“No, you have to protect my honor and punish whoever did this.”
“Like I’d be able to find out who did this.”
She thought for a moment, and then said, “It was probably my sister, that snake. Come on, you three. We need to find her.”
Her knight sighed and smashed the mirror before they left to find Anna’s sister. They eventually found Coraline talking to some of her friends outside their first classroom. The group all started laughing the moment they saw Anna, until Coraline finally shushed them, saying, “Now, you guys, that was a really mean prank for someone to pull on her. We shouldn’t laugh.” Anna couldn’t help but notice that her sister was biting back a laugh as she said this.
“I know you did this you…you…”
“I didn’t do anything. You think I know enough about magic to pull off something that complicated?” Coraline said, feigning modesty.
“Then you got someone who could to do it and make a fool out of me.”
“Oh, little sister, you do that all by yourself. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have class to go to,” Coraline said, walking into the classroom.
When Anna and the others got to their class, it took all of her concentration to keep up her polite, royal manner—all the while she was digging her well-groomed fingernails into the underside of her desk. In magic class, she was going to complain to Shel about what had happened, but apparently Shel was taking a sick day. So Anna was stuck with three brainless fools, and she was slowly losing her cool. When lunch rolled around, she was greeted by a giant banner above her usual table with paint that would change from ‘Flat-chested’ to ‘Anna sucks.’ Anna seemed to have a mental breakdown at this, as she just completely ignored it and started acting happy in a very creepy way.
“Oh, don’t you think today’s lunch is quite exquisite?”
“Uh, Anna, I can’t believe you’re taking this so well,” Bart said, with caution.
“Oh, yes, why wouldn’t I? I’m just being mocked by my cow of a sister in front of everyone I know. Really, it’s no big deal.”
“Should I take it down?” her knight asked.
With a big smile on her face, Anna said, “What do you think?”
“I’ll just, uh, take it down now.”
As her knight took the banner down, Anna thought of the many ways she could exact revenge on her sister. As she was thinking about all this, Anna remembered something about Shel’s family. They were supposed to be some of the most powerful magic users and had been completely unaffected by the decline of magic. Putting together the fact that Shel had been talking to Coraline, was probably good with magic, and was missing that day, Anna figured she had something to do with it. After school let out, Anna and Bart rode up to Shel’s home, having asked Mrs. Pinkerton where she lived, and asked if they could see her.
“Yes, we’re, uh, friends of Shel. May we come in and see her?” Anna asked the heavyset gatekeeper in a uniform similar to Bill’s.
“Friends with the little lady?”
“Yes?”
The guard burst into tears as he said, “Thank god. I never thought I’d see the day when the little lady had friends. We’re just so worried about her since she’s, well, her. But she actually has friends that aren’t dead? Please, come in, and I’ll tell her you’re here.”
More than a little freaked out, Anna and the others followed the guard into the house and were seated in a living room to wait. They were brought food to snack on and glasses of water while they sat there. Ten minutes later, Shel, in a nightgown, and her knight came into the room and greeted them.
“What are you two doing here?” Shel’s lip curled as she spoke.
“Can’t friends just visit friends?” Bart beamed.
“Go jump in a bog,” Shel said, shutting him up.
“Now while I’m all for that, we’ve come here to discuss something else. You’re helping Coraline, correct?” Anna asked.
“Yes, I suppose I am.” Shel wasn’t even paying attention, too focused on a fly circling the room.
“Can you tell me why you’re helping her?”
“She threatened to ruin my family. She is a princess, after all. I wouldn’t want to make her or her father mad.”
“I’m a princess too, you know,” Anna said with a strained smile.
“Yes, but from what I’ve heard, you’re not well liked among the family.”
Anna choked on this as Shel went on. “Anna, you’re too nice. You need to be more ruthless like a true noble or else you’ll never be queen.”
“I can be ruthless if I want to.”
“Prove it to me. Challenge your sister to a duel and beat her. Then I’ll stop defaming you.”
“I get to fight someone? This is awesome! Finally, some action,” Anna’s knight said, clapping his hands in excitement.
“I wish I could go to my father about this.” Anna put her head in her hands.
“Why don’t you?” Bart asked through a mouthful of cookies.
“Because he already thinks I’m a spineless baby. Not to mention he’s always liked Coraline more than me.”
“I can sympathize with his feelings,” Shel said.
“You’ll think differently after I beat my sister.”
“I suppose we’ll have to wait and see. Now, please get out of my house before I set the dogs on you.”
Leaving Shel’s home very quickly, Anna and Bart parted ways and went to get a good night’s sleep. The next day, Anna quickly went to where she had found Coraline before and went right to work.
“What do you want? Come to make more false accusations?” her sister said with a sneer.
“I’ve come to challenge you to a duel,” Anna said with confidence.
Coraline started laughing, and, after controlling herself, she said between breaths, “You want to challenge me to a duel? You, little runt, dare challenge me? All right, I accept. I’ve had fun messing with you, but I think beating the snot out of you will do you some good.”
“All right, today after school.”
“See you there.”
Anna and her knight could barely contain themselves throughout the day. When the time finally came for school to let out, they practically ran out of the building. They were going to the dueling arena, a courtyard in the school where students could duke it out. The first-floor walls surrounding it only had two doors leading in and out on opposite sides. The windows appeared on the second floor so people could watch from safety.
The courtyard itself was well taken care of, looking as if it had never been fought in, the grass and marble structures within in pristine condition. The challenger always came in through the southern door. The challenged entered the north before them so they had time to assess the battleground, which was different every time. It could be any number of terrains, from rolling hillsides, to barren deserts, and even the occasional marshlands. The moment Anna entered the courtyard, the fight would start, so as they waited, Anna tried coming up with a strategy.
“You just have to do as I say and we’ll be fine,” Anna said, having thought up a good plan.
“No, you just have to sit tight and let me handle this,” her knight shot back.
Having had enough of his attitude, she said, “You imbecile! I am your master, and you will do as I say.”
“No. I’m the one who was trained for battle, not you. So shut up, stand there, and look mediocrely attractive.”
Anna snapped and said, “Why are you such a horrible person? You’ve done nothing but insult me and disobey me. Why are you like this? Why do you hate me?”
“Because I’m not a good person. Actually, I’m not even a person—to you or anyone else. Listen, this is just who—what—I am, and I guess we’re just not meant to get along.”
The door opened and her knight stepped through, mumbling, “Maybe I should’ve neve
r spoken in the first place.”
Anna didn’t say anything. She tried thinking of something, but all her answers were inadequate. Talking to people in a nonsuperficial way had never been easy. Her knight was becoming harder to understand with each passing day. Anna thought it was because he wasn’t used to talking either. No matter what the problem, though, the solution would not be easy.
Once they were inside the courtyard, Anna quickly surveyed the landscape. She could see that, besides a few pillars and flowers, it was completely empty. Before she could say anything, her knight began walking toward the middle of the courtyard where Coraline’s knight was waiting, sword and dagger in his hands. Her sister gave the order to fight, and so her knight got into a battle stance and started circling Anna’s knight. Coraline’s knight made a few tentative stabs, trying to get a feel for his opponent, but Anna’s knight just stood there, unflinching. The slender knight tried a full attack, but all Anna’s knight did was dodge out of the way.
“What, is that hunk of junk scared or something?” Coraline called out from the other side of the battlefield.
Anna couldn’t figure it out. Her knight wasn’t fighting back at all. He hadn’t even drawn his weapons. The other knight made another attempt—only, this time, her knight sidestepped, grabbed his arm, and tossed Coraline’s knight over his shoulder. As the other knight started getting up, he looked and saw his enemy standing next to a pillar. Next thing Coraline’s knight knew, he was crushed beneath the marble, unable to get out from under it. With a nod, Anna’s knight walked over to where Coraline was and grabbed her by the collar.
“Ah, I give, I give,” she stammered out.
“Not good enough,” Anna’s knight said as he hauled back his arm and punched her in the face.
It made a sort of wet, crunching sound as he held onto her so she took the full force of the blow. When he dropped her to the ground, Anna’s knight could see Coraline’s nose had been plastered across her face in a bloody mess. She remained barely conscious. Leaning down, he grabbed her face and squeezed it tightly as he hissed into her ear.
“Don’t you ever screw with my princess again. She may not want to play your little games, but I will, and when the time comes, whether she likes it or not, I will kill every last one of you.”
Standing up, he stretched his arms and resumed his easygoing manner. The crowds were in a pleasant murmur, having thoroughly enjoyed the fight. Anna, on the other hand, was a bit shaken by the whole mess. She had wanted to show Coraline who was boss, but what her knight did was horrible. No matter what Coraline did, Anna still loved her. Anna’s knight passed her and went to find Shel. Shel had been watching and was very pleased by what she saw, going so far as to shake the knight’s still-bloody hand.
Perhaps going a step too far, Shel licked the blood that had gotten on her fingers and said, “Mmm. The blood of a royal tastes magnificent. Just be glad it wasn’t yours, Anna.”
Anna shuddered at this and said, “So, you’ll leave me alone from now on?”
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll be on your side from now on and help you should you ever need it.”
Bart stepped in, saying, “Hey, that’s great, Anna. You’ve made another friend.”
Giving him a disdainful look, Shel said, “I see you’re still keeping that monkey around. No matter. Everyone has their own tastes in entertainment. Now, come along for tea. We have much to discuss about our future partnership.”
“Ooh, are there going to be cookies?” Bart asked.
“You’ll be dining with the dogs, mutt.”
Putting her hand on Shel’s shoulder, Anna said, “You really need to get better at being a good human being.”
“Whatever. Come along, you two.”
Coraline was taken to see the school nurse, and her knight was freed from the pillar. Anna hoped she would be all right, but a knight’s punch wasn’t a thing to trifle with. Now with two new friends and a rather complicated relationship with her knight, Anna left the dueling arena, not knowing whether something good or something really bad had just happened to her.
Chapter 5
Shel’s room was actually pretty normal for her personality. Sure, it wasn’t a girly, pink-filled thing, but it gave off the vibe that an average noble lived here. For refreshments, they had iced tea and some delicious oatmeal cookies that, after some pushing from Anna, Bart was allowed to have. It felt strange to Anna, doing something with others her own age. They were so unlike the old farts she usually had to entertain because she was a princess. She never had anything to do with people outside her family other than to gain allies for the king. But that had been when Anna had been young and little more than a part of her father’s family. Now that she was older, Anna had a lot freer will and choices she could make. So sitting there listening to Bart’s jokes and Shel hissing insults at him was quite enjoyable.
“What did you want to discuss with me, Shel?” Anna asked to start off the conversation.
Dabbing her lips with a napkin, Shel said, “There are two things that I admire, Anna. Those are authority and power. While you do command some authority using a charismatic approach, you lack the power to really back it up. However, after seeing how your knight dealt with your sister, I find that you now have the power that I seek in a leader.”
“Thank you, I guess.”
Turning to Anna’s knight, Shel said, “You, knight. You can speak, yes?”
“Yeah, I think that’s pretty clear by now.”
Nodding, Shel continued, “You’ve gained my respect with how efficiently and brutally you dealt with your opponent. I think what is clear is that you are something special and deserve some recognition.”
“Ooh, are you going to give me a cookie?” the knight mocked.
“While I can do without the attitude, I believe it is prudent to take the good with the bad. Anna, this knight of yours is what will make you queen. You have to use him effectively.”
“You know, that’s kind of hard considering he has a mind of his own and doesn’t listen all that well.”
“Like I said, you must take the good with the bad. Whatever happened to make him like this—wait, why don’t we just ask him? Knight, do you remember what happened to make you like this?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Will you tell us of it?”
“No, I’m not allowed. The secret of how we’re made is heavily guarded, and if I were to reveal it, it would result in all of our destruction.”
“I don’t see why it really matters how he got like this. He’s a good guy, I think. I mean, he did protect Anna and everything,” Bart said, nibbling on a cookie.
“Shut it, cretin. It is important if we want to use him to his full capabilities.”
As Shel started in on Bart, Anna looked at her knight. He certainly was complicated. The knight made it seem as though he didn’t like any of the nobles, her especially. Yet he went and fought her sister, going perhaps too far in making sure Coraline wouldn’t bother Anna anymore. Then there were the strange things he would say that made no sense. What he let slip before the duel about opening his mouth, the way he talked as if he used to be able to eat and breathe. It was as if he knew more than he was letting on.
But what did her knight know that he didn’t want Anna finding out about? If the metal ape really did remember his creation, then he knew one of the kingdom’s most important secrets and could seriously bring harm to them all if he told anyone. Then there was the fact that he apparently had total free will but for some reason stayed by her side at all times. Thinking about it all made Anna’s head hurt. She kept quiet until her friends finished their snacks and excused herself. Bart walked her out, and they said their goodbyes to Shel before parting ways.
When Anna woke up the next morning, she was still thinking about her knight, who had made her favorite tea like always. She decided to put it out of her mind, kno
wing that it wouldn’t do her any good dwelling on it. Today in magic class Anna would be trying out a few simple spells, so she focused on that. Mrs. Pinkerton gave them their first real spell, one that could change water into wine, and Anna was excited to try it. Shel obviously got it on her first try, being that she could do far more complicated spells, and Bart managed to do it at least part way and get grape juice.
Anna, however, despite putting all of her effort into it, couldn’t seem to pull it off and kept screaming the spell louder and louder, hoping increasing volume would make a difference. Finally, something did happen, but it wasn’t what Anna wanted. The glass of water exploded in her face, and when the smoke cleared, she was covered in ashes. Her knight looked at her, then walked out of the room and, once outside, started laughing hysterically. Everyone else, including Bart’s knight, joined in, and soon the whole room was laughing at her. When her knight came back in, Anna got an idea and grabbed Bart’s and Shel’s cups, tossing them to her knight.
“Oh, man, is this the best you can—”
BOOM!
“Oh, so you’re just going to—”
BOOM!
“Blow me up, eh? What a lame—”
BOOM!
“Stop blowing me up! Do you know how hard it is to clean myself? This will take hours to get out of my cloak,” her knight lamented.
“Good. You can clean my uniform while you’re at it.”
“You little…”
Anna held her head high after that, even if she failed at all the spells. Her knight just sat down and pouted for the rest of the period. The pair had to spend the rest of the day covered in soot, but by lunchtime they were both their usual selves. Bart and Shel seemed to be in cheerful moods as well, having a good back and forth.
“Hey, can I have your dessert?”
“Of course not, you mutt. How dare you even ask?” Shel replied with a sharp tongue.
Bart stifled a laugh and said, “Come on, don’t be Shel-fish.”
“Oh, you think you’re funny. Well, let me tell you a joke. What’s ugly and soon to be black and blue?”
A Knight of Contradictions Page 4