Meet Arianna Belvedor, Slave #22 of Warrior's District
Arianna has only ever dreamed of winning her freedom from the Four Corners—a cold and cruel city where all the children of the world are kept, each with an opportunity to earn their citizenship upon their seventeenth year. Just months away from her ultimate battle, she is certain that her notable skills as a warrior-slave will give her an edge during the annual Free Falls Festivals: Free for the slaves who earn their citizenship; Falls for the ones who die.
But Arianna's talent with a sword cannot outmaneuver the burning curiosities of her heart, leading her to reveal a shocking secret about King Devlindor and his long-standing reign as High King of Olleb-Yelfra.
The world as she knows it is a lie, its true spellbinding history exploited and suppressed under centuries of deceitful acts.
Her world turned upside down with new, unfathomable knowledge, Arianna must make a choice that could change her life forever—ignore the truth and continue following the path laid out for her since birth or break free from her chains and carve her own way... if she can survive.
Immerse yourself in this addictive YA Epic Fantasy adventure as Arianna is thrust on a thrilling journey to uncover magic and earn her right to freedom.
Belvedor and the Four Corners by Ashleigh Bello was published on 1 October 2020. As part of the #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I am delighted to share an extract from the book with you today.
Arianna buried her face in a pillow, trying to block out the world. A bell sounded from the city center, the sharp echoes of the brass piercing the otherwise quiet morning. She groaned as the noise filled her head, heralding the start of yet another dawn she couldn’t escape.
“You heard the bell. Get up! Ten minutes to be in line, or it’s the Pit!”
Rolling onto her back, eyes pinned to the ceiling, she mused over several ways she could end the life of the regulator harassing her and her bunkmates out of bed. Alas, all of them ended up with her dying too. There was truly only one way out of this place.
Ticking down the days in her head, she forced herself to face the frigid morning. In just a few months’ time, she’d reach her eighteenth year and consequently become a contender in the annual Free Falls Festivals for the chance to earn her fu- ture.
She took a deep breath.
Just a few more months.
Arianna had held tight to this dream of freedom for her
entire life. Although she knew that success in the Free Falls would be a bittersweet one—Free for the slaves who earned their citizenship and Falls for the ones who died—she took comfort in that she wasn’t alone. Her hopes, dreams, and this nightmarish reality were shared by all.
If not for the promise of competing in the looming festi- vals or the elders who brought stories of cities beyond these walls, Arianna might have thought that there was nothing more to this life she’d been handed. She would have known nothing of hope. But, through the mandatory lessons she sat through each day, she quickly came to understand that every- one born to the Olleb suffered the same endless beginning, burdened with the weight of shackles until their eighteenth year. Under the King’s law there existed a thriving world out- side of this place, the true Olleb-Yelfra, maintained by wise, loyal, able-bodied citizens. And the preservation of this world was only possible because the Free Falls weeded out the weak.
Arianna was determined not to be labeled as such, and she was determined to join that free world, too.
One misstep, one mistake could rip away all she had worked for since she stepped foot in her prison, the City of the Four Corners. There were so many ways to die in this dreadful place, so many ways to fail. Thus, she trained hard, holding tight to her thread of life alongside thousands of other desper- ate young slaves, waiting for the moment when she could fi- nally join the Olleb as a true citizen.
Slave. She cringed as the word bounced around her mind, the only title she’d ever known and a testimony of her unfor- tunate status. Survive. That was another word she knew well, her single most important goal, for the threats in the Jar were constant. A blade to the throat during a duel, a stray arrow, frostbite—there was never a moment to rest.
“Get moving,” snapped the regulator, drawing Arianna away from her jumbled morning thoughts.
She recognized how close to freedom she was—she could almost taste it—so now wasn’t the time to slack off or get on the wrong side of the regulators. Obediently, she pushed the covers to her feet.
Ashleigh Bello graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a degree in International
Studies.
She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY where she maintains a full-time career as a marketing professional.
When she's not writing, she spends her free time with friends, practicing yoga, and daydreaming about her next adventure.
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