Champion

by Francheska Fifield

  "The letter from my father. Do you still hold it?"

  He pulled it out of his tunic and handed it to me. It was still sealed. I opened it with shaking hands. I was so nervous. I scanned the contents and dropped the letter.

  "Is it bad news?"

  I waved a hand so he would know he could read it.

  "He says my aunt is underestimating the situation. If I do not support her, she has no chance. She needs me to threaten invasion if she is not the ruler, or they will never choose her. She knows but is too prideful to admit it."

  He scanned the contents and looked up at me.

  "It also says he is ill, Elainne. The humans do not have the medicine to heal him and he thinks his sister is plotting against him."

  I nodded. Yes, it did. This would affect what I would decide to do. Still I needed to decide and quickly. This was not how I hoped this would go.

  "This is happening too fast. The fairies want to meet me, any day now I will get a missive from the dwarves saying the same. I also need to visit the firebirds and the unicorns."

  Aiden looked shocked but did not interrupt me.

  "Aiden, I do not know what to do. I am not even seventeen yet. I am too young to do this. I cannot represent an entire country of people to the ancient races. I cannot decide the fate of the human kingdom. I am not ready for all of this. I know Avren thinks I am, but I am not."

  He patted my shoulder and nodded his understanding. He didn’t argue and he didn’t try to persuade me otherwise. He knew it didn’t matter if I was ready or not. The time was now. I swallowed the panic I could feel rising. I didn’t have time for this. I had to be decisive.

  "Would you make sure Avren, Viktor, and Aldamon come to see me? I want this taken care of before I decide anything else."

  He nodded and left the room. It was only a moment before he was back with them. They must have been waiting nearby. They all kneeled, except for Avren, who came to rest at my feet.

  "Avren I want your word that next time I leave, Aiden is the ultimate law. You will support everything he says without question."

  "Yes, my queen."

  "Good. Now Viktor, you are stripped of your office of General of the Army. Because of your unwillingness to obey my steward, I can no longer trust you to have my best interest at heart. You will return to guard duty. Aldamon, you will be replaced as my mage representative on the council. I will have Talon choose your replacement tomorrow once he has recovered. Avren, you will choose Viktor's replacement from amongst the men that support me, none of Viktor's choices are to be even considered. All of his commanders will be replaced. I am choosing to trust you, Avren. Do NOT make me doubt your loyalty again. Understood?"

  Viktor looked shocked and hurt. Aldamon, angry and annoyed. Avren… well, it was hard to tell with a dragon face, but if I had to guess I would say he was proud.

  "As my queen wishes."

  I nodded and pet his head. "Good. I officially declare our fight over. Aiden will need your help as well. I need him to be able to access my power while he is here in my place. When next I leave, you and Viktor will come with me, and Aiden will need more power. I trust you to find the artifact or spell needed. I want military leaders that will take orders from Aiden as well, without argument. So, the two of you have much to do together. You are dismissed."

  They walked off with no argument. I was going to be obeyed. They put me in this position, so now they would deal with the consequences.

  "Aldamon. How dare you think to try to push an agenda when I was away and Aiden was in charge? He is to cover day to day issues and alert me to big changes, so I can give him a decision. Even knowing this, you tried to help Viktor push for a spy network. You are dismissed from court. Go find something to be and do. You will get two weeks of severance pay. By the end of those two weeks, I hope you have found something to do far from the palace. I no longer care for your company. I strip you of your rank. You are dismissed."

  He stormed out and I sighed. I wish I hadn't had to do that. I could not let them think just because I was kind that they could do everything they pleased. There had to be rules and lines drawn. For everyone's sake.

  I walked around the room, looking at my new flower choice. It relaxed me.

  "Viktor. We are Kemp and charge. Yet we see each other once a week for an update on the army and talk of nothing else. We were once so close. Now… now we can barely look at once another. I don’t want it to stay like this. You plotted with your grandfather to force a spy network into existence while I was gone. I cannot show you favor but I cannot let you have any sort of power. Tell me, what am I to do with you, Viktor?"

  "You could have Avren break our bond and banish me, I suppose."

  So, that’s how he wanted to play this out. Unfeeling and uncaring. Well, fine then. I suppose he had a right to feel however he wished. I turned and looked him in the eye, not letting him look away.

  "Is that what you want, Viktor? Do you want to be free of me at last?"

  He tried to look away but I used magic to hold him in place. Everything down to his eyelids was frozen. They would not look away until I allowed it.

  "Look me in the eyes Viktor and tell me if that is what you truly desire."

  "Of course it isn't. You should know I never wish to leave your side. Even more than that, I never want you unsafe."

  I dropped my hold on him, turning and looking up at the throne. "I did not want this life. I understand now why you and Avren plotted to give it to me though. I forgive you both for what you did. I truly… well, I have truly seen the light. Avren is doing as he is bid, as are you, to an extent. I accept this is my life and I will not hide from it anymore. I will make decisions and work to make this world a better place. It just might not always coincide with how you two want me to do it. Do you still wish to follow me if that is the case, or do you want your freedom?"

  I turned and asked. I needed to see his face when he answered. I could read his face, to see if he was telling me what I wanted to hear or if he truly meant what he said. He walked over and knelt down, taking my hand and kissing the underside. Not how courtiers usually showed reverence to a queen. This was more personal. This was a Kemp.

  "I have only ever wanted to be with you, Elainne. I will follow you to the end."

  I took my hand back and bid him to stand… which he ignored. He looked up at me with pleading eyes. I just wasn’t sure what he was pleading for.

  So I turned and walked back to my throne. I sat. I should get used to it. I would be living this life for a very long time.

  "Are you angry that I banished your grandfather from the palace?"

  He stood and came to sit on a step below me.

  "I understand why you did. Will you not banish me as well?"

  "I will banish anyone that tries to increase their power. If you wish me to rule, I will rule. However, I will not have a court of conniving, selfish, power-hungry beasts ruling the provinces and fighting amongst themselves for my favor."

  He nodded and turned, looking me in the eye. That was a first in a long awhile. He hadn't taken these small liberties in a long time.

  "I understand. In that case, you might want to think of a spy network. For inside the castle, as well as outside. It is, of course, your decision."

  I nodded and let him believe I would think on it. In truth, I already had a plan. One no one would know of. It would be my own little spy network. Consisting of one person traveling and reporting back to me. I already had picked out my helping hand; they just did not know it yet.

  "I will think on it."

  He accepted that and stood, coming to rest where Aiden usually sat.

  "Aiden is a good steward. He thinks much like you while ruling. He is logical, but also kind."

  "That’s why I chose him."

  We both sat in silence, unsure what to say to one another now. We had been at odds for so long.

  "Viktor, I want my Kemp back."

  He hesitated before answering.

  "Are you
sure?"

  I nodded. "Yes. I need you with me when I go to visit the ancients. I need your support and protection. Please, come back."

  He reached over and took my hand, squeezing lightly. I looked over at him but he was still staring straight ahead. I could feel the barriers both of us had erected - blocking our bond - crumble just a little though, so I was not worried. We had been through so much together. We would get through this as well.

  "So, tell me about the trip. Did Talon accomplish his goal?"

  I smiled over at him, and looked up at the heather blowing with the breeze coming in through the open windows. It made the place smell fresh and like the mountain.

  "You could say that." He smiled back as I launched into the tale of fairies, dwarves and fields of heather.