The day of the race dawned clear and bright. The only clouds were the colourful ones that ringed the mountain and marked the course. But Pippa knew the good weather wouldn’t last. Bellerophon had warned them that Zeus always conjured foul weather during a race to further challenge the riders. What would it be this time? A hurricane? A snowstorm? Fog, like those three children – now taraxippoi – had been lost in?
A hush fell over the stables as the riders readied themselves and their horses.
Pippa slipped the golden bridle on Zeph, and he waited impatiently, nudging her as she changed into her clothes for the race. She had avoided her chambers in case, unlikely as it may be, that Pandaisia the Grace was there to dress her. Her outfit, after all, was far from standard. Besides the special chiton Atropos had brought for her, she was wearing a large cloak from her room. That had been Sophia’s brilliant suggestion.
Bas was going to wear his cloak, too. The cloaks, tucked around them, would help disguise their different sizes. But would that be enough? She didn’t know. She touched the coin she’d hidden in the folds of her chiton, under the cloak, and thought of her parents – and hoped Bas would soon be reunited with his.
Khrys passed by and scoffed at her. ‘A cloak like that will only weigh you down.’
But he said no more, for there was a loud whistle. ‘It is time! Riders, come!’ called Bellerophon from outside.
Khrys hurried away.
The stomp of hooves and beating of wings filled the stables as the riders and horses left. Pippa held her breath, listening.
When all was quiet, Bas stepped into Zeph’s stall. ‘Here,’ he said, and handed Pippa his helmet. She gave him hers.
While Aphrodite’s mask was beautiful, this one, with Ares’ face on it, was stern and ruthless. And heavier too.
Another whistle split the air.
‘Go!’ urged Bas.
Pippa gave Zeph one final hug and felt the pearls studding his mane press into her cheek. His muscles tensed, as though he knew something was wrong.
‘I’ll be with you soon,’ Pippa whispered.
Then she put on the helmet, and before Zeph could see her, slipped into Kerauno’s stall and mounted the monster.
The riders, led by Bellerophon on his own steed, flew past the golden columns and celebrated colonnades of the palace, up, up to the highest peak, where the race would begin. The gods and goddesses, as well as winners of past races, were already gathered there.
Their seats were like steps, carved into the mountainside in a semicircle, much like the seats in the hippodrome in Athens, which were dug into the hillside. But this was no hill. Instead of looking out on to a racetrack, the seats looked out on to sky. There was only a small stone outcrop, like a ledge, directly below for the horses to start from. Bellerophon landed there and directed the riders to follow.
As Pippa and the others swooped in and took their places in a row, the gods and goddesses began to cheer, stomping and clapping wildly. Pippa could feel the ledge shake.
She struggled to see through the eyeholes of the heavy helmet. It was much too big and fitted badly. Kerauno jostled under her, flexing his wings. But he was calm compared to Zeph. Pippa saw him, further down the line, tossing his head, trying to jerk the reins away from Bas, searching for her. Pippa wanted to go to him and soothe away his fear. Soon enough, she thought.
She looked behind her, up at the crowd in the stands. All the seats were full. Besides a great gathering of gods and goddesses – the only one noticeably absent was Poseidon – there were also the Muses, the Graces, nymphs and dryads … it seemed everyone from Mount Olympus had gathered to watch the race. There were even centaurs, which made sense to Pippa, since they were half human, half horse. Pippa tried to spot Aphrodite among the crowd but found Ares instead, high in the stands, standing with his arms crossed.
How would he feel if he knew that it was not his rider wearing his helmet right now, but Pippa? Thank the Muses that he was too distracted to notice.
He was arguing with a goddess who she couldn’t make out. Could it be Aphrodite? But before she could adjust the helmet to get a better look, a whistle sounded.
‘Behold!’ cried Bellerophon. ‘The god of the sky. The king of the gods! The judge of the race!’
All heads turned, including Pippa’s, towards a swirling cloud high above.
Out of the cloud emerged a silver wing. The very same wing Pippa had seen so many weeks ago now, in the storm in Athens.
‘And behold his steed, Nikomedes!’ announced Bellerophon.
The horse swooped down out of the cloud, his golden hooves glittering. On his back was Zeus, twice as tall as any of the other gods, with a beard so big it obscured his face, and so frizzled it seemed to have been struck by lightning. Both horse and god tossed their heads as they flew through the sky. Their sleek muscles flexed and shone in the sunlight.
‘Huzzah!’ the god of gods cried as Nikomedes landed on a floating platform, in front of everyone. A beautiful mountain nymph was on it to greet him, along with a boy wearing a golden crown. Pippa could just make him out. It was Dion, the winner of the last race so many years ago. The boy bowed to Zeus, removed the crown, and handed it to him. Zeus raised it up and waved it at the riders.
Pippa’s hands were sweating now, and her hair, under the helmet, was matted to her forehead. Kerauno jostled beneath her, and it took all her effort to keep him from lowering his head. As long as she kept his head back, he could not buck. As much as she hated to be rough with a horse, it was the only way to keep Kerauno under control. Her knees, scissored to his sides, already ached.
‘The time has come!’ boomed Bellerophon. Although his voice was loud, there was a quaver in it. Was he nervous too? ‘My thanks once more goes to Echo –’ he waved to the mountain nymph positioned beside Zeus – ‘who shall again be the orator of this great race. But let me first remind all of you of the rules. Three times you race around the mountaintop. No harming each other’s steeds in any way. The first horse and rider to cross this mark—’
‘Oh, enough of that!’ Zeus boomed. ‘LET THE RACE BEGIN!’