Chapter 14
After lunch she had a PE class. She was late to it because of her detour, but that didn’t really matter. None of the girls actually did anything, or even changed into their gym clothes. The boys typically played some sort of rough-and-tumble game like dodgeball. At the moment, Bart was wailing a leather ball into another boy. Shel sat on the bleachers away from the other girls, her knight by her side. Anna went over and sat down next to her friend.
Watching Bart, Shel said, “He truly is a pathetic specimen.”
“He is.”
“Have you sufficiently calmed down?” Shel said, clearly bored out of her mind.
“Indeed, I have,” Anna replied, settling in for the hour-long class.
“You must gain better control of your emotions.”
“I know.”
“If you want to live and become queen, you can’t let every little thing get the best of you like this.”
“I know.”
“It’s extremely childish.”
“I know!” Anna shouted, and then realized she’d succumbed to her emotions again. “I’m sorry.”
“Just try to make sure it isn’t a recurring thing,” Shel said, looking back at the boys and their game.
Soon Bart and the other boys were done, and they went to get cleaned up. Their next class was language arts. In it, they had just started another classic book. Nobody but Anna actually read anything in the class. It seemed she was the only one who enjoyed reading. This meant she was always raising her hand and answering questions from the teacher. Shel and Bart sat next to her, of course, and they used her as a sort of buffer to keep out of the hot seat. Anna’s knight kept quiet throughout the whole time. He seemed resolute in looking at anything except Anna.
Next class was just a study hall. The students were supposed to use this time to study and do homework. Again, though, Anna was the only one to ever do this. Shel and Bart occupied their time with meaningless acts. He would practice his material on his knight. If he got a good laugh out of him, Bart would write it down. Shel, on the other hand, focused more on fooling around with magic. She’d enchant a piece of paper to fly around like a bird. Then she’d shoot it down with various spells, something like target practice.
The day finally ended, and Anna had no intention of making up with her knight. He seemed to be on the same page and largely ignoring her. When the princess went to sleep that night, she made sure to face away from her knight. If it bothered him, he would never admit it. It did bother her. Though she would never admit it either.
Chapter 15
Next day was just the same. She went to school, ignoring her knight the whole time. He kept his nonexistent nose upturned at her as well. Both were too prideful to apologize and just move on. Anna tried acting as if nothing was wrong, but her knight would say things just to anger her. He even went so far as to insult her magic ability.
“You can’t do magic at all,” he said during lunch.
“I can too.”
“Everything you try explodes in your face.”
“It does not.”
Sadly, he was right. Every attempt at magic resulted in her exploding. Just that morning she had tried to levitate a spoon. Of course, it had just blown up into smithereens. The other kids had started calling her Princess Suicide, because they had a running bet on when she’d kill herself. Anna pushed these thoughts from her mind. She might have been having trouble now, but that would soon change.
“Whatever, I’m going to prove myself in the spring festival.”
“You’re actually going to enter as a contestant. That stuff’s only for upperclassmen,” Bart said as he played with his pork tenderloins.
The spring festival was held every year on the first day of spring. It was an event hosted by the school, where the children could do many things during the seven-day period. The younger students typically operated stalls, selling all kinds of confections, from strawberry tarts to every type of candy imaginable. Of course, they wouldn’t do any of the work themselves.
“We should be more focused on getting a good shop for our stall,” Shel said, nibbling at her own food.
It was true: they should have been more concerned with that. Every spring festival, the students would try to get the best possible shop to work for them. Usually the higher-end stores were snatched up by the older, more recognized students. This left all the little ones to first years like Anna. Still, she wasn’t going to be satisfied with just running a rinky-dink stall.
“Come on, you guys. We should enter the magic demonstration contest. If we won that, we’d prove to everyone we’re not so terrible.”
Shel gave her a hard stare and said, “It would prove you’re not terrible. I’m quite proficient at magic, and the mutt can at least cast a spell without blowing himself up.”
“Fine, be that way. I’ll just enter it myself.”
“As if you’d win, Princess Suicide,” her knight muttered.
“Shut up. I’ve told you and everyone else I will not kill myself in some fiery explosion!”
“Whatever,” he said again as he had been doing the past couple of months.
Anna wanted to say something mean to him, but refrained from doing so. She was far too busy trying to come up with an act for the contest. The winner didn’t actually get anything except bragging rights, but that is all she wanted. Most of the entrants were older than her and would know far more magic than she did. However, that wasn’t going to stop her. The spring festival would start next week, so she needed to work fast.
For the next few days, Anna practiced all the spells she knew: levitation, transmutation, making a doll out of twigs and dirt; everything ended in a fiery explosion. She tried doing some research, thinking that there was something wrong with her. Despite many hours in the library, though, nothing about being a pyromaniac came up. Anna was beginning to think she was just incapable of any real magic.
While Anna was struggling against her explosive nature, the rest of the school was in an uproar. Classrooms were being converted into cafés, with coffee and tea from around the world being brought in by the shops operating there. Stalls lined the edge of the courtyard, obscure bakeries and other upcoming stores hoping to make a name for themselves. In the middle of the courtyard was a stage, large enough that any act could fit on it, but simple in design so as to not detract from the show.
“Where are those two? They said they’d be in the back left corner,” Anna said, hoping to see her friends before signing up for the contest.
“Try looking at the sign that says Toys ’R’ Yours run by Shel and her pet mutt,” her knight said, walking toward the rather tiny stall.
The stall was filled with rather unique toys. A headless doll, tangled slinky, and a ball that was slightly deflated were the top purchases. When Anna got close, she could hear Shel berating Bart. The pair didn’t spare the princess a glance when she got near them. Finally, Anna had enough of it and said something.
“Ahem.”
“Hold on. I’m almost done telling this idiot how much of a screwup he is,” Shel said with a bit of magic playing on her fingertips.
“I already told you, I said that the royal princess wanted them for her stall, but this is the crap they sent,” Bart said in defense of himself.
Anna sighed. “You do know I’m suspected of killing the king, right?”
Shel got a cross look on her face and said, “Of course. Bart, why didn’t you think of that?”
“I did think of it, and in fact, I remember saying that specific thing to you when you brought up the idea.”
“What was that, mutt?”
“I mean…I’m pretty sure it just slipped my mind. Kind of like when a teacher tells me something, in one ear and out the other,” Bart said with that goofy grin of his.
“You guys, I just came by to tell you I’m
about to go sign up for the contest.”
“About that…” Bart started.
“The headmaster said you were prohibited from entering the contest, as you are not only a danger to yourself, but all the other attendees of the festival.” Anna noticed that Shel was taking a bit too much pleasure in the look on her face.
“Princess Suicide,” her knight whispered.
“No!” Anna said, ignoring her knight, “That’s not fair! I’m not a danger to anybody. Am I?”
“Sorry, Anna. But, hey, you can run the stall with us for the rest of the week,” Bart said in an attempt to cheer her up.
Anna pouted. “But I don’t want to do that.”
“It’s not so bad. We mostly just leave the hard work to the attendant they sent, while we go and enjoy the festivities,” Bart replied.
Kicking a rock, she said, “I guess that’s all right.”
“Come on. I heard there’s this bakery out here that will draw your face on a cake.”
“I do like cake,” Anna said, brightening up a bit.
Bart just gave his hyena laugh and went off in some direction. Whether he actually knew where this bakery was or not was a big if, but at least she could enjoy the adventure there. There tended to be a lot of food stalls in the courtyard. It was an easy enough place to find, and it was a beautiful area to enjoy a treat or two. Anna and her friends could smell dozens of different foods. Cakes, pies, steaks, fries, there was even a place that sold all four of the items.
It was around lunchtime, so they stopped and got an extra-large order of fries, with melted cheese on top. It also had really thick bacon on it. It was basically something one got at the county fair, but with a high enough price that nobles could justify eating it. The friends took their order and sat at a small, round table. Normally they would have gotten some kind of fancy tea, but that didn’t go well with this kind of food. So, instead, they ordered some fresh-squeezed lemonade from a stall close by.
“The contest is going to start soon,” her knight said once they had finished eating.
“You’re just saying that to annoy me,” Anna replied.
“So, you don’t want to go?” Bart asked.
“I didn’t say that. Let’s just go up to the second floor so we can get a good view.”
Anna and the others, with some convincing on Shel’s part, threw out their trash in a nearby garbage bin. Then they made their way to the next floor up. It was already crowded with nobles and their knights, but somehow the friends managed to get a good spot. The stage was also being surrounded by attendees, who were hoping to get up close to the action. A little farther away was where the judges sat. The headmaster, Romulus, and Mrs. Pinkerton were to judge the contest.
“Where is your brother’s knight?” Shel asked, searching for the thing, “Even he has to have some kind of protection. Or is he so arrogant that he believes his knight is not needed?”
“He’s a strong enough fighter that he doesn’t need his knight, but that’s not why it isn’t here. Apparently, it has trouble moving about on account of its size, so my brother doesn’t take it with him to most places,” Anna said.
“Man, that’d be such a cool thing to see,” Bart said to no one in particular. “I wonder how big it is.”
“It hasn’t been seen in quite some time, so no one really knows,” Anna said.
From on stage, the handsome announcer said, “Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for the first day of our wonderful performances!”
“Who is going first?” Shel asked, sounding only mildly interested.
“Shane, a fourth year,” Anna’s knight said.
“Our first act needs no introduction. He’s known as the beast master around these parts, and today he’s got some amazing animals to show off. Here he is, Shane Kost!”
The announcer disappeared in a cloud of smoke that took up the whole stage. Up above, the audience heard a screech, and from the sky came a giant bird. Its feathers looked as though they were made of silver; its eyes were as blue as crackling lightning. It beat its wings as it landed, blowing the smoke into nothingness. From atop its back came a young man with a streak of white in his otherwise black hair. His uniform was patched in various places and burnt in all the others.
“Hello, my fair audience. Today I’ll be introducing you to three wonderfully unique pets of mine. The first is this creature, a storm falcon from the southern mountains.”
The creature screeched, and from in his pocket Shane pulled some kind of pellet. He tossed it into the bird’s mouth. It seemed to enjoy the treat, ruffling its feathers as it got comfortable. The audience were awestruck, but that didn’t quell their uneasiness of having such a thing so close. The people shifted their chairs back as one mass. Children cried in fear, and the women tending to them were close to losing it as well. Shane wasn’t about to let them think ill of his pet, though.
“I know he’s scary, but I’ve got him well trained. I may have gotten struck by his lightning a couple of times, but all that happened was I got this streak in my hair. So really, he’s not dangerous at all.”
Anna couldn’t help but notice that whenever he smiled, only one side of his face actually moved. She didn’t know about the others, but the tiny birds in the castle garden were enough for her. Still, she couldn’t say she wasn’t impressed. Anna had heard of storm falcons in one of her classes. They were said to be able to create a tempest so violent that the thunder could shake mountains, and the lightning could split a mighty oak in half.
“Now, I’d get him to show off more for you, but I really wouldn’t want to rain out the festival.” Shane half-smiled again and said, “The next creature I’ll show you is from our very own woods, right outside the city.”
Smoke once again filled the stage. When it cleared, a massive animal stood by Shane’s side. It had the body of a lion, and a very large one at that. However, its tail was the head of black mamba. On its back were large batwings, currently folded up. It roared loud enough that some of the people in the audience fell out of their seats.
“This, then, would be a chimera, found only in the royal woods to the west of the city. They’re ancient creatures made as a weapon by the court sorcerer. However, as effective as they were, the chimera could not be tamed in such large numbers, and they ended up being a problem, not a solution.”
The chimera stretched out to its full length. The snake let out a hiss and reached over for Shane. The audience screamed, thinking it was going to attack. However, it simply rubbed up against him. The lion lay on the stage and began cleaning itself. Shane scratched it behind the ear as he went on.
“Most were destroyed by the Royal Sorceress who created them. Obviously, a few still exist from breeding in the modern time, though they’re mostly for noblemen who want to prove their hunting skills. I, however, believe in the preservation of these wonderful creatures. If raised from a baby, they can become quite attached to a person, as I’ve found out.”
Shane looked like he was about to say more, but a screech from the crowd cut him off. Everyone looked to see the source of the cry, and discovered it had been a woman who had just been nearly blown apart. The headmaster’s knight’s hand was still smoking from the explosion spell it had just used. Anna could see the remains of a knight in the smoldering crater caused by the explosion, but no knight she knew of could be destroyed so easily.
“Anna, go hide somewhere,” her knight said.
“But why…”
That’s when she noticed the knights around her. They had all drawn their weapons or gotten into fighting stances. None of the nobles really knew what was going on, but it was clear something bad was about to happen. Suddenly, unknown knights began popping up from out of nowhere. They all looked the same, distorted bodies, and a whip with spikes on it in their hands. Anna knew it was the knights her brother had shown her. They moved in lanky jerks, and their face
s looked like smashed potatoes, with only one eyehole being visible.
“What’s going on?” Anna asked her knight.
“Stay quiet and keep out of the way,” he replied, pushing her to the ground.
She was about to complain, but saw Shel’s and Bart’s knights had done the same to them. People were running away, their knights close behind them. However, none of the faux knights were chasing after them. They were all intent on one person, her brother Romulus. He stood up, and calmly put his hand to the hilt of a nonexistent sword at his side. When he drew the invisible sword, a real sword appeared, as if it were actually coming out of a scabbard. The sword was simple in design, but without a doubt of magical origin.
“Headmaster, Mrs. Pinkerton, please leave the area. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt,” Romulus said, eyes trained on the advancing faux knights.
“Young man, you’d do well to remember that your elders deserve respect. As such, I’ll be participating in this fight.” The headmaster turned to his colleague and said, “Your knight hasn’t seen action in quite some time. Would you like to join us?”
“I’d love to. To see these things in action would give me great pleasure. But do try not to annihilate them completely. I want to study them in the best conditions.” Mrs. Pinkerton looked like a child receiving a great treat.
“I make no promises,” Romulus said to her.
There had to be two dozen of the things surrounding the five fighters in a semicircle. Anna watched as the faux knights sprinted full force at her brother and them. They were all aiming for Romulus but were stopped by a huge wall of ice from the headmaster’s knight. The enemies were split into three groups, a few coming from the right, some to the left, and the rest going right over the wall.
Mrs. Pinkerton’s knight squared up like a champion boxer. They hadn’t even gotten near him when he attacked with his fists. His metal boxing gloves shot forward, the arms extending to unimaginable lengths. They hit just as hard as if he were right in their face. He picked off five of the enemies from long range before they finally got in close. His arms retracted, and spikes appeared on his knuckles. Mrs. Pinkerton cast a spell on him, and his hands began to glow. The three remaining knights he hit weren’t just knocked back; it was as if a massive shockwave went through them, sending them flying. They hit the wall with such force that the knights not only left craters but also completely flattened into paper-thin sheets.
A Knight of Contradictions Page 10