When my parents were seated, I walked up the ramp onto the platform at the end of the Hall. The crowd cheered and I stood self-consciously beside the shields while my father nodded to the first of the champions. These young men and women were from the Community, not from the Royal House. They were the sons or daughters of herders, or crystal shapers, or bakers, or scholars, or anyone who didn’t reside or work in the Palace. They would have been identified at an early age as having the physical and mental requirements to be champion fighters with weapons, and without, and on horseback, or on the ground. Their intensive training would have commenced when they were fourteen turns of a marker and many gruelling hours would have followed. Some never made it to the end. Injuries in Tournament training could be fatal, such was the intensity of their weapons exercises and final challenges. These young men and women were the best of the best, and at twenty one turns of a marker they would now, officially, become Champions. They would fight against the Denborites in organised Tournaments for the next five years at least. After this, if they were still alive, they’d be assigned to a position as either a Palace or a travelling guard. Palace guards were the retired Champions who were wed to questers.
My father and mother stood up and a hush came over the crowd. The King took a jewel encrusted silver sword from a waiting guard and he held it by his side. The first of the Champions knelt before him.
“Arise Jared and join the Tournament,” my father said clearly, and he touched the flat side of the sword blade to each shoulder of the kneeling young man. Jared stood up and the crowd murmured its respectful approval. The King passed my mother the sword and Jared walked towards me where I handed him a shiny, Aldirite Tournament shield. He nodded and I looked into bright, blue green eyes. He stood to the side and we both waited for the next Champion to arise. This time, it was my mother who touched the sword to a young man’s shoulders, and she spoke to him regally just as my father had done.
And so the ceremony continued until the pile of shields beside me was down to one.
“Arise Thea, and join the Tournament,” said my mother, and soon after, a young woman took the very last shield from my hand.
This was when the ceremony became no longer a ceremony but a celebration, and music of the kind that was very different from the music on Josh’s cartridge began playing. The music was merry and it was a signal that the time to celebrate had officially begun. The noise level in the Great Hall rose as voices almost drowned out the sounds made by the musical players. Vendors roamed amongst the people and they sold tiny bites of salted food, and tankards of fermented ale. Dancing had begun already around the centre of the hall and the Champions standing to the side of me jumped down from the raised area and congratulated each other heartily.
“Your Highness, may I accompany you from the platform so you may celebrate amongst your people?”
I looked into bright blue green eyes again. Jared had been the first Champion to receive his shield tonight, and because of this, I remembered his name. He was tall and broad as were all the Champions, but Jared carried himself with an extra measure of arrogance, and he spoke with an extra measure of self-assurance as well. His golden hair was tied together at the back of his head and his skin was bronzed from many hours of training outside. I gritted my teeth and forced my mouth into a half smile, while I took his offered arm and left the platform with him to join the celebrating crowd.
“I’m called Jared your Highness,” said Jared formally, as we made our way down the ramp.
“May the gifts of the River Zahar remain among us through time, Jared,” I said, as I was obliged to greet him in the manner of our people.
“And may time never be lost between us, Princess Livia,” said Jared confidently, as he guided me towards the edge of the Hall. “I was privileged to have been trained under your Father’s excellent guidance. I finished first ranked in my class,” he said, and he raised his voice to be heard over the music and the noisy crowd. We headed towards a group of three Champions who called out to Jared and beckoned him towards them.
“I see you have bought the Queen’s daughter to meet her Champions,” said one of the young men in the group as he slapped Jared heartily on the back. This young man then introduced himself to me, as did the young man beside him. The third young man however, didn’t tell me his name. He watched the room around him carefully and his grey blue eyes missed nothing. He did look at me seriously though, when I’d greeted the others in the manner of our people.
“I feel compelled to warn you, your Highness…..” began the young man.
“Not tonight Elijah,” said Jared, as he rolled his eyes and leant towards me. “Elijah is always talking to the guards and listening in to Denborite gossip at the Tournaments. He puts many half-truths and rumours together and he ends up thinking he can spy as well as the Denborites themselves,” said Jared, and he laughed at Elijah, who ignored him and spoke to me earnestly.
“I believe your life is in danger, your Highness. I overheard a whispered conversation when I returned a runaway horse to the Denborite camp at a Tournament last month. The guards spoke of a plot to bring about your death during your final challenges, which I believe are to be held sometime in the coming weeks,” said Elijah, and he ignored the teasing laughter from the rest of his group as he looked at me seriously. Elijah was slightly smaller than the others in this group but he had an intensity about him which I imagined gave him the edge in a fight. I had no doubt as to the sincerity of his warning.
“I believe there have been many rumours over many turns of Denborite plots against me, Elijah and I thank you for your warning, but I can assure you my security is the very best,” I said graciously.
“Almost the very best. I don’t believe you have me on your guard as yet, your Highness,” corrected Jared arrogantly. He laughed again and I smiled through my gritted my teeth as I looked around me for a means of escape.
“Ah Livia, I see you have met your Father’s first ranked Champion.”
My mother appeared suddenly on the other side of Jared and the young men stopped laughing abruptly as they bowed respectfully to the Queen. “I trust you’re all enjoying your night,” said my mother smoothly, as she smiled at each of the young men in turn. Already, my teeth were beginning to hurt from grinding them together. “Are your families here to celebrate?” my mother asked as she turned to Elijah first.
“Ah, yes, your Highness. My mother, father, and brother are here,” said Elijah.
“And is your brother a Champion just as you are yourself?” asked my mother smoothly.
“Ah, no. My brother shines boots at my parent’s leather stall, your Highness,” said Elijah, and I saw my opportunity.
“It would please me very much to meet your parents, and your brother too, Elijah,” I said quickly, and I reached for Elijah’s arm as I almost dragged him away from the group. We headed into the crowd and, when I glanced back at my mother, she watched us go with a set to her face which didn’t bode well for me at all. Tonight though, I just didn’t care. Tomorrow, at set two, I’d be a day closer to officially joining the Quest and I’d be on my way back to where I belonged as well; somewhere as far away as possible from the Royal House of Aldiris.
“I mean it your Highness, you should be extra careful in the weeks to come. The Denborites are excited about something big. There are too many rumours which mention your name,” said Elijah seriously, as he allowed me to guide him through the crowd.
“There are always rumours which mention the members of the Royal House, Elijah. You don’t need to worry. The finals are conducted under the strictest security and the challenges move randomly around the time segments. I’ve heard the questers themselves only find out where they’ll be going the day before they make a drop, and the time segments used in the finals are checked by the Quest house master first, to ensure there will be no unscheduled surprises,” I said reassuringly, but Elijah frowned.
“It would please me if I knew you could take extra guards with you o
n your challenges your Highness. If Denborites were to attack you in large numbers…….”
“Denborites don’t attack in large numbers out in the time circle, Elijah. Aldirites are more likely to do that and I can assure you, I won’t let the Denborites, or you, or anyone else, stop me from completing my final challenges to the same standard, and under the same circumstances, as every other quester in my group,” I said heatedly. My voice had risen without me realising it and Elijah smiled slowly. I frowned. “How would you like me to tell you to take an army of guards with you into a Tournament fight?” I muttered, and Elijah laughed.
“I wouldn’t like it,” he confessed, and he smiled apologetically now. I smiled too and it was my first genuine smile since I’d arrived in Aldiris. “And no thanks are necessary by the way, your Highness,” said Elijah. My smile faded.
“Thanks for what?” I asked him, as I looked at him in confusion.
“For allowing you to use me and my family as an excuse to escape the company of Jared and your mother,” he said dryly, and I glanced at him guiltily, but he continued to grin.
I spent the remainder of the evening with Elijah and I did meet his parents and his brother as well. Elijah drank quite a few tankards of ale and, the more he drank, the more he talked, and soon he was giving me what sounded like a very accurate insight into the personality of every member of his entire Tournament finals group. Towards the end of the night, he saw me nod to Evangeline who had joined the Tournament arising celebration at the invitation of her parents. Her father was a nobleman and a quester, and her mother was part of a group of noblewomen who supervised the running of Palace events such as this one tonight. Elijah took one look at Evangeline and begged me to introduce him. I was pleased to do so and it didn’t surprise me when Evangeline soon had Elijah completely mesmerised by her smile. It didn’t take her long to introduce him to her commanding ways either and, when I left them, she was insisting he dance with her. I heard Elijah trying to tell her he didn’t dance, but I didn’t wait to find out whether he succumbed to her demands. I didn’t, for one minute, doubt that he was already dancing with Evangeline as I escaped from the Great Hall and made my way alone through the dimly lit Palace. As far as I was concerned, I’d done my duty tonight. It was set ten and, according to my mother, I needed my sleep.
I made it all the way to my rooms without accidentally running in to the Queen, which pleased me, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I closed my door and locked the crystal chain firmly into place. It glowed brightly for a moment as it made contact with the key and the blue light bonded it together so that I could sleep in peace.
When I undressed and combed my hair, I untied the jade leather band from around my wrist. I sat on my bed then and ran my fingers over the mark which marred the skin on the underside of my wrist. My skin was pale where the leather bands always kept it from the light and the circular mark I hid was a very deep blue. My skin was stained in a complicated, circular pattern and I’d been told it was the first thing my mother had noticed when I’d been born. The midwife had been blamed at first, and I’d once been told once by a servant that my mother had sent the woman to be thrown into a bottomless drop. It had soon become obvious though, that the mark must have been etched into my skin while I was still growing inside the womb. During my early years, my mother had tried every salve, every solution, and every remedy in the Kingdom to remove it. Our people had extensive knowledge of all things concerned with healing and health. We could remove scars completely and ordinary birthmarks could be removed in mere days……but not this mark. Some of the ointments my mother had used had been so strong, they’d peeled multiple layers of skin off my young wrist, but the mark had remained and, if anything, it had grown deeper in colour as I’d grown in size. My mother called it a blemish and my earliest memories were of her constant reminders for me to cover it always. According to her, no one should ever have to see such an ugly mistake of nature…………
I twisted a strip of tan coloured leather around my wrist and tied it so the ends were tucked beneath the binds, and when I turned the metal cylinder above my bed, I slipped beneath softly woven blankets and lay in the darkness. Outside, I could hear the sounds particular to the Kingdom of Aldiris. Faint, lyrical music still played in the hall and I heard the cry of an owl. Someone called out in the old language and a horse walked across stone pavers below me in the community square. A baby was crying insistently somewhere in the residences around the square, and the sound of traffic, sirens, and fuel driven aeroplanes were long forgotten in history here. I closed my eyes and put Josh’s headphones in my ears and, when I turned up the volume of the music as loud as it could go, I ached for something deep within me. I didn’t know what it was I ached for but sleep evaded me as I lay alone in the darkness……….
CHAPTER 3:
“Correct your stance, Livia, and concentrate for the circle’s sake!”
My mother was in one of her worst moods this morning and she’d decided to sit in on my weapons class to torture me, my instructor, and anyone else in the vicinity who could hear her voice. Her brisk words echoed shrilly in the stone courtyard and I adjusted my grip on my sword, but I didn’t change my stance at all. My stance was not the problem.
As the instructor attacked me again, I used my vast repertoire of defensive moves and tried to block out my mother’s voice completely. That was next to impossible though, and it wasn’t long before my instructor was able to make contact with my alloy lined vest. I felt the blow bruise my ribs even though the sword point was unable to penetrate the light metal lining. The blade slashed right through the outer core of my practice vest though and I ground my teeth together.
“Are you aware Livia that, thanks to a display of fighting befitting a child of five turns, you are now no longer among the living?” asked my mother sarcastically, and I let my breath out slowly and deliberately while I focussed only on my instructor. He raised his sword and I raised mine also as a deep calm enveloped me suddenly. It had taken almost a clock turn, but I had finally moved past the emotions roused in me by my mother’s voice. I swung my sword with lethal accuracy and I used both my combat training and my weapons training as I knocked my instructor deftly to his knees. My sword point quivered only a fraction of a length from his throat, and I breathed out slowly as I hid my satisfied smile.
“Slightly better, but not possible if you are already deceased,” called my mother. She sat regally on a waxed, wicker chair on the edge of the courtyard and she was shaded by the fronds of a potted plant.
My instructor tried not to smile as I rolled my eyes and he looked at me sympathetically as he stood up slowly. After taking my instructor’s hand briefly and nodding my thanks, I took off the glove that spared my hand from extra calluses, and I carefully removed my ruined vest. This vest would have to go to the armoury to be repaired now, which suited me perfectly. I wouldn’t be able to accompany my mother through the Palace to her rooms because I’d be heading in the other direction. I spoke to her tonelessly as I told her I’d see her soon at the stables, and I walked gratefully away from her as I left the open courtyard and headed north.
I followed a passageway into the depths of the Palace and, as I passed the quester’s locker room, I deliberately slowed my pace. I caught a glimpse of wooden benches, metal locker doors and rows of weapons on racks. Soon, I too, would be allocated a locker here and I’d return only to sharpen my sword and renew my pack before embarking on another of my many, many quests. I smiled to myself……….
Mirren was to accompany us on our ride. After returning my vest for repair, I headed back to my rooms to take a drink from the jug of well water that sat beside my bed and I washed my face in a bowl of warmed water that waited for me in my bathroom. Carefully, I combed out my hair and I braided it again neatly before I knocked gently on Mirren’s door. She opened it immediately and we headed to the stables together where grooms waited for us with saddled horses.
Two guards were to ride with us as well and, w
hen my mother joined us, we rode out of the Palace gates at a sedate pace before trotting our horses through the city.
My mother always enjoyed riding through the city and she nodded graciously as people waved and tipped their hats.
“Smile Livia,” she said between her teeth. I rode along beside her and I smiled at small children as who ran beside me for as long as they could keep up with us.
We took the shortest route out of the city and soon left it behind to ride beside a narrow river bordered by market farms. Vegetables grew among herbs and natural vegetation, and ground birds wandered around the neatly bordered patches. These birds tilled the soil and ate the pests, and I watched them foraging contentedly in the sun. The river bank was shaded by trees and we cantered along a well-trodden track which was littered with the first of autumn’s fallen leaves.
It was a fine day, but the sky was covered with many fluffy white clouds and the sunlight faded regularly in between shining brightly again. We didn’t stop, and we didn’t speak, and even when we left the river and turned back towards the city, we rode in silence. By the time we returned to the city, I had completely relaxed.
My mother’s mood had improved too and when I waited at the stables to bid her farewell, she walked towards me with a strange expression on her face. She smoothed my hair and tucked a stray wisp of it behind my ear, and her voiced betrayed an uncharacteristic hint of emotion as she wished me well until we were together again. I frowned slightly before I could stop myself.
“I know I can be seen to be a little harsh at times, but you do know everything I do, I do for our Kingdom, don’t you Livia? Aldiris is far more important than you, or I, or your father, and the burden of that responsibility lies largely upon my own shoulders,” she said carefully, and she looked up at the Palace walls. She looked back at me then and her blue eyes looked into mine. I continued to frown as I wondered who or what had taken over her body, and she frowned herself and let out her breath suddenly.
TRAVELLER (Book 1 in the Brass Pendant Trilogy) Page 6
