The Alora and the Knightlys Trilogy: Books 1-3

by A. J. Medina

  “You should’ve come with us. Then you would know what we’re talking about,” Tessa mocked.

  “It’s actually ‘the king and I thank you for your generosity,’” I corrected Tessa.

  “Aye, that,” she said, still glowering at Aednat.

  What Silas said about Lucah didn’t sit well with me. He was lying, saying that he taught me everything I know. If anything I taught him. I rushed over to the group of boys and tapped Lucah on his shoulder. “Can I talk to you?” I asked.

  “Nay, I’m in the middle of something.” He turned back around.

  How rude. I made a straight line for the exit and Tessa was waiting.

  “Are you alright?” she asked.

  Without much enthusiasm I answered her. “Aye.” But I really wasn’t. Why was he ignoring me again? It was almost as though we weren’t friends anymore.

  After kicking my shoes off, I laid down on my bed thinking about Lucah and waiting for the maidens to be ready. I was furious and needed to calm down. One of the things that always helped was walking barefoot in my meadow. I shouted out to the chamber maidens and asked if there was someplace I could enjoy walking. They said there was, but only with Princess Evelyn’s permission.

  Branna peeked her head out. “In the palace there’s a vast garden with an area of sorts where you can do that, but you need to be invited there.”

  I was already informed, by those knights guarding its entrance, that I wasn’t allowed in the palace alone. It was invitation only. The princess seemed to be friendly. She had an interest in us. Maybe being a princess, she didn’t have many friends... or friends like us. Maybe she would want to spend time with me and walk in the garden. Maybe.

  “My ladies, the bath is ready,” Neala said, and then disappeared into the wash room.

  Swinging my legs off the bed, I thought about our first kiss, the way he had pulled me close when I thought he was angry. I couldn’t figure out what I had done to upset him this time. How could he go from caring, to hating, to caring, to hating me again?

  I removed my tunic and climbed into the bath. It appeared that Tessa had already decided what her favorite thing about becoming a knight was.

  “What? I like being washed, it’s nice,” she said.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  I sunk deep into the water, submerging my head and getting my hair good and wet. I reached out and snatched one of the wash cloths sitting up on the ledge and started scrubbing my arms.

  “Alora, if you wait, I will get to you next,” Branna pleaded.

  “Nay, I can wash myself tonight, but thank you.”

  “But she wants to Alora. She’s doing her duty,” Tessa informed me.

  Neala completely ignored our conversation, instead focusing on washing Davina’s back, while Ryanne sat in the water and waited her turn. Aednat stood watching us, already having removed her pants and only wearing her tunic. Standing with her arms crossed, she appeared to be contemplating something. She looked around, clearly uncomfortable and said, “I think I’ll wait,” and turned to leave.

  “My lady! It is customary for all ladies to wash each and every evening,” Branna cautioned.

  Aednat didn’t listen.

  “The princess won’t be happy to hear about this,” Neala said.

  “Will she get into trouble?” Tessa asked happily.

  “Aye... nay... I’m not sure. The princess is kind, but I’ve never known a lady that didn’t wash in the evenings.”

  Ryanne had her chin level with the water and was blowing bubbles.

  “Aednat’s no lady,” I let slip out.

  Ryanne inhaled water after hearing my comment and then coughed. We all laughed.

  Coming out of the wash room in our towels, Aednat was already sitting on her bed wearing her white sleep shirt. I went to my closet and threw mine on. It hung just below my knees, while Tessa’s was practically at her ankles. A few more inches and it would’ve been dragging the floor. I joined Tessa on her bed. I was curious to hear what her thoughts were on the Lucah situation. Even though she was younger, she seemed to have more of a handle on the whole boy-girl thing than I did.

  “Maybe he’s ashamed of those big, horse legs,” Aednat cursed.

  “Mind your own conversation,” I barked at her.

  “If you don’t want me to hear, then don’t talk so loud. Or better yet, leave the room. I’m tired of looking at you anyway.”

  Tessa pointed her finger in Aednat’s direction. “Shut it, you big oaf. At least we’re not dirty pigs who don’t want to wash.”

  That did it. Aednat stomped her way over to us and was about to reach out at Tessa when Davina stepped in front of her. “Back to your bed, Aednat,” she said barely above a whisper. They locked eyes and Davina’s gaze never drifted, nor did she say another word. She just stood there, her one size fits everybody sleep shirt stopping at the top of her thighs.

  Davina was shorter than Aednat, but not by much and she didn’t have the boyish characteristics that Aednat had—the short hair, the boyish figure or her heavy stomp. For being tall, Davina walked gracefully, almost as if she was light as a feather.

  “You’re lucky, this time. Maybe next time, there won’t be anyone to protect you,” Aednat said, and then turned back to her bed.

  “I don’t need protecting, I can take care of myself.” Tessa turned to Davina. “Thanks, I owe you one.”

  Davina nodded and went back to her bed next to Aednat’s. I felt sorry for her and lucky for me that I didn’t end up next to that goon. “Keep this up, Tessa, and you’ll owe everybody in the castle,” I said.

  She chuckled and picked up the conversation where we left off. “Boys sometimes need a little help when it comes to us. Maybe you should tell him how you feel.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “But he didn’t want to talk to me. He said he was in the middle of something.”

  “Next time, don’t ask if you can talk. Order him to talk to you. Command it like if you were the queen.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Just try it.”

  “Maybe...”

  Chapter 9

  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.