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I WASN’T GREETED BY sweet dreams this evening, instead it was another nightmare. The first occurred when I was staying at Lucah’s home, this was the worst one so far. I was sleeping in my bed and my mother came running in screaming that the cottage was on fire. The next thing I knew I was outside, the cottage was engulfed in flames and I could hear my mother’s screams, but couldn’t do anything to help. My feet were glued to the ground and I tried, oh I tried to move, but whenever I would try to lift my feet, they wouldn’t come off the ground.
More screams wailed out of the blaze. “I’m coming Mother! I’m coming!” But I couldn’t break free of the ground’s grip.
When I awoke, I looked around the room trying to figure out where I was. And then I remembered I was safe within the confines of the castle city, my new home.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and looked around the dark room, the morning hadn’t yet arrived. The other girls were still fast asleep and their rhythmic breathing sounded like a bedtime lullaby. I rolled over and tried to fall back to sleep.
In the morning, my eyes were forced open by the sounds of windows being flung open and the blinding sunlight that filtered through them. Lying in bed, still groggy, I wiped the sand from my eyes. When I was finally able to fall asleep the night before, I had trouble staying there. The bed was much too soft for my liking and the sleep shirt, stitched from some of the softest cotton I’ve ever worn was... too soft. And the sound of the sea crashing against the mountain that housed the castle was a new sound that I needed to get used to.
Branna was going around rousing everyone that hadn’t yet stirred. “Time to rise, everyone out of bed.” Tessa, already in her excited state, was standing and doing something with Neala. When she was done, Neala came over to me and in her left hand she held a small bowl filled with water. “Please stand Alora, we mustn’t get the bed wet.” I lazily rolled onto my stomach and slithered out of bed and onto my feet.
“What do I do?” I asked her.
“Dip your hands in the water and then rinse your face.”
I did as she said. When my hands scooped the water it felt cold and when the water hit my face, I gasped as I was instantly shocked wide awake. It wasn’t just cold, it was blistering cold. When I removed my hands from my face, Neala held an outstretched hand with a towel in it. I took it, dried my face and handed it back to her.
Branna made her way over to me and opened my closet. She removed the pitch black body suit and laid it on the bed. She then returned with the boots that I was to wear with it. “Please put these on. When you have it on, read these words and according to the wizard, it should adjust to fit your body.”
I nodded and she went over to do the same thing for the others. The other girls were looking at their bodysuits, investigating how they would get them on. I lifted mine, holding it up between my pinched fingers looking for any type of seam, but there weren’t any. It appeared that the body suit was truly fashioned from one long piece of material.
I heard a thump from behind and turned around to find Tessa missing. Neala ran over to the other side of her bed. Tessa was lying on the floor stunned, she had tried to put her legs through the arm holes.
“Nice try, clumsy,” Aednat crowed.
“I don’t see you doing any better,” I shouted, while Tessa was being helped to her feet.
I lay the suit back on my bed and examined it closely, hoping the answer would come to me. The only way I could see this thing going on was feet first, but how?
“Neala, do you know how to put these on?” I asked.
“Nay. We weren’t given any instructions other than to say those words.”
“Any ideas?” I asked, hoping she would come up with something.
The door opened and Princess Evelyn entered our chambers. “My ladies, why aren’t you dressed yet?” She glanced at Neala and Branna and they both stared down at the floor.
“They don’t know how to get these on,” I told her.
“Here, let me have a look.” The princess held it up in front of her, eyeing it intently. She scanned the front and then twisted it to scan the back. “I have no idea. We must hurry otherwise you’ll all be late.”
She placed it gently on my bed and walked around the room trying to see if she could help the other girls figure it out, as if she would notice a difference between their suits and mine.
“It stretches,” Tessa shrieked.
I turned around to find her wearing her body suit. The sleeves were much too long, dangling past her hands and the material was bunched up at her legs. The collar was so wide that it sat low on her chest instead of on her shoulders. I took hold of my collar and pulled it apart. It kept stretching and stretching. The princess noticed and told everyone, “Stretch the collar and try to slide into it.”
Ryanne tried to stretch her collar and slide her arms in, but that didn’t work, she wouldn’t be able to get her legs in that way. Finally, I removed my sleep shirt and sneered at Aednat who was watching. I held the suit up and gently let it collapse on itself as I lowered it to the floor.
I bent over and stretched the collar enough to insert one leg and pushed it out the foot hole. I did the same with my other leg and slid the suit up and over my waist. I inserted my left arm and the collar stretched, allowing me to line up my arm and push my hand out the opening. My right arm went out the other arm hole and I used my shoulders to shrug it up. The parchment with the word still sat on my bed. I read it out loud, barely at a whisper. “Apta magnitudine.” Nothing happened.
The second time I yelled it. “Apta magnitudine!”
The suit sprung to life and started to adjust itself. The legs and arms shrunk and tightened until the ends were at my ankles and wrists. The collar sized to fit my neck. When it was done, it appeared that I was wearing a second skin.
“Brilliant!” the princess exclaimed, clapping her hands when she saw what happened. Tessa was next to say the words and her suit shrank to fit her perfectly. I laced up my boots as the other girls finished getting ready. Not only did the boots look uncomfortable—they were. They were snug around my toes, squishing them together from the sides and attempting to make my pinky and big toes touch. When I stood the extra weight caused my toes to try and spread apart. It was even tighter and it hurt.
“These shoes are horrible,” I said under my breath.
“What was that Alora?” The princess had heard me.
“Um... Princess...” Could I tell her? I didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but they did hurt. “These boots are very uncomfortable. They hurt my feet.”
“Perhaps if you didn’t have big ‘ole bear feet they would fit better.”
I glared at Aednat. Who was she calling a bear? She was the biggest of us all and she wasn’t even in her second skin yet.
“Hush, Aednat. I’ll see what I can do about them Alora. You’ll have to deal with it for now.”
“Can’t I wear my own shoes?” I asked.
“Those have been thrown away.”
“Huh?”
“Along with the clothes you arrived in.”
Suddenly I panicked and dropped to the floor to look underneath my bed. Nothing. I opened my closet and pushed everything out of the way, but they weren’t there. I opened the drawers, that we didn’t seem to need, they were empty too. It was gone.
“Did you lose something?”
I turned to face the princess. “Aye. I put it in my shoes.”
“Ah, yes.” The princess dug into the pocket on the front of her amber gown and held out her hand. “Neala gave it to me when she threw away your things. Here, take it.”
I took Mother’s emerald and choked back my tears. The princess had it set in a new necklace and I placed it in one of my drawers. I couldn’t possibly wear it with this second skin. It would stick out like a sore thumb. “Thank you, Princess,” I said, happier than I’ve felt in days.
“Come on Aednat,” Ryanne urged.
The four of us were ready and Aednat was the only one left not wearing her second skin.
“Is there a problem?” the princess asked.
“Nay.”
“Then hurry.” The princess made her rounds, performing a final check on the four of us making sure our boots and second skins were up to her standard, whatever that was. Her voice became deep and stern. “Aednat, hurry!”
Aednat looked around and saw that all eyes were focused on her. A bead of sweat formed on her forehead.
“Is this the one that didn’t wash?” the princess asked.
The chamber maidens nodded.
Princess Evelyn waved to Neala and Branna and they jumped into action. Neala stood on one side and Branna stood on the other. “Help her and hurry, they’ll be waiting for us.”
Aednat stood mortified as we all watched the chamber maidens take hold of her sleep shirt and lift it up. They couldn’t get it quite over her head in one swoop and it got stuck at the top of her head. She shrieked in embarrassment. Tessa chuckled and the other girls did too. The princess slapped her own forehead. “Change her bedding before they wash this evening,” she commanded the maidens as she stepped onto Aednat’s bed.
She grabbed Aednat’s sleep shirt and lifted it the rest of the way with one hard tug. Aednat, free from her clothing, crossed her arms in front of her.
“Aednat, do you know how to dress yourself?”
“Aye, Princess.”
“Then put on your wizard suit.” The princess climbed off her bed talking under her breath. “It’s always the bigger ones that need help... unbelievable.”
When we arrived on the second level, Princess Evelyn left us so that she could watch us from the balcony. Entering the courtyard, all eyes were fixated on us as we hurried in—the five of us were the last to arrive.
“You’re late. Tardiness will not be accepted here.”
“Forgive them Ser Erwin. I did not know how to get their wizard suits on. The wizard did not leave instructions,” the princess informed him from the balcony.
Ser Erwin nodded and bowed to the princess. “Very well then. Knights, grab a practice sword and form a circle around me and Ser Hector.”
Everyone rushed to the barrel that rested against the west wall. I grabbed the first one that I could reach, but some of the others were trying to pick the best ones, taking longer than was necessary.
“These are heavy,” Tessa said worriedly.
“Hurry, do not inspect them, just take one,” Ser Erwin commanded.
When we formed a circle around Ser Erwin and Ser Hector, he explained what was going to happen next. “Ser Hector and I want to see what your current capabilities are. We are going to play a little game. A contest if you will. This will consist of a one on one challenge. Three points wins the match. A point is determined by a strike to any part of the body with the practice sword. The winner will continue and fight in the next match. The loser will return back to the circle. Do we have any volunteers to go first?”
She raised her hand.
“What is your name?”
“Aednat, Ser Erwin.”
“Very good. Any one care to challenge Aednat?”
No one raised their hand.
“No one? Very well then. Aednat, pick your opponent.”
A devilish smile crept onto her face and her eyes tightened as she scanned the crowd for her victim. “Her,” she said, pointing in my direction. Oh no, I thought. I didn’t want to be the first to go. I stepped forward. “No not you. Her!”
She was pointing at Tessa. I stepped back into place and watched Tessa cheerfully skip to the center of the circle. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking it. It looked like a giant versus a child, it wasn’t a fair match up. Ser Erwin couldn’t possibly allow this.
“And what is your name?” Ser Erwin asked. She told him and then he took one more look at Aednat and stepped away from them. “First, salute each other like so.” He lifted his sword and almost touched his fist to his chest and then sliced it down to his side.”
They both copied him.
Ser Hector moved to the outside of the circle and Ser Erwin squeezed himself into the circle. “On guard!” he shouted.
Tessa raised her sword slowly, having trouble with its weight, while Aednat appeared to be lifting a toothpick. “I’ll teach you to laugh at me,” Aednat warned.
Aednat stepped leg over leg, circling around Tessa. Tessa matched her movements waiting for her to strike. Aednat swung her sword up and brought it down in one smooth arc. Tessa side stepped and struck.
“One point for Tessa. Again... On guard!” Ser Erwin yelled.
Aednat’s face screamed bloody murder. She wasn’t happy that Tessa scored so easily. Tessa waited as Aednat traced a circle around her again. Aednat swung her sword sideways trying to cut Tessa in half. She nearly did, when Tessa dropped to one knee and tapped her kneecap.
“Two points for Tessa.”
I could swear I saw smoke billowing from Aednat’s ears. Tessa on the other hand stood ready with the focus of a hunter trying to slay a bear. “On guard!” Ser Erwin belched.
I could see Aednat working something out in her mind. She had picked the smallest of us thinking she would be easy to destroy and yet there they stood. Tessa, two points—Aednat, none. But Tessa was a waiter. She waited for Aednat to move first and then she countered. She was a quick little thing, using her small size to her advantage.
With a rebellious yell, Aednat charged with her sword aimed at Tessa’s heart. Tessa rolled out of her path and jumped to her feet. Before Aednat could stop and turn, Tessa thrust her sword into her lower back. “Three points and the winner, Tessa. Come to attention facing your opponent and salute,” Ser Erwin said applauding, and we all joined in.
Aednat passed Tessa on the way back to her spot in the circle. Tessa threw a remark her way, “It’s always the big ones,” and then laughed. Aednat stopped, turned and took a step towards her. “Back to the circle,” Ser Hector ordered.
Aednat stopped in her tracks and they stared at each other. I was amazed at how brave Tessa was. She stood there looking up at the bear and not blinking, waiting for Aednat to try something. “Did you hear me?” Ser Hector asked drawing his sword, the sound of the metal screeching as it slid out of its sheath.
Ser Hector grabbed her arm and flung her around. “DID YOU HEAR ME!” he bellowed, now standing nose to nose. Her eyes went wide, her expression changing from one of anger and resentment to one of fear. Everyone’s expression had changed to fear wondering what was going to happen next.
“Aye, Ser Hector,” Aednat was able to spit out.
“Then why didn’t you follow my orders?”
She didn’t respond.
Ser Hector stepped away and walked around the circle meeting our gaze. “Orders are not voluntary. When you are given an order... you follow it!” He crossed back over to Aednat. “BACK TO THE CIRCLE!” he barked, his sword aiming at the circle of frightened — now probably wishing they hadn’t volunteered — knights.
Aednat turned and ran back to her spot. On the way she dropped her practice sword and had to go back to retrieve it. Ser Hector was glowering at her. She bowed and ran back in line.
By the time I was chosen all of the girls had went except me. The boy that chose me was named Liam. He stood just a bit taller than me and his second skin wrapped around his chiseled arms. We saluted without being told to and waited for Ser Erwin to yell, on guard.
I overheard Aednat saying to the boys how strong my legs looked. Someone, a boy, said “they were nice,” and another girl — I think it was Ryanne — said “I wish mine looked like that.” One of the boys said something stupid, “Why? So you could pull a cart.” A boy, I think his name was Thomas, said “Her legs look stronger than mine. I like them.”
My fight with Liam began and at one point I spun him around, lifted my leg and kicked straight out, sending him flying into the other boys. Needless to say he wasn’t happy about that. Some of the girls began chanting my name. “A-lora... A-lora... A-lora.” He rushed at me and I side stepped while smacking him on the shin with my practice sword, I named it woody. Woody cracked him good. He tripped over himself and ended up with a mouth full of dirt.
“Two points for Alora,” Ser Erwin announced.
I stood and waited for his next move. Getting to his feet he spat the dirt out of his mouth and wiped his chin. This time he came slowly. He lunged and struck, but I countered his movements. Every time he swung his sword, mine was there to meet it.
His technique was sloppy and I was getting tired of him. On his next swing I slapped his sword and then smacked his fingers. He dropped his sword and let out a screech. Lunging forward I ended the match by touching woody to his chest.
“Winner... Alora!” Ser Erwin cheered.
“That’s not fair. She smacked my hand,” Liam protested.
Here we go...
“Well my boy. She won the match. Salute,” Ser Erwin ordered him.
“Nay.”
“Salute!” Ser Hector commanded him louder.
“Nay!”
I raised my sword and my fist to my chest while Liam stormed off to get back in the circle, looking like he was about to cry. Boys really hated losing, but I guess not as much as they hated losing to a girl. They better get used to it because by the looks of it, the five of us weren’t going anywhere.
“Looks like they have some new competition and her name is Alora,” Ryanne said, loud enough for everyone to hear.
I was bumped from behind, spun and nearly fell. Ser Hector was making his way over to Liam and drew his sword as he kept charging forward. Everyone standing next to Liam stepped away, giving him a wide berth.
“Ser Hector... Ser Hector... Halt!” the princess commanded from the balcony. It didn’t look like Ser Hector was listening to her. He kept charging, when all of sudden the wizard landed in front of him causing a small gust of wind to blow dust at my face. I blinked furiously trying to keep the dirt out of my eyes. Where did he come from, I wondered. And how did he do that?
The wizard stood, grabbed hold of Ser Hector and turned him to face the princess. The wizard whispered into his right ear and Ser Hector acknowledged what he was saying. “My apologies, Princess. I didn’t hear you.” Ser Hector tapped his left ear.
Princess Evelyn curtsied.
I watched as the wizard shoved him back in Ser Erwin’s direction. The wizard began to pace back and fourth with one hand behind his back and the other on his chin. He stared at the ground as he paced. I swear I could almost hear the gears churning in his mind. He quickly came to attention by my side and called Liam over to us. “Boy... apologize.”
He looked at his feet. “I shouldn’t have to apologize for losing.”
“It’s not because you lost,” the wizard explained, “it’s because you showed disrespect.”
The boy pointed at me. “But so did she. She cheated.”
I was worried that the wizard would agree and call me a cheat. I don’t think I cheated, though. My smack of his knuckles should of technically been the final point, but to be sure, I struck him again.
“Nay, young man. She fought as required. Best your enemy and use whatever resources you have available. You on the other hand, didn’t salute and you disobeyed Ser Hector.”
He looked down knowing what the wizard said was true.
“A knight must be honorable and obey orders. You have broken those rules,” the wizard declared.
“Wizard,” I interrupted, “we’re learning about honor and the code. If he would apologize for his mistake, I ask of you, please give him a second chance.”
The wizard pondered over my request. “Boy, are you regretful of your actions?”
“Aye, Wizard.”
“Alora has asked me to forgive your actions and give you another chance. What say you?”
“I would very much like another chance. It won’t happen again. My apologies.”
The wizard pointed to me. “Then ask Alora for her forgiveness.”
“Wizard?”
“Must I really repeat myself?”
“Nay,” Liam answered, and then he looked at me with hate in his eyes and then glanced at the other boys. I had defeated and embarrassed him and now the wizard wanted him to apologize to me.
“We are waiting Boy,” the wizard said, his impatience growing.
I was puzzled. I didn’t expect the wizard to make him apologize to me. I merely thought he would ask the wizard’s forgiveness and move on. Now I knew the boy was doomed.
The wizard’s tone was stern. “Well. Are you going to apologize?”
“I... I can’t.”
“You can’t or you won’t?” the wizard asked.
“I won’t.”
“Then you are dismissed. Gather your things and I will prepare a carriage to take you home.”
Liam left the courtyard with his head held down. Why was it so hard for him to apologize? Why would he let such a simple thing stand in his way of becoming a knight?
“As for the rest of you. Learn from the boy’s mistake. He allowed his ego and pride to rob him of a great opportunity. I want you all to think about what has transpired here. If you were in his shoes, would you apologize to the person who pleaded for you? Would you risk losing what lies ahead, simply because your pride stood in the way? Ser Erwin, Ser Hector... they are yours.” The wizard left the courtyard and went into the city.
“The wizard has dismissed him. He will be sent home. Do any of you wish to go home?” Ser Erwin asked.
I shook my head. I didn’t have a home to go back to. The butterflies started again as I wondered what would happen if I did something that got me sent home. What would I do then? I trembled at the thought.
“I asked, do any of you wish to go home?” he repeated.
“Nay!” I cried out.
“We have one final match remaining. What is your name?”
“Lucah.”
“Alora versus Lucah. Salute...! On guard!”