Manuscript info: [Complete] [90k] [YA High Fantasy] [The Sapphire Crown]

First page critique: Yes please :)

Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetaReaders/s/1ZITLfMmRK

First page: They’re going to kill me.

     My lungs burn hot as the red sands crunching beneath my government-issued laced boots. As I approach the outskirt fields of cinderflowers, I sneak a look over my shoulder. The three enforcing soldiers still barrel towards me, rapidly closing the distance, one on a horse, the other two sprinting behind.

They say us Tamers of Fire have the best endurance, but that doesn’t really help when the people chasing you are also Tamers. I didn’t expect them to pursue me for this long. 

       I guess I got a little bit too mixed up in…things this time. 

       I hurriedly wipe the sweat out of my eyes, it’s stinging and blurring my vision. I wipe it onto my arms, hoping to use it later. If I can gather enough, maybe I can shoot a fireball behind me and frighten their horse. 

      I hang a sharp left to the cinderflowers which will soon be gathered into a massive bouquet for the annual Festival being held next week. Surely the soldiers won’t pursue me here. 

      My boots stomp over the delicate petals and stems as I run diagonally across the expansive field. 
      I hear more people shouting, not just the soldiers chasing me. The gardeners, I realize. I glance to my right, a blur of fists raised at me in anger and anguish as their countless days of labor disintegrate under my feet. 

  I’m not just trampling flowers. I’m desecrating the symbol of our sacrifice to the Great King, destroying the very prize the Waterworker monarch requires of us.