Rise

by Danielle Racey

  “Tut, tut, Victoria. I thought you were better than that. Wait, no I didn’t.” Raela swung her arm around over her shoulder with speed than even Victoria could admit was impressive. She didn’t know how, but Victoria recognized it instantly. It was a killing blow, designed to complete behead her.

  Victoria lifted her dagger, positioning it sideways in an effort to block the blow, but it was over, and she knew it. Raela’s blade was coming down at nearly the speed of light, and if her own dagger didn’t shatter on impact, Raela’s would just cut hers clean in half. She felt her eyes closing, as if even her body was accepting her fate, but she wouldn’t allow them. She couldn’t. If this is how it was all going to end, the very least she could do was face it head on.

  Crack. Raela’s blade collided with her own, and an awful cracking sound echoed throughout the clearing. Tiny, hard granules sprinkled down onto Victoria. She cringed, expecting Raela’s blade to collide with her own face in a matter of seconds. When it didn’t, and no screams arose from the audience, she felt it safe to look. Instead of it being her own blade, it was in fact Raela’s blade that shattered on impact.

  Raela stood dazed, arms still in striking position. The only thing missing was her dagger. All that was left of it was a fine black powder that now littered the forest floor. “Training over, as Raela has been incapacitated.” Came Sister Katherine’s steady voice. Victoria breathed a sigh of relief, but stepped as far back from Raela as possible, just to be sure. She looked over to Roman, and smiled. It was close, but she had survived.

  “Does this mean I won’t have to train with Raela anymore?” Victoria asked, hopefully, and her eyes shifted to Roman. She wouldn’t mind taking lessons from him. Not only did he really know his moves, but some more alone time wouldn’t hurt either.

  “You are correct. Grace was second in line to train with you, so she’ll help you train until Raela can find a replacement blade.”

  This was the best news Victoria had heard all day. She couldn’t decide what she wanted to gloat about first. Roman’s shocking declaration, surviving her duel with Raela, or the fact that Grace would now be her sparring partner. Victoria didn’t know if things could get any better.

  X.

  The answer was no. They wouldn’t. “She might have destroyed my dagger, but the duel isn’t over. An assassin has to be quick on their feet, and know how to fight bare-handed. This duel was not declared ornamentum tantum, so it can continue.” Raela declared. Victoria stepped back, her mind spinning. She looked over to Grace, who quickly mouthed “Weapons only.."

  “Raela, you can’t train with me anymore. Grace is my partner now.” Victoria was quickly becoming more and more unnerved by Raela’s determination to fight her. If she had any doubt in her mind that Raela was indeed trying to kill her, it was now completely erased. Victoria looked, pleadingly to Sister Katherine, who was studying the both of them. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t allow this to continue, could she?

  “I suppose you are correct, Raela. The terms of this duel were not stated at the beginning, as they should be. But, I’m not sure it’s necessary to continue. Grace should have no problems taking over.”

  “Of course it’s necessary.” Raela tossed her hair around in frustration. “Victoria has to know how to fight barehanded, especially if she has been suddenly disarmed, like I was. I’m only doing her a favor.” Raela’s voice was light, but Victoria did not miss the dark glittering in her eyes.

  Sister Katherine looked back and forth between the two girls, her face contorted, as if the decision was painful. At last, she exhaled loudly, and spoke. “The duel, I believe, can continue. Please ready yourselves.”

  Victoria looked down at her hands, helplessly. She could brawl a bit, but she knew that the only way to stop Raela was to knock her clean out, and frankly, Victoria didn’t know if she could do that. She wasn’t angry enough, anymore. She was a bit scared, nervous, and uncomfortable, but not angry. She hadn’t been angry for a while. As she looked into Raela’s eyes, as Sister Katherine counted down the time in which the duel would begin, all she saw was fury. What in the world would cause Raela to be this angry?

  Although Victoria hadn’t known that Raela had a family up until very recently, she too had grown up in the convent, for the most part. Sure, Victoria made fun of her front teeth, because by god, they were huge. And they made her look silly, very silly. But up until recently, her personality had accompanied that look. Raela had always been a little shallow, a little mean, but never a real threat. Until now.

  Victoria wondered, briefly, what caused that change. She was far too eager, for this. As Victoria stared into her eyes, she realized that Roman was right. It wasn’t personal. It just was. If her name had been Lucia, Raela would still be staring at her, with the same amount of malice in her eyes.

  “Let the duel begin.” Raela lunged forward at her, colliding with Victoria with such an impact that she slid backwards and her teeth rattled inside her mouth. Victoria swung her leg in a wide sweep, kicking Raela’s own out from under her. The two fell to the ground, writhing and wrestling. Victoria rolled over, and pinned Raela to the forest floor with her full weight. With what seemed almost like a rabid snarl, she kicked Victoria away. Her kick landed squarely between Victoria’s ribs, and she clutched her stomach in pain.

  Through her pain, Victoria saw Raela advance beside her, and she threw a feeble kick in her direction. It wasn’t very strong, or very well-aimed, but it caught her right in the jaw. She kicked again. Raela threw her head to the side to avoid another blow, and jumped onto Victoria, this time pinning her down.

  Victoria saw a flash of silver, and before she knew what was happening, it was too late. It was if time slowed down. She saw Raela’s dagger (who knew she had another one?) emerge from behind her robes. It was short, and small, which was probably the reason no one had recognized it before. Victoria heard someone shout. Maybe it was Grace, or Roman, but she couldn’t tell.

  The dagger met her skin with a fleshy thump, and Victoria watched wide-eyed as Raela cut a long, deep gash, down her torso. There was blood, so much blood, she couldn’t see straight. Someone, she didn’t know who, dragged Raela off of her, but for what seemed like the longest time, no one came. She bled, and bled, and bled. Victoria looked around her, still in such a state of shock that she couldn’t feel the pain. Surely, there had to be some, as the mossy forest floor was now soaked in her blood.

  Victoria felt someone lift up her head, but she couldn’t see. Her vision was blurring, going in and out of focus. What were they saying? They were saying something. The voices sounded distorted, and far away. Suddenly, time seemed to speed up. Everyone was moving at the speed of light. Someone grabbed her arms, and another grabbed her legs, and she was being carried. Was blood still leaking from her sides? Instead of footprints leading to wherever she was being taken, would she leave drops of blood instead?

  Whoever was carrying her, their pace quickened. She felt wind whipping at her open side, and groaned in pain. Someone should wrap my wound, she thought, in a moment of clear headedness. But her consciousness didn’t last, as she felt herself sinking again into that distorted world. Lots of voices, saying things. But what were they saying? At least she didn’t feel too much pain, although Victoria didn’t know how that was possible. She had been stabbed, hadn’t she? Or was it all a dream. Perhaps she had never gone to training, and instead fell asleep in her room. The previous night had been a long one, after all.

  She felt herself being lain gently down on a soft surface. A bed. She liked beds. Instinctively, she rolled over, but a hand pulled her back. The voices. They were back, talking again. She tried to roll over again, but a hand stopped her. Why wouldn’t they let her roll over? She just wanted to curl up, and take a nice long nap. She tried a third time, and unfortunately, she succeeded. As Victoria rolled over onto her side, incidentally, the one that had been wounded, she felt rivets of pain shoot up her side.

  Deciding that perhaps rolling over wasn’t the best
idea after all, Victoria made to roll back onto her back, but she couldn’t, the pain was too much. She felt her vision growing even hazier, until a solid blackness enveloped her, and she welcomed it.

  When Victoria awoke, she had no sense of time. It took her a moment to realize even where she was. The lights were dimmed, but she recognized the room as her own. Her side felt exceedingly stiff. She wondered why, until she looked down and saw that her entire torso was wrapped in a hard bandage. Victoria could see a small amount of blood that managed to soak through. What in the world had she been doing to get that?

  Her thoughts were interrupted as the door to her room creaked open. Roman poked his head in. He was dressed in dark, near invisible robes, which made him look like he was just a floating head. “Come in” she said. Her voice was raspy, and sounded like it hadn’t been used for days.

  Roman nodded and entered the room slowly. He made a wide berth around her bed, as if he was afraid to get too close. He stood awkwardly by her clothing dresser for a moment before deciding on the chair a few feet away from her bedside. “How are you?” he asked, quietly. He wasn’t looking directly at her, but rather, at her side. Victoria made to get up, but immediately thought better of it as pain flashed through her side. “I’m fine”, she grimaced. “What happened?”

  “Raela happened.” He said, simply. “You don’t remember?” She didn’t. Victoria shook her head. “No. All I remember is I think I got stabbed—wait, yes I do remember”

  She stopped, as the memories came flooding back to her. She didn’t know what to say, as the whole ordeal was bordering on bizarre. “How long have I been here?” Victoria asked, as she shifted her weight again to take the pressure off her side. Roman shook his head. “Not long, just a day. It was a rough day, though” he said, grimacing. “They…they thought the poison might kill you.” “Poison?” That explained why her side was aching as it did. He nodded his head, somberly. “Poison. It was making you hallucinate. None of the nuns had ever encountered that particular type before, but luckily, a monk from the Brotherhood knew the antidote for it. You’ll be alright now, just need to heal up.” His voice sounded a little uncertain, as if he was telling her this for his own benefit, as well as hers.

  Victoria reached down and felt along her side. The bandages were hard and sticky with her blood. As she did, she felt Roman watching her every move, eyes full of concern. It was hard to recall much of the day before, given that Raela had stabbed and poisoned her, but she hadn’t forgotten what Roman had said to her.

  “It’s my fault.” He startled her with the seriousness of his voice. Granted, his voice was always fairly serious, but this time it sounded hollow, regretful. “How is this your fault? You had nothing to do with this.” Victoria asked, feeling mildly irritated. The last thing she needed was him to try and play hero after the fact. She could have used his self-sacrifice before she got stabbed.

  “I should have known. I saw the way she was looking at you. I should have known how dangerous she was.”

  “Roman” She looked at him, hoping she could stop flinching long enough to speak. “I didn’t even know, and I actually live with her. I’ve lived with her my whole life. She’s been the same, irritating, rabbit-face girl my entire life. I had no reason to suspect anything else, so I didn’t. If it’s anyone fault, it’s mine.” She searched Roman’s face as she spoke. His face seemed to be relaxing slightly.

  “Besides, I’m not permanently injured. I’ll heal up, and we’ll get back to the quest.” She tried to smile, but stopped, because she figured it would look rather ghastly. Roman looked at her uncertainly for a moment, but then broke into a small grin.

  “So, who taught you how to brawl?”

  Victoria laughed, ignoring the pain in her side as she did.

  “When I was younger, there used to be a lot more girls at the convent. I guess they were just here to learn some religious texts. Simple stuff. I was a bit of a bully.” She admitted. “Did you take their lunch money?” Roman teased, and he grabbed her hand, and rested it in the palm of his own. “No” she laughed, “But I did take their slop. I used to pile bowls in my room. I didn’t even like slop. I just took it because I could, I guess—“Her story was interrupted by an angry growl from her stomach. “Woah, I’m hungry.” She said with such force, that Roman laughed out loud. “No worries. I brought you something from the city.” He got up and walked to Victoria’s desk, that was next to the door. She saw him bend down, pick up and tray, and walk slowly back to the bed.

  “Here, it’s just a little something.” He placed the tray on her lap, and Victoria couldn’t help but squeal in delight. It looked just like the giant hamburger she’d had at the diner with Roman. Surrounding it were long, golden French fries. Without any further hesitation, she grabbed the sandwich in her hand, and took a huge bite. As she chewed, she frowned, slightly. It still tasted delicious, but it tasted a bit odd, almost like something was missing. As if he read her thoughts, Roman smiled. It’s a veggie burger. They’re just as tasty, and much healthier. You almost died. I wouldn’t want to kill you again. Oh, and before I forget, I brought these too.” He reached into his knapsack that was sprawled on the floor, and withdrew a stack of comic books. “I’ll just put them here.” He said, as he made room on her nightstand.

  “What’s going to happen to Raela?” Victoria asked, after she’d devoured her veggie burger and fries.

  “Nothing.” said Roman, calmly, but in his face, she could see that he looked the farthest thing from it. “Why not? That’s attempted murder isn’t it? I’ve read about some of the court cases in Gracelia.” Victoria protested, and she licked French fry salt from her fingers.

  “It’s not really that simple. The convent is tied to the Other Sisterhood. Right?” Victoria nodded. “The Other Sisterhood technically operates outside of the law. The Board is completely aware of our…activities, but they ignore them, generally. But if you tried to prosecute Raela for attempted murder, legally, they’d have to look into the entire convent and…” He trailed off and sighed. “There’s nothing we can do, legally. As for the convent, she’ll probably be kicked out and sent back home. There’s nothing stopping her from coming back, though.”

  Victoria felt a chill go up her spine, and she wasn’t entirely sure why. This was Raela they were talking about, right? Sure, she’d attempted murder, but she was still Raela, wasn’t she? “What are you thinking about?” Roman leaned closer to her, and looked into her eyes.

  Victoria sighed, and looked down at her empty plate. “I’m just wondering what caused this. Her change. It was so sudden, really. In response, Roman just shrugged his shoulders. “You changed, I changed. It happens. Sometimes, it’s a bad change, like Raela’s.”

  “You changed?” Victoria raised her eyebrows in surprise. She remembered Roman when she’d first met him, face to face, on that dark night that seemed so long ago. He had seemed different, but his eyes had never glittered like Raela’s.

  “I did." As if he were reading her mind, he hastily added “But you didn’t know me when I was at my worst. It was a bad time. I don’t like to revisit it.”

  Victoria rolled his answer around in her head for a moment, before deciding to let it slide. She couldn’t imagine him ever having a dangerous streak as wide as Raela’s, but she supposed he had to have one at some point, or else he would have never been sent to the convent.

  The two sat in silence for a few more minutes before Roman stood up from his chair, and waved his arms about the air in a dramatic stretch. “Well, I should probably be going. It’s getting late. I wouldn’t want to be late for…monk activities. Very important, you know.” He flashed her grin, and ducked out the door, leaving Victoria to stare at her empty plate in the darkening room.

  In the days that followed, Roman visited every day. She was grateful for this because excluding him, no one, at all had been to see her. On her fifth day of healing, it dawned on her how odd this was, and she made a point to ask Roman about it when he returned.
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  As expected, bright and early on the sixth day after her injury, there was a soft knock at the door. “Come in.” Her voice sounded much stronger than it had before, and Victoria considered that to be a sign of major improvement. The door creaked open, revealing Roman, who entered the room carrying his duffel bag in one hand, and a paper bag of food in the other. He set the bag carefully down onto her lap and slowly slid out its contents. “Beef Stew.” She nodded in appreciation. “Sister Katherine told me that you needed something hearty, to help speed your recovery. He pulled utensils out of the paper bag, handed them to Victoria, and settled back into his chair with a magazine in one hand, and an apple, from his duffel bag, in the other. They’d settled into this routine, to which Victoria had grown rather accustomed to. They didn’t have to talk, they could simply be in the presence of each other. It was a nice feeling, she had to admit. But today, she did want to talk.

  “Roman, I—I had a question.” Why was she feeling so nervous all of a sudden? She was just asking a question. A simple question, right? She continued on, slowly. “Why hasn’t anyone been to visit me but you?”

  He looked up from his magazine, and Victoria watched as an odd expression overtook his face. “Just busy, I guess. I told them I’d take care of your food and things. I didn’t want them to worry. They’ve got enough to deal with.” His words were rushed, and Victoria had the creeping feeling that he was lying to her. She wasn’t sure, but when she saw that Roman said all he did with his face buried in his magazine, she knew that something was wrong. “Roman, look at me.” Her voice was still a little soft, likely because Raela had bruised her neck during their brawl, but it was enough to get his attention. He looked up, still avoiding her eyes. He’s clever, Victoria thought, as she watched Roman’s eyes settle on a place just slightly above her forehead, so that it looked like he was looking at her.