Hope

by Sam Rook

  She’d never realized the helmets had various latches to allow for more visibility or easy access to meals. With her visor fully open, she glanced at her new armor and tested her range of motion. The chain mail and plate reminded her of snow gear. She could move and bend in it, but it wasn’t the most comfortable. Its color and bulk masked her gender. Not sexy or showy, but functional. Gray. Plain. Kind of like her.

  "I know that wasn’t pleasant, but I’m sure you’ll agree the final product is well worth the discomfort." Sir Lanclor said. "Getting in and out of your armor isn’t as time consuming as it was in the past. We’ll teach you the spells to Call the armor and Dismiss it, which believe me will take a lot of practice."

  A small feast in less than an hour would officially welcome them into the Knighthood. Kathryn washed her face, brushed her teeth with an odd finger brush and donned a fresh uniform. She glanced at her mound of armor on the table and sighed. The mouse appeared on her bed and sat upon its haunches, watching her.

  "It was never like this in the fantasy books back home. The main character could just jump out of bed without having to do anything and would look great the rest of the day." The mouse just stared at her. "I know, welcome to the real world—or one of the real worlds."

  Kathryn joined Hal and the others in the common room and they walked down to the feast together. The feast was in a small ballroom with large windows, ten-foot doors that opened to high balconies and several chandeliers. It barely contained all of the nobles, clergy, Council and the experienced knights.

  The experienced knights herded the newcomers into the ballroom like a bunch of scared sheep. Presented to anyone of importance, the new knights had to wait for some type of response before they could move onto the next group of people. If the guests would have addressed them as a group, Kathryn would have felt more comfortable, but they all insisted on randomly addressing each individually. She had the misfortune of standing toward the front.

  The guests either politely asked what she thought of the feast or the Knighthood in general, or gave her a rude snort of contempt. At times, they even glared and completely ignored her while engaging those around her in polite conversation. She spent a couple of hours just meeting and greeting the members of the nobility, clergy and Council.

  The politics of this world were beyond her. The stuffiness and snobbery of this group of people drove her to slip out onto one of the many balconies just to relax before the next onslaught. They reminded her of the CEOs and managers of her clients back on Earth—out of touch with the everyday work and in their own little worlds of reports and numbers. Outside, she found the older knights had retreated from the crowd already and enjoyed the cool night with friendly chatter. None seemed to notice her, and for that, she was grateful.

  She moved slightly to her left to be out of the direct light of the ballroom and in the quiet seclusion of the night. Staring up at the alien stars and the twin moons, she tried to calm her nerves and prepare herself for another round of mingling, leaning on the rail to lessen the strain on her back from her wings.

  "Needed to get some air? I don’t blame you with all of that stuffiness in there." Lord Alextor leaned on the rail to her left. The shadows hid his eyes, but his tone of voice suggested a hint of humor.

  She straightened before the Leader of the Knighthood. "I was merely taking a breather, Lord Alextor. I’m not used to dealing with so many people of high rank." Her response sounded stiff even to her own ears.

  "Relax, Lady Kathryn, the night’s almost over. There’s no reason to speak formally on my account. I’m only the son of a farmer. I’m sure the nobles loved it when I became the leader of the Knighthood." He had turned his helmeted face toward her and she could see the amusement in his eyes by the light of the ballroom. "Tell me, what do you think about the Knighthood? Is it what you were expecting?"

  She relaxed slightly before answering his questions. "It’s not quite what I expected. It reminds me of going to school on Earth, but I can’t compare it to anything I’ve experienced back home. I wasn’t expecting the wing ceremony." She said the last with a grimace of remembered pain.

  "I remember my wing ceremony. They never told us until they congratulated us for making it into the Knighthood. I think they do that on purpose so you can’t get out of it. You’re all excited about getting in; you think it’s not such a big deal to go through a little pain now that you’ve reached your goal. What do you think about the feast?"

  "It’s different. I don’t know about the politics of this world, so it’s hard to know whom I should be approaching. Not everyone has been welcoming," she added, not sure how else to explain some of the rude greetings she had received. "Perhaps I just haven’t mastered the art of communication on this world."

  "I think you’re doing just fine."

  She jumped in alarm. Sir Lanclor had snuck up on her right as she spoke to Lord Alextor. Kathryn knew he was smiling underneath his helmet at her startling. Smug bastard.

  "You probably don’t realize that you’ve been speaking to Lord Alextor in Av’lorish this entire time." Sir Lanclor chuckled. "I suspected you had a better grasp of our language several weeks ago during drill."

  Busted. She prepared herself for some type of reprimand from him when he continued.

  "I’m not complaining, Lady Kathryn; I’m just making an observation. You need every advantage you can get on this world. The politics can sometimes be overwhelming."

  "Thank you, Sir Lanclor." There seemed to be some kind of tension between Lord Alextor and Sir Lanclor, and she was caught in the middle of it. Trying to avoid the verbal crossfire, she excused herself and retreated to the chaos within.

  Chapter 14

  "I don’t know if I’m surprised both of the Earthlings made it into the Knighthood," Alextor said.

  Lanclor followed his lead and didn’t see the point of bringing up their latest argument. He knew Alextor would never change his mind and he’d be stuck investigating with the Royal Guard. He’d never get anything done if he spent all of his free time dealing with others’ problems on top of his own.

  "Well, I’m sure that I’m surprised they made it. Hal seems to be a quick learner with weaponry, but Lady Kathryn is merely adequate. I heard Jakara complaining yesterday about her hiding her magical ability from him for all these months. There are rumors that she taught a good portion of the new knights how to perform the spells. This is a record number of new recruits for one session."

  "I don’t remember it ever being this high." Alextor glanced into the ballroom, briefly illuminating the dark circles beneath his eyes. "A part of me thinks it wouldn’t have been as high if, as you said, Lady Kathryn hadn’t worked with everyone. I think we should keep an eye on her. With her Sights and her rumored leadership, she could be a powerful knight indeed. I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but I would appreciate it if you could keep an eye on her. She’s already saved my life and yours and I’d hate for anything to happen to her. I would help her to get home myself as repayment, if we knew how to activate the Portal."

  Great, now he had to babysit on top of everything else. "Well, we know how to activate it; we just don’t know the location of the orb." The noise inside changed as people were ushered to their tables for the feast.

  "The Council has it, I suspect. When we used it last time, I’m sure it was a councilor under that gray robe. I don’t understand why they no longer honor the tradition of opening the gate every half century anymore," Lord Alextor shook his head as he turned to enter the hall. "We’ve learned so much about our ancestors and we’re in dire need of some new horses."

  "I don’t believe the Grayrobe’s reasoning," Lanclor said with suspicion. "He said it was no longer safe to open the portal because of plague and increased violence. I didn’t get the impression from Hal and Kathryn that there was any type of sickness there."

  "I didn’t get that impression either, but the Keeper has the right to refuse the trip."

  They both remained silent. Lancl
or didn’t know what else to say that wouldn’t create tension. Lord Alextor was the leader of the Knighthood and Lanclor his second in command. They rarely disagreed, but lately it seemed as though they couldn’t agree on anything. Alextor claimed that Lanclor's anger at the world had grown over the cycles and he didn’t know what to do to suppress it. Perhaps in time Lanclor would allow himself to be happy, but he did Bear the Destructor. Right now, he didn’t have the luxury of being happy.

  Chapter 15

  Kathryn spoke to hundreds of people that night before she sat next to Hal at one of the tables to begin the actual eating at the feast. The meal consisted of a dark meat in a savory wine sauce, roast chicken rubbed with herbs, some type of vegetable with the texture of cooked carrots, flaky pastries filled with green vegetables, and an odd soup consisting of cooked fruit.

  She could only eat one spoonful of the appalling soup. It tasted like warm orange juice with bits of some other sweet and unidentifiable Av’lorish fruits. Dessert consisted of more pastries, but filled with fruit or spiced jelly. The feast concluded with drinking and dancing. She loved to dance, but was too wary doing so in front of so many strangers. After seven hours, she left to return to her room.

  The week after the feast marked the first official day of their knightly duties. A typical day in the Knighthood consisted of weapon training, flight training, magical development and history. The weapon training was similar to their initial training, but they had Hook—a burly knight with both his hands, so she had no idea how he got his name—as their weapons master. He was a gruff teacher, but when they did something right, he let them know it. He was the kind of person who saw people's potential and focused on that rather than focusing on the things they were doing wrong.

  "I know you’re all nervous, but there’s only one way to learn." Hook’s voice boomed above the wind.

  They stood in a row upon the wall of the inner courtyard with the wind at their backs facing the training area. The ground was thirty feet below. Hook had told them to just jump and glide to safety. Yeah. Right. She told herself just to think about not having to buy any more plane tickets, but she couldn’t help picturing someone scraping her body off the ground.

  "Well, Lady Kathryn, it looks like you have the honor of going first."

  "Me? Why me, sir?" She was in the middle of the group and nowhere near the end where he would normally start.

  "You’re the only one who seems excited to do this."

  Excited? The thought of not having a railing to hold onto while looking down upon the courtyard made her weak in the knees. How did he expect her to leap off the wall if she didn’t know how to use her wings? Her wings didn’t seem strong enough to hold her weight, much less that of her armor.

  "I think maybe someone else should go first. I don’t think my wings are strong enough to hold the weight of my armor." She inched back a step.

  "Nonsense. Your wings are a part of you now and they have a magic of their own. They’ll keep you aloft if only you let them. The first time is the hardest."

  Magic wings. They have to be safer than a parachute. Parachutes can malfunction, or fall off, but her wings were part of her now. How hard could it be? Just extend them and flap.

  "Shit. Well, no guts, no glory," she mumbled to herself. Standing up straight, she looked at Hook. "Okay. Should I angle my wings a certain way? Is there some advice you can offer a first-timer?"

  He stepped forward and extended his wings. "Everything depends upon how fast you want to go. You should always keep your wings tilted so that the flat area is parallel to the ground. If you fly upright, with your feet aiming at the ground, you won’t have as much speed. This is the ideal position for hovering when you’re in formation during a battle. Your wings’ magic will keep you aloft. Now, if you need speed, then you want to have your legs extended behind you. This will allow the least wind resistance and increase your maneuverability. I would recommend the upright position for your first attempt."

  It seemed simple enough. She just had to leap off the wall and use her wings to glide safely to the ground. Nothing fancy. She stepped forward and extended her wings, trying to get used to keeping them steady. When she gathered her nerve, she leapt from the ledge.

  She felt the wind fill her wings, giving her enough lift to keep from dropping like a rock. The weight of her armor allowed her to descend instead of drift with the wind. The entire experience was exhilarating. As she approached the ground, she realized that she was coming in too fast and tilted her wings slightly back to slow her descent. Her adjustment wasn’t enough and her feet hit the ground hard, jolting her forward to land sliding in the mud.

  Hook never told them how to slow down, so she was proud of herself for figuring it out on her own, even if it wasn’t enough to prevent her face plant. At least, she thought she’d figured it out on her own. Damn Jakob. Others weren’t so lucky. She watched from the ground, absently wiping the mud from her armor, as the rest of the group followed her down. Kathryn must have made it look too easy and people were overconfident.

  Several of her group tried flapping their wings a little bit to slow their descent without tilting them. This only resulted in them gaining altitude and panicking as they approached the outer wall of the courtyard. One or two actually hit the wall while another panicked so much he simply closed his wings and fell to the ground twelve feet below. Hal was one of the lucky few who simply landed and ran to compensate for his extra speed.

  After some healers came to handle the wounded, they gathered around Hook to discuss what happened. "Well, I’ll have to admit I was surprised there weren’t more injuries. Usually, not a single first-timer makes it to the ground without a scratch. I underestimated some of you. As for the rest, there’s no need to be embarrassed or ashamed. The purpose of this method for the first flight is to make you realize the danger of flying and we hope to make you realize how ignorant you truly are. Your instructors are here to answer any questions you have and to help you become accustomed to using your new appendages."

  Over the next several weeks, they learned how to fly. It wasn’t as simple as it looked. Kathryn learned she had to take into account the wind speed and direction, how to angle her wings to make adjustments, and how to land without killing herself. Hook would have them fly around the courtyard individually in a specific pattern to learn control. It was hard work, but well worth it.

  They would always have a specific area marked for landing. Others had a lot of difficulty in slowing their approach for landing. A few had no problem landing, but were much less sure flying the patterns at higher speeds. She was among many who had problems reaching the position for optimal speed—legs straight out behind, parallel to the ground.

  After a difficult day where she just couldn’t make her body obtain the right position, she decided to practice flying around the courtyard after most people had retired for the night. The light from the torches illuminated the courtyard enough where she didn’t worry about hitting anything. After several passes, she landed in frustration to rest her wings before her next attempt.

  "Your form is all wrong," a voice startled her as it rumbled out of the darkness of the wall. She saw him as a shadow against the darkened stone. He stepped away from the wall and the torchlight reflected off his black armor. "I had the same problem when I first started."

  "Good evening, Sir Lanclor," she said in surprise and with some embarrassment. He had watched her clumsy attempt to better her form and her frustrated landing. She must look like an idiot. "Please, could you give me some advice? I don’t seem to be making any progress."

  "You need to relax. If you’re too worried about doing something wrong, your body tenses. You need to try flying just for the enjoyment of it. Once you learn to relax, your back muscles will loosen, and you’ll be able to bend your legs behind you without a problem. Don’t worry about falling or following a pattern. Fly for the sake of flying and you’ll get the results you want."

  Fly for the sake of flying. She wasn’t
going to fall and nobody would have to scrape her body off of the cobbles. Right. Enjoy something the human body wasn’t supposed to do. Her wings shouldn’t be able to hold her armored body aloft and she shouldn’t be able to hover like a hummingbird, but here she was. Damn it, she had to relax and just accept things.

  "I guess I never thought of that. I was just so focused on doing the exercises that I didn’t leave room for enjoyment." The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Logic got in the way.

  "I’ll leave you to your flying. Be safe, Lady Kathryn."

  "Be safe, Sir Lanclor."

  Hook had to leave for a few weeks after he learned his brother had been in a farming accident. While the healers had reached him in time, he was still supposed to rest for a while and needed someone to help with the fieldwork. Assessor Jakara took over for Hook temporarily and they found that his hostility had only increased toward them.

  "Ah, the Earthlings. I still can’t believe you’ve made it this far. Perhaps you’ll feel up to some unarmed combat over the next few days, then a training flight in the countryside. That will prove you’re worthy to wear those wings." He said this last with a hostile stare.

  "We greatly look forward to it, Assessor Jakara," Hal said with genuine enthusiasm. When she looked askance at him, he gave her a wink and turned away. Assessor Jakara took this as a challenge and chose Hal for his initial demonstration of unarmed combat.

  "I’m sure all of you are not very experienced with unarmed combat, so I’ll demonstrate a few moves for you, which you will practice the rest of the week." He motioned for Hal to move toward him. "Okay, Earthling, come toward me and try to hit me."