So I Married a Sorcerer (The Embraced #2)(100)

“Finish it,” Gunther ordered.

Lord Argus scurried off to give instructions to the trumpet player.

The blast of his horn echoed through the stadium, and the crowd responded with a shout. “One!”

The second blast. “Two!”

A third blast. “Three!”

The third trapdoor opened and the admiral’s body fell through.

As the crowd cheered, Brigitta tried not to think about the murder she’d just witnessed. Instead, she focused on Rupert. He was watching her. Slowly, he lifted two fingers to his lips, then smiled.

A kiss. She smiled back.

“I see you’re enjoying it.” Gunther chuckled. “Wait till tomorrow. I designed the obstacle course myself. It’s going to be very exciting!”

*

The next morning, Brigitta rode to the stadium with Lord Argus. He explained that King Gunther had left before dawn to oversee the completion of the obstacle course.

“We started building it yesterday after the archery contest,” Lord Argus explained. “I haven’t seen His Majesty this excited in years. There will even be a wild boar!”

Brigitta gasped. “A boar?”

“Yes!” Lord Argus’s beady eyes gleamed with excitement. “We’ll just have to hope that one of the contestants falls into the boar pit. I’m sure the crowd would find it very entertaining.”

“Of course.” Brigitta swallowed hard. “I’ve never seen an obstacle course before. How does it work?”

Argus smiled proudly. “Even though His Majesty designed the course, I came up with a way to determine the winner. The drummer will pound out a steady beat. Then I have servants who are assigned to each of the five contestants. They will count how many beats it takes for each one to finish the course.”

“So the fastest one wins the contest?”

Argus nodded. “Yes, but it’s more than a test of speed. There’s strength and agility factored in. You see, there are three main walls. To reach the top of the first wall, the contestant must climb a rope. Between the first and second walls, there will be a grid made of ropes suspended ten feet over the ground. The holes in the grid are large enough that a man could fall through. The ground below has been made into a giant pit of mud, so if anyone falls through—”

“He gets all muddy,” Brigitta finished.

“Exactly.” Argus chuckled. “It should be very entertaining.”

Brigitta nodded. “So where does the boar come in?”

“The boar pit is between the second and third wall. There will be nine stone columns, three rows of three, and each column will be seven feet high and topped with a small wooden platform. The runner will leap from one platform to another. If he goes in a direct line, he’ll land on only three platforms before jumping to the third wall. Then he climbs a pole and rings a bell to finish the course.”

“I see.” Brigitta took a deep breath. This sounded like something Rupert could do. After all, he had years of experience climbing ropes and maneuvering down yardarms.

“The winner will be the one with the fastest time,” Argus added. “And the loser will either have the slowest time or fall into the boar pit and be gored to death.”

She winced. Clutching her hands together, she sent up a silent prayer to the twin goddesses to keep Rupert and his companions safe.

*

He’d pulled a long straw.

Rupert glanced at the other contestants to see what they had ended up with. Since the obstacle course couldn’t handle five at once, they would be running it in two teams.

Numbers Two and Five had short straws. They would do the course first. Numbers One and Four had long straws like Rupert. The three of them would run the course together.

Number One shot an arrogant sneer at him and his companions. “Before the day is done, one of you will be feeding the boar.”

Rupert drew Four and Five aside. “Watch out for One and Two. Stay as far away from them as you can.”

Five frowned. “You think they’ll try to throw us into the boar pit?”

“Only if you’re close enough that they don’t have to sacrifice too much time. Remember, the winner is judged on speed, so do the course as fast as possible. That way they won’t have time to deviate off course to attack you. They’ll be forced to go straight through in order to beat you to the bell.”

Four and Five nodded.

“Run across the grid if you can,” Rupert continued. “If you go too slowly, you could lose your balance and fall through. Use your forward momentum to your advantage.”

Five gave him a wry look. “You don’t sound like a guy who grows grapes.”

Rupert smiled and shook his hand. “Good luck.”

Five lined up beside Two and waited for the trumpet blast that would signal the start of the race.

The horn sounded and the general dashed for the middle rope hanging from the wall. Five ran to the one on the left.

Boom. The kettledrum sounded the first strike.

Two and Five climbed, walking their booted feet up the wooden wall as they hauled themselves to the top.

Boom. Second strike.

The men started across the grid.

Rupert gritted his teeth. From his vantage point on the field, he could no longer see how Five was faring. All he could make out were the two poles at the end of the course, since they were higher. The cheers from the crowd remained at a constant level, so it appeared that nothing drastic was happening. Still, he didn’t trust Two to behave honorably. The general had committed murder yesterday.