CHAPTER 4
The morning arose next morning peacefully, the echoes of the night before washed away in the endless tide of time. Dawn spread its shimmering glow over Thebes' fertile soils, which winked back at the sky, its yellow whispering encouragement at Taita and Jian.
They had been out early in a practise chariot, not straining fully and not using their own horses but two of the stable horses who, now old and trusting, had relented to them easily. They had gone a little way out into the plains, until from the city walls they now resembled just a small black ant in the ongoing colour around them. They came back with only a small sweat breaking out on their foreheads, their now muscular arms standing firmly at their sides.
Breakfasting silently, Jian and Taita left each other to their thoughts, mutely contemplating the day ahead. The first round took place in the morning, with the quarterfinals in the afternoon. The semi-finals and final took place in the evening, with most of Thebes watching from the huge Taita stands that had been erected around the track. The Taita stands were obviously named after their designer Taita the Warlock, although at the time he had been but a humble slave, with many talents for ingenious architectural, structural, medical and scientific advances.
Pharaoh Nefer strode into the room from his own huge complex, (which he neither needed nor truly wanted), and sat down at the long table.
"I am afraid I have some difficult situations to attend to, and will not be able to watch your efforts this morning or this afternoon." He spoke in a wearied and obviously regretful voice. He had wanted to watch his son. "However, I will be around for the semi-finals," (he flashed a grin at his son), "and I expect you two to still be there when I reach you." Taita tried to smile back, but his nerves got the better of him, and all he could manage was a small nod. Jian however seemed to have woken up properly after the charioteering, and was beaming in excited pleasure. He rose from the table, and helped Taita to his feet. His grin broadened.
"Come on Taita! It is time."
*
The track, not far out of Thebes, was a mixture of the very long winding turns, with the short twisting circuit turns. The starting mark was based in front of the main stand, with the circuit wending its way round the corner and down behind the cliff, and out of sight. From below the cliff edge the track bent up, climbing steadily up a bank which had been created going up the cliff face. It was a shallow incline, and so went on for a while. The track broadened at the top of the incline, which was higher than the starting mark. The course then doubled back sharply upon its self, before a small "S" turn followed by a thin, tight corner led the racers back along past where they had just been. This also led any aspiring charioteers parallel to the start line, before a final, enormous banked corner took the racers back along the starting straight.
Taita and Jian stood waiting in their chariot on the start line. With Taita being son of the Pharaoh it was ceremonial that he would be entered into the first race. Their chariot stood closest to the stands. Unfortunately, this meant being on the outside of the first corner, and with only two laps, over-taking chances were few and far between. But Jian was not unduly concerned. Jian's reasoning that they had the best horses, and could definitely go into the first corner in the lead, or at least second comforted Taita, and he relaxed slightly.
There were six competitors in the first round, and then four in each of the others, save for the head to head final. All the chariots had a colour on them, Taita's a noble gold, and from the chariot inside them, red, blue, yellow, green and brown. (Each had been dyed the previous night by Thebes' most successful cloak makers).
A slave walked in front of the rows of chariots. He was now poised by the side of the track opposite the spectators, (who were fairly numerous considering the round), and he held up an arm in front of the racers. He motioned towards the ground once. twice.. three times! Tove and Kran burst into action like lightening. Their muscled legs spurred off the ground, pulling the chariot forwards, accelerating all the time. The speed of it caught all the other chariots by surprise, as Taita and Jian sailed ahead of the now chasing pack. Round and down the first corner they went, streaking out of sight; gold, brown, yellow, blue, green and red. Taita hauled on one of the ropes as they hurtled round the corner, Jian with a firm grip on a chariot rope, his feet planted firmly on the back plate, as they rose up the incline. The chariot behind them made one quick over- taking manoeuvre, but even its charioteer's skilled competitors were no match for Jian's quick reflexes. Leaning out against the rope he held, Jian thrust his sword in a move he and Taita had practised long, and he sliced the rope separating the two horses. As Taita and Jian slowed and squeezed around the corner, the brown chariot behind them whirled off the track, bouncing dangerously close to the cliff, but coming to rest metres before reaching it.
"One down!" Yelled Jian from behind Taita. The chariot tore through the "s" turn, almost diving in a straight line through the middle. Rounding the small "u" bend Taita prepared for the banked turn, he had never faced one before, and decided to try at full speed in the tightest line. Urging on the horses, Taita felt a thrill of foreboding as he entered the corner.
He knew as soon as he hit the turn that they weren't going to make it. The chariot skidded, slipped and then flipped over onto its side. Taita felt a pain in his side, but turned back to Jian.
"YOU ALLRIGHT JIAN?" He roared over the crowd's cries of dismay. Jian, who was still grinning, nodded. He and Taita leapt from the chariot and started righting it as 3 other chariots tore past. (They learned later that green had flipped out of the "s" bend trying to over take blue). The horses, which had managed to stay on their feet, took off after the pack. Jian rummaged through his weapons until he found what he was looking for; a javelin. They turned down the corner and Jian took a deep breath. As they started to climb up the incline (now very close behind the front three), Jian hurled the javelin forwards. It sailed through the air, arching over the red and blue and diving down upon the leading yellow chariot. It sliced neatly through the reins connecting chariot to horses and, just as Nefer and Meren had, its two charioteers were flung from the chariot at high speed, the chariot crashing down in the centre of the track. The blue chariot had been trying to over take at the time, and so passed easily, but the red was not so quick, or lucky. The red chariot smashed into Jian's carnage, the sound of wood snapping wrenched through the air, mingling with the cries of pain of the red racers. Taita swerved and just managed to retain control as they too sailed past. Taking it carefully through the last few corners, Taita and Jian emerged in second place from their first race, which was enough to make it through to the next round.
*
Their elation managed to survive right through the afternoon, as Taita and Jian managed to win their quarter final heat after a tense final corner had been superbly judged by Taita, and they had scraped the win just on the inside of red. The event closed for the late afternoon, to allow competitors still involved to relax, repair and regenerate some energy for the evening's races. The evening events would be opened by a speech from Pharaoh Nefer Seti, who before hand had visited his son to congratulate him, and see how he now was. He also provided a piece of advice.
"The person to look out for is Brokus' son, Brutus. He won here last year, and will be looking for a repeat performance. But I have spotted his weakness. He is always a bit heavy-handed going around left turning corners, and this weakens the right hand side of his chariot. You would be best to exploit this Jian." With a swift nod and a passing "Good luck", he strode from the room.
The morning arose next morning peacefully, the echoes of the night before washed away in the endless tide of time. Dawn spread its shimmering glow over Thebes' fertile soils, which winked back at the sky, its yellow whispering encouragement at Taita and Jian.
They had been out early in a practise chariot, not straining fully and not using their own horses but two of the stable horses who, now old and trusting, had relented to them easily. They had gone a little way out into the plains, until from the city walls they now resembled just a small black ant in the ongoing colour around them. They came back with only a small sweat breaking out on their foreheads, their now muscular arms standing firmly at their sides.
Breakfasting silently, Jian and Taita left each other to their thoughts, mutely contemplating the day ahead. The first round took place in the morning, with the quarterfinals in the afternoon. The semi-finals and final took place in the evening, with most of Thebes watching from the huge Taita stands that had been erected around the track. The Taita stands were obviously named after their designer Taita the Warlock, although at the time he had been but a humble slave, with many talents for ingenious architectural, structural, medical and scientific advances.
Pharaoh Nefer strode into the room from his own huge complex, (which he neither needed nor truly wanted), and sat down at the long table.
"I am afraid I have some difficult situations to attend to, and will not be able to watch your efforts this morning or this afternoon." He spoke in a wearied and obviously regretful voice. He had wanted to watch his son. "However, I will be around for the semi-finals," (he flashed a grin at his son), "and I expect you two to still be there when I reach you." Taita tried to smile back, but his nerves got the better of him, and all he could manage was a small nod. Jian however seemed to have woken up properly after the charioteering, and was beaming in excited pleasure. He rose from the table, and helped Taita to his feet. His grin broadened.
"Come on Taita! It is time."
*
The track, not far out of Thebes, was a mixture of the very long winding turns, with the short twisting circuit turns. The starting mark was based in front of the main stand, with the circuit wending its way round the corner and down behind the cliff, and out of sight. From below the cliff edge the track bent up, climbing steadily up a bank which had been created going up the cliff face. It was a shallow incline, and so went on for a while. The track broadened at the top of the incline, which was higher than the starting mark. The course then doubled back sharply upon its self, before a small "S" turn followed by a thin, tight corner led the racers back along past where they had just been. This also led any aspiring charioteers parallel to the start line, before a final, enormous banked corner took the racers back along the starting straight.
Taita and Jian stood waiting in their chariot on the start line. With Taita being son of the Pharaoh it was ceremonial that he would be entered into the first race. Their chariot stood closest to the stands. Unfortunately, this meant being on the outside of the first corner, and with only two laps, over-taking chances were few and far between. But Jian was not unduly concerned. Jian's reasoning that they had the best horses, and could definitely go into the first corner in the lead, or at least second comforted Taita, and he relaxed slightly.
There were six competitors in the first round, and then four in each of the others, save for the head to head final. All the chariots had a colour on them, Taita's a noble gold, and from the chariot inside them, red, blue, yellow, green and brown. (Each had been dyed the previous night by Thebes' most successful cloak makers).
A slave walked in front of the rows of chariots. He was now poised by the side of the track opposite the spectators, (who were fairly numerous considering the round), and he held up an arm in front of the racers. He motioned towards the ground once. twice.. three times! Tove and Kran burst into action like lightening. Their muscled legs spurred off the ground, pulling the chariot forwards, accelerating all the time. The speed of it caught all the other chariots by surprise, as Taita and Jian sailed ahead of the now chasing pack. Round and down the first corner they went, streaking out of sight; gold, brown, yellow, blue, green and red. Taita hauled on one of the ropes as they hurtled round the corner, Jian with a firm grip on a chariot rope, his feet planted firmly on the back plate, as they rose up the incline. The chariot behind them made one quick over- taking manoeuvre, but even its charioteer's skilled competitors were no match for Jian's quick reflexes. Leaning out against the rope he held, Jian thrust his sword in a move he and Taita had practised long, and he sliced the rope separating the two horses. As Taita and Jian slowed and squeezed around the corner, the brown chariot behind them whirled off the track, bouncing dangerously close to the cliff, but coming to rest metres before reaching it.
"One down!" Yelled Jian from behind Taita. The chariot tore through the "s" turn, almost diving in a straight line through the middle. Rounding the small "u" bend Taita prepared for the banked turn, he had never faced one before, and decided to try at full speed in the tightest line. Urging on the horses, Taita felt a thrill of foreboding as he entered the corner.
He knew as soon as he hit the turn that they weren't going to make it. The chariot skidded, slipped and then flipped over onto its side. Taita felt a pain in his side, but turned back to Jian.
"YOU ALLRIGHT JIAN?" He roared over the crowd's cries of dismay. Jian, who was still grinning, nodded. He and Taita leapt from the chariot and started righting it as 3 other chariots tore past. (They learned later that green had flipped out of the "s" bend trying to over take blue). The horses, which had managed to stay on their feet, took off after the pack. Jian rummaged through his weapons until he found what he was looking for; a javelin. They turned down the corner and Jian took a deep breath. As they started to climb up the incline (now very close behind the front three), Jian hurled the javelin forwards. It sailed through the air, arching over the red and blue and diving down upon the leading yellow chariot. It sliced neatly through the reins connecting chariot to horses and, just as Nefer and Meren had, its two charioteers were flung from the chariot at high speed, the chariot crashing down in the centre of the track. The blue chariot had been trying to over take at the time, and so passed easily, but the red was not so quick, or lucky. The red chariot smashed into Jian's carnage, the sound of wood snapping wrenched through the air, mingling with the cries of pain of the red racers. Taita swerved and just managed to retain control as they too sailed past. Taking it carefully through the last few corners, Taita and Jian emerged in second place from their first race, which was enough to make it through to the next round.
*
Their elation managed to survive right through the afternoon, as Taita and Jian managed to win their quarter final heat after a tense final corner had been superbly judged by Taita, and they had scraped the win just on the inside of red. The event closed for the late afternoon, to allow competitors still involved to relax, repair and regenerate some energy for the evening's races. The evening events would be opened by a speech from Pharaoh Nefer Seti, who before hand had visited his son to congratulate him, and see how he now was. He also provided a piece of advice.
"The person to look out for is Brokus' son, Brutus. He won here last year, and will be looking for a repeat performance. But I have spotted his weakness. He is always a bit heavy-handed going around left turning corners, and this weakens the right hand side of his chariot. You would be best to exploit this Jian." With a swift nod and a passing "Good luck", he strode from the room.
