Tyrell turned to face her, and Alloria knew it was a test. She studied them both for a moment before furrowing her perfectly plucked eyebrows in thoughtful concern.
“I believe that would be a mistake, Your Majesty,” Alloria stated sincerely. “The soldiers of Unsel have been defending the kingdom for...for a very long time. Putting too much reliance on those inflicted with mag...I’m sorry, magic-wielders...will undermine our authority. We should send out our soldiers to defend our kingdom. Your Majesty.”
The queen smiled broadly at Alloria. She looked over her shoulder at Tyrell, who nodded in agreement, then back at the young princess-to-be. Her eyes combed Alloria’s attire, her jewelry, her poise, and approved.
“You will do wonderfully, dear,” the queen avowed.
19
“Angst! The princess, she’s gone!” Hector called, yanking the flap of Angst’s tent open.
Angst blinked rapidly at the brightness of morning. He looked over his forehead to see Hector staring, jaw dropped at the sight of Victoria entangled with Angst. One naked leg was wrapped outside the covers around Angst’s right knee, and her arm was draped across his chest. She nuzzled further into Angst, pulling the blankets over her head, avoiding the noise, the bright light, and the cold air. Hector let the tent flap fall and silently walked away.
Angst lay there sighing, his heart racing from being woken. He breathed in deeply, smelling the fresh cool air Hector had let in, and strawberries. He smiled, despite feeling like he had just been caught. This was so many levels of wrong and inappropriate he didn’t know where to begin. Nor could he believe how quickly he had fallen asleep or how restful that sleep had been. In spite of the upcoming confrontation with Hector, Angst couldn’t help but peer down at Tori and think for the briefest of moments that this was nice.
Nice was fleeting, as he thought about Heather being home and pregnant, as he worried about Rose. Hector was probably packing up to leave and encouraging the others to join him. He was so stubborn, and Angst didn’t know what it would take to make him stop.
“I liked your other thoughts better. Can’t you go back to nice?” Tori asked in a tiny voice muffled by the covers.
“No... Well, maybe for a second.” He gave her a quick side-hug. “But I’m going to have to deal with this.”
“Fine,” she said, rolling off his chest. She pushed up and looked at Angst, studying his face fondly. “Thank you for saving me last night.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied, trying not to look at the expanse of young exposed skin.
“I was practically naked all night and now you think you’re being respectful by not looking?” She laughed at this before becoming serious. “Go find me some dry clothes and stop worrying. I’ll handle Hector.”
Angst awkwardly slipped out of his old nightshirt and into leggings and jerkin under the covers, hoping Victoria wouldn’t notice his belly or sag. It didn’t help that she giggled and poked his side several times, making him scramble out of the tent. Angst tripped over the pile of muddy clothes she had left at the entrance. As he leaned over to pick up the garments, he could feel their stares. He closed his eyes tight, took a deep breath, and stood straight.
“Good morning,” Angst said, bright-eyed and cheerful.
The salutation wasn’t enough of a shield to block the glares. Dallow seemed disappointed as opposed to Hector, who refused to even make eye contact with him. Tarness smirked mischievously, obviously impatient to find out how Victoria had ended up in his tent but hesitant to ask. When Hector flashed Tarness a disapproving glance, his mouth lost the smirk but his eyes didn’t.
“Whew. Cold out this morning, isn’t it?” Angst said with more glee than his voice had mustered in ages.
He tore his eyes from his friends to stare into the small campfire that seemed reluctant to share its heat. A quick look around the campsite showed tents already packed, ready to be strapped onto swifen.
Angst pulled Victoria’s clothes out from under his arm, dripping with mud and snow. Tarness’s eyebrows raised high on his large dark forehead, and Dallow shook his head slowly. Angst shrugged and squeezed the mud out. Hector finally looked up at Angst, taking a deep breath in anticipation of a good yelling match.
“Next time her tent collapses, I’ll let her sleep outside,” Angst said with considerably less cheer.
“Really? She was naked, Angst?” Hector snapped.
“Really? She should sleep in her wet clothes, Hector?” Angst replied. “You were the one who taught me about surviving in the woods. And she wasn’t naked, she had my shirt on! Oh, in case you didn’t notice, I wasn’t naked either.”
“Oh, that makes it all okay!” Hector bellowed.
“I didn’t say it was okay. I just didn’t see another option in the dead of night and the middle of a storm!” Angst was red-cheeked and spitting now. “What else was I supposed to do with her?”
“We would’ve gotten up to help with her tent, Angst,” Dallow said.
“She shouldn’t even be here!” Hector continued, his wolf-gray eyes flashing with anger. “In case you don’t remember, the queen already hates you. If she knew about this, we would all be hung by our entrails. And don’t forget your pregnant wife back home!”
“The princess being here is a bad idea on so many levels,” Dallow began, trying to inject some reason into the argument.
“See what you can do with these,” Angst interrupted, handing the mess of muddy clothes to Dallow while still staring down Hector.
“I’m done with this adventure!” Hector said with finality, slashing the air with his hand. “It’s me or her! Decide!”
“That’s enough,” Victoria said in a voice that commanded attention.
She stomped barefoot through the mud, wearing nothing but Angst’s ratty nightshirt. Dallow and Tarness stared at the ground, though Tarness glanced up on occasion to glimpse her bare legs. This time, Angst didn’t shy away. She was right, what was the point? She stopped inches in front of Hector, staring up at him and staring him down at the same time. The outside of her wrists were shoved into her tiny waist, and bursts of cloudy air puffed from her mouth.
“Not you or me, Hector,” the princess threatened, holding up a tiny fist. “You and me! Let’s go!”
“Wha...what?” Hector stuttered, completely taken aback.
“That’s right. I’ve had enough of your complaining, and your nonsense,” she declared, pulling out a threatening finger. “Your friend saved my life last night. Tell me I could’ve lived through that storm without stripping down and climbing into his dry tent?”
“Well, it’s not that,” Hector said more quietly. “It’s just...” He shuffled his feet and rubbed one hand through unkempt hair.
“It’s nothing, Hector,” Victoria continued. “I didn’t set up my tent right because you made me so angry! I was forced to get naked and crawl into Angst’s tent because you aren’t getting your way—and your way doesn’t even make sense!”
Angst had never seen Victoria so riled up, so angry and determined. Her voice was filled with command and confidence, and he was proud of her.
“Shut up!” she screamed before Hector could even get speak another word. “Let me make this clear. You agreed to come with, but you aren’t in charge! You don’t get that. It’s just not good enough for you. So I challenge you.”
Victoria looked at Dallow and then Tarness. She reached over and tugged at Tarness’s gauntlet, which he loosened so she could pull it off. Victoria threw it to the ground at Hector’s feet. It struck the mud with a loud splat.
“I challenge you! You duel me, with whatever weapons you choose,” she challenged. “If you win, I leave. I go back to the castle and never speak of any of this.”
“Wait a minute,” Angst said, his voice filled with concern. She reached back and grabbed his arm, instantly quieting him.
“This is ridiculous,” Hector said with an awkward smile as he looked around at everyone. “You’re not serious, are you?”
“Fine. If I lose?” he asked with a half-chuckle.
“Then I come with, you treat me like the rest of the team,” Victoria listed her demands. “And you stop hating me!”
Hector’s eyes widened with surprise. He looked at Dallow and Tarness in disbelief, but they both shrugged.
Victoria’s hand was still tight on his arm, and Angst used that to pull her around to face him. “Are you crazy?” Angst whispered. “Hector is one of the best fighters in Unsel. Possibly in Ehrde. Tyrell may be the only man who could beat him.”
She looked frail, shivering in the cold, goosebumps covering her arms and legs. Victoria released his arm and pushed blond curly hair from her face so he could see her eyes. Angst wanted to continue warning her of the dangers in dueling Hector, since he had fought Hector so many times himself. Victoria’s eyes, however, narrowed knowingly. A cocky smile crept up the corner of her mouth so only he could see and understand.
“Oh, really?” he whispered in surprise, and he knew it would be okay. He nodded once at Hector.
“Then let’s hurry up and get this done with,” Hector said, agreeing to her terms. “We need to save Angst, and we need to save Rose.”
20
“Your Majesty knew she was going to leave with them?” Tyrell asked incredulously.
Alloria had been dismissed, the doors were closed, and they were now alone. Tyrell wiped a bead of nervous sweat from his forehead as he paced back and forth before the throne. He suddenly felt old, and out of control.
“Of course I knew. I am her mother,” the queen reminded him. “And the guards notified me right after she left the castle.”
“They...they notified you?” Tyrell asked, his normal stoic nature cracking. “They didn’t stop her?”
“I told them not to,” Isabelle said matter-of-factly. She seemed completely nonplussed by his panicked state.
Tyrell stopped pacing and moved very close to the queen. She tried to rear back in the throne, pressing her head firmly into the cushioned chair. Tyrell leaned in and stared intently at her glass right eye.
“It looks normal,” he said quietly to himself.
“That’s not very funny,” she said.
“It wasn’t meant to be,” he replied, straightening. “I just don’t understand, at all, Your Majesty. You just let her go? With them? With...him?”
“I didn’t want to,” Isabelle said, crossing her arms. “But she’d become foolish, and I truly believe she was heading down a bad path. A journey like this will require more vigilance and character than she has shown since the crisis.”
“But with Angst?” Tyrell asked. “Of all people, him? A magic-wielder?”
“She wants that man to be her champion, and tests him to save her all the time,” she answered with a discouraged sigh. “At the same time, he wants to be her hero. There’s little I can do but hope they fit.”
“But the dangers out there...” Tyrell fretted. “She flirts with disaster. They flirt with each other!”
“Is it any less dangerous here?” the queen asked, touching the damaged skin around her eye. Her voice grew quiet. “If Angst’s story is correct, it wouldn’t be safe for Victoria to stay in Unsel anyway. She has a choice to make, Tyrell. Either she wants to be queen, or she wants to be an adventurer.” Isabelle looked into the distance, her face wrought by concern.
Tyrell patiently observed her. It was a rare occasion when her guard was down, when she stopped being queen and allowed herself to be a mother instead. He could see that worry, and in many ways felt the same way. He sighed in resignation.
“If it is of any consolation, Your Majesty,” Tyrell began. “I have prepared her well.”
It was cute, at first. Princess Victoria, clad in her tight riding pants and bodice, still filthy and wet from the storm, her long blond hair pulled back in a loose plait. She crouched, poised to attack with two unique slender shortswords, shivering from cold and anticipation.
“I’ll bet a silver that Hector sends her home,” Tarness said with a wink.
“You’re on,” Angst said, shaking Tarness’s hand.
“You seem pretty confident,” Tarness said.
“I believe in her,” Angst replied without pause.
“Two swords?” Hector asked, one thick eyebrow raised high. He drew a shortsword and held it aloft. “You won’t mind if I just use one?”
“Use whatever weapon you want to be beaten with,” Victoria said with a cocky grin as she circled the older man. She blew a lock of blond hair from her eye. “When I win, I get to come with—”
“When I win, you go home,” Hector corrected, also circling his opponent.
“—and you apologize to me,” Victoria taunted.
“Wait, what?” Hector said. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
She jabbed at his stomach with her left sword. As he parried, she swung her right toward his unguarded side but Hector was quick enough to parry the second swing. Victoria pulled back then jabbed neatly with both swords before quickly stepping back. Surprised at her control, Hector instantly began reassessing her abilities as he swung at her side.
“How safe do you think she would be?” asked the queen. “If she were attacked?”
At this, Tyrell smirked with an almost-fatherly pride. “Of that I have no concern, Your Majesty.” He arched his back and took in a deep breath. “She has been my pupil since she could stand.”
Victoria crossed her blades to hold Hector’s sword in place. She lifted her arms and, in a half-circle motion, pushed his sword to the ground.
“Are you holding back or are you just that old?” she taunted, smacking his sword loudly with one of her own.
“All right then,” Hector replied to her challenge, his hackles rising.
He swung his shortsword fast, every blow a vicious attack from a new angle. Hector grunted in frustration as the princess ably met and blocked each strike. After several minutes, Hector slowed his attack to catch his breath.
“Did you want to make a bet too, Dallow?” Angst smiled smugly at Tarness and Dallow’s shocked faces. Dallow shook his head without taking his eyes off the fight.
“What are those things?” Hector pointed at her swords with his own. “Foci?”
“Nope.” She giggled, and her face filled with confidence. “Just me.”
“She’s incredibly adept with the sword,” Tyrell continued. “I’ve taught her almost all of my signature moves.”
The princess crouched and jabbed with her right, nicking Hector’s sword hand. As he let go, she caught his hilt with her left sword and tossed his blade high into the air, disarming the veteran warrior.
“That had to have been one of Tyrell’s moves,” Angst said, slapping Tarness and Dallow on the shoulder as their jaws dropped.
Hector leaped ten feet in the air, doing an impressive backflip while grabbing his sword mid-flight. Before returning to the ground, he spun around mid-air to face Victoria on landing.
“But it’s more than that, Your Majesty,” Tyrell added. “With her magic-wielding, she seems to have an instant intuition of her opponent’s attacks. It’s been years since I’ve been able to beat her.”
“You, Tyrell?” the queen asked in surprise.
“Without something like a foci, I can’t imagine there is a person in Ehrde who could win a duel with Victoria.”
Hector landed in the mud, expecting to see the princess standing before him. As he sought his footing in the slick, the back of his knees gave way to her foot. He slipped and landed hard on his back. Blinking rapidly, he found her boot firmly planted on his solar plexus, and a sword pointed at each eye.
“Say it,” she said, breathing hard.
“Fine,” he said reluctantly, knocking both swords from his face. “You can join us.”
“And?” she said, stepping on his forehead with her muddy boot.
Rather than getting upset, Hector ba
rked out a laugh. Victoria removed her boot so he could sit upright then gave him her hand and helped him stand. He nodded admiringly at her as he caught his breath.
“And...I’m sorry...Your Majesty,” Hector said sincerely, with a little bow. “I’m impressed. Tyrell has taught you well.”
Victoria squealed and pounced on Hector, surprising him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She quickly pulled back to bow dramatically to the others. Angst, Dallow, and Tarness applauded.
“One more thing,” Victoria said to everyone. “While I appreciate the formality, we don’t exactly want to advertise who I am, so please call me Tori while we’re on the road.”
“So there is a chance?” asked Isabelle. “That my daughter will be safe?”
“While I hate to admit it,” Tyrell said, “Between Angst’s magic and Victoria’s innate abilities, she’s probably safer than we are. All things considered.”
“Now I just need to wash these things,” Victoria said in disgust, pulling the muddy clothing away from her body. “I feel gross, and I’m freezing.”
“Hector, didn’t you say there were hot springs in the woods over there?” Tarness pointed to the south.
“Yeah,” Hector said angrily, shaking his head.
“What?” Tarness asked.
“Perfect,” the princess said, squealing with delight. She took Angst’s hand and dragged him toward the woods. “Come on, hurry up.”
“That,” Hector said to Tarness. “Let’s gather more wood for the fire. They’re going to need to dry off afterward.”
“I don’t understand. Why they?” Tarness asked.
“Wait, why am I going with?” Angst asked with a half-smile.
“You really expect me to go out there alone?” Victoria asked with another giggle.
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