Elvin Princess

by Francheska Fifield

  The Elvin Princess

  Book One of the Champion series

  Francheska Fifield

  Copyright © 2018 Francheska Fifield

  Cover Art by M.B. Martin

  Editorial Work by Corey Brooks

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter One

  Viktor

  She enters the room and everyone bows at the waist. I forget to bow. All I can do is stare. So this is the new Princess. I don't know her story and it is not my job to find out. All I know is she is part Elvin and part human. Her Elvin aunt, also our Queen, is fostering her from now on. I don't know why she has all of a sudden come to the country of her mother’s birth and I don't care. As a guard in training I know, should it be required, I will give my life for her.

  She is beautiful. Pale as porcelain with dark brown hair that looks almost red when the light hits it. The skin is Elvin, it is so pale it almost glows and people don't do that. The hair she must’ve gotten from her mother. Elves tend to have pale hair as well as skin, at least in the legends they do. Her mother is the human one. That is the extent of my knowledge about her.

  An elbow in the ribs reminds me of my place and I begin to bow, but not before the Princess looks my way. Our eyes meet and she smiles. I thrust down faster not wishing to meet her eyes again. I have no place looking her in the eyes. Not when I am supposed to be bowing.

  Everyone rises and I follow waiting until everyone is half up before rising myself, I don’t want to mess up again. I stare straight ahead scanning the balconies above and watching the exits. I look everywhere but at the Princess for the rest of the state dinner.

  “What were you thinking of Viktor? If anyone had caught you in there you could have been hanged.”

  I don't tell Mason that the Princess herself had indeed caught me still standing up straight and staring. He will likely try to smuggle me out of the barracks and into the night to escape death. She hadn't looked angry, but royals are an unpredictable lot. Most would have had me dragged away and tossed in the dungeon during the dinner and likely hung me over the castle wall the next day as an example to others.

  “It’s fine. Also not entirely my fault, the horns didn't announce her. Besides it’s stupid that we all bow at once. It is the perfect chance for an assassin to strike. If no one is looking no one can save her.”

  “The Royals have their honor guard for that. They salute instead of bowing and they are always with them.”

  “Mason, the Princess doesn’t have one so anyone could have killed her.”

  Mason shakes his head at me. I wouldn’t listen to this from anyone either. No one is getting past the enhanced security we have out, part of it is for the show now that the Princess is here, and the other part is because we have an emissary coming soon.

  Even those of us that haven't graduated training yet are taking guard duty. Mason and I were lucky to get assigned to the state dinner tonight; we’d been the only ones there that haven't graduated. We are in our final year of training though so I assume they think we are skilled enough to stare at a table.

  “You weren't looking for assassins Viktor. You were staring at her, very rudely I might add. I saw your face when she walked in. You looked like a fish out of the water. Do not hope where there is none.”

  Mason is insane. I can tell where this is going and it is not even close to what he is thinking.

  “All your years here and she happens to turn your head? She happens to be the one girl you are least likely to ever get involved with…”

  I can’t hear it anymore. “Oh for God’s sake Mason I am not even thinking like that. You have obviously lost your mind.” I scowl as he shrugs.

  Mason is the sixth son of minor nobility. He joined to forge his own path, to get out from under the shadow of his family. I joined to get away from mine. I am the first and only son, but that had little to do with my wish to escape. It is the people themselves I wished to get away from.

  Though I know Mason’s reason for joining, I keep my own reasons to myself. I told the recruiter my family is dead. Though Mason is my best friend I still don’t tell him the real reason I have come. My business is mine and mine alone. Mason, as my best friend, respects that. However, he always tries to be overly helpful, which I find annoying at times… like now.

  “Fine, keep lying to me, and yourself. Honestly, I think you need a girlfriend.”

  “I think you need fewer girlfriends.”

  He smiles and laughs.

  “Viktor you can never have too many lady friends.”

  I shake my head. “That attitude is the reason I always beat you in training.”

  “Not by much.”

  It is true that we are fairly evenly matched. Mason and I are the top students in the training right now. We train with the actual soldiers rather than the other trainees more than half the time.

  We both have our reasons for being here and we take the job very seriously. We are not the top of our class in book studies, but in the art of combat and war, we are. You don't need to be the best reader in the class to be the best soldier. Reading is for scholars and scholars we are not.

  “Speaking of my lady friends, I am supposed to be meeting a few tonight. You know that maid that works in the family wing of the palace is always asking about you.”

  That interrupts my thoughts as nothing else can. Nothing makes me more uncomfortable than getting attention.

  “No thanks. I want to get some extra training.”

  Mason shakes his head and chuckles.

  “If all you ever do is practice you will never have time for life.”

  “This is my life.”

  We slap hands and turn in opposite directions.

  “Later brother.”

  I wave to Mason as he walks in the opposite direction of me. The direction of his many dates. “Later.”

  He leaves and I head for the training grounds. I need to blow off some steam before bed, I am too wired to sleep and I need to rest before tomorrow’s practice. We will be training with real weapons more than half the day so I need to be on top of my game. I wouldn’t want to accidentally cut someone.

  Elainne

  I sigh and sink into the settee in my room. Finally, the dinner is over. There is nothing more uncomfortable than pretending to like people that you know are talking about you behind your back. Being half-human half-Elvin I am use to it, especially since I got it back home as well.

  I close my eyes willing the tears away. I don't want to remember home. I don't want to think of the reason I am here. The tears slip down anyway as thoughts of my mother creep into my mind despite my fighting them.

  She’d been human, and wife to my father the Emperor of the Elves. They had been married for a trade agreement; much like my aunt is here married to a human instead of back home married to Elvin nobility. My father the emperor and my uncle here had traded and married the sister of the other. My mother had been despised by the Elvin people that thought themselves much superior to regular humans, my being half-human had made me an outcast as well.

  My mother had been my salvation, my best friend. Two months ago she’d been killed. Her death will not be avenged, not even investigated. So when I got the letter from my aunt a month ago saying my cousin d
ied and I am next in line to the throne I agreed to come here. Home is not home anymore. I have no home, nowhere to belong so here is as good a place as any to live.

  I stnad and undressed preparing for bed. I let my mind wander hoping it will touch on anything but this. It flashes back to the state dinner when I first entered. Everyone bowed, except that one guard. He is still in training if his uniform was any indication. So was the blonde boy next to him.

  But it was not his dark hair or uniform that caught my attention. It was his complete lack of protocol. He looked me straight in the eyes; his eyes dark like coal. I could tell even from as far away as I had been standing. The blonde kid elbowed him and he had bowed blushing at his error. He could have chosen not to bow on purpose, but I doubted it. He wouldn’t have made it through any level of training if he had no respect for the royal family.

  I sigh and lay down to sleep. Tomorrow I will search out this boy. It will give me something to do and think on. I will see what type of man he really is.

  The morning brings a warm sunny day and I am glad for the summer weather for if I’d arrived in winter I would be freezing. The Elvin lands never have winter, hence the huge profit they make on everything that is grown. In the winter the humans have to make do with what they already have or rely on imported goods. The Elves have no such problem.

  I dress and take breakfast in my room. When I open my bedroom door that leads to my sitting room my favorite lady in waiting, Madeline, is there waiting. Sometimes I swear she is psychic.

  “Madeline, I was just thinking about you and here you are and wearing breeches. How did you guess my agenda today?”

  “I remember you mentioning how much you like to get air after one of those stuffy dinners.”

  Madeline is the one person I can truly call a friend since moving here. She is quiet, reserved, and shy, but honest. It is that honesty and her ability to subtly pick up on my mood that I like about her. She reminds me a lot of my mother I guess. She also doesn't follow me around trying to pick up my fashion trends or act the way I act; she is herself and that is not about to change.

  “I thought I should tour the barracks today. I want to see the training grounds. Many soldiers are training to enter the military and though it’s my aunt’s now, someday it could be mine and I should know some faces. Besides, mayhap I will meet my future honor guard. After all, my aunt says I must get one after being officially announced as a Princess of the Kingdom.”

  “If it pleases you, your Highness.”

  Madeline always calls me ‘your highness’ though as I haven’t been made the official heir to the throne I am technically only a visiting Elvin Princess. I told her she needn’t bother with formality, but she refuses saying I am a princess in two kingdoms and deserve the title.

  I nod to her and we set out to the training grounds. Likely we will need horses to get there; I have never been so I am not sure how far exactly it is from the castle, hence the dressing in riding breeches.

  We do have to ride, but the mares are gentle and the ride is short. We give our horses to a boy standing near the entrance of the training grounds, probably a first-year trainee. I read the files on how the training progresses and so on. I read as much as possible in the time before coming here and the few weeks since arriving.

  I see another boy run off, likely to tell the general in charge we are here. My uncle has two generals, one to train the men and another to lead them in actual battle. The former is as retired as a general can get, hence the training of men instead of battling them. I am lucky, most people would meet with a captain, but as Princess I will be taken straight to the general.

  “Your Highness, I didn't expect to see you. What, may I ask, brings you to the training grounds this morning? Has the King sent you with an order?”

  I shake my head. The general is a kind man, straightforward and to the point, but respectful.

  “No sir, but some of the present and all of the future of our military is here, and if I am to be Queen someday these will be my soldiers. I should at least get to know a bit about them and their skills. Also, I noticed two trainees at the state dinner last night. If they were assigned there they must have done something to earn the privilege. I would like to meet them.”

  He nods and escorts us around explaining the rules for the hand to hand combat and introducing us to some star pupils from different classes along the way. Eventually, we reach the back and I see the two from last night. They are locked in combat. It is obvious they are trained soldiers and not rookies. They both know the moves by heart and they both put everything they are into the fight. However, it is also obvious, closer to the end of the fight, that the boy with the eyes of coal is just a bit better. After he wins the fallen soldier stands and they bow to one another before turning to the general.

  I clap and they both turn to look at me.

  “Impressive. I feel safer knowing you two will soon be in the military.”

  They both bow and the blonde boy speaks up.

  “Thank you, your Highness. That is high praise coming from you.”

  “It is as I have seen Elvin men battle. Usually, they have superior strength, speed, and stamina to human men. You two will rival them soon I think.”

  The general grunts while nodding to the boys. He likely thinks the flattery is wasted on a couple of his trainees.

  They rise from their bows and look at me. The dark haired boy still hasn't spoken. He obviously doesn't think much of my words, complimentary or not.

  “What are your names?”

  “I’m Mason your highness and this is…”

  “Someone capable of speaking for himself. Or is he mute?”

  I turn to look at him and he stares back.

  “Viktor.”

  Viktor

  I don't say anything more than my name. Why does she want to know anyway? Likely to punish me for my lack of respect last night at the dinner, though to be fair I hadn't been trying to be disrespectful.

  “Not very talkative are you?”

  I shake my head no and she smiles. Does she find my uncomfortableness amusing? Is it really that funny?

  “Well, Viktor I am very impressed with your skills as a fighter, even if your social skills leave something to be desired. Someday, I believe, and very soon after you graduate, you will be making honor guard for someone in the royal house I am sure. Perhaps my aunt will even put you in my honor guard when it is formed.”

  I nod and she tilts her head slightly to the right and peers at me. She seems to look into my very soul and I wonder for a brief second what she sees there. I am empty so she can’t see much.

  Elainne

  Viktor is not a big talker, that much is obvious, but there is something about him. I can’t put my finger on it, but it is something special. He will make someone a very loyal guard someday. The type that believes in his work so much that he really will give his life for the one he is guarding. Those are the only ones that ever make it into the honor guard.

  I turn to look at Mason. Respectful, talented, and with much better social skills. He too will make a very good personal guardsman someday.

  “Yes, I believe we shall see great things from both of you. Such talented young men. I would like to thank you both for protecting the state dinner last night. It was of the utmost importance.”

  “Of course your Highness, the pleasure was ours I assure you.”

  Viktor

  She seems to smirk at her own comment, though she nods respectfully at Mason as he answers her. I wonder if he hears it too, the slight sarcasm in her voice when talking about the dinner. I get the feeling she really is thanking us, but that she thought it a waste of our time, and hers, to have to be there in the first place. Or maybe I am hearing things. She is not like anyone I have ever met before and certainly nothing like any of the nobility I have ever met before. Not that I have really met any, but I have been present for more than one bad mood among them.

  Elainne

  The way he stared a
t me makes me question what exactly he is thinking about me. Why in God’s name is he looking at me that intently? Is there something on my face? Have I said something wrong? Has he picked up on my sarcasm and thinks I am mocking him and his friend? Hopefully not. I have nothing against either of them. I smile, hoping it will throw off his suspicions and stare.

  “Well, Madeline and I have spent the better part of the morning touring the training grounds. I’m sure my uncle is awaiting our company for lunch. He is likely to storm the countryside looking for us if we do not return soon; it was a pleasure meeting you both.”

  They both bow and Mason mumbles some polite response. I nod and turn away as they rise. I turn back at the last minute as the general starts to lead Madeline and I away.

  “You have interesting eyes Viktor….almost as black as coal.”

  I walk off not waiting for Viktor to respond. I am not sure I want to hear one.

  Viktor

  She walks off and I wonder if she means the bad or good kind of interesting.

  “That was odd.”

  I don't look at Mason but nod to him as I watch the Princess and her lady-in-waiting walk off with the general. She is a strange one. I am not really sure what to think of her. I have never met anyone like her…it is strange, this feeling I have.

  “Shall we move on to weapons training?”

  I nod and turn my attention back to practice. Better to dwell on things that are under my control.

  Elainne

  A soldier rides with us back to the castle; my uncle had indeed sent him to look for us. I sign and nod to Madeline. We will discuss everything about the day so far after lunch.

  “He was a strange bird wasn't he highness?”

  I nod as we leave the dining room. Lunch had been boring as usual. If I do become Queen I am finding some way to brighten up these boring lunches, and dinners, and breakfasts. All right so every eating period needs work.