by K. Manna
Sir Felix laughed. “Okay, we must continue.”
Then I heard the Zyon say, “See, I told you she could do it. My bet is on Sasha. Who is with me on this?”
“I am, Leon. I am with you all the way,” Uncle Demetri agreed.
Yes! Even the Zyon wants Sasha to win. See, we even think alike. He is such a bottle of hotness. All right, attention back to the screen, Margo.
Sir Felix led Sasha and Cole to their next surprise. “Here, we have two flat trailers, each carrying a beautifully carved statue of the mighty lion, a symbol of the royal lineage. Each trailer, including the weight of the statue, weighs in at an astounding thirty-five hundred pounds. The two of you will be using your miraculous strength to pull your trailer from the starting line to the bright-blue dotted finish line two hundred feet away. You will use these unbreakable chains to pull your trailer through the finish line.”
“It’s on!” Sasha yelled, jogging over to her trailer, lifting the chain, and wrapping it around her waist. Cole did the same, only more slowly.
When Sasha and Cole were in their places and ready for some serious pulling, Sir Felix sounded the start. WHOOT!
It took Sasha a few good pulls before her trailer started to move forward, squeaky wheels slowly turning with all of her pulling force. In the back of the trailer, the large statue of the royal lion perched lazily on its belly, head tilted back and looking up to the sky.
I can’t believe my friend Sasha, normal-looking Sasha, can pull this mass of thirty-five hundred pounds. It’s totally amazing!
While Sasha nudged forward little by little, Cole struggled to get the wheels of his trailer moving. He made loud grunts and growls, breathing labored breaths. Large green veins bubbled up through his forehead and temples.
Dang, he is really using all of his strength to get that big sucker moving. Oh, there it goes. It’s moving now.
Cole’s strength and willpower finally began to pay off as both he and the trailer crawled forward, looking as if they were moving in slow motion.
By then, Sasha seemed to have found her groove and was moving along at a steady pace. She moved faster than when she started. Her strong muscles were beginning to make this look somewhat easy. I couldn’t say the same for Cole, though. He continued to gradually inch forward, but it was pretty noticeable how difficult this task really was for him.
There is no possible way for him to catch up to Sasha; he has to see that by now.
Cole’s eyes were trained ahead toward both Sasha and the finish line that lay so far ahead of him.
Poor guy, now I feel bad. He must feel like a total loser right about now.
The two of them were dripping buckets of sweat, from the top of their heads to their toes. They looked like they had just stepped out of the shower with their clothes on. Sasha had slowed down a tad, looking more tired as she neared the end. But really, who wouldn’t have been at that point? Actually, I would have been flat on the ground and completely hopeless within seconds of Sir Felix’s whistle blowing, and the trailer wouldn’t have moved a measly inch.
Sasha inched closer and closer toward the finish until at last she crept over the blue dotted line.
When Sasha’s entire trailer had completely crossed the finish line, Sir Felix whistled loudly, waving his hands from the sidelines. “You may stop now, Sasha!”
Sasha threw down the large chain. “I did it! Tell me I’m awesome, Sir Felix! Come on! Tell me!”
“You are extremely awesome, Sasha!” Sir Felix said loudly.
Sasha wiped the sweat from her face and glanced back to see how far behind Cole was. She saw what we all did. Cole had only just passed the halfway mark, and there was a horribly tired look on his face.
“Cole, I won this one by a long shot! You might as well stop now!” Sasha yelled.
Cole’s scrunched eyes looked up from the ground toward Sasha. “N-no!” he grunted loudly. “N-not giving up.”
Sasha rolled her eyes. “Fine then, be that way!” She lowered her voice. “If he wants to burn all of his energy, that’s fine with me. Hmm, this is gonna take a while.”
Cole couldn’t hear what Sasha said, but the rest of us could hear her clearly through the speakers. Cole did just what he said he would do. He didn’t give up. He pulled and tugged at that gigantic trailer, moving it bit by bit.
Cole, just give it up, dude. Ugh, he has too much dang pride. He’s not going to stop until he finishes this thing. This is going to take a while.
My stomach growled loudly. I had used a lot of calories in the competition. I turned toward the food table.
Yes, it’s definitely time for some grub.
“Mmm, that was good,” I mumbled to myself after eating a ton of tasty delectables from the buffet.
I looked at the screen—again and again—until Cole finally crossed the finish line. He looked completely drained.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he fell over this instant.
Sasha handed Cole four water bottles, and he downed each one of them, one after the other, within less than a minute.
“For your final event, each of you will be pulling a tree out of the earth. The Zyon will be having the winner’s tree trunk carved into a statue of him,” Sir Felix said with a smile. “Please follow me.”
Sir Felix led Sasha and Cole to two similar-looking trees, both tree trunks marked with the usual silver “Z.” These trees were definitely not the largest trees in the bunch, but I’m sure they were heavy as hell.
Yeah, even the strongest human wouldn’t be able to rip that sucker out of the ground, roots and all. No, this will not be easy for either of them.
“These ash trees stand a little over thirty feet high and weigh over forty-four hundred pounds. You will find that your arms will fit around the width of the tree trunk, which should help in removing it from the ground. Sasha, please take the tree marked with the green “Z” on the right; Cole, please take the tree on the left,” Sir Felix instructed.
The two of them stood facing their assigned trees. Sasha rolled her head around in circles and shook out her limbs, loosening them up. Cole took deep, steadying breaths, stretched his arms high over his head, then released them.
WHOOT!
Sasha and Cole bent their knees, gripped their respective tree trunks tightly, and began to pull upward. Cole grumbled and growled with every tug, but the tree didn’t budge. Sasha made funny noises, too, yanking and pulling with all of her might. After many attempts, her tree moved ever so slightly. She bent her knees even lower, giving it another go. Nearby, Cole released his grip and stepped backward, shaking out his arms and legs and watching Sasha’s every move. As Cole watched in horror, the roots and soil beneath Sasha’s tree began to give way with a series of creaks. Cole returned to his tree in earnest, hoping desperately that he could somehow finish first.
“M-m-move,” Cole growled. “Come on!”
Still nothing.
Sasha released her tree, stretched her arms up and behind her head, then lowered them and shook out her joints before attempting her next monster pull. Her first attempt, while productive, had taken all of her strength. This time she positioned herself even closer to the ground, scant inches above the tangled roots that poked above the soil.
“Urr!’ Sasha roared, giving another forceful pull.
Sasha’s first attempt had loosened the tree significantly, and this time it was clear that the tree was no longer anchored to the ground. Cole’s tree still hadn’t moved. It stood straight and tall, exactly as it did before.
Did it just move? Maybe it did … a little bit. But wait, no, I don’t think it did. My eyes must be playing tricks on me.
Cole suddenly stopped what he was doing. “This is bogus!” he shouted, punching his fist over the letter “Z.” “Ow! Damn, I think I broke my hand. I’m done.”
Sir Felix walked over to Cole. “Ver
y well, Cole. You tried tremendously hard. Let Sonya heal your hand for you now.”
Cole sighed. “All right. But dang, this really sucks.” Before walking away Cole looked at Sasha. “You win, Sasha. You’re awesome. I can’t keep up with you.”
Sasha was in the middle of giving another big yank when the whole tree, roots and everything along with it, began to pull out from the dirt. Sasha grunted, “Th-thanks.”
Everyone already expected who the winner would be after those last couple of rounds. Sasha really turned things around. I had felt really scared for her for a minute there. I felt a little bad for Cole, but a whole lot of happiness for Sasha.
Yay! Sasha won. She will stay here at the palace with me as a royal forever and always.
Sasha tried to slowly and carefully lay the tree on the ground, but it was too awkward and fell with a loud thud and a crunch.
Sir Felix wrapped his arm around Sasha’s shoulder. “Sasha, you are the winner! You did a fantastic job! Please make your way up to the royal balcony, where you will join the royal family, Preston, and Margo.”
“Whoa! I knew she would win. Uncle Demetri and I win the bet, so pay up, Father.” The Zyon was excited; he stood up from his seat. “I need something sweet. I’ll be right back, and when I return, I want to see my winnings on my seat. Ha-ha!”
He is so cute. I wish he would come sit by me.
On his way back to his seat, the Zyon stopped at my side. “I brought you a delicious treat. It is a fruit tart, one of my favorites.”
I shyly took the tart from him. “Thanks. It looks good.”
Yeah, because you picked it out. And touched it. Now feed it to me. Stop, Margo!
As I brought the sweet treat to my lips, one of the blueberries tumbled to the floor.
“Here, let me get that for you,” the Zyon said, bending down to pick it up.
I smiled. “Okay, thank you.”
When he stood up, his body brushed softly against me. His eyes looked straight into mine. “No problem, Margo. Remember, I once said, ‘Anything for you.’”
I nodded. “Yes, of course I remember. How could I forget?”
He whispered, “I hope you never do.”
Ah, I can’t take it anymore! He is so perfect and sweet and everything under the sun.
After Sasha had her picture taken, she walked with Leenda toward the royal family with her head happily bobbing up and down. I smiled at her, giving her the thumbs up when she looked in my direction. The Zyon began introducing his uncles for the third time. I sat staring, but only at him.
These eyes of mine will never get enough of him.
Sasha shook hands with each royal uncle and beamed with pride and joy. After they finished, she made her way to me, a giant smile on her face.
I stood up and gave her a hug. “You are amazing, Sasha. I’m so happy and relieved that you won.”
Sasha reached out to return the hug. “Ow! Oh shoot, my frickin’ arms hurt.”
“What?” I looked down at the insides of her arms, which were all red, swollen, and scraped up from lifting the tree. “You poor thing.”
“Yeah, that last one really did a number on me, but it was worth it.” Sasha laughed.
I placed my hands over her reddened arms. “I can take care of it for you.”
Sasha smiled. “I knew you would. I’m so dang lucky to have you,” Sasha pointed out teasingly.
“No, we’re lucky to have each other. Now, be quiet so I can focus on healing you,” I joked demandingly.
The large screen in front of us turned from jet black to the green and brown shades of nature as the Royals Rise continued in the forest. Sir Felix stood before Lottie, Anton, and Onnika, who were seated on fancy chairs atop their own individual platforms spaced an equal distance apart. Lottie looked happy and excited, but I knew deep down she was nervous as all hell; it didn’t help that she had to compete against Onnika or that Cole had just lost. No one would have ever known just by looking at her how nervous Lottie really felt because she hid it so well. Seated to Lottie’s right was Anton, looking all chill. And on his other side, Onnika smiled and laughed, being all perky and fake, as usual.
Ugh, can someone get rid of her, like now? I can’t stand her.
“We will now proceed with our hearing portion of the Royals Rise,” said Sir Felix. Waving a hand toward Onnika, he continued, “Allow me to introduce to you Onnika Dreon, and in the center we have Anton Wyston, and on the far end is Lottie Watuva.”
Seeing the three of them on the screen suddenly made me really nervous all over again. I wanted Lottie to win so badly. We had become so close since we first met, and I didn’t want to lose our friendship. If she lost, I would never see her again. She would be sent back home to live as she once had, without her mother and with her depressed father who didn’t know how to communicate with her anymore.
How lonely it must feel to be missing the attention that you so badly crave. I don’t want her to go back to that. I don’t want her to feel that way ever again. She has to win. She certainly deserves it more than Onnika.
“Only the smallest of the bells will ring at what is known as the Bell-ateau Wall a little over a quarter of a mile away. These will not be loud, echoing church bells, but much smaller handbells that the average human ear could not possibly hear from such a distance.” Sir Felix began to hand out a little screen to each of them. “Your challenge is to write down how many times you hear these bells ring. The ringing will start after I blow the whistle. I will whistle again when the ringing is complete.”
WHOOT!
Suddenly, the screen changed to a clip of a tall wall of smooth stone with many open windows of different sizes cut out from top to bottom. When the camera zoomed in closer, I could see that one weathered silver bell dangled from each window. The bells were comparable in size to the windows: large bells in the larger windows at the bottom of the wall and small bells in the smaller windows at the top of the wall. The camera zoomed in on the three highest and smallest bells at the top of the wall.
ZOOM OUT.
My eyes shot straight to Lottie who had her eyes closed now, sitting so very still and listening for the ringing sounds. Her brow was furrowed deeply with concentration.
Come on, Lottie. You can do this. Focus. All you gotta do is focus.
WHOOT!
Lottie jotted down a little mark for every ring that she heard. When the second whistle blew, Onnika’s name in the color blue popped up on the screen first with her answer of eleven. Anton’s came next in the color red, also with the number eleven, and then Lottie’s answer appeared in green.
Eleven. That has to be it. Oh good, Lottie, you got it right. Just speed it up a little, girl.
“Very well.” Sir Felix smiled. “The next sound you hear will be coming from a radio set on medium volume on a boat docked at a distance that’s even farther away. This sound will be of Famootan bongos playing a tune with a voice singing lyrics that you will have to distinguish and write down. As before, I will whistle when you may begin. Once the bongos have stopped playing, you will have thirty seconds to complete the writing of the lyrics. My second whistle will indicate that time is up.”
All had their pens ready and waiting to write down the lyrics that would soon hit their ears. Looking closely at Lottie, I noticed her hand was slightly trembling on top of her screen as she waited, again with closed eyes. Her eyes shot open after Sir Felix blew the whistle, and she focused on her screen. Immediately, all three of them started to write on their screens. We all watched as the writing curved unevenly, scribbles were made, and words were misspelled or letters forgotten. The only answer I cared to look at was Lottie’s and it read:
The Royals Ris may b yr dreem come tru but u must lisen closly and completly the entire way thru.
Sir Felix whooted after thirty seconds passed. “I completely understand that each of
you felt rushed and this has caused you to misspell or abbreviate words, but I would like you to rewrite your final answers so that they are easily readable.”
So they did. The final written answers were much straighter, neater, and correctly spelled, for the most part. Now Lottie’s read:
The Royals Rise may be your dream come true, but you must listen closely and completely the entire way through.
“Much better.” Sir Felix grinned after rereading the corrected handwriting. “For the next test, I will be taking each of you one at a time into the forest where you will have to listen for the sounds of a fencing match, two swords colliding with each other off in the distance a half mile away. You must make your way through the forest, and upon finding the source of the sound, you must remove the sword from its holder to stop the clock. Who would like to go first?”
Of course …
Onnika’s hand flew up. “Me, me, me!”
“All right, Onnika, please come with me. Lottie and Anton, please place the soundproof helmet located behind your chair snuggly over your head and relax until I come to select you for your turn.”
Anton and Lottie nodded in understanding, then reached for their helmets. I wished Lottie had gone first just to get it over with. Her nerves had to be raging at this point, and waiting around with the anticipation of her turn probably wouldn’t help any. Once Anton and Lottie were in place with helmets secured, Sir Felix placed Onnika in the starting position.
WHOOT!
And off the little bitch goes! I hope she trips.
Through the speakers, I couldn’t hear any sort of sword clanking or sword fighting, only the sounds of nature and Onnika’s footsteps. A little ways farther into the forest, Onnika stopped and closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds around her. Then, her eyes flew open. She smiled and darted off to her right, deeper and deeper into the woods as fast as her twig legs could take her.
The camera zoomed in on Onnika and we heard her say, “I totally got this. Man, this is easy.”
About four minutes had passed when Onnika began to slow down. She mumbled to herself.