by A. J. Medina
“Get on board young miss,” the driver ordered.
She climbed in and sat down next to Kylar. “Hi, I’m Tessa.” She waved.
“I’m Alora. This is Lucah and they’re Kylar and Yargi.” The carriage jerked forward.
“I can’t believe I almost missed you guys.”
“What happened?” I asked. “Why were you late?”
“I wasn’t. I had to relieve myself.” She pointed to the group of trees. “I went into the bushes, way out there past those trees for some privacy and the next thing I know, I walk out and you’re pulling away. I was running as fast as I could. Almost didn’t make it.”
“They heard you. And this one started banging on the wall to get the drivers attention.” Yargi was pointing at me.
“Thanks. I owe you one,” Tessa said, grinning ear to ear.
“Don’t mention it.”
“Any idea what they’re going to make us do?” Tessa asked.
Everyone looked at each other.
“What?” she asked. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing. We discussed this already. None of us know,” Lucah said.
“Oh well. All for the best I suppose. I can’t wait. I like your hair,” Tessa said, and reached out to touch it. “I’ve never seen someone with hair the color of fire before.”
“Looks more like a pumpkin to me. Yeah, pumpkin head.”
Lucah smacked the boy who said it. “Show some respect,” he scolded.
“I like yours too,” I complimented. Her copper hair hung in one long braid behind her.
“Thanks. My mother taught me how to braid it a long time ago. I can do yours if you want.”
“Maybe. If there’s time.”
I could tell, even sitting, that I towered over Tessa. I looked her over curiously. Who was this girl? How could she think she could be a knight? Surely she wouldn’t make it. Not with everyone being so much taller than her. I decided that I liked her right away.
For the next few hours we discussed our villages. Tessa was from the Village of Nightwood where she spent most of her time braiding hair and racing boys. She also mentioned how her mother hadn’t cared if she came either way. Her home life seemed uncaring. The blonde boys didn’t care to share any information about themselves, instead choosing to make fun of everyone else. Well, everyone else except Lucah. I guess they were much too afraid of him to do that.
I heard a low rumble. It sounded like thunder rolling off in the distance, but it never took a break. Every minute that passed caused the sound to get a little louder and a little closer. I peeked out the window to see if I could find the source of the sound. “Anybody know what that sound is?” I asked.
The blonde boys guessed dragons. That was doubtful, since dragons hadn’t been seen in ages. Tessa guessed a far away storm and Lucah shrugged. The carriage slowed, came to a stop and when the door opened, Tessa said hello to the knight checking in on us. His face was covered by his helmet and only his eyes were visible through the small slit. His chest plate was black and so was the armor covering his forearms. His shoulder armor was silver and reflected the sunlight beautifully.
“All clear,” he shouted, and then slammed the door. The carriage lurched forward and began to tilt in an upward angle. My side of the carriage was being lifted slightly higher than the blonde boys and Tessa’s. Lucah peeked out the window on his side and I looked out the one on mine. I got my first look at what was making the rumbling. The world had come to an end and the river was falling and crashing into the sea below.
“That answers that question,” Lucah said leaning over me again.
Along with the tilting carriage, the view showed that we were climbing uphill while also appearing as if we were floating. The view out of the window showed empty space. I stood up halfway so I could look down off the side of the carriage. There was a road, but it wasn’t much wider than the carriage itself. Past the road, there was nothing but a steep drop. A drop so steep that anyone falling off would surely die.
I shut the curtain and jumped backwards into my seat.
“What’s wrong?” Tessa asked.
“Nothing.”
“She doesn’t like heights,” Lucah informed everyone. “It’s okay,” Lucah said, trying to comfort me by placing his hand on my knee and rubbing my leg.
Since it had the opposite affect, I gently lifted it and placed it back on his lap. I hoped no one had witnessed our exchange, but I was disappointed when I looked at Tessa and she was smiling.
Lucah reached across me to push the curtain aside for another look. Slapping his hand as he reached across I said, “Don’t even think about it.” I shot a stern look his way. He backed off laughing. The other boys joined him in the laughter and even Tessa couldn’t resist. I wished they would all just go away.
While the carriage continued to climb, I squeezed my knees as hard as I could and tried to take my mind off the fact that we were very, very far from the ground. With every few feet it seemed to get steeper and steeper until the carriage leveled off and finally came to a stop. The door opened and another knight asked everyone to get out.
We were at the bridge gate, not yet inside the castle city walls. I marveled at the site of the walls themselves—the stories were true. Leaning my head back, I took in the height of them. They stretched towards the clouds, higher than anything I’d ever seen. Higher than any tree, higher than any mountain. I imagined myself standing at the very top and maybe I could even touch the sky with an outstretched hand. I shuddered at the thought.
“This way. Follow me into the castle city,” the knight commanded.
He led me and the others inside where there was a large open area that held other houses and structures. A stable, a barn and even a steeple. Between the structures and past the stables was a large path where people walked. It was busy, bustling with activity. While we followed the knight there were trades occurring. People were procuring spices, clothing, shoes and even fruits and vegetables.
When we had passed that area it became eerily quiet. There was a pool of water in the center of the path and to the left was the royal palace standing almost as tall as the city walls themselves. To my right stood another smaller castle and there were two large doors open, being guarded by a knight on either side.
“I told you we had to fight knights,” Yargi said, obviously pleased with himself.
No one responded.
A chill ran up my spine. My stomach twisted into knots. I was afraid. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of fighting a knight. The possibility of such a thing caused my hands to sweat. I rubbed them on my hips and kept walking.
When we passed the guards, an open courtyard appeared. A collection of other volunteers wishing to audition were standing quietly in the center. On the opposite side of the courtyard there was a stage, but no one was on it.
“Name?” the knight asked me.
“Alora of Kingsley, Kingdom of Ly’vera.”
“Age?”
“16 seasons.”
He turned to Lucah. “Name?”
He took down Lucah’s, the boys and Tessa’s names and ages. Lucah said 17 seasons and Tessa said 15. Surprisingly the boys answered 15 seasons. I thought their matching faces looked much older.
“Go on then. Wait with the others,” he commanded, and then left us.
Chapter 4
I looked around and sized up the competition. Surprisingly, I was one of the tallest in the crowd. Everyone was separated into small groups, deciding to stay with the people they arrived with was my thought. After all, me, Tessa, Lucah and the boys were still standing together in our own small group of misfits.
Nearest the stage was a group of ten boys all wearing the same thing. Brown boots, brown shirts and they all wore their hair the exact same way—down to their shoulders.
“Squires,” someone said from behind me.
I turned to the boy that now stood beside me. “What?”
“Those are all squires,” he repeated. “That’s why they all
look the same. They don’t like us.” He ran his fingers through his short, midnight black hair, giving me a better look at his face.
“Why not?” I asked him, unable to look away from his piercing, violet eyes.
“They don’t think we should be here. Only them,” he said with a bassy, smooth voice and then, flashing a smirk, he walked off. I wanted to call out to him. I wanted him to wait. I wanted to hear him talk some more.
“They don’t look like much,” came a girl’s voice to my left. She kept moving, allowing her words to hover in the air like a cloud of smoke. With an annoyed look on her face, as if she was much too good for us, she planted herself within a group of girls. She was the tallest of the five, towering over most of the boys too, and was the only one with her black hair cut so short, her entire neck was visible.
“She’s rude,” Yargi said.
She was, but I wasn’t about to agree with him. Not after he and his brother were so rude to me.
Tessa took position to my right and asked, “Why is every one so tall?”
“We’re not tall, you’re just smaller than everyone else,” Kylar pointed out.
I waited for Tessa to respond to the rude comment, but she said nothing—instead choosing to ignore him.
While I was surveying the groups looking for the boy with the violet eyes — who had some how blended in so well that he vanished — I landed on the group of girls. They were all staring in my direction. I looked over my shoulder, hoping that they were looking at something else. That wasn’t the case. I was sure they weren’t staring at Tessa because the taller crowd blocked their view of her.
Maybe they were wondering why the two of us hadn’t joined their group or maybe they just didn’t like me. Lucky me, I was already making enemies amongst the girls—that seemed about right.
I was rescued from their stares when the horns sounded and everyone dropped to one knee. The king and his knights made their way onto the wooden stage.
“Please rise,” the king commanded.
When we all stood, Tessa had an obstructed view of the stage and wanted to move in closer. “I’m fine here,” I told her, but she wasn’t satisfied. She pushed her way through the crowd to snag a better view. When she was done pushing her way through the crowd, she was standing in front of the stage—right in front of the king. She was much braver than I was. I would’ve avoided that spot like the plague.
Behind the king, towards the rear of the stage, stood ten knights at attention. The king was dressed in his armor which was identical to the ones the knights wore. The silver armor on his shoulders reflected the sunlight off to the side and his black chest plate absorbed it entirely.
At his side stood another man who had decided to wear something different. He wore a long sleeved, black shirt that hugged him closely. It was tucked into black pants that ended at black boots that rose to his shins. He was definitely the black sheep amongst them and not only was he dressed differently, but instead of a sword, he held a staff with one end planted firmly on the ground.
King Remi welcomed everyone that had volunteered for his army. “You are all very brave for volunteering. For those of you that may not be from Ly’vera, I am King Remi and this is my first knight, the wizard Agbavitor.”
“M’lord,” Agbavitor interrupted. He leaned into the king and whispered in his ear.
The king smiled at his first knight and turned to face the crowd. “He prefers to be addressed simply as, Wizard.” The wizard nodded. “Today you’ll audition for a chance to become a knight. By the end of the day you will know if you have been chosen. For those of you that don’t make it, my apologies.
“All of you have traveled from different parts of my kingdom and other parts of the realm. For that, I thank you. Some of you have traveled much farther than others. We will break so that you may dine. After which you will be given a number. That number will signify the order in which you will audition for me. You will rest after eating for a time and then each of you will be called before me and the wizard, here in this courtyard.” He turned to one of his knights. “Ser Erwin.”
Ser Erwin stepped forward from the ranks behind the king. “Your Majesty?”
“Please show them to the knight’s dining hall.”
“Aye, Your Majesty.”
Ser Erwin waved his arm and yelled, “Follow me!” He walked off the stage and we all followed him out of the courtyard through another passageway and were led through what appeared to be a maze of stone walls. The doors to the dining hall were already spread open and stood at least thirty feet tall. Everyone filed in through the large opening. There was no need for the pushing that occurred.
“Take a seat and the servants will serve you your meal,” Ser Erwin ordered.
As we all took our seats, I found myself studying the hall. Large enough to hold an army, the ceilings were much, much higher than the doors. Large chandeliers held candles in preparation for the evening. The sun shining in from the windows illuminated the hall and at the front of the hall was a large banner imprinted with King Remi’s crest—a dragon, holding a sword as large as it was. Its wings were slightly spread and slightly wrapped around itself at the same time.
I lifted my legs over the bench and planted myself between Tessa and Lucah. One long wooden table held the entire group. Plates, silverware and mugs were already waiting for us. Footsteps emerged from the far end of the hall and two rows of five servants each, were carrying food and pitchers of water.
I wasn’t hungry. This wasn’t my normal routine. On the way I had shared my collection of nuts and berries on the carriage with the others. It was too soon for me to eat such a large meal. I caught the eye of that girl again, the one from the courtyard that made the comment about the squires. She was stuffing her face with bread and chasing it down with a mug of water while glaring in my direction.
No one spoke. Everyone ate in silence. I chose to eat a small amount so that I didn’t seem too out of place. Some of the girls at the other end of the table were devouring their meal, while others ate slowly while looking around as if they were being spied on.
“Why do you think others are eating so fast?” I asked Lucah.
He shrugged. “Don’t know. Guess they’re hungry.”
“Maybe they don’t get to eat like this often?” Tessa offered.
It had never occurred to me that others might not have food to eat like I always did. But it was also obvious that I wasn’t the only one that wasn’t eating much. When I looked down the row of volunteers on the other side of the table, my eyes stopped on a full plate. I looked up to see who was the owner and it was him. The boy with the violet eyes.
Since he wasn’t eating, he also had time to take in the environment, namely me. He was staring. Tessa chewed on her potato and then glanced at me and then towards mister violet eyes. He smirked and then his smirk turned into a full on smile. I didn’t know what to do. I took a drink of water and stared into my mug.
“He likes you,” Tessa said excitedly.
“Who?” I answered trying to act like I didn’t know what she was talking about. Lucah had stopped eating and was paying attention to us, silently waiting for more details.
Tessa stated the obvious. “That boy with the lavender eyes. He was staring.”
Lucah didn’t say a word, but I caught him scanning the volunteers, looking for the boy Tessa accused of staring. How embarrassing. Why did Tessa have to open her mouth?
“That’s enough,” Ser Erwin barked, waving the servants over. Some servants began removing our plates, while others refilled our water mugs. Ser Erwin ordered us to stay put. “I will give each of you a number. When it is called, follow him to the king.” He pointed to a young boy. A squire that was way too young to audition by the looks of him. “He will take you back to the courtyard where you will audition for the king.”
He handed Tessa her number and then gave me mine. Number 29. He explained further while handing the rest of the numbers out. “When you are done you will be brou
ght back here and the next number will go. Until everyone has auditioned, you will not speak in this room from this point forward. Understood?”
“Aye,” we answered.
“Louder!”
“AYE!” we yelled.
“Good.”
One by one each person was called. At first it seemed that each number was in order but then it became random. Someone was called from the other side of the table and then from one corner and then the other. And then Lucah’s number was called. I couldn’t speak, but Ser Erwin didn’t say anything about hand gestures or facial expressions. I flashed him my biggest smile and waved. He returned an odd smile, at least I think it was a smile, and moved his arm, sending me a swift wave of his own.
After Lucah returned, cradling his ribs, another girl was called. When she returned with a bruise on her cheek, Tessa was up next. The wait was beginning to have an affect on me. The longer I waited, the more nervous I became. I found myself intertwining my fingers over and over and my knees began to bounce. Finally, Tessa limped back to her seat.
What were they doing to them that they were returning in pain? The boy with the violet eyes was called next. He stood and instead of taking the shortest route around the table he took the longest. When he passed in front of me, I watched as he ran his hand through his hair and looked at me.
His eyes froze me in place as if they had some sort of mystical power. He smirked again, one side of his mouth curling up. I followed him until he turned at the end of the table and I was face to face with Lucah’s growl of disapproval.
Lucah crunched his eyebrows together and motioned, with his head, towards the exit. I tossed him a leave me alone wave, placed my elbow on the table and rested my temple in my hand. My face was comfortably facing away from Lucah and towards Tessa. She was smiling and bouncing up and down in place with her eyes open wide. She drew an imaginary heart across her chest. Ugh... girls.
“Twenty nine,” Ser Erwin called.
I pulled my hand away from my face so fast I almost kissed the table. Luckily for me, I didn’t. Mister violet eyes was taking his seat, his eyes burning a hole in my head. Hmm.... He didn’t look any worse for wear. He must be good. I slid my feet out from under the table and over the bench and followed the young squire out of the dining hall.
