to dance with him. This is a deliberate insult: In Dividian culture, a girl’s first dance is reserved for her father or husband. Imelda agrees, but only if she can pick the song. She tells her cousin to play the Contested, a contest song with a rhythm that gets increasingly faster. She and Oxanos compete in the dance. Imelda beats Oxanos, who leaves in humiliation.

Adrian attends a game of Crossing with Ben and his general, Antonio Rowan. He does not know the scope of his father’s plans, but the second rebellion is rapidly taking shape. Adrian ruminates on the fact that the last Longhand to enter the Races was beaten to death by an alliance of Ashlord riders. Murder is illegal, even in the Races, but due to prejudice against the Longhands, only one person went to prison for the crime.

After the game, they part ways with Antonio. Ben reminds Adrian of the Longhands’ history and the rebellion. Adrian has heard this story hundreds of times, but he has always suspected that his father withheld some of the truth.

Long ago, the Longhands split off from the Ashlords because they refused to bow to the Ashlords’ gods. Forty-eight years ago, they staged a rebellion that failed, and the Ashlords retaliated with the Purge, killing the firstborn child of every Longhand family. Adrian knows all of this, but Ben now continues with information he has never heard. After 30 years of hunting, the Ashlords found every single firstborn Longhand, including Adrian’s mother. When they came for her, Adrian’s mother took the blame for killing the first Ashlord in order to save her family and was executed.

For the first time, Adrian feels the real weight of the situation. Ben tells him that unless they rise, they will always be at the mercy of the Ashlords. He asks Adrian to show their people true freedom.

Pippa spends the next day dealing with the fallout from the Beholder photos. She reveals that her breakup with Bravos was faked; privately, they were colluding to win the Races together. However, she never told Bravos about the Beholder photoshoot and worries that he will be angry. She is deeply in love with Bravos and wants to marry him.

Zeta tells Pippa that the best publicity strategy is to win the Races and deflect the negative attention. She suggests using the Alchemist as a distraction, pointing out that the Races’ scholarship spot for Dividian appears to be biased against girls. Zeta suggests that Pippa highlight this unfairness, turning it into an issue of the advancement of women.

That evening, Pippa receives a reassuring text from Bravos on their private line. At dinner with her parents, Pippa asks who would have won if they had been in the Races together. Her mother immediately answers that she would have won. Her father carefully says that he would have given it his all, but she would still have won. Privately, Pippa thinks that her mother would have won: Prama won her Races with the widest margin in history, and her alchemy was flawless.

Pippa thinks of Bravos. He told her that he would be fine with second place, but she knows that the eternal glory of winning the Races is too much temptation. Being second would eat at him for the rest of their lives. Pippa plans to let him win. She is fine with second place and wants to live happily ever after with Bravos.

Ashlords arrive at Imelda’s house, and an Ashlord named Ayala informs her that Imelda has been chosen to interview for the Qualifier position in the Races. She tells Imelda to pack; they will be leaving for the capital, Furia, right away. Imelda and her parents are in shock, and her brother, Prosper, is elated. Imelda’s head is spinning; in the history of the Races, only two Dividian have ever won. She is scared, but her father encourages her.

Ayala leads Imelda to the horses, and they set off. Ayala tells Imelda that she was chosen because Pippa brought her to the Empire Racing Board’s attention in a video accusing them of sexism. Ayala tells her that she is almost guaranteed to be the Qualifier. Imelda is stunned that the famous daughter of Prama and Marcos would stick up for her, but Ayala suggests that Pippa may have wanted the spotlight off her Beholder scandal.

During the ride, Imelda learns more about Ayala. Ayala is passionate about pursuing equality for the Dividian; she turned down other jobs to help with the Qualifier scholarship program. When they arrive in Furia, Imelda is amazed by the scale and opulence of the city. She sees Dividian, but they work as servants in the opulent hotel to which Ayala takes her. For the first time, Imelda realizes how separate her world is from that of the Ashlords.

In Imelda’s hotel room, Ayala asks if she truly wants to enter the Races. It has been Imelda’s dream her whole life, but she never thought she stood a real chance of entering. She says that she is sure. Ayala reveals that Imelda has already been chosen by the Empire Racing Board. Her training will begin tomorrow.

Adrian is escorted by Antonio to Furia. He cannot get used to the overcrowded, noisy city and misses the quiet expanses of the Reach. That night, Antonio takes him to a secret meeting with 10 people. Six of them are Dividian, and one is an Ashlord. Antonio explains that these 10 are the extraction team that will save him if things go wrong. He forces Adrian to memorize their faces, names, voices, and favorite foods. From now on, they are the only 10 people Adrian can trust.