The Madness. One of the Ashlords’ deities. Daddy had me watching footage from each of the years that he supposedly involved himself. Riders pulled off impossible stunts. People fell almost at random from their horses. All the research pointed to the same phenomenon that shook the foundations of both major wars: the Ashlord gods and their otherworldly armies. Secretly, I know that if the Madness involves himself this year, my chances drop down to almost nothing.

“I guess it could happen, but I’m far more likely to face a wild creature. People have been attacked by wolves and wraiths and sunbursts more often in the Races than by the Madness.”

“Still, the threat looms,” Cassiopia replies. “Hasn’t that really always been the separating factor in competition between Longhands and Ashlords? Our connection to the gods? Can you really say that you don’t fear their meddling?”

The question is as big a trap as she can lay for me. Say yes and I make my people look weak. Say no and I’m taunting their gods. Daddy taught me to be brave, not stupid.

“Everything’s a threat in the Races,” I reply neutrally. “Everything.”

Cassiopia nods like she’s regained a foothold against me. Sensing a new theme working in her favor, she decides to keep pressing. But this time, she turns the conversation to Pippa.

“I want to end with a quote,” Cassiopia says, glancing at her cards. “Pippa had this to say about you: ‘It’s the lightning you have to worry about. You always see the strikes before you hear the boom….I’ll ride hard and I won’t look back. I’ll be in the distance, and he’ll just be the noise that follows.’ Any response to that, Adrian?”

“She knows jack-nothing about storms.”

Cassiopia frowns. “It sounded like an accurate description to me.”

“If you’re an observer.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“An observer,” I repeat the word. “That’s how a fan sees the Races. You and everyone else will be watching it from a distance. But that’s not how storms work when you’re in the middle of them. Storms are chaos. Rain pouring down, lightning striking, wind blowing, the thunder shaking everything. If you’re right in the middle of it, there’s no telling if the lightning or the thunder came first. Most times, you’re too busy trying to stay alive to notice anything else.”

“An interesting perspective.” Cassiopia smiles. “Well, any last words before we close?”

I turn my eyes to the dark circle of the camera. It’s not hard to imagine every boy and girl in the Reach leaning forward to listen. I can see Daddy in his chair, a drink in hand.

I want to wake them up.

I want revolution.

“Enjoy the storm.”