And so, in the game, he lied. As he approached the first pair of apprentices, his body told them he was going left, and when he went right instead, they were wrong footed. He used the same trick on the second set. The third set were expecting a feint, they watched his eyes instead of his body.

They might as well scream their plans at me, so bright is it on their faces.

He told them with his body that he was going left, but hinted with his eyes that he was going right.

They believed his eyes, and he sailed past them.

Too easy!

He was halfway across the courtyard when he heard his mother’s voice from one of the upper windows. He was being called. Pretending not to hear, he put his head down and ran for the finish.

Chunk, one of the older apprentices came charging up behind him. Satyendra tried to weave to throw her off, but she was so much bigger and so much faster that it didn’t matter.

All he had to do was keep going a little further. The wall grew larger in his vision. Under the clouds, the sapphires set in the stones seemed dull and dark.

Just a few more steps!

The more it looked as if he was going to win, the more he could feel the frustration of the other apprentices, like a dam about to break. He wanted the sadness underneath, he needed it.

As his pumping arms swung out behind him, he felt a hand close on his wrist.

‘Got you!’

No!

Chunk pulled him backwards, away from the wall. His fingers had come tantalizingly close, another inch or two and he would have won. They skidded together, both working hard not to fall or get their legs tangled.

Satyendra could feel his momentum being stolen and it enraged him. He had to win!

‘I’ve got him!’ she called.

He twisted to get free but her grip stayed firm. When he tried to drag her towards the wall she simply leaned back and he was unable to shift her weight. The other apprentices were running over. If any two of them got their hands on him then he would lose the game. Their frustration had vanished, their sadness become like a memory of mist. His hunger clawed at him.

His mother’s voice called again, louder this time.

Neither of them paid the Honoured Mother any attention. Chunk grinned at him and he grinned back.

He was still smiling as he pressed his foot against the side of her knee and pushed. Braced as her leg was, it was easy for him to pop out the joint.

Her smile vanished into a scream.