[2016] The Bride Trials

by Jessica Parker

  Nanny placed a note on the table. “Have courage today. Whatever it brings. I’ll clean this up later.”

  Nanny left and Keyla opened the paper, the familiar blue light scanned her. Words appeared. Kill the King.

  She ripped the paper into pieces and lit it on fire. This wasn’t what she wanted. Not anymore. Yes the King was evil, but Ditran would be on the throne in a few years. Surely Ditran could make changes before taking the throne. Wasn’t there enough death already? If she killed the King, she’d have to tell Ditran she was a rebel, and face whatever punishment Dovesti’s stone dealt.

  There was a knock on her door. Time to go. The Fire Kuil was located on the North West side of the Palace. A simple black, rounded, building.

  Keyla looked at the list before her. It named who would battle who and when. Keyla found her name, she would be fighting Nurya.

  Other ladies stood together chatting, but Keyla couldn’t bring herself to do it. If she had to fight a friend, she would. Nurya approached her.

  “It will be an honor.” Keyla took Nurya’s hand in a warrior’s embrace.

  “Let us show the others how it is done. We will honor Dovesti and our families.” Keyla smiled and they walked towards the arena side by side in friendship. As they entered the yard, the audience roared in excitement. They wanted to see blood. Keyla saw Ditran and the King on a platform with a set of stairs leading into the arena. Ditran smiled at her.

  Gon Vanhi greeted them in a shiny red shirt and black pants. He held up his hands and the crowd hushed to hear.

  “Ladies. This is a test of Fierceness and bravery. For the Queen will need both to guide and support Heir Ditran and the kingdom. Select your weapon and when you are ready, enter the circle.”

  Keyla approached the table and stands with the variety of available weapons. There were daggers, staves, broadswords, short swords, but the one on the end is what drew her. It was light enough to be quick, long enough to keep her distance, but heavy enough to inflict damage.

  While she didn’t want to hurt Nurya, the quicker this ended the better. She picked up the sword and walked towards the circle. The symbol of the Vatra Dra was drawn on the floor in reds, yellows and blues. The scales shimmered along the dragon’s body, but the fire in the eyes left no doubt as to why this Dra was known for fierceness.

  Nurya selected her sword. The black handle was separated from the two foot blade by only a little bit of metal.

  They met in the center of the circle where Gon Vanhi stood. “The battle is until surrender using any means necessary. If you surrender or step outside of the circle you will be eliminated. You will begin when the gong sounds.”

  Nurya and Keyla nodded at the man and he exited the circle. Keyla took a couple steps to the side away from Nurya and took her stance.

  The gong sounded, and Nurya lunged for Keyla. Keyla moved to the right and blocked Nurya’s sword with her own. They swirled around each other again and again. Each one narrowly missing the other. Brute strength would not be enough to win alone. Keyla saw Ditran in the stands next to Nixie and the King. Nixie’s hand was on Ditran’s arm and she had a gleeful smile on her face. What was she doing there?

  Nurya took the opportunity of Keyla’s distraction and lunged again. Keyla was slower to block and as a result Nurya was able to slice the skin on Keyla’s outer thigh. It burned and Keyla held in the cry she wanted to make. The crowd roared and Keyla felt anger surface within her.

  We shouldn’t be here, forced to fight one another for the King’s enjoyment. They should be fighting him. Blue flames burst from Keyla’s hand and down the blade. Nurya followed suit, but her flames were a pale orange.

  Keyla thrust this time and was satisfied when sparks of flame hit Nurya’s clothing. While the military suits they wore protected from flame, Nurya out of reflex backed away. Keyla pursued and Nurya tripped over her own feet and fell. Her sword flung away and Keyla swept in taking the opportunity.

  Keyla put the blade at Nurya’s throat. “Yield. Please.” The crowd chanted for death.

  “I submit,” Nurya said.

  The gong sounded and Gon Vanhi declared Keyla the winner. Keyla turned and looked up at Ditran. He was smiling at her and moved towards the stairs. She began walking to the table to return her sword. A shriek sounded and Keyla whirled around.

  Nurya had retrieved her sword and was kneeling on the ground. Her blade wrapped in pulsing flame was aimed at her stomach.

  “Don’t!” Keyla ran towards her.

  Nurya looked at Keyla, smiled, and fell on her blade. It went through her and the flames stopped. “No. No!” Keyla reached her, and pulled out the sword.

  Ditran reached her in moments that may as well have been hours as far as Keyla was concerned. “Do something!” Keyla felt tears sting her eyes and she forced them not to fall. “She’s gone,” he said.

  “Why would she do this?”

  Men moved to take Nurya’s body. Ditran placed a hand on Keyla’s shoulder to prevent her from protesting. Keyla picked up the sword Nurya had used. It was still warm and Keyla looked down at her hands now covered in blood.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up,” Ditran said. He gently helped her stand and together they walked towards the exit.

  The other ladies, who all waited for their turns looked at Keyla in horror. They’d seen Nurya’s body and now they saw her hands with the sword.

  “Murderer!” One of them said, but Keyla wasn’t sure which.

  Keyla’s back straightened, but before she could say anything, Nixie did.

  “Nurya took her own life to retain her honor. May we all be as brave.” Ditran and Keyla entered a private room, and Keyla tried to wash the blood from her hands. But no matter how hard she scrubbed they were still red.

  “That’s enough, you’re going to scrub all your skin off.” Ditran turned off the water and with a towel gently wiped away the remaining moisture on her hands. “This is not your fault.”

  Keyla only nodded and the sting of tears pressed again. She blinked, and blinked again. Then turned her head, she couldn’t turn her body since he still held her hands. If she had to look into Ditran’s eyes of gentleness any longer, she’d scream.

  Emre entered the room. “Sire, they wait for your return to resume the trial.” “Stay here with her.” Ditran lifted Keyla’s chin so that she was looking at him. “I’ll come to you when it’s all over.” He lifted her hand, and kissed the back of it.

  Emre and Keyla sat in the little room on a bench together. Occasionally the roar of the crowd could be heard as a distant hum.

  “Do they have no shame?”

  “Tell me about her. You’ve become friends haven’t you?” Emre said. “She was the youngest in her family. She wanted to be a baker like her mother. And train dogs like her father. Before she came, he gave her a thoroughbred sheep dog. She’d go on for hours talking about that pup. She said he had fur as soft as silk and eyes like spring earth.” Keyla sucked in a shuddering breath and felt a tear fall. “Who’s going

  to take care of her puppy now?”

  The tears fell now, and Emre scooted closer to her. He put an arm around her shoulders and let her soak his shirt as she continued to cry. Afterwards, she sat there, her head resting on his arm. The dull rise and fall of the crowd’s cheers in the distance.

  Emre nudged her off his shoulder. “Want to watch Nixie? I’m hoping the other girl will plop her in the mud.”

  “Sure. I could use a laugh.” Emre pressed a panel on the wall and a screen of the arena appeared. Nixie was indeed covered in mud, but it was the ice in her eyes that made Keyla shiver. The girl Nixie was fighting created a small ice patch behind Nixie, and when she swung her stave, Nixie jumped back to get out of the way. Her feet slipped and she fell.

  Nixie rolled to the right, and before the other girl could attack, Nixie flung dirt into the girl’s face. While the girl stumbled and tried to wipe the mud off. Nixie struck. She threw shards of ice and caught the girl in the chest. The girl’s
arms dropped, and so did she.

  Nixie kept going, she picked up her dagger and as the gong sounded, she plunged it into the girl’s throat.

  itran looked at the bodies of the two who died during the last trial. The first, self-imposed, the second an act of brutality. Three more women were eliminated, leaving one of each element for the final trial.

  Sonovo entered the room. “Why so glum?” “Two women are dead because of this charade you’ve allowed to continue. You promised no one would die. How does this prove anything? We both know who I will pick.”

  “Yes. The little orphan girl. Tell me, is she as good in bed as all the women are saying?”

  Ditran punched him in the nose. “How dare you.”

  Sonovo pressed a hand to his nose. There was a pop followed by a crunching sound. Ditran wanted to hit him again.

  “Have you forgotten that everything I do is for you? What good would it have been for you to marry Nurya for her to kill herself the first time she makes a mistake? Or to marry Nixie and learn how far she’s willing to go for her goal?”

  “What do we tell their families?”

  “They died with honor, it’s what they wanted.” “This is what you wanted.”

  Ditran walked out of the room. If he stayed any longer he’d do something he’d regret later. There was a dinner he needed to attend. Although how he’d enjoy any of it with the five girls, he wasn’t sure. At least Keyla would be there. He wondered how she’d be holding up. He had every intention of returning to her right after the last fight ended. When Nixie had done what she did, he ran to her dying opponent. She took her last breath just as he reached her.

  He’d felt her memories as they slid into blackness. She’d come to these trials hoping she could return home to the lover she left behind. Hoping he’d finally see she was worth more to him. That her parents would approve of the match. And if not that they could run away and start a life somewhere else. Now she’d never know, and she’d

  never have the option.

  Ditran went to his room and changed quickly. He’d disqualify Nixie, remove her from the trials. That would leave four.

  When he entered the dining room, five silent women stood next to the table. Keyla barely looked at him, but he could see the redness around her eyes. The evidence of tears recently passed, he hadn’t been there to comfort. Each girl curtsied, and they all sat down at the table. Servants filled their glasses, and filled their plates. The only one who ate was Nixie.

  In traditional Fire Kuil fashion, the room was lit only with flame. Shadows surrounded them, and he couldn’t help feel that they were encroaching, and offering a warning.

  He raised his glass. “To those we have lost, and their bravery.” The ladies raised their glasses, and he felt some of the sadness slip away, as the dishes were removed.

  He’d just set his drink down, when Sonovo strode in with Gon Solus and five guards dressed in green. Healers. They stepped around the table so that each Lady had a Healer behind them. The ladies stood and curtsied for their King.

  “Uncle, what brings you here?”

  “I didn’t get to tell you earlier, we will narrow it down to one here and now.”

  The girls looked in fear at the King. Could they not have an evening to mourn? Sonovo snapped his fingers, and in unison the guards pulled out a knife and stabbed each lady in the back.

  “Pick which one you’ll save and see their minds for their intent.” Ditran ran to Keyla first. The healer withdrew the knife and stepped back. Ditran put a hand to the bloody fabric. Hadn’t there been enough blood shed today. Her breathing became shallow and blood came out when she coughed.

  “I’ve got you,” Ditran said. He summoned his energy.

  Keyla raised a hand to his face, and her eyes closed. No! Ditran felt the connection the moment his energy touched hers. He saw the cut veins and tissue from the guard’s knife. He pushed his powers there and the flesh began knitting itself back together. Her memories and thoughts invaded his. They were disjointed at first.

  Dancing in a flower covered field, guards burning everything, running in fear, screams in the darkness. A woman with a face he found familiar, a letter written in a scrawling hand. The words “Kill the King.”

  Then they were in the field once more. The same one from when she fell into the healing sleep. “Ditran, There’s something you should know about me.”

  “Let’s get you healed first, you can tell me later.” “No now, that way you can let me die if you want to, and I won’t have to see you marry another.”

  “There’s nothing you could do that would stop me from saving you.” “I’m one of the rebels.”

  The words shook him to his core. “Why?” “Let me show you.”

  eyla felt the stab, Ditran’s arms, and then falling into a dark hole with him. Death shouldn’t hurt this much should it?

  Glimpses of memories drifted past her like leaves on a stream. Flowers, flame, running, pain. Rapid flashes until it caught up to her recent ones. Her first mission, the Plumes, the boy that died that night for no reason. Training with Ditran, looking at him when he wasn’t looking, trying not to punch any of the other ladies for flirting with him. His nanny, and the note she brought.

  Then she was in the meadow with her pampered prince. He didn’t notice her just yet and she took the moment to memorize his face one last time. He deserved the truth from her, and here she

  could show him why.

  The look on his face when she told him, shot daggers of agony into her soul.

  She walked him through her memories. The first being the most painful. Victa, best friend and next door neighbor. Her house was a tiny, ugly, brown thing. Always filled with the warm scent of spices from Victa’s mother cooking. Keyla was in her bed watching the shadows on the ceiling before she fell asleep. Then the light turned brighter, scarier. She climbed out of her bed and to the window. Victa had to be seeing this too.

  The house was on fire. Four men dressed in uniform stood laughing in the street as Victa’s house burned. Victa stood inside her house, banging on the glass of the window, her screams could be heard over the crackling flames.

  Keyla thought of another memory. Mr. Calse. He’d spend his days praising Sonovo and Ditran, and the evenings beating her. The announcements with the Plumes, and the woman being slaughtered on stage in the King’s name.

  Then she thought of the rebels. Suzenita with her gentle words and healing touch. The joy of being given an assignment only to fail. And her second assignment to kill the king. She felt the paper in her hands as she tore it into pieces. The heat from her fire as she turned it to ash. The ground as she dropped.

  The memory faded and she was in the meadow again with Ditran.

  “Oh, Keyla.” And then he showed her his memories. The broken boy surrounded by cold and apples. The boy with tear stained eyes rocking back and forth wishing for a father to return from battle. The Uncle who taught him how to use his powers. The King who kept Ditran at the Palace so he couldn’t get hurt.

  Through his memories, she saw it. She saw Sonovo’s love for Ditran, the way he did everything to keep him safe.

  She woke in her dark bedroom. Alone. Keyla gingerly moved to the window and the curtains opened. The courtyard was still covered in shadows, but the sun was starting to rise. The light reached her hands and she looked down at the chipped polish on her fingers. Her nails had become jagged. Façade stripped, just like her. The mark from Dovesti’s stone was no longer there.

  There was a knock on the door and Keyla turned to see Nanny open the door. “Good, you’re here,” she said.

  “I just want to sleep.” Keyla turned back to her window. The movement hurt where she’d been stabbed. Ditran had saved her, but left her in pain. I deserve it.

  Arms wrapped around her in a hug from behind. Keyla looked up into the eyes of Suzenita. “It’s okay. It’ll all be okay.” With her arms still wrapped around Keyla, Suzenita rubbed one hand up and down Keyla’s back. Drawing the physica
l pain from Keyla’s body with a cool touch.

  Here in Suzenita’s arms, she took back all her dreams of overthrowing the crown. They’d lasted this long under the Monarchy, they could last until Ditran took the throne with his princess. It would probably be the healer, the quiet girl with the grace of a hummingbird. Even though it had only been hours since her last sting of tears, this time they fell. The first for Nurya, and the rest for herself.

  Her short lived dreams of being loved by Ditran were shattered. He’d left her to wake alone, and she hadn’t seen or heard from him since. He should have let her die, for her heart would only beat for him now.

  Suzenita’s arms dropped her arms and pulled Keyla up by her hands. “Let’s go. We have to leave.”

  “What about my orders?” Keyla asked. “It’ll be fine. They changed their mind. Events didn’t play out the way they wanted them to.” “What events?”

  “I’m sorry, Keyla, I should have seen it. The council deliberately sent you to Cryssal to get captured.”

  Shock flooded her system, and she saw the rebels for what they were. They’d sent her to get caught that night in Cryssal on the hope she’d be sent to the trials. But if not, they weren’t out anything. A girl who knew nothing couldn’t harm them or their plans. How many other girls had been sent here in case she failed? How many others would be given the same tasks?

  “We have to leave, Keyla.” Suzenita stepped back.

  “Alright.” Keyla went to her closet and pulled out a jacket. Then put it back. With fire, she’d never get cold again. When she walked out, she froze. The King was in her room, Captain Drake too. Drake held Suzenita while holding an ice dagger to her throat.

  “We have much to discuss with Ditran,” Sonovo said. He held out his hand to Keyla as if he would escort her. When she didn’t move he spoke again. “You will cooperate, or she dies.”

  othing was right this morning. Uncle murdering four women, Keyla a rebel sent to kill the King. How could he trust that, the images she’d shown him included a woman that looked like his mother?

  He started down the hallway towards the tower where she’d be sleeping. The boards displayed zero time remaining. They hadn’t been updated since the beginning of the trials. When he reached her door, he found a note.