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beside hers and did the same.
    “He’s delightful,” said Nalica.
    The owner beamed. “I’ve never seen a stallion with such a fine temperament. He loves people, and he loves to run.”
    “Is he going to win tomorrow?” asked Justien.
    “Absolutely,” said the owner. “He’s faster than Dart. And he throws foals with kind temperaments.”
    “Dart’s reputed to be nasty,” said Justien.
    “Bites and kicks, yes,” said the owner. “I don’t care how fast he is, no good can come of breeding a vicious horse. Top riders can handle him, sure. But what about the foals he sires who don’t become racehorses? They’ve got to get along with people.”
    “Well, I hope Honeycatcher wins.” Nalica wasn’t an experienced horsewoman, and because of that she sympathized with what the man was saying. She’d had to ride ill-mannered, uncooperative horses on more than one occasion, and those were not experiences she wanted to repeat.
    “He will,” said the owner. “And one of you had better win tonight. I’ll be watching.”
    She and Justien thanked him.
    Nalica could see daylight at the other end of the stable, and the guard who’d stopped them before was now leaning against the wall, looking disinterested. They could go out this way and save themselves a long walk back along the aisle.
    Justien took her hand and led her in that direction, past the remaining racehorses. “The run for the Imperial Plate is this evening, after the tournament,” he said. “Want to watch it with me? The emperor and empress will be there.”
    The emperor and empress of Kjall—that would be a sight. But she probably shouldn’t spend more time with Justien. Who knew how they’d feel about each other after the second round of competition? And especially the third. “I’ll think about it.”
    A man came out of the tack room just ahead. Justien and Nalica veered to avoid him. Then Justien stopped suddenly and held out his arm. “Captain Felix.”
    The man blinked as if startled. He clasped wrists with Justien, but the look on his face was blank and uncomprehending.
    “I’m from the archery tournament,” prompted Justien.
    The captain’s face lit in recognition, and he relaxed. “Oh, right.” He nodded at Nalica. “Justien and Nalica, two of our best archers in the competition. You’re going to give us a good show tonight, I hope.”
    “Sir, I’ll be winning tonight’s round,” said Justien.
    “So he believes,” said Nalica.
    The captain grinned. “I love to see that competitive spirit.”
    He walked away, and they continued on their path out of the stable. The encounter with the captain had broken the spell between them, and Nalica decided she’d had enough of Justien’s company. She needed to keep her mind off Justien and on the round of competition to come. She made her excuses and drifted away into the crowd.
     
    ***
     
    Nalica strapped her arm guard into place, glancing nervously around her fellow competitors. It was the second round of the tournament, and after last night, she was in the lead. The prize was hers to lose.
    It was five minutes until they loosed their first arrows. There were no early-round eliminations in this tournament, and all the competitors were present except Caellus. It astonished her that Caellus could be so cavalier about being on time. She’d arrived an hour early just in case.
    Today they kept their riftstones and would be shooting with magic at a distance of two hundred yards. The butts looked ridiculously far away, but war mages could shoot from great distances. The magic did, however, have its limitations. At short range, Nalica could shoot arrows with perfect, magically enhanced accuracy. But this ability broke down at longer distances. During this round of competition, her war magic would grant her the sharpened vision she needed to see the target clearly and sufficient strength to send an arrow all that distance, but otherwise accuracy would be up to her.
    Just as an official