The Ashen Queen

by Sidney Gray

  King and Prince rode on horseback alongside the carriage, waving to the people who had come out to see them while Sofia and Lucy sat in the carriage with the Queen. The Queen was silent the whole journey with suited Sofia fine anyway, she was too distracted to hold much of a conversation and Lucy was too in awe of the Queen to say anything, she sat perfectly still and silent the whole way.

  Sofia couldn’t stop thinking about Alyssa, if Alyssa won the tournament it would solve her problem, they would have to allow her to have Alyssa as a guard. However that would mean Cole would lose and she had begun to hope he would win, it seemed so important to him. She couldn't bring herself to ask the Queen about Alyssa, not after her disastrous attempt with her parents. She convinced herself it would be better to wait until the tournament was over.

  When they arrived at the arena, they made their way to the competitors’ area, and Sofia wasn't surprised to see the competitors already lined up ready to greet the royal family. The King led the way down the line, shaking hands and congratulating each competitor on making it to the third day of the tournament. The High Priestess and Olivia followed behind, bestowing the blessing of the gods on each of the competitors. She rarely saw the Queen and High Priestess in the same room together and watched them closely, curious to see if there was any tension between them, but neither acted any different. At one point she heard the King laughing and looked over to see him talking with Alyssa, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but even the Queen looked amused. She caught Alyssa rolling her eyes after the priestesses had blessed her and she frowned, she hoped nobody else had seen, it wouldn’t look good for her.

  Eventually, they made it back to the King’s box where they took their seats.

  “Are you okay?” Alex asked her, “you seem distracted.”

  “Yes, I just didn't sleep much last night,” she replied briskly.

  Alex nodded and opened his mouth to say something else but the competitors entered the arena, and he was drowned out by the roar of the crowd. Sofia briefly searched the crowd for any sign of Bree but couldn't make her out, there were too many people.

  For the third day of the tournament, the King had decided to make it a little harder and more interesting for the competitors and had ordered the arena transformed into a different terrain for each match.

  When they arrived at the arena, it was already set up in a forest landscape for the first match which would be between Alyssa and a young man named Nathan. Sofia was nervous. Nathan had proven to be very resourceful throughout the tournament and had a lot of people cheering for him, although there was also a lot of cheering for Alyssa, she noted happily.

  The match began, and Nathan immediately started to morph into a bear, but Alyssa had anticipated this and didn't wait to attack, she flew at him fists raised but was met with a gigantic claw. She darted away barely escaping, he had changed fast, much faster than previously, he must have been holding back, Sofia thought impressed, she had never seen anyone change that quickly before. And he was still growing, larger and larger until he was twice the size of an average bear. He let out a chilling growl and leaped forward towards Alyssa, she darted around him, dodging his claws as he swiped for her.

  Alyssa was smart, keeping just out of reach, Sofia guessed she was trying to wear him out, it was what she would do in that situation. However the terrain was slowing her down, no doubt the mountain like setting was better suited to a bear, but the steep slopes were causing Alyssa to slip and slide and soon she had what looked like a couple of nasty cuts on her legs. Nathan was smart as well, always aiming for her legs. If he could cause enough damage, she wouldn’t be able to run.

  The crowd was going frantic, screaming and cheering, she couldn't tell who they were cheering for, it was all just a roar of sound. However, the match didn’t seem to be moving fast enough for Mal as he bought in a couple of weather mages who soon had a huge storm brewing and unleashed it upon the arena; shields had been set up between the stands and the arena so the storm wouldn't get to the crowd.

  Nathan appeared undaunted by the weather, Alyssa, however, shivered noticeably.

  Nathan launched himself at Alyssa again, but she quickly became a blur of movement, however this time, instead of attacking his body she aimed for his head, coming in from the side. Nathan couldn't turn his head quick enough to catch her before she darted away again. Nathan shook his head a couple of times, but Alyssa didn't wait for him to recover. She took another leap towards him but her foot slipped at the last second, and she fell onto her side, the crowd gasped, Sofia clenched her hands together, Nathan attached head first, sharp teeth out, aiming for her leg. At the very last second, Alyssa brought her fist back and slammed it straight into his nose. Nathan staggered back for a moment, looking dazed and Alyssa sprung on him, raining blows down upon him until he finally fell to the side unconscious.

  The crowd was silent in shock for a couple of seconds before they erupted in applause. This was apparently not the way everyone had thought this match would go. She could see Lord Hallewell shaking his head in anger. Sofia had had high hopes though, Alyssa was smarter then she let on. Mal came forward to announce her as the winner and Alyssa met her eyes and smiled. It was a smile that made Sofia wonder if Alyssa really had slipped at all.

  During the next break, she grabbed Alex and pulled him out into the hallway while everyone was distracted by the performers.

  “I need to talk to you,” she said quietly, she hoped it would be a good time to ask Alex about Alyssa after she had just won, she needed to know what his opinion was.

  “Can it wait?” he asked distractedly.

  “No, it's important,” she took a deep breath before announcing. “I want to choose Alyssa as one of my Guard.”

  She had his full attention now.

  “Why?” he asked surprised.

  She was suddenly lost for words; she had been expecting an argument like she had that morning.

  “Well... because she's an incredible fighter, she’s strong and brave, and I met her at the party last night, I like her.” She added simply.

  “Sofia, you met her once. Don't you think you should spend more than a second thinking about it before you decide you want a complete stranger, who we know nothing about, as one of your closest guards?” he asked reasonably, “the Queen spent a lot of time putting together that list of trustworthy girls.”

  She hesitated, he had a point, but Mal had told her to trust her instincts, and so she was, “just because they come from good families doesn't make them trustworthy,” she argued.

  “Maybe not but I know the Queen has had people look into these girls extensively to make sure they are suitable.”

  Sofia was surprised, the Queen had never told her that. Although, it made sense now that she thought about it.

  “Well, what about Hayden or Jack? Can't they find out more about her?” she asked.

  He groaned in frustration, “Really?”

  “Yes, please, Alex, this means a lot to me.”

  Hayden poked his head around the corner, surprising them both, “Sorry, I couldn’t help but hear, I could ask around and find out a few things.”

  Alex sighed, “I guess.”

  She smiled, “really, thank you,” she said as she quickly reached up to kiss his cheek, he looked surprised but smiled back. She mouthed thank you to Hayden as they passed him on the way to the break room.

  Jack and Parker were up next, and she realized that was why Alex had been distracted before, he looked as if he was going to jump out of his seat at any second.

  She remembered the conversation she had just had with the Montero’s during the break and started to get nervous herself. Apparently, the boy Parker had almost beaten to death had been taunting Parker before the match about not being chosen as a guard. That was why Parker had gone crazy, she couldn’t imagine what he would do to Jack, who had taken his place.

  The arena for this match was set up like a desert, sand dunes covered the arena floor, and the wind was
already blowing the sand around, Mal wasn't going easy on them. She didn't know if the arena setting would make it easier or harder on Parker's ability but they would soon find out. They both entered the arena with swords in their hands, Parker swung his around a couple of times, and Alex tensed beside her, even the King looked wary. She had heard rumors of Parker’s impressive skill with a sword and knew this was going to be a tough match for Jack, especially if he couldn’t get close enough to touch Parker and get his ability, he could block some of his opponents’ abilities, but it was always a bit unreliable.

  They circled each other a couple of times, the sand dunes making it harder to move. The sand under Jack’s feet suddenly started to move, and he was sucked down to his ankles. Alex swore as Parker attacked. Jack brought his sword up to meet Parker’s, and there was a clang of metal that echoed around the arena. Jack dropped to the side, reaching his hand up to grab Parker's arm. The sand all around them swirled into a tornado, as though it was fighting itself and Alex breathed a small sigh of relief, now that Jack had made contact, he could control Parkers ability, the match was about to get very interesting.

  Parker yelled as he tried to free himself from Jack's grasp and take back control of his ability but it was too late. Parker finally broke free but a huge mass of sand pushed him flying back into one of the sand dunes, and he was immediately sucked into it. There was silence for a couple of seconds before the entire dune erupted and Parker rose from the ground on a pile of compressed sand. The sand around him swirled together to form rocks which he then threw toward Jack, who used his sword to knock the rocks aside. The sand around Jack started to press together to build a wall around him. Parker roared in frustration and flew towards Jack, he tore the wall aside only to find the space behind empty. The sand underneath Parker erupted, and Parker was knocked to the ground with Jack pointing his sword at Parker's throat. She felt Alex relax beside her as the crowd erupted again and Mal rushed forward to call the match, Sofia’s father by his side. Parker flew into a rage, but Mal grabbed his arms behind his back and pushed him roughly towards her father, with one look from him Parker went limp before their eyes and allowed himself to be dragged from the arena. Jack looked towards their box and met Alex's eyes, and they both grinned.

  Claire was up next, but her match wasn’t nearly as exciting. She was up against Richard Hanley, he was Janet's brother and an excellent fighter, his enhanced agility helped with that, but he couldn't compete with Claire's duplicates. The terrain was a forest, and he used that to his advantage, ducking in and around the trees, swinging from the tree branches but in the end, Claire had him surrounded, and there was nothing he could do.

  She looked over to his family, curious to see their reaction, his sister was crying into their mother's arms while his father sat tight-lipped next to them. She thought it was a slight overreaction, they should be proud he had made it this far.

  Cole and Kyla had, by far, the longest match of the day, neither willing to give in. Kyla created a storm so fierce, Cole's fire was virtually useless, he had to rely on his earth magic, but Kyla used the wind to lift herself from the ground so Cole couldn't do anything to trap her. The crowd was on the edge of its seat. Alex as well, she had never seen him look so nervous. At one point she noticed light shining through his clenched fists and she quickly reached over to grab it, and he smiled gratefully at her. Thankfully his father hadn't noticed. She glanced behind then to see Cole’s mother with her hands over her eyes. She hoped the match would end soon one way or another, for the sake of Lady Elaine, she had always been overprotective of Cole. It must have been hard raising him on her own.

  Sofia turned back to focus on the match, she had to admit she was impressed by Cole’s determination. The rain was so heavy, it was hard to see, and Cole was drenched through, but he was still fighting hard, throwing boulders, rocks and anything he could find at Kyla, even she was having a hard time seeing and was getting hit often. At this point, she wasn't sure if Kyla was even controlling the storm anymore. Finally, one Cole’s boulders found its mark and knocked Kyla to the ground where Cole used his Earth magic to trap her in a mountain of sand. Everyone in the box breathed a sigh of relief.

  She watched Kyla’s reaction, she was looking nervously towards the stands, Sofia guessed her family was sitting there, but the storm was still too strong to see. She was so impressed by Kyla’s ability she was almost reconsidering her as a guard. She had never seen anyone with that kind of strength before. Perhaps she was being too harsh, was it really fair to judge Kyla when she rarely stood up to her own mother? Maybe Kyla deserved a chance after all.

  CHAPTER 18

  Finally, it was time for the last two matches of the day, and Claire and Jack were up first. The crowd was screaming and cheering like crazy at this point, but Claire appeared unfazed, during the tournament she had proven herself to be a calm and competent fighter. She never did anything particularly impressive for the crowd, just what was needed to be done to win the match. It would be interesting to see how she would handle herself at court.

  Sofia was actually incredibly curious to see how this match would turn out. Jack and Claire had had a chance to see each other fight plenty of times during the tournament so they should have a fair idea of each other's strengths and weaknesses. She wasn't sure if Jack would be able to get a read from one of Claire’s duplicates or if he would need to get to Claire to access her power. She imagined Claire would be doing everything to keep him away.

  They both had weapons for this match, Jack had his usual sword meanwhile Claire had opted for two smaller swords that were slightly curved. Mal announced the start of the match, almost immediately two of Claire's duplicates appeared behind Jack, and he swung around to deflect them. Luckily, Jack and the other Guards had had training against multiple opponents. It was something Mal insisted upon, and that training was definitely coming in handy for Jack. From the matches she had seen previously, Claire's duplicates were capable fighters, but she could only make them do so much, and they often stopped moving altogether if Claire was distracted by something.

  Jack fought for a while against Claire’s duplicates, but neither side really seemed to have the upper hand. Alex was leaning forward concentrating, a mirror image of the King, they were both so engrossed in the match they had forgotten about everyone around them.

  The sound of metal upon metal rang through the arena as their swords met again and again. Jack wasn't holding back this time, using everything he had to get close to Claire but she was standing back and using her duplicates to keep him at bay. But Jack was fighting three of them, and she wasn’t sure how long he could keep that up. He would have to find a way to get close to her if he was going to stand a chance at winning. As far as she could tell, Claire's duplicates couldn't be hurt like an actual person could, it was just using her energy to control them. But Claire didn't look close to tiring so she must be able to keep going for a while.

  The crowd was starting to get restless, and she noticed Mal out the corner of her eye indicating to someone, so she knew something was going to happen, she didn't quite expect what did happen though. In the blink of an eye, the entire arena floor turned to ice. The crowd gasped, but Claire and Jack were so busy concentrating on fighting they didn't notice until Claire's duplicates started slipping on the ice. Jack almost fell as well but managed to recover and began distancing himself from them.

  Claire's duplicates, however, were not coping well with the slippery ice and she was forced to get rid of one. She started moving the other two towards Jack again, slowly edging them closer until one of the duplicates slipped, as it fell it tried to use its sword to stop itself. The sword plunged through the ice and a huge crack formed. Everyone froze as the ice around Claire's duplicates started to move, and Sofia suddenly realized there must actually be water under the ice. Jack and Claire must have both come to this conclusion as well as Jack was moving faster now, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the cracked ice but also, she no
ticed, shifting slightly in Claire's direction while she was distracted by her own duplicates. Claire seemed unsure what to do, and she hesitated before getting her duplicate to slowly remove its sword from the ice, the crowd seemed to hold its breath but no other cracks formed and they started creeping towards Jack again. However, they only made it a couple of steps before another crack echoed through the arena.

  More cracks formed through the ice and Claire frowned. Sofia wondered why Claire didn't just get rid of her duplicates and create new ones away from the cracked areas but if she hadn’t there must be a good reason, she thought, maybe it took too much energy to create new duplicates in comparison to just controlling them.

  The ice was cracking more with every step the duplicates took, meanwhile Jack was making a loop in Claire's direction, who had yet to move, all her concentration on the duplicates. They started to move faster, ignoring the cracking completely, quickly gaining ground on Jack. Jack took a couple steps towards the duplicates and swung his sword at the ice at their feet then sprang backward again. The duplicates leaped towards him, but one slipped on the ice, it landed with a thud, and the ice cracked completely, everyone gasped as the duplicate went under the water. The cracks had spread all throughout the arena now, and the ice was incredibly unstable. Claire's last duplicate had made it to Jack, and they were sparring. After another small hesitation, Claire joined in, she was breathing hard now.

  It was an incredible fight to see, there wasn't a single eye in the arena not focused on them. Claire was fighting hard, but she was struggling on the slippery surface, Jack has gained the upper hand. He managed to knock the sword out of her duplicates hand, and it disappeared, it was just Claire and Jack, and he was driving her back. Claire’s feet slipped again on the ice, and Jack pressed his advantage, pushing her back towards a cracked section of ice, her foot slipped into the water, and Jack charged, ready to knock her to the ground but before he had a chance, a sword sliced up through the ice beneath him and straight through his right foot. Jack yelled in pain as he fell and Claire leaped forward with her sword to his throat.