The Prince of Warwood and The Rise of the Chosen

by J. Noel Clinton

  “You trust me, right?”

  “Well, yeah, of course.”

  “Then, stop worrying. I’m in complete control,” he whispered, winking at her.

  Slowly he lowered them back to the ground, smiling at the girl in his arms. He couldn’t believe she was finally there.

  “Wow, you’ve grown,” she commented once their feet were on solid ground again.

  Xavier noted with pleasure that he was now taller than Robbie, by nearly three inches. “What did you expect? I’ve been here for nearly six months! Besides, I was bound to have a growth spurt eventually!”

  She giggled. “You don’t have to pretend, Xavier. I know you’re happy that you’re finally taller than me.”

  Xavier grinned down at her. “God, yes!” He sighed.

  “All right you two,” his father’s amused voice called as he shut the door behind him. “You have some time to yourselves until lunch in an hour.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Dad.”

  “We’ll need to train after lunch since we weren’t able to this morning.”

  “But, Dad, Robbie’s here. I thought I had the day off so I could spend it with her.”

  “Xavier, you still need to practice your skills. It’s not up for a debate. Robbie is more than welcome to come and watch you train. I’d bet she’d enjoy that.”

  “Yeah, I would, Xavier. I want to see how good you’re getting,” she added sweetly.

  He looked at Robbie’s big smile and felt his insides go to jelly. “Uh, okay.”

  “All right then, we’ll see you two at lunch,” Jeremiah snickered and walked past the couple and into a chamber on the right.

  Xavier took Robbie’s hand. “Come on. Let’s get away from all these prying eyes and eavesdroppers.”

  Jeremiah’s booming laugh echoed out of the chamber. “Son, I don’t need to eavesdrop! The moment Robbie entered the mountain, you’ve been broadcasting every thought and feeling you’ve had.”

  “What?” he blurted, hurrying to peer into the small chamber his father used as a study while at the mountain. “I’m broadcasting my thoughts?”

  Jeremiah leaned back in his chair, his grin slipping. “Survey yourself and you tell me?”

  Xavier stopped a moment and tuned into his body, pushing past the sensations Robbie’s presence had on him. Blushing, he asked, “So, you heard my thoughts? All my thoughts?”

  The king nodded and winked at him.

  His blush deepened.

  “We’ll work on quieting strong feelings this coming week. In battle, Fox could use them against you.”

  He nodded, knowing his father was right. “Yes, sir.”

  “Go on and have some fun. I’ll see you both at lunch.”

  Xavier longed to spend some uninterrupted time with Robbie, but he needed a place where his father couldn’t hear his every thought. Without a pause in his step, he grabbed Robbie’s hand and pulled her to the stairway at the end of the long corridor that led to the lower levels of the facility. Moments later, they sat next to the river watching the churning, turbulent surface, amazed by its unbridled power.

  “I swam that last week,” he bragged.

  Robbie eyed him skeptically. “Why would you even want to?”

  He shrugged and smirked. “Because I can. I have aqualungs, remember? It was easy for me. I swam out to the rock and back,” he answered proudly, pointing to the large outcrop fifty yards out into the water.

  She glanced at the rock before looking back at him, her eyes still skeptical.

  “What? You don’t believe me? I’ll show you,” he remarked, standing and stripping his shirt off.

  “N…no, Xavier,” she stammered at the sight of his bare chest. The boy had grown more than just up. He was trim and had an impressive six-pack starting. Dragging her eyes back to Xavier’s, she continued, “I…ah, I believe you. Please, don’t do it. It scares me.”

  “It scares you? Why should it scare you? I won’t drown; I can’t drown with aqualungs.”

  “I know, but what if the current is too strong and you get swept away to…well, who knows where? Just don’t, please. It makes me nervous,” she pleaded, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him down to sit next to her again. She realized then that his muscles weren’t just for show. He was stronger, much stronger. She couldn’t physically make him do anything anymore. Her gaze dropped to his chest and arms again. She couldn’t help but admire the defined muscles there. Her ogling didn’t escape Xavier’s notice.

  Smiling, he sank down next to her again. “I’ve been working out,” he boasted. He lifted his arm in front of her and flexed his bicep. “Want to touch it?”

  Blushing, she giggled but gave his arm a squeeze. “Yeah. I guess you have. You’re a lot stronger and bigger.”

  He smiled, pleased with the compliment. He leaned toward her and kissed her. He loved the feeling of her mouth on his. His hand snaked across the stone floor to grasp hers.

  “Watch,” he whispered. Then, without more of a warning, he sprang gracefully to his feet, darted toward the river, and dove into the violent surface. When he emerged from the water, he was already half the distance to the stone.

  Robbie jumped to her feet and ran to the water’s edge. “Xavier! Oh, my God! Swim! Don’t stop!”

  Xavier cut easily through the water and within seconds, he was climbing onto the rock and grinning wildly back to her.

  “See? It’s easy!”

  Robbie laughed, smitten by this cocky attitude he now possessed. He looked so cute standing soaking wet on that rock with his hands on his hips and his hair tousled. She loved his muscular body as well; she caught herself staring again and she blushed. When he smirked back at her, her blush deepened, and she wondered if he had read her thoughts. In the blink of an eye, Xavier disappeared from the rock. Eagerly, Robbie scanned the water thinking he had plunged back into its riotous depths, but she saw no sign of him. Then she felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned into Xavier, who immediately kissed her. She sighed happily. He was so different from what she remembered. He seemed a lot older somehow. He was confident, calm, and more mature. She was seeing a glimpse of the man, the king, he would someday become, and she liked what she was seeing. She liked it a lot.

  Following lunch, Xavier stood dressed in combat gear across from his father, Loren, and Ephraim. Each stood primed with his sword in hand. He glanced over at Robbie, who sat against the wall, and winked at her. She grinned back at him.

  “Okay, Romeo. Focus!” the king ordered and nodded to Ephraim, who moved to stand next to Robbie. Once Ephraim was in place, Jeremiah and Loren both lunged at the boy. Xavier sent an electro force at his father, sending him a good six feet across the room before lifting his sword just in time to parry Loren’s attack. Then, he transported to Loren’s rear and attacked. The general responded a fraction of a second too late, and Xavier’s blow threw him off balance, making him stumble across the room. Xavier turned as if some sixth sense warned him of the imminent advance from his father. He parried the king’s assault and attacked with a compound move he had been practicing for weeks. He pulled it off flawlessly, and his father’s eyes widened with surprise, but he managed to parry the attack in the nick of time. The slight change in air pressure warned Xavier that Loren was conjuring a force behind him. He blocked another blow from his father and waited for the general’s force to be released. The instant the force was launched, he teleported so that his father was between him and the force barreling down on them. The force hit the king and knocked him to the floor. In that instant, Xavier sent a potent telekinetic force at Loren, lifting and slamming him against the wall. He stood at the ready and surveyed the men, who were slow to get to their feet.

  “Well done, son,” Jeremiah managed, wincing as he stood.

  Robbie clapped enthusiastically from the side of the room. “Woohoo! Way to go, Xavier!”

  He grinned at her before turning toward his father, who shook his head, chuckling.

  The following morning, Xa
vier lay spread-eagled in the center of the rugby pitch staring absentmindedly at the rugby ball spinning less than a foot above his head. With a grin and a slight jerk of his head, he sent the ball rocketing toward the stone ceiling more than a hundred feet above him. Then he released the ball from his telekinesis and watched, slightly amused, as it plummeted toward the ground. Less than an inch from his nose, he caught the ball once again in his telekinesis energy. He chuckled as he grabbed the ball and tucked it under his head. He loved it here. It almost felt like he was outside with grass under him and sunlight bursting down on him in nearly every direction from the collection of crystals embedded in the rocky ceiling like bright stars. With a content grin, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

  “Is this how you spend your time in the mountain while the rest of us are busting our butts in classes? Seriously, I wish I had a prince’s life. Don’t you, Court?” Beck chided, elbowing a grinning Courtney as the boys strolled easily toward him with Garrett, Harry, Mac, and Frankie following close behind.

  Xavier’s grin widened, but he kept his eyes closed listening to the group’s approach. His keen sense of hearing pinpointed their exact location, and he conjured a great cascade of water that crashed down over his friends’ heads.

  The group let out a chorus of shouts.

  “Hey!” Court shouted. “What the heck!”

  Xavier sat up and watched, smirking, as his drenched friends approach with crooked grins.

  “Showoff.” Beck laughed, stopping in front of him, shaking his hair like a dog, and showering him with droplets of water.

  Laughing, Xavier stood and clapped Beck on the shoulder. Beck gave a sideways glance at the other boys and suddenly all six lunged at him, gang tackling him to the earth under a pile of giggling bodies.

  “Oof! Ouch! Court, that’s my spleen!” he called out, laughing.

  Slowly the boys climbed off the prince, and Court pulled him to his feet.

  “Boys, they just never grow up, do they, Robbie?” Erica commented, her voice rising above the ruckus and light-hearted insults. Xavier looked at Erica and smiled before fastening his gaze on Robbie’s smiling face.

  “Xavier, how did you do that?” Garrett asked breathlessly.

  “I’ve gotten a few more powers since I’ve been here,” Xavier answered, his eyes still on Robbie as she and Erica joined the group.

  “You gotten a few more powers,” Garrett repeated slowly.

  “Blimey, Xavier, like what?” Court asked.

  “Um, well,” Xavier began, his eyes darting from eager face to eager face. “Well, obviously, I got hydromancy. I also have the aeronautic ability, transfiguration powers, tracking abilities, x-ray vision…” His voice trailed off at the weighted looks the boys were giving each other while Courtney carefully inspected his shoes.

  “What?” His eyes fixed on Beck. “What?”

  Beck glanced at the other boys before answering. “Well, X, it’s just that no kid in empowered history has ever had that many powers. It’s...um… look, there’s a lot of talk that you’re not just our prince but …that…you’re the Chosen!”

  Xavier’s face grew hot and his eyes darted from Court to Erica and then to Robbie. All three kept their eyes fastened to the ground. The declaration caught him off guard, and it took a moment for him to regain his composure, a moment too late.

  “Bloody Hell!” Beck exclaimed, looking at him in nothing short of shock. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

  “What? Are you kidding, Beck?” Xavier exclaimed. “You’re mental! Me, the Chosen?”

  Beck eyed the other boys before replying. “Xavier, look, we’re your mates. We’ve got your back. Just tell us the truth. We won’t tell a soul.”

  He glanced at Courtney’s unhelpful head before turning back to Beck. “Beck, really, it’s crazy! Jeez, don’t you think I have enough to deal with without being the savior of all mankind?” He gave a small, weak laugh.

  “Then why aren’t you saying that you’re not the Chosen. You just keep saying it’s crazy, but I haven’t heard you deny it,” Beck chided.

  “That’s because it is crazy and I can’t believe you’re falling for it.”

  Beck eyed him suspiciously, but he let the matter drop.

  Xavier pretended not to notice Beck’s doubtful look as he turned his attention to the group at large.

  “Wanna play a game of rugby? I haven’t been able to play a decent match in months.”

  Within moments, the months of loneliness and isolation slipped away as he and his friends wrestled a rugby ball up and down the indoor pitch. His friends’ laughter and cheers of enthusiasm were comforting, and for the first time in a long time, he felt at home. Contentment and pride ballooned in his chest as he watched his best mates arguing over possession of the ball.

  “What are you grinning at?” Court whispered beside him as Beck threw himself at Garrett and wrestled him to the ground to get the ball.

  “I was just thinking,” he whispered back, his eyes still on the scuffling boys. “This is what I’ve been preparing for these last few months.” Xavier looked his best friend in the eye and straightened to his full height, now an inch above Court. “This is worth fighting for.”