Royals Rise

by K. Manna

  “I guess, if I absolutely had to pick, it would be pancakes,” Onnika answered with sassiness in her eyes.

  “See, there you go. It’s a tie. Seven to seven. Keendra doesn’t count, dude,” Anton pointed out.

  Gage sat back in his chair. “Think what you want, dude, but cinna toast totally wins.”

  “Whatever, dude,” Anton sighed, giving up.

  “No, whatever with you, dude,” Gage shot back.

  Onnika suddenly screamed, “Ah, quit with the dude thing already!”

  Gage looked at Onnika. “Bite me.”

  “Say it again and I just might,” Onnika snarled, leaning over the table toward him.

  “Nobody wants to see any of that, so simmer down. I really don’t wanna have to get involved here, but I will if I have to,” Sasha said loudly.

  “I want to see some biting action.” Ricky smiled.

  Sasha stood up. “You be quiet, boy! I will take care of you too if I have to.”

  “Oh, snap.” Lottie laughed.

  That shut Ricky up real fast.

  Keendra and Bridgeet brought the food out shortly after all the drama had subsided. The smell of syrup filled the air as everyone poured it over their cinna toast, pancakes, and waffles. Such a syrupy bunch we all were. Ha-ha. No more rude remarks or arguing occurred throughout the rest of breakfast. I had to admit that Sasha sure knew how to put the smack down. By that time, everyone should have known that you don’t mess with Sasha—or else.

  “Now that all of you have been well fed, please follow me,” Sir Felix said.

  Sir Felix led us outside through the back doors where those same blue mats lay on the damp grass in the shape of a circle, reminding me of the first night when we had been brought out here. Only we were minus one mat.

  Ugh, that reminds me of Jeremiah all over again.

  Sir Felix instructed us to take a seat on a mat. I noticed that most took the same seat as they had before, except for Onnika. She gave Gage an angry look before moving her mat to another place in the circle. Gage didn’t seem to notice.

  Good, this is the way it should have been in the first place.

  The Zylo came through the double doors with a giant grin on his face. Today he wore an elegant royal-blue robe that hung to the ground; a large shimmery “Z” glistened on his upper back. Following closely behind him came the hottest guy alive, the Zyon, who also flaunted a robe, but a silver one.

  If his favorite color is silver, then so is mine. He is so damn perfect. How does he even exist? Nobody is that perfect. Just look at his royal hotness.

  Reaching the platform, the Zylo began to speak with excitement in his voice. “What a marvelous day! Can you believe that this special day has finally arrived?” He shook his head. “I still cannot believe it. No words can explain the exhilaration that I am feeling right now. I will begin by saying that all of you should be very thankful for having the opportunity to visit the royal palace and to take part in the Royals Rise. All of you have worked extremely hard during your time here, so I truly hope that all of you will be proud of yourselves no matter what the outcome is today. But if you should not be a chosen winner today, please remember that it is not the end of the world. I know it may feel as such, but it is not. Life goes on and will go on. Appreciate all the opportunities that you have been given and be thankful for the great memories that you will carry with you for all time.

  “Before I step away, I would like each of you to know that for those of you who do not win, I have an exceptional offer. You will be allowed to end your schooling and join our military, where your special abilities will be of great value. Those of you who agree to this offer will gain many great benefits for years to come. Quite an exceptional offer, isn’t it? Thank you again for all the hard work, and good luck to all of you. Now for the Zyon …”

  With a nod, the Zyon stepped in and took his place. “Like my father, I am very excited for the Royals Rise. I am sure all of you are, too. It has been a pleasure meeting all of you and having you with us. Everyone here is extremely fortunate to have been born with such special abilities. I truly envy each and every one of you for that. I am looking forward to watching the exciting competitions today. Good luck to all!” With a wave, the Zyon left the platform and strutted back inside the double doors.

  Clasping his hands together in front of him, the Zylo spoke again. “The Zyon, my three brothers, and I will be watching the events from the high balcony. In most cases, we will know the winners immediately after the event, but in some instances, the five of us will need to come to an agreement about who has won. Once a winner has been determined and announced, I will ask for the winner to please join us on the high balcony. The winners will have their photographs taken before they are seated to watch the upcoming events.”

  The Zylo scratched his head. “I know everyone is anxious to get this show on the road, but first we must have a group meditation. Take this time to reenergize, focus, and prepare yourselves for what lies ahead of you. Today, each of you will be competing for your goals and your dreams. This is an awfully important day, the most important day of your lives.” The Zylo pointed his finger toward each of us. “Only you can strive to meet your goals. Only you can make your dreams a reality—you and only you. So for today, make ‘you’ happen.” A bit of silence passed. “Now, before all of the excitement begins, please close your eyes and bring yourselves into harmonious meditation.”

  I closed my eyes, letting myself drift to the place that held all of my powerful energy. The Zylo told us to reenergize, focus, and prepare for what lay ahead, so that was exactly what I did. Determination raced through my veins, making the energy running through every part of me even stronger—stronger to help me make my dreams a reality; stronger so that I could strive to meet my one goal, the one and only goal.

  I will make myself happen today, no matter what it takes. Nothing and no one can stop me.

  My dream felt so close I could almost taste it, but almost would never be good enough. I wanted to taste it, needed to taste it, right on the tip of my tongue where the taste would linger forever. Sweet, sweet, sugary-sweet dreams of pride and glory. As my mind relaxed into deep meditation, my thoughts began to collide with daydreams. A swirl of colors and shapes moved, shifting in every direction underneath my eyelids. I cupped my hands together, feeling the heat rise as I tapped into all of the energy possible that I had to offer.

  Focus. Focus. How bad do you want this, Margo? How bad? This is it. Today is your only chance. Make it happen. Make “you” happen.

  Moments later, I heard a faint voice. “Go-Go? Hey, Go-Go? Is anybody in there?”

  I opened my eyes to find Lottie staring back at me. Right behind her stood Bree and Sasha. Lottie grabbed my hands and pulled me up. “Come on. Meditation is over. Sir Felix is taking us to where we will be watching the Royals Rise.”

  “Come on, slow pokes! Everyone else is leaving,” Bree said.

  Rubbing my eyes, I stretched. “Sorry for slowing you down. Go ahead if you want to.”

  “All righty then.” Bree shrugged her shoulders before rushing off to catch up with the rest of the crowd.

  Not very far behind, Sasha, Lottie, and I followed the group. Many of the others pushed and shoved to make their way to the front, to be closest to Sir Felix.

  A loud shriek pierced my ears. “Damn you! You just stepped on my toe!”

  Ugh, Onnika.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Anton apologized.

  By this time, we had caught up to the back of the group.

  “Whatever, Anton,” Onnika huffed. “What are you rushing for, anyway? You should know by now that I’m going to beat you, both you and Lottie.”

  “Onnika, do you ever shut up? I mean, really? Just shut your annoying pie hole. Nobody wants to hear it,” Anton shot back, inviting high-fives from Gage and Cole.

  Lottie, S
asha, and I looked at each other with satisfied smiles. Everybody was so sick of Onnika’s complaints by now. Just think of two whole weeks of having to listen to her rude mouth. Nobody could stand it any longer.

  What if Onnika wins, though? What if I end up having to put up with her day after day for the rest of my life?

  I looked at Lottie. “I mean it, Lottie, you better win. I will not be able to stand Onnika for another week, let alone a lifetime.”

  Lottie squeezed my arm. “Well, that’s the plan. So let’s hope that little bitch doesn’t screw it up.”

  With scrunched eyebrows and narrowed eyes, Onnika looked back and gave us the ugliest evil eye known to man.

  Sasha laughed. “Looks like somebody heard you. Did you see that look she just gave you?”

  “Who could miss it?” I asked.

  Lottie gave a little laugh. “I wish her face would stay stuck like that. Then every day when she looks in the mirror, she would be reminded of how evil she really is.” Lottie scrunched her face pretending to be Onnika.

  Sasha cracked a loud laugh.

  Ah, we’re better than this. I don’t want to be mean and have it jinx us.

  “Okay, we get it. Let’s not stoop to her level,” I said.

  Lottie got a little defensive. “Yeah, but she deserves it.”

  “That’s for sure,” Sasha agreed, skipping ahead toward Bree.

  I gave Lottie’s arm a little pull. “I know, but I want today to be an awesome day filled with positive energy. Let’s just try to ignore Onnika and block out all of her negativity so it doesn’t rub off on us.”

  “You’re so right. Good always wins over evil … at least most of the time.”

  I whispered into Lottie’s ear. “Only the good is going to win today. I can feel it.”

  Sir Felix led us to a large patio near the side of the palace where eleven comfy-looking, royal-blue chairs sat facing a massive screen. This was where we will be watching the Royals Rise. My heart thumped inside my chest.

  THUMP THUMP … THUMP THUMP …

  Wow, this is really it. The Royals Rise is really starting, and I am really going to be in it. This is crazy. Wow, the pressure is on.

  Sir Felix smiled at us. “Before any of you are seated, I would like for Maxwell, Preston, and Alexander to follow me, please. The Zyon has chosen for the vision event to begin our spectacular Royals Rise tradition today.”

  I reached out to tap Alex’s shoulder. He turned toward me with both thrill and worry in his eyes. A small crooked smile crept upon his face when he saw that it was me tapping him.

  “Good luck, pussy,” I said jokingly, reminding him of the time I had called him that over the chewing dare.

  Alex laughed. “Oh, thanks.”

  “You’re going to do awesome, so don’t worry about it,” I reassured him.

  Shoot, I should listen to my own advice and do the same. Why do people do that? We speak one thing knowing that is what we should do, but then we do the complete opposite.

  Alex started to walk backwards in the direction toward Sir Felix. “Easier said than done, but I’ll try.”

  Lottie pulled at my arm. “Come on. Let’s grab a seat.”

  We chose our seats carefully so that we could avoid Onnika. Ignoring her would be so much easier with distance between us. That’s not to say that we couldn’t still hear her annoying voice.

  Poor Lottie has to compete against her. That totally sucks. I really, really, really hope Onnika doesn’t win. That chick does not deserve it. If by chance Lottie doesn’t win, then my second vote is definitely Anton. He’s a pretty nice guy, and I give him props for telling Onnika off.

  I fingered the stone in my pocket. It felt warm. I tried staying positive and worry-free, but my what-if thoughts had begun to kick in with all of the expectations I had placed upon myself.

  What if I get up there and can’t heal a damn thing? What if the others heal faster and better than me? What will I do with the rest of my life if I don’t win? What if Lottie doesn’t win? Or Anton? Seriously, if Onnika wins, how will I live sanely with her around? And what about Gage? What if he doesn’t win? Or what if he wins and I don’t? Ugh, I would always and forever feel inferior to him, even to myself, if that’s even possible. Oh shoot, now I feel like I gotta pee.

  With thoughts and worries reeling through my mind, it started to make my nerves and bladder tense up, and everything else along with it. Every inch of my body was being affected by my anxious brain. I gripped the armrest next to Lottie.

  Lottie grabbed my hand. “Chill out. I can tell you are nervous as hell. Remember, no matter what happens today, we will be all right. Sisters for life.” She smiled.

  “Yeah, sisters for life. I know. My mind is totally weird, though. One minute I feel all cool and positive, and the next minute I feel nervous and worried. I hate not being able to control my own freaking mind,” I explained with frustration.

  “You’re only human, Go-Go. And actually, I read that getting all nervous before doing something really important is supposed to make you do better. It helps to prepare you or to try harder, I guess.”

  I sighed. “Let’s hope so.” Then I quickly sat up in my chair. “Look, it’s starting! They’re on the screen.”

  Max stood there tall and proud with a huge, excited smile on his face. Next to him, Preston stood in obvious discomfort, so serious and stiff. Alex looked at the camera with the same crooked smile and the same thrilled but scared look in his eyes.

  Then Sir Felix appeared on the screen and began speaking. “And now the Royals Rise will officially begin.” He stepped toward Preston, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Let’s meet the contestants. This is Preston Ebenseth.”

  Sir Felix introduced Alex and Max, or should I say Alexander Poe and Maxwell Misklee. All of the adults seemed to refer to everyone by their full name. Then Sir Felix handed each of them a black, rectangular object.

  “Each of you will use these screens for marking your answers. You will find a marking pen attached to the side of each screen. Please mark or write all answers as neatly as possible. When you have chosen your final answer, press the letter “Z” at the bottom of the screen with your pen. This will finalize your answer as well as post your answers onto the large screens so that everyone watching can follow along,” Sir Felix explained. His face turned serious. “Follow all of my instructions, please. If not followed, you may lose points. Also, speed and accuracy will be taken into consideration and will most certainly help during final decision making, if and when necessary.” He pointed to his temple. “Keep that in mind.”

  The three guys nodded with understanding.

  “Let us begin then. Please step into your stations: Maxwell, the red station; Alexander, the blue station; and Preston, the green station.”

  All three of them did as they were instructed. As soon as they were all inside of their enclosed stations, which reminded me of a dome-shaped virtual ride at the fair, an individual camera view popped up on the big screen with Max on the left of the screen outlined in red, Alex in the center outlined in blue, and Preston on the right outlined in green. A huge smile blossomed on all three of their faces as soon as they saw the silver gun stationed on a stand in front of them.

  “I would like for all of you to set your screens in the holder to your right. You will not be needing them for this round. Now, the darkened window will rise before you, and in the distance each of you will see your own individual target. It is a heavily jeweled glove positioned on a pillared stand seven hundred feet in front of you. When you look closely at this upright glove, you will find two silver-dollar coins positioned between two gloved fingers. These coins—not the fingers—will be your targets. You must align the crosshairs of the unmagnified scope on your rifle on one coin, lock the gun into place by pressing the red button beneath the grip, and then pull the trigger. You will do the same for
the second coin. All understood?” Sir Felix asked after his detailed instructions.

  Preston nodded along with Max.

  “Why do we have to lock the gun in place? That’s not normally how you shoot a gun,” Alex asked.

  “Yes, I understand.” Sir Felix nodded. “But we are not focusing on your hand-eye coordination or the steadiness of your hand. We are only focusing on the accuracy of your eyesight. Thus, the aligning of your gun to the exact location of your target, the coins, is only what is needed.”

  Alex nodded. “Oh. I see.”

  “Okay. Ready yourselves, gentleman. As soon as you hear my whistle, you may begin.”

  Sir Felix blew the whistle in his hand.

  WHOOT!

  The windows rose in front of the contestants.

  “This is crazy,” I whispered to Lottie. “Do you really think that they will be able to see from so far away?”

  “Yup, I’m sure of it,” Lottie said without hesitation.

  I looked back at the big screen.

  “Max is totally going to win this,” Ricky said loudly.

  “Nah, Alex will,” Cole disagreed.

  On the screen, we saw Max quickly line up his gun to his target and lock the gun into place. The camera view changed so that we could see his target, the small coins, more closely. Within less than a second, the coin between the pinky and ring finger had been shot out of place.

  Ricky laughed. “See, what did I tell you? Max is the first to shoot.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Cole said with annoyance.

  Ricky shook his head. “Whatever, dude, you’ll see.”

  I watched as both Alex and Preston succeeded in hitting their first target, too, as if it was no challenge for them at all. But then my eyes caught Max’s next shot, and it wasn’t good.

  Oh, damn! He blew off a finger!

  Alex also misaligned his target slightly. While succeeding in nailing his second coin, he also blew off the tip of the pointer finger.

  Shoot, Alex! Will that count against you even though you hit the coin?