Royals Rise

by K. Manna

  He must have a speech problem or something.

  “Oh, you can’t hear,” Lottie said loudly and slowly, obviously trying to make it easier for him to read her lips. She looked at me. “No wonder he didn’t answer. Now I feel bad … and totally dumb.”

  “Yeah, so do I,” I agreed. “I never even thought about that.”

  “Maybe I should write your question down on paper. That would make it easier for us to communicate,” Lottie said, turning toward the drawers behind her.

  Lottie rummaged through drawers until she found a pencil and paper. Lottie was just beginning to write when the door flung open and Sir Felix swiftly came into the room.

  “Hello, ladies,” Sir Felix said, looking from me to Lottie. “Truman,” he said, giving a little nod toward him.

  We said hello while Truman held a straight face. Sir Felix walked to Truman and said something that I could not make out from where I sat. Then, Sir Felix pointed toward the door and Truman began to walk in that direction. Sir Felix followed closely behind him.

  Before closing the door behind them, Sir Felix said, “The Zylo requests Truman’s artistic expertise in the other room. You two continue with your artwork, and have a splendid day.” He smiled. “Oh, and good luck on the big day tomorrow.”

  Lottie and I both smiled at Sir Felix and then at each other.

  We need all the good luck we can get.

  I brushed the jade stone in my pocket before turning back to my painting.

  My painting—my souvenir—will be finished soon; very, very soon.

  After dinner, Elise, Bree, and I decided to go out back and lounge in the giant hammocks. The sky still looked gloomy, but the light rain had finally decided to give us a break. We were lying side by side with legs resting over one another.

  “I still can’t believe that Jeremiah’s in a coma. He was just helping us yesterday. It’s just crazy how someone can be totally normal one minute and in a serious condition the next,” Bree said.

  Elise shook her head. “I know. It’s like one minute you can talk with them and then the next minute you can’t, and might not ever again. It’s so sad.”

  “Let’s talk about something a little more uplifting, you guys. All this talk about Jeremiah will just bring us down. It’s horrible, but we can’t change it,” I said.

  Bree sat up. “Okay, change of subject then. I just want to say how cool you chicks are, and even if we lose tomorrow, we should all stay in touch back at home.”

  I smiled. “Of course.”

  Elise’s high-pitched giggle rang out. “Ha-ha! Why wouldn’t we?”

  Bree looked like she was about to say something when Gage ran by yelling, “Come on, everybody! Sasha and Ricky are about to scramble!”

  Bree made a confused face. “Scramble?”

  “Ya know, fight, get down and dirty. Oh, this should be good,” I said, standing up.

  Bree nodded. “Oh.”

  Elise zipped off in Gage’s direction, leaving us slowpokes behind. Others who had heard Gage’s excitement were running to see the action, too. By the time we reached the brawl site, a crowd already surrounded Sasha and Ricky. We all knew Ricky’s grudge match had been brewing for some time now. He had been pissed since day one, when Sasha was selected for strength and he had to settle for speed. I wanted to see a girl take down cocky, arrogant Ricky. Could an ordinary girl do it? No way. He would never let that happen. But in this particular situation, with this particular girl, he might have no choice.

  We all stood closely outside the hedge maze where Sasha and Ricky were having words. The trash talk escalated, and Ricky began flexing his biceps at Sasha. I cringed at the thought of what he was about to do next.

  Ugh, I hate when he kisses his stupid muscles. He thinks he is quite something.

  Sasha glared back at him shaking her head. You could tell from her expression that she thought he was a ridiculous punk who needed to be squashed for his own good. The two of them eyed each other up and down.

  “Fight!” Gage yelled, trying to fan the fire. And it worked.

  Ricky moved in toward Sasha so fast, throwing a punch that landed on her jaw.

  Ouch! That’s gotta hurt.

  But Sasha was ready for him and barely seemed to notice the blow before she went to backhand him. Ricky started to back away from her, but her strong hand caught him on the side of his neck, causing him to stumble sideways and fall to the ground.

  “That’s right, boy!” Sasha shouted.

  “Whatever. You just got lucky,” Ricky spat back.

  Sasha rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh, keep on talking, boy.”

  “Quit calling me boy!” Ricky snapped, returning to his feet.

  “Well, you act like a little boy, so that’s what I’m gonna call you,” Sasha said.

  Ricky flared his nostrils and clenched his jaw, then—BAM!—he nailed Sasha right in the gut with his knee, knocking the wind out of her. Sasha yelped, holding her stomach with her hands. Breathing loudly through her mouth, she paced back and forth, but her eyes never left Ricky, who stood there gloating. A pissed-off Sasha glared at Ricky with the meanest eyes that I had ever seen.

  Shoot, if I were Ricky, I would be really scared right about now.

  But if he was, even the slightest, he didn’t show it. With his arms crossed over each other in front of him, he gave her a cocky smirk, which she definitely wasn’t having. Charging forward, Sasha threw herself at him, but Ricky spun out of the way. Before Sasha could react, Ricky elbowed her in the ribs.

  “All right, that’s it!” Sasha screamed, pain etched across her face.

  “Whatcha gonna do? Huh, girl?” Ricky taunted.

  Sasha swiftly grabbed Ricky’s arm, catching him off guard. Now Ricky had a surprised and fearful expression on his face.

  “I’ll show you what I’m gonna do, boy,” Sasha growled.

  Ricky tried pulling away, but Sasha’s hold was too damn tight. The next thing we knew, Sasha’s knee slammed right into Ricky’s chest with such force that his legs buckled under him and he fell to the ground. Immediately, Sasha sat on top of him, both legs holding him down.

  “Oh, that’s bad. She has him locked down tight!” Anton yelled.

  Sasha raised her right hand in the air. “You want more, do ya? I’ll give you more. Here’s some more, boy.”

  She smacked his face with one hand and then the other hand.

  “You like that, huh? You like it, do ya?” Sasha pressed.

  Ricky tried protecting his face with his arms. “No, dammit. Get off me!”

  Sasha stopped smacking him. “Then say it,” she demanded.

  “Say what?”

  Sasha smiled. “Say you’re a pussy and I win.”

  Ricky shook his head. “No, I won’t say it.”

  “Okay, then.” Sasha began slapping him hard against his cheeks again.

  Ricky’s head swung to one side, his cheeks red. “All right! All right!”

  Sasha put her hands down and waited for the words that she so badly wanted to hear from Ricky’s cocky mouth.

  “I-I’m a pussy. You … win,” Ricky whispered.

  Sasha looked up at the crowd surrounding them. “Did everybody hear that?”

  A male voice rang out. “No, I didn’t!”

  All heads turned in the direction from which the voice had come.

  Cole.

  He walked toward us with Lottie beside him. They must have been coming from the woods.

  “Say it louder so that everyone can hear,” Sasha demanded.

  Ricky sighed, raising his voice a few notches. “I’m a pussy. You win.”

  “Much better. Dang, I like the sound of that,” Sasha said, getting up from the ground.

  Ricky’s hands wiped his red, swollen cheeks.

  “Oh, I kind of feel bad for
him,” Bree whispered.

  I looked at her like she was absolutely crazy. “He deserved it. He had it coming.”

  Bree obviously didn’t agree. She walked over to Ricky, who still sat on the ground embarrassed, then knelt beside him, placing her hands against his cheeks.

  Is she healing him? What a crazy chick.

  Lottie walked up to me. “Looks like I missed all the fun.”

  “Yup, you did. So, where were the two of you?” I asked.

  Lottie smiled. “We took a walk through the woods. Talked a bunch. It was really fun.”

  “Oh, was it?” I asked.

  “Yes, it was, actually,” she said.

  “Did he try and impress you with his outrageous strength by any chance?” I teased.

  Lottie rolled her eyes with a shy smile. “No.”

  “Ah, he did, didn’t he?” I had to laugh.

  “Oh, quit, you brat,” Lottie said, grabbing my arm and pulling me toward the palace. “Maybe, just maybe, I will tell you all about it later, but only if you cut it out and behave yourself.”

  Sir Felix stood before us, waiting patiently for all attention to be directed on him. Sasha asked everyone to be quiet, and then Sir Felix began speaking. “The Zylo will be down shortly to speak with all of you before he retires for the night in preparation for the exciting event tomorrow. I would also like to add that the Zyon has set aside time to join all of you for the next few hours.”

  Yay to that!

  Those butterflies started their flutter dance inside of my stomach again. They flew round and round with excitement, flying in loops and spirals. Those little flutter bugs tickled every part of my insides. My eyes were glued to the door in anticipation of seeing the Zyon’s royal hotness walking through it.

  By the time the Zylo finally strolled through the door, I could hardly contain myself. I couldn’t help but feel that it had been worth the wait. I’d never seen someone move with such confidence and grace. And oh, those sparkling-blue eyes! There was no question where the Zyon got his ravishing good looks. The Zyon followed his father, but with a little more swagger in his walk and more eye-popping hotness.

  Ugh, why can’t he be my boyfriend? My hot royalty boyfriend, so full of royalness and hotness all mixed together.

  His arms were relaxed, gliding back and forth at his sides, the exact same charming smile and gleam in his sky-blue eyes.

  He will definitely be a great Zylo someday, just like his father.

  “Shh. Everyone, please quiet down now. The Zylo is about to speak,” Sir Felix announced.

  Everyone took their seats immediately, turning their attention to the Zylo. I pretended to watch the Zylo, but my eyes kept wandering toward the Zyon.

  The Zylo cleared his throat. “I will begin by saying how sad and unfortunate it has been to have Jeremiah no longer with us. From the information that we have gathered, it seems Jeremiah badly yearned to be stronger than his fellow competitors. He became desperate and thought the Enertion energy drink would help him accomplish his dreams, but clearly he was mistaken. It is a tragedy, especially for someone so young and incredibly strong.” He began to pace back and forth, considering his next words. “Jeremiah has been flown to one of Alacor’s finest hospitals where he will receive exceptional care. And we hope he will wake soon. His condition weighs heavily on my heart, as I’m sure it does yours. He will be missed.” The Zylo stopped in his place and conjured up a hint of a smile.

  “On a brighter note, all of you have something extremely great to look forward to tomorrow. I would love for all of you to win, but sadly our royal tradition only allows for the five best individuals, one from each group, to stay here on the royal island. All of you have been working tremendously hard, and this has not gone unnoticed. I would like to thank each and every one of you for that. Unfortunately, the Zyla has not been feeling well and has asked me to spend this evening with her since tomorrow I will be required at the Royals Rise. Please forgive my absence from tonight’s festivities. In my stead, your Zyon will be spending time with you this evening, which will be much more fun than spending time with a boring old man like me. I must go now, and good luck to each and every one of you.”

  Hands clapped loudly, and shouts of joy filled the room as the Zylo disappeared through the doors. The Zyon took his father’s place in front of the crowd, standing tall and proud until everyone quieted down.

  “I look forward to talking with all of you tonight. We can all chill, lounge, hang out, whatever you want to call it.” The Zyon clapped his hands abruptly, and servants speedily came through the doors, pushing tables filled with goodies. “And, of course, we have dessert!”

  The line at the dessert tables grew quickly. Everyone walked away, holding plates filled high with yumminess. When a dessert tray ran out, a servant would bring more. There was so much to choose from: cake, pie, pastries, brownies, cookies, and tons of different flavors of ice cream. Bowls filled with an assortment of toppings lined the table in case we desired more sweetness. Oh, and at the end of the table sat one of my favorite desserts.

  Mmm, a chocolate fountain! Awesomeness.

  Bowls of fruit, candies, pretzels, and other savory morsels were displayed for dipping.

  With my plate overflowing, I sat down by my girls. We stuffed our cramholes and licked our fingers clean. Sasha finished with her desserts quickly and then proceeded to lick the lonely chocolate swirls that still clung to her plate.

  “So, I want to tell all of you a little secret,” Lottie whispered.

  “Could it have anything to do with a certain guy?” I asked jokingly.

  Lottie popped a chocolate-covered strawberry into her mouth. “Yup, it does. So, I like Cole and he likes me. We’re officially dating.”

  “Cute,” Sasha said with chocolate smudged on her nose and chin.

  Bree smiled. “Awesome. You go, girly.”

  I said, “That is totally awesome, but what happens if—”

  Lottie cut in. “If one of us happens to lose tomorrow? Yeah, we talked about that. If we both win as planned, then it’s all good. And if we both lose, that majorly sucks, but we will date from home. He only lives like an hour away from me, so it’s totally doable, right? And if one of us loses and one of us wins, well, we will be happy for each other. I guess it wasn’t meant to be then.”

  “That’s good you two talked about all the possibilities,” I said, smearing a juicy piece of pineapple into the last bit of melted chocolate on my plate.

  “Cole’s a cool guy. I hope it all works out for you,” said Sasha, even though Cole was her competitor in the strength category.

  Lottie smiled. “I know. I hope so, too.”

  I stood up. “I’ll be right back. I need more chocolate.”

  Back at the chocolate fountain, I helped myself to another scoop of liquid chocolate and pieces of fruit. I even decided to try some chocolate-covered potato chips. When someone stepped beside me, I turned, hoping it was the Zyon, but it was Gage.

  He is totally not the person that I want to talk to.

  Gage sighed. “Go-Go, quit being like that. You need to talk to me sooner or later.”

  I stuffed a piece of watermelon in my mouth. “No, I don’t.”

  Gage sighed again. “Come on, Go-Go. Gimme a break. I’m young and dumb. It’s not like I like Onnika or anything. I mean, she’s cute, but that chick can get real annoying.”

  I gave a little laugh before noticing Onnika staring right at us from across the room. She looked totally pissed.

  Ha, she heard what Gage just said.

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, you are dumb. You could have kissed any of the other girls here and I wouldn’t have cared, but then you go and kiss the one girl that I can’t stand.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve heard all of you talking about her. But hey, it’s over and done with. I can’t change i
t now. I’m still your dumb, but very cool, bro.” Gage smiled. “And who knows what will happen tomorrow. We both could win or maybe only I will win,” he joked. “But no matter what happens, I want us to be cool with each other. I don’t want you to be pissed at me.”

  “Okay, only under one condition. You can’t be kissing any more ragingly stupid chicks.”

  “Deal. That’ll be easy, I think,” Gage said hesitantly, but with a smirk on his face.

  I pushed him. “Whatever …”

  The Zyon walked up to us, making me lose my train of thought.

  The Zyon looked at each of us. “My apologies. Am I interrupting?”

  Gage shook his head. “No, not at all.”

  I smiled, shaking my head.

  “I wanted to tell the two of you something that I figured out yesterday. I was looking over past records from the Royals Rise, going way back, and I found that only one pair of twins had been chosen before the two of you. So, you two are the second pair of twins in history to ever compete. Isn’t that something?” the Zyon asked.

  “Yeah, that’s pretty cool. I never would have thought about that,” Gage said.

  “Did they win?” I asked.

  The Zyon shook his head. “No, neither of them did.” Then he smiled. “But I have a strong feeling both of you will.”

  “Let’s hope you’re right,” I said, looking straight into his gorgeous eyes.

  “I often am,” the Zyon said slyly. As he stepped away from us, I caught a little wink.

  Everyone hung out for quite a while after that. The Zyon made a point to talk with each of us. I knew that because every few minutes my eyes drifted around the room to find him. Little smiles and winks were sent my way when we would make eye contact. No matter how careful I had been trying not to let him catch me in the act, he always seemed to know just when my eyes turned toward him.

  Dammit! He caught me again.

  I kept telling myself to quit, but that only made it worse.

  The Zyon ended up asking Gage and a group of guys if they wanted to battle it up in the game room. He didn’t need to ask twice. They wouldn’t deny him or the video games, so they started to get up to leave the room.