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THE WIZARD WAS IN HIS workshop when the king entered. He didn’t have to say a word, the wizard could see it on his face. “They’ve crossed Ry’uet m’lord?”
“Aye. We shall march to meet them. Alert the knights, we will form up in the morning.”
“Aye m’lord.”
“The apprentice must make his stand. In two days he will be of age and he knows he’ll have to face you.”
The wizard looked back down at his wizards book—he wasn’t even close to finishing it.
King Remi stood in front of the wizard’s desk and tapped a finger to the table. “It was a good plan using the young ones. He wouldn’t dare kill one of them and yet if they kill him, it would be of no consequence to us. Just make sure you stay away from him. I wouldn’t want you slaying him by accident and losing your powers.”
“Aye m’lord. Don’t worry, I will be right by your side the whole time.”
“Do you think they stand a chance? Do you think he and his army can defeat us?”
The wizard closed his book and put it away. He retrieved a piece of parchment as wide and long as his desk. “Doubtful. Especially with Alora leading the Knightlys. She is powerful, m’lord. I’ve never seen anything like it. If she was a full wizard, she might prove difficult to control.”
“She has sworn allegiance to me, she’ll do as she’s commanded, like everyone else under my reign,” the king said.
The wizard kept silent.
“What is it Agbavitor? Regrets?”
“I have many regrets, but I am loyal to you always, my king.” He smoothed out the parchment and began forming a battle plan.
“I know that. I would never question your loyalty, but I can see something is bothering you. Perhaps you’ve grown too close to Alora.”
The wizard continued marking the formation he wanted. He and the king would be at the rear with the knightlys in front of them and the king’s guard in back. “That’s not it. I think it would be a great tragedy to lose her. She would make a great wizard.”
“I hope she does. If she’s as powerful as you say, she would be a great asset to my kingdom. The realm would be mine.”
The wizard raised his head and nodded, knowing deep inside, he questioned all of his own decisions that have led up to this point.
“I’ll leave you to it then,” the king said, turning to leave. “I know your plan will lead to victory.”
— — —
THE LAST THREE DAYS were spent showing Tessa, Silas and Thomas as well as Princess Evelyn what I had been learning. I practiced controlling fire every single day. If that dragon ever came back, I would be ready. His fire would be no match for me, just as it hadn’t been for the wizard.
The wizard demonstrated how he had the power to replicate potions at will. He laid a vial of wizards potion on his desk and waved his hand over it and a second vial appeared by its side. He waved his hand over the two vials and there were now four of them. I asked, in awe, for him to teach me how to do it. Alas, he said I had to be a full on wizard for that one. I sulked quietly as he taught me the recipe for the wizards potion itself.
When night fell, I found myself dreaming of home. The nightmare began as usual, with Mother screaming. I ran around the outside of our cottage trying to find a way in. When I stood at the front door my eyes began to glow. I raised my hands, dropped them and the fire extinguished itself. When I ran in, there was Mother, unharmed. I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed tightly — “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I pleaded — I was never going to let her go.
I awoke squeezing someone, but it wasn’t Mother. I was wrapped in the warmth of Silas’ arms. The front of my sleep shirt was soaked through with perspiration. Today’s color was violet, the color of the eyes that could see into my soul. The princess loved dressing me up like I was some sort of doll and hoped I would take part in her love of clothing, but I doubt I ever would. Clothing, for me, was simply a way to cover my body, nothing more.
Silas spoke when he noticed my eyes were open. “Do you believe what the wizard said about the apprentice? That he wants to take over the realm and enslave everyone.”
“I... I guess so. Why? Don’t you?”
“I need to tell you something...”
I didn’t like the sound of that.
Before he could continue, the door swung open and Neala entered with her usual bowl of wake up water. “Good morn, Alora... Silas....”
Swinging my legs off the side of the bed I returned her greeting and splashed my face. “What did you need to tell me?” I asked Silas.
He looked at Neala. “Nothing.”
“Was it how much you love me and never want to be apart?”
Neala giggled at my words.
Silas let out a groan and then smirked. “Aye, that was it.” He summoned his armor. “I’ll wait for you by the bridge landing,” he added, and then placed a soft kiss on my forehead.
When he pulled the door open, the princess stood in front of him with her fist up in the air about to knock.
“Silas...”
“Princess....” He bowed, waved her in and then shut the door behind him.
“Alora, are you ready for battle?” she asked.
I pulled my sleep shirt overhead, threw it onto my bed and slid into my second skin and said the magic words. Slipping into my boots, I answered her. “As ready as I can be.”
She came closer. “But aren’t you afraid? What if you’re killed?”
The truth, I was afraid. I’ve never been in a real battle before. Not one where someone was trying to separate my head from my body or run their sword through my still beating heart. But I couldn’t show that to her. “I must do my duty. I’m ready. The wizard said so.”
“I wish I could watch you slay the enemy.” She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and swooned. “But alas Father won’t let me go.”
I laughed, like I always did when she went into her pretend mode. “It’s much too dangerous Princess,” Neala added, shocked that the princess would want to watch such things. I, of course, knew there was nothing she would like more than to watch me and the knightlys take on the enemy.
She took my hands in hers. “I just wanted to wish you luck and a safe journey. Come back to me, Alora. Win this battle and your name will be known throughout the realm.”
When I slipped my sword harness on and tightened the strap across my chest, Princess Evelyn threw her arms around me and squeezed tight. She held me for a moment and then left just as quickly.
When I came upon the stables, the wizard and King Remi were waiting on their horses. “Alora, your horse.” The king pointed to the stable boy who held onto the reins of a horse with a sandy coat. Her mane was snow white and it contrasted with the black saddle that was cinched on her. “My horse?” I didn’t realize I would be riding instead of marching.
The king held out his fist. “Aye. Mount up... second knight.”
I placed my foot in the stirrup, grabbed the saddle’s horn, pulled myself up and flung my other leg over the saddle.
“She needs a name,” the wizard said.
“A name?” I asked.
The king was the most excited I’ve ever seen him. Each word came out forceful. “Aye! Riding your horse without naming her is bad luck.”
I thought about naming her Mata after Biron’s horse, but it didn’t seem right. For all I knew Mata was still out there, somewhere. There was only one other name I could think of at the moment. “Kalette... her name is Kalette.”
The king shook his fist. “That’s a wonderful name.”
“Aye, it was my mother’s.”
“Well then, we are ready for battle. Onward!” the king ordered.
We exited the main gate and were at the rear of the ranks—the second to last in formation. The king’s army stood on the other side of the castle’s bridge marching for Ry’uet. The knightlys were in front of us and the original knights of the king’s guard marched behind us. The height of the bridge didn’t bother me as much as it once did. I still imagined falling to my death, except that now I would be able to stop myself before impact, or at least slow myself down. Wait... does soaring work differently on water?
We marched on towards the drawbridge. Silas never once turned around to look at me. I blamed it on him focusing on the task at hand. Tessa on the other hand, never much for strict protocols, turned and waved on several occasions.
By the time we arrived at the drawbridge it was midday. The bridge was already down and most of the army had already crossed into Ry’uet. The wizard ordered it raised when everyone had crossed and I paused to watch it lift. For a moment I felt like Ly’vera was abandoning us.
I rushed to catch up to the wizard and King Remi. The knights stopped marching and off in the distance, the field stretched in all directions. When it dipped low, I gazed upon the army that was marching towards us. At a glance they appeared to out number us four to one. “They’ll be upon us in the morning,” the wizard informed the king.
“Make camp! Tomorrow will be a good day for battle!” King Remi yelled.
“Aye...!” Our knights cheered.
The night was noisy with thunder and the sky flashed with lightning. The rain hitting my tent played a soft tune and for a moment, I felt as if I was the only person that existed. But then it dawned on me. Why hadn’t Silas come to spend the night? I sat up and wondered if I should go to him and decided that I would. I was already in my second skin so I threw on my cloak, pulled on my hood and went out to find Silas’ tent. I sank with each step into the soft, wet dirt searching through the rows and rows of tents. I went up to the next one and leaned in close. “Silas?” I asked the occupant.
“Nay. Alora, is that you?” Tessa asked.
I said nay, and kept going.
I tried the next one and the next one and the next. Finally, I gave up. I wasn’t going to find him in this mess. Why hadn’t he just come to see me? I pulled my cloak tight and rushed back to my tent, kicking up mud the whole way.
When I stepped into my tent I realized that walking around barefoot might not have been a good idea—I had nothing to wipe my feet with. I shook each foot by the entrance trying to get as much mud off as possible and then I laid down. Oh well, I would be going to sleep with dirty feet, which reminded me of Mother’s last words to me. She patted my dirty feet and said, “Looks like you’ve been out and about barefoot again. Wash your feet before you go to bed. They’ll dirty the sheets.”
I wiped my eyes, shut them and tried not to think about yesterday or tomorrow.
A single horn blew, forcing me awake. When I peeled back the entrance to my tent, it was barely light out, the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. “Strip the camp!” the wizard shouted.
I shouted, “Strip the camp!” and each knight repeated it throughout the army, making sure the order was heard. When all tents were stowed and the camp had been stripped, we formed up again in the same manner as we marched. I couldn’t help but see the game that lay before me. We were lined up in formation and on the other side of the field the apprentice’s army stood at the ready. My stomach tightened and I needed the comfort of his eyes. “Silas,” I whispered from the top of my horse. I hoped he would turn. “Silas,” I said, slightly louder, but he couldn’t hear me.
Before I knew what happened the king ordered the charge. The knights at the front of our formation took off running towards the enemy. The enemy roared and charged in response. This was it. It was just like the game. The knights in dragon chess stood at the front and were moved and sacrificed to protect the king. I looked over at King Remi, he looked like a child during the celebration of their birth—giddy and full of excitement.
From on top of my horse I had a better view than most, especially Tessa. The knights that stood in front of her blocked her view of the battle field. She was lucky. What I saw, I didn’t want to see. The field began as green and brown. Soft and welcoming under the brightening gray sky. It invited me to run across it with bare feet. The green began to fade and was replaced with the blood of the fallen. Our knights answered the enemies savagery with a viciousness of their own and their numbers faded quickly. When their knights would fall, more would replace them. When ours fell, more would race forward to engage the enemy.