“This marks the thirtieth year I’ve personally unveiled the course for the Races. I’m proud to continue this meaningful tradition and I’m proud to invite each of these riders to take part in it.” He gestures to two servants, who step forward and flank the still-hidden map. “As is our custom, each rider will have exactly ten clockturns to assess this year’s map and memorize what they see. Anyone caught with eye-cameras or recording devices will forfeit their right to participate in the Races and lose their entry fee.”

The Brightness gestures again and the servants begin folding the veil down. Hills and valleys and canyons are revealed in quiet stages. You and the other riders take a hungry step forward as the Brightness makes his final announcement. “Contestants, I give you the one hundred and forty-first course in the history of the Races. Your ten clockturns begin now.”

The other riders fade to background. Your eyes narrow. You’ve known how to analyze courses since you were five years old. Father was the famous rider, but Mother is the smartest person to ever claim the crown. She passed on all of her strategies to you.

First, you determine how many deaths the course will require. Your eyes take in the map’s scale before you begin measuring the length and width of the course. Even in the best possible circumstances, your phoenix horse will have to die four times to get to the finish line. That’s not an overly long course, but still a challenge. So, a five-leg race. It means you’ll have to plan out the locations of four deaths and the components you need for four rebirths.

Second, you focus on the width of the course. Compared to the other maps, it looks surprisingly slender. You use the scale again and see your instinct’s right. It’s a very narrow course. By your measure, two of the necessary passes will have all the riders within a few hundred paces of one another. The first phoenix death will be an especially crucial one.

It’s illegal to kill someone in the Races, but it’s never been illegal to taint the rebirthing process of your competitor’s horse. In recent years, tainting’s evolved into one of the main strategies of the Races. Your training focused on protection, rather than sabotage, but you know where you let your horse die and how you defend it is going to really matter in this race.

Next, you run through every possible route the course offers. There are twenty-three different combinations through the various canyons. Mother’s method has you searching for the safest route, the fastest route, and the most predictable route. You cycle through them patiently.