The Queen's Champion

by Whiskey Flowers

  “Well since you are not going to fight,” Poppy said. “I think I’ll go about my merry way. Goodnight boys.”

  Jonathan watched her leave and Russell followed soon after. Russell was an idiot if he thought Jonathan would focus on anything except fighting. Jonathan’s marks in healing could be better, right now he was a distant fourth in the Tower but that was due to raw power and not skill. When the year progressed he might find himself seventh or eighth depending on the power level of the mages present and if anyone decided to dedicate themselves solely to healing. Jonathan was number two or three in almost everything else. Against a mob, Russell and Farrah could get the job done better than he could. Jonathan thought he would be a fool to try and beat others at their own strengths. Jonathan stood up from his table and went to walk out when Cara approached him along with Blaine Gillespie.

  “You will have your money,” Cara said. “We want the fight tomorrow before lunch.”

  “And how many people plan on fighting me and is it one at a time or more?” Jonathan asked. “More than two and I cannot guarantee their safety.”

  “One at a time,” Blaine said. “For the first two fights. If you make it past that then you will fight a two on one duel.”

  “That sounds like a lot of coin,” Jonathan said. “See you tomorrow.”

  ~

  “You are really going along with this?” Farrah asked Jonathan. “You know they have been plotting against you don't you?”

  “They are a bunch of first years,” Jonathan replied.

  “They are a bunch of first years who have talked to Gerald Morningstar and anyone else who has seen you fight before.”

  “Gerald Morningstar, did he win?” Jonathan asked.

  “Don't be so confident,” Farrah said. “Where is your little girlfriend, isn't she coming to watch the fight?”

  “I don't have anyone,” Jonathan said.

  “Where is Poppy?” Farrah asked. “I would think she would be here to support you.”

  “Cara upped the price by two gold if they could bar certain people from seeing me fight,” Jonathan said. “It won't matter anyway.”

  “I think you are being too confident,” Farrah said. “Good luck Jon.”

  Jonathan got ready for his first fight and was not surprised to see Hymie standing across from him. Jonathan gestured with his hands for the boy to begin. Jonathan put his shield up and watched Hymie go into Shatter. Jonathan was sure that was going to be his first attack and dropped his shield just as Hymie finshed his cast. Since Jonathan did not have a shield in place, Shatter had been wasted. Jonathan could see Hymie kicking himself as the boy went into a spell that looked like icicle from his hand movements. Jonathan thought Hymie was pouring a lot of energy into it from his movements. Once the icicle started rushing towards him Jonathan moved towards his left and watched the sharp piece of ice break on the ground behind him. Jonathan turned back around and was a little surprised to see Hymie rushing towards him. Jonathan used his earth magic to change the level of the ground slightly and smiled when Hymie stumbled and fell forward, flat on his face.

  “I think we are done here,” Jonathan said as Hymie slowly climbed to his feet. “You don't have the element of surprise, most of your stronger spells have already been cast and I am too close for you to dodge my next spell or put up a proper shield.”

  “Everything just went wrong,” Hymie said defeated.

  “I am a fighter,” Jonathan said. “And I have experience on you. So what you lost, come back stronger. If you are not a total twat I don't mind helping you out.”

  “I don't need your charity,” Hymie said as he started walking away.

  Jonathan shrugged his shoulders as Cara walked onto the field. Jonathan had no idea what she would try. Cara looked nervous Jonathan thought, whatever she had planned she was not positive that it would work. That made her dangerous Jonathan thought. When Jonathan first fought Gerald Morningstar he was nervous, just like he was against Quevin Wilson. Jonathan ended up dominating those matches, his opponents thought they would get an easy victory. Jonathan gestured for Cara to go and was a little surprised that she started off with a wind spell followed by a few mage bolts. Jonathan held his shield in place and weathered the initial storm. The mage bolts came one right after another so Jonathan thought Cara had to have some skill. The mage bolts did nothing to his shield though, if Jonathan was being serious he barely felt the strain. That was when disaster happened.

  Jonathan was not aware that Cara had stopped casting her wind spell and was secretly going into something else. That something else was Shatter which landed perfectly. Jonathan had just lessened the amount of power he was feeding his shield. Jonathan felt his shield give way and was hit by two mage bolts directly in the face. Jonathan turned his back to Cara and was hit by two stronger mage bolts that put him face first on the ground. Jonathan threw a shield around him and was surprised when he couldn't feel anymore attacks and slowly climbed to his feet and looked around suspiciously. Cara was looking angrily at him and kicking the ground in disgust.

  “Well aren't you going to continue?” Jonathan asked as Cara started walking off the field.

  “I had you!” Cara screamed. “I had you exactly where I wanted you!”

  “Okay,” Jonathan said not following.

  “I don't have much magic left,” Cara said. “I could hurt you a little bit more but you would eventually get up and win.”

  “If it means anything,” Jonathan began. “You surprised me with your move. I forgot you could dual cast and was not prepared for shatter. You caught me at the right time too, I had just reduced the power I was giving my shield.”

  “I know that!” Cara yelled. “I had Blaine watching you the entire time.”

  “Well good luck next time,” Jonathan said. “Come up with a different gameplan.”

  Jonathan watched her walk away and was surprised to see Gerald Morningstar walk on the field with Prince Xalen. Prince Xalen had never sparred before and Jonathan was sure it was because he didn't have magic on par with the Big Four. Jonathan thought Gerald Morningstar was a distant fifth among second year students and would place Xalen at seventh. Jonathan nodded at them to go and was not surprised one of them would start off with mage bolt while the other started casting stronger spells. The first couple of spells made his shield buckle but it snapped back strong. Xalen had cast icicle, stone spear and fireball to start off with, all high level strong spells. Gerald just tossed mage bolts as fast as he could, Jonathan thought he was a bit slower than Cara but had her in strength. Jonathan was just about to fight back when he felt his shield get hit by shatter. More than one person had cast it and along with the icicle coming at him made his shield break apart. Jonathan was hit hard by a mage bolt that he was certain was stronger than what had been slamming into his shield. Jonathan went down and screamed out as his back and hair became covered in flame. Jonathan cast his shield again and it was taken down by shatter cast from three different people. They were trying to kill him and had multiple people cheating.

  Jonathan flew straight up as fast as he could go and simultaneously cast a water spell on himself. Jonathan could feel spells whizzing by him as his vision cleared and he could see Blaine Gillespie trying to hit him with a spell. The lightning left Jonathan’s hands quickly and nailed Gillespie perfectly. Jonathan narrowed his eyes as he could see his other attacker had been Minnie. Minnie went down just as easily as Jonathan was hit in the back by a fireball. Jonathan cast flew to the left, the fire from the spell went out thanks to his wet robes and he cast a sizable bolt at Gerald Morningstar who threw a shield up. The lightning tore through the shield and left Morningstar twitching on the ground.

  “You tried to kill me,” Jonathan growled as he looked at the Prince. “Let me show you how it is properly done.”

  Jonathan released a strong bolt of lighting that collided on the shield Monica Machin threw up in front of Xalen as she stood beside him. The shield shattered but the spell was not strong e
nough to hit Xalen on the other side of it. Jonathan took a breath and cast the strongest lightning bolt he could. Russell and Farrah Golad had joined their shields with the ones Monica and Xalen threw up to meet Jonathan’s spell. The lightning bolt ripped through two of the shields and Jonathan frowned. He was not at full power and the bolt was not as strong as it should have been.

  “Stand down Thunder!” Russell said as he flew up to meet Jonathan. “I had no part in this and only found out about it while it was going on.”

  “He tried to kill me!” Jonathan screamed. “I am going to kill all of them!”

  “You will do no such thing!” Russell said. “This match is over. Xalen was just trying to teach you a lesson about having a big head, not kill you.”

  “It was four on one,” Jonathan growled.

  “And three of them are down!” Russell said gesturing around as Farrah flew up to join them.

  “Jonathan are you okay?” Farrah asked.

  “Like you give a fuck!” Jonathan growled. “Your people better step lightly around me.”

  “Jonathan your face is burned,” Farrah said as she started to reach out her hand and thought better of it.

  “By cowards,” Jonathan said. “And you are their protectors which says more about you than it does me.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Jonathan ran his fingers across his head. His hair was slowly growing back from his attack two months ago. Most of his hair had burned to the scalp, Jonathan had been able to repair most of it himself along with some help from Red, Edgar and Terriel. Jonathan still had noticeable small patches on his scalp that he doubted hair would ever grow again. It was noticeable with his hair as short as it was but it should be covered up if he grew his hair long and kept it down. Jonathan was happy his burns were able to be removed. Although he had not dedicated himself to healing he had learned enough and his burns were not as bad as Red’s had been. In a year or so it would be hard for anyone to tell he had been maimed at all. His attackers would know though, they would know and they feared his retribution.

  Xalen was shaken up by Jonathan not only freeing himself but putting down three of the four people attacking him with ease. Xalen knew if Monica and the Golads were not there that he would probably be dead. Xalen had been a little shocked Jonathan had bypassed the Tower Mage and went straight to the nearest law, which happened to be Earl Gillespie. It put Gillespie in a tough position, he couldn't ignore the accusation and he couldn't punish his brother or the Prince. Earl Gillespie eventually fined everyone involved fifty gold coins and gave the money to Jonathan who was not pleased by the outcome. Cara, Blaine, Minnie, Gerald, Hymie and Xalen were made to pay. Xalen’s money was paid by a proxy and he admitted no guilt, he just doubled the fine. The money was not what Jonathan wanted, he wanted them to suffer the indignity of jail and told anyone who would listen about he was set up to be killed by the future King. The Tower Mage, Winchell Rebelle had to get involved and asked Jonathan not to bring up the matter anymore as a personal favor to him. Xalen eventually spun the tale to one being that he was simply trying to see how tough the Big Four really were and things got out of hand, no one in the Tower would ever believe that though.

  Jonathan finished his test and turned it into Mage Tabitha and left the room. This was a written test and involved problem solving skills about which spell would be better to use in different situations. Jonathan was sure he passed but didn't care about getting top marks. Jonathan was concerned with his new daily ritual, going out to the sparring area and letting his power go.

  Jonathan had stopped practicing in secret and instead let everyone see his magic at its finest. The lightning that he made first scared a lot of the students and some instructors in the Tower. Jonathan often let off small but rapid bursts of lightning. The thunder following it was easily heard and made people jumpy. Jonathan had all but melted a good chunk of the stone that was used to build the sparring area and the Tower Mage told him it would have to be replaced. People had come out to see him practice after the first few days, they always left stunned by the speed and quickness he could get the spell off. The only two people who helped him practice was Red and Terriel. Terriel normally just threw mage bolts at him and Jonathan had gotten used to the horrible sting they would leave when he was hit by them. Red just normally held up a shield and Jonathan figured out which size lightning bolts were best for ripping through an average shield without killing the person on the other side. Red and Terriel would still be in class right now though and Jonathan had come to practice.

  “Can we talk?” Farrah said waiting for Jonathan as he left the Tower.

  “What do you want?” Jonathan snapped. “Don't you have a Prince to protect or something?”

  “Killing Xalen would have had the Queen coming for you no matter what the circumstances were,” Farrah said. “I saved your life by stopping you from killing Xalen. You wouldn't have been able to take on me and Russell and we would have brought you down. You had already fought twice before, you were not at full strength and you would have been an easy fight after you took down Xalen.”

  “What do you want Farrah?” Jonathan asked. “We do not have anything to talk about.”

  “I want to tell you that Xalen did get in real trouble,” Farrah said and looked around to make sure no one was overhearing her conversation. “The Queen told him if one more person gets hurt due to his ego that she would name Jordan her heir. She even threatened to have another child and make that child her heir and disown Xalen altogether. He is under the Tower Mage’s eye right now. You had to have noticed you don't see Xalen at all outside of class. He spends his time at a small home the Queen owns when class is out. He doesn't even eat here anymore.”

  “That has nothing to do with me,” Jonathan said.

  “I offered to fix your face and your hair,” Farrah said. “Your stubbornness has you looking like a fool now.”

  “I don't need your help,” Jonathan said. “I have real friends to help me. People who have my back no matter what.”

  “Are you talking about your red haired idiot who took a cheap shot at Gerald?” Farrah asked.

  Jonathan laughed just thinking about it. Red had grabbed a cudgel and bashed an unaware Gerald across the face with it. Red got off three or four hits until Russell pulled him off. Gerald got up bleeding and angry from what Jonathan was told but declined to attack Red. Instead he just stormed off angry and bleeding. Gerald didn't have a scratch on him when Jonathan finally saw him, the Golads and Monica must have healed him.

  “Say what you will about him but the man is a real friend,” Jonathan said. “Red voluntarily went to fight the Raelin with me and he has my back here.”

  “He is going to get himself killed,” Farrah said. “We are going on break soon, I want you to come with me.”

  “We aren't supposed to go to Vashing for another three months,” Jonathan replied.

  “The Tower Mage wants to try something different,” Farrah said. “He wants school to be year round. Instead of a big break lasting months, he wants a month long break every two months. It still works out to four months of breaks but leaves us little time to get sloppy.”

  “And you want me to go into Golad with you?” Jonathan asked suspiciously.

  “It is not like that,” Farrah said. “Harlan will be with us too. No doubt he has heard about you trying to woo me and it will ease his worries. I also invited Red along with all those girls you showed up with as well.”

  “So you invited a mob of people to visit with you?” Jonathan asked.

  “I asked all single commoners to come into the duchy with me,” Farrah said. “For some reason people think nobles hate all commoner mages.”

  “You ridiculed me when we first met and Russell shoved then threatened me,” Jonathan said.

  “We were young and stupid,” Farrah said.

  “It was last year,” John replied.

  “We were being silly and letting the situation drive us,” Farrah replied. “Have you ever se
en any of us since then do something you didn't like?”

  “Gerald tortured Red and you all stood by and watched,” Jonathan began. “And you pulled me off of him.”

  “We felt bad that we did not stop it and vowed it would never happen again,” Farrah said. “You just happened to be the next one trying to punish your opponent instead of trying to win the fight. Now are you going to come with me or sit around and do nothing?”

  “I still need to see my grandfather,” Jonathan said. “Only reason I haven't visited the old man was because of Prince Jeffrey.”

  “And I am sure he will be there in Vashing when we go,” Farrah said. “My father wanted you to come. He could be your employer one day, even if he isn't, do you really want to turn down a Duke?”

  “How much money would this cost me?” Jonathan asked. “I left my horse and carriage at home.”

  “I am sure you have enough money after you were paid out,” Farrah said. “But I will cover you for the trip there and back. Just be warned that the mountains are different than other places in the Kingdom. It is a lot colder there and the people are a lot friendlier. Some may say they are even too friendly.”

  “Is Xalen and Gerald going as well?” Jonathan asked.

  “Just unmarried commoners,” Farrah said. “Your friend Poppy is the lone exception. I invited her because I thought you would like someone to talk to. I have found out more about her you know. The more I hear about her, the more I think you would be an excellent match. You have more money than her family does and she has the noble blood your family lacks.”

  “You are pushing hard for this,” Jonathan said.

  “I just want to show you around,” Farrah said. “You can even meet some of my real friends. Most of them are noble but they are not mages.”