“Who won?” I asked.
“It came down to me,” Ryker muttered. I turned in confusion, my hands covered in flour.
“Okay, you lost me. I don’t understand knight hierarchy.” I admitted. Ryker rolled his eyes, glancing around again to make sure no one could hear him.
“I am the King of Knights. Therefore, all disputes among knights can be brought to me, I’ll listen to both sides and judge soundly. The older generation argues that because I actually am not actively wielding Excalibur I am not King of Knights yet, and the younger generation doesn’t agree.”
“So, what’s your verdict?” I asked while peeling the sweet potatoes.
“Well, I am entirely tied too much into this issue for me to be completely unbiased, so I left it up to a vote,” Ryker explained. That is not what I would have done.
“And how’d they vote?” I asked.
“The younger generation petitioned a month recess on the issue for time for research,” Ryker replied.
“So that voting meeting is?” I asked.
“Tonight.” He sighed. Sometimes I didn’t know how Ryker could stand with the weight of the world on him.
“And let me guess, you aren’t allowed to contribute to the trial?” I asked.
“It’s not a trial, it’s a debate.” Ryker corrected. I glared at him, hoping he would grow more brain cells through my will.
“No, Ryker it’s not a debate. In a debate, you would be allowed to display your side, but in a trial you let people argue for you.” I informed.
“What am I on trial for?” Ryker asked.
“For being a Pendragon with Excalibur. Ryker, think about how you officially becoming King of Knights has affected the social order of things.” I urged him. The more I thought about it, the more nervous about it I became. A title that hadn’t been active in over millennia was sure to grab some power from those who would rather hold on to it.
“Well, that’s not good.” He took in a deep breath.
I let the subject drop for a while. In the meanwhile, I made sweet potato sugar cookies. I set the tray on the cooling rack and told Ryker to stand back. Waving my hand over the cookies sprinkling them with some Emrys magic. The cookies accumulated and then dissolved into a thick mushy pink goo. I picked up a spatula and poked it. It was gelatinous in movement but other then that didn’t really do anything.
“What the hell is that?” Ryker asked.
“I have no idea,” I replied picking off a piece; I turned my back to set it on a petri dish.
“I wish you’d just bake cookies again,” Ryker said after a moment. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to the mass I had made. A stack of assorted flavors of cookies were sitting in its place. What the hell?
“Look, you said you wanted cookies, and here you go,” I said setting the tray in front of him.
“Oh, is it like a wish mass?” Ryker asked.
“I have no idea,” I replied honestly.
“Well, I guess I better get going,” Ryker said, popping a cookie into his mouth.
“Wait, you’re going to the trial?” I asked. “Alone?”
“Yeah, what other choice do I have?” Ryker shrugged. My senses were like blaring alarms at the moment. This wasn’t right. Something bad was going to happen to Ryker at this ceremony, I just felt it.
“Ryker, you don’t have to go.” I tried again.
“Of course I do, I’m the King of Knights,” Ryker replied, popping another cookie into his mouth. I had to change tactics if I was going to get him to divert from disaster.
“Fine, then I’m invoking my ancient right as the descendant of Merlin to attend the knight ceremony,” I said. Ryker gave me a long look. Technically, lawfully, I could do that; Arthur said so.
“You don’t think that would make the situation worse?” Ryker asked. He had a point, but there was also no way I was letting him go in alone.
“I’m going, or you’re not, that’s the deal remember?” I reminded him. We had made a pact years ago that we would never let the other fight alone.
“Fine, meet me in the greenhouse at ten.” Ryker nodded.
“I’m bringing Ivy too.” I dared him to disagree with me. Ivy was our howitzer, we do not leave our howitzer behind.
“That will be more troublesome because she’s, well, a girl.” Ryker pointed out. I could invoke my right, but Legacy Le Fay had no mention in the Code. We’d have to sneak her in.
“Nat’s a girl,” I replied, giving him a pointed look.
“Nat’s so much taller than Ivy, it wouldn’t even begin to work,” Ryker replied.
“Fine, then you tell her she can’t come.” I dared him. Ryker gave me a long look.
“Or we just keep this between us.” Ryker gestured between our bodies.
“No secrets in the team, remember?” I replied, folding my arms over my chest. Ryker released a long deep breath and then gave me a short nod.
“Ivy can come.” He mumbled.
“What’s going on with that anyway?” I found the opening to ask. It was a selfish query, as I wanted to know how reliable this truce was and how long it might last. Things have been nice, and I wanted them to stay that way.
“I don’t know,” Ryker mumbled. “I told her how I felt and she’s still seeing Malcolm, so. . . I don’t know.” He was doing a great job of keeping a tough exterior. In fact, if I hadn’t known him, I would have never guessed. But it was his eyes, he could never hide anything because his eyes were so expressive. That was when I really started to feel for him with this Ivy thing.
“You really told her how you feel?” I asked. That was a huge step for him. “And she, what? Didn’t hear you?” All Ivy talks about is Ryker, she’d be stupid to reject him. Surely that’s not what happened.
“No, she just agreed with me and then the next day I see her going out with that guy,” Ryker replied. Surely she did not understand what he was saying. Ivy would never do that.
Turns out, the extra cookie ingredient of lavender transforms the cookies into flowers. I went on to my next component, I still had enough base batter for another batch. I grabbed cinnamon and applied a liberal amount to the batter and then placed them gently onto a baking sheet.
“Alright,” I started, pausing for a moment to collect my thoughts. “Could it be that she misunderstood you?” I asked. “What exactly did you tell her?”
“I told her that once I got my life together, then we’d be together,” Ryker replied. I rolled my eyes. I wondered if Arthur was this clueless? Sometimes I entertained myself with day dreams about how Merlin would have to deal with his own King of Knights.
“Bro, holy shit.” I sighed. “It’s a wonder she’s not waiting for you.” I then said sarcastically. Ryker glared at me.
“You didn’t tell her anything,” I argued. “You just said, ‘hey, you’re not as important as all the other shit in my life, so can you just wait for a nondescript amount of time? Thanks.’”
“That is not what I said.” Ryker rolled his eyes. I gave him a long look. Under my scrutiny his face fell, and then he shrugged.
Behind him, walking between the trees and this open plain was an old man, with long white hair and in a blue tunic with a black belt around his hips. He had a long walking stick and was strutting directly towards us.
“Ryker.” I nodded my head towards the old man. Ryker turned and then immediately rolled onto the counter, backing up to take front position between the old guy and me.
“Nothing ever changes.” The old man said, waving his hand at Ryker in a smacking motion until he could squeeze himself through into the kitchen. “You let him take point people aren’t going to remember you as a warrior.” He then told me
“What?” I asked him with utter astonishment in my voice. “Who are you?” I demanded. Ryker blocked him into the kitchen, standing there with an intimidating look on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.
“You know who I am, both of you do.” The old man said and shuffled over to my cookie ba
se batter. He threw out my cinnamon batter and started to throw dry ingredients into the bowl without measuring them.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Promise me that you will complete the list.” Old man demanded as he threw a couple eggs right into the dry ingredients without mixing them first. His hands moved so fast they were like a blur.
“What?” I couldn’t grasp who he was. My mind wouldn’t think the name. There was no way I was standing there with . . .
“Keep up boy, promise me that you will complete this list, we apparently don’t have much time.” Old man grumbled.
“I promise.” I found myself saying. He turned to me, his ethereal blue eyes looking directly into mine. They looked the exact same as mine and my fathers before me.
“Good.” He mixed the dough by hand and then rolled it out in a thick sheet. From there he cut them into round cookie shapes.
“What are you doing?” I asked again.
“Making cookies.” He replied. “I’m sorry, but I thought we had more time. I guess she changed more than I anticipated.” I had no idea what he was talking about.
“What does that mean? No more time? Morgana had said something similar.” Ryker questioned. The old man chuckled, showing his brown and yellowed teeth.
“She really doesn’t have a lot of time.” He chuckled. Ryker and I exchanged a confused glance.
“Is this fandangled thing on?” The old man asked about the oven.
“Yes, at three-seventy-five,” I answered.
“You know I first made these over an open fire. You kids are so pampered.” He muttered. He threw the cookies into the oven and then conjured a small hourglass, setting it on the counter, the sand trickling down.
“Alright, down to business.” The old man started. A small leather wrapped journal appeared on the counter. “Now I had hoped to give you this one at a time, but there is no time for that. Just promise me you’ll go through it in order. That is very important.” He began to explain.
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“I know.” The old man nodded. “Anyway, when the hourglass runs out of sand the cookies are done. You might not be able to change them your first time, but those cookies will make the codex. You just have to be ready to receive the knowledge.” He poked my chest with his bony finger.
“What does that mean?” I asked. He turned to Ryker.
“And you!” He pointed his finger at him. Ryker took a step back. “You should have Excalibur by now. You know what is holding you back and it must be remedied.” He made his voice sound high pitched and eerie. He then turned, as if whispering into his shoulder. “She changed that too.”
“Who changed what?” I demanded again.
“Now, what else?” He stuck his hands in his pockets and then pulled them out again.
“I think that will do for now.” The old man then said. Archimedes jumped up on the counter in front of him. He let out a long meow.
“Hello, old friend.” The old man said, petting the cat. Archimedes meowed again.
“Oh yes, right away.” Out of his hand came a blue light that absorbed into Archimedes fur.
“Hey, what are you doing?” I demanded.
“It’s about damn time,” Archimedes said in a deep voice. I knew what my eyes were seeing, but my mind could not comprehend it. “Dude, you are so slow.” He rolled his eyes and then jumped off the counter.
“He can talk?” I gasped.
“Oh yes, and full of interesting trivia.” The old man smiled.
“Ryker,” He then called, “Do what needs to be done.” He said in a severe voice. Ryker glared at him for a moment and then nodded. With that, he was gone in a blue cloud of smoke.
“What’s the craziest thing to happen to you today?” I asked. “Oh you know, just exploding warehouses and having conversations with millennia-old wizards, no big deal,” I answered.
“Is that who I think it was?” Ryker asked.
“I’m pretty sure. He felt. . . familiar.” I answered honestly.
“Holy shit.” He let out a deep breath. “I’m getting out of here before anything else crazy happens, I’ll see you at ten.” He waved off.
I watched him walk away and then stared down at the new book in front of me. This was my answer to the codex and to my powers, I could feel it. I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on with the shortness of time, but I figured training for preparation would never hurt. I glanced at the hourglass, the sand was almost gone. The last grains of sand trickled down the glass. Grabbing a mitt, I opened the oven and pulled out the cookies. These were the cookies, the ones that I had worked so hard to achieve. Though I may not have made them, it will be my magic that transforms them. Hovering my hand over the tray, I muttered the incantation, letting the magic flow through me.
Nothing happened.
Chapter Five:
Ryker:
I had only ever known the powers of being a knight. It was old magic, an ancient magic that had been around since before man. Knights have been a part of every civilization from Babylon to Rome to the great English Empire, from Persia to Japan. We were an ancient and powerful race of warriors, handed down from father to son since the beginning of time. One of my earliest memories was my father setting a giant marshmallow in front of me. He instructed me not to squish it as I picked it up. He was teaching me strength control, as he had for my entire life. The magic in our bones, muscles, and blood flows through us like a conduit, always creating more energy while also expending it. We were the perfect system of recycling.
This is why it was so weird for me to open myself up to new magics, to the universe. Knights were taught to keep themselves closed off from it, as it was a waste of energy, and we always had to keep our rationale about us. Since knights were so powerful, it was always best to have a definitive determination of action instead of just shrugging and blaming it on the universe. Morgana, since I had found Excalibur, had taught me how to open my soul, or whatever, to the ebbs and flow of the energies around me. She explained that the universal powers were like an invisible ocean around us, and we only had to open ourselves to let the water flow through us.
I tried everything; meditation, acupuncture, yoga, and whatever else Morgana thought might work. But if I did achieve in letting the universe flow through me, my instinct would quickly shut it off, as the energies not only gave people magic but also answers. There was only one answer that scared me, and I had felt the truth of it while under the influence of Owen’s basil cookies. The cookie had forced my shield open, allowing the energies to flow through me unabashed, and so, I had to face it.
This was the reasoning in which I found myself perched at the top of a tall pine tree, staring down at the red pickup truck below me. I had never spied in my entire life. Knights weren’t meant for espionage, but there I was, sitting on a branch over the truck, extending my hearing so I could hear the conversation in the cab. I just had to make sure she was okay, with him I mean. There was this whispering voice in the back of my head, not Excalibur, but the universe, taunting me into stalking them. Even though the cookies had worn off, I couldn’t shut the door anymore. The flow was too great.
So there I sat, in the dark, listening to Malcolm and Ivy having a conversation about the band on the radio. In all honesty, when I started this mission over an hour ago, I was going to leave them when I saw Malcolm had taken her to a swanky restaurant in town. They were in public, nothing too terrible could happen in public. But I had that feeling, that gut-wrenching, heart-pounding feeling that I needed to stay with her. And so I did, even though it went against everything, including the Knights Code. I also knew they had to head back sooner rather than later because Malcolm also had to attended the knights meeting tonight.
After getting to know him, and training with him, I found that Malcolm wasn’t a bad guy. He was a knight after all. But there were different degrees of knights. Some saw the Code as a set of outdated guidelines in which they could pick and choose which
ones they followed. The other side of the spectrum was me, who thought the Code was law. My father had explained that it was important for a Pendragon Knight to always follow the laws, both domestic and the Code. The Pendragon was an example among knights and therefore always held to a higher standard. I also agreed with the Code as a check on knights. We were, after all, people and were just as prone to corruption and violence as any other race, therefore, the Code offered parameters that kept the knight on track.
Malcolm didn’t understand the importance of the Code since he was new.
When I saw that they left the restaurant, I followed them to the outskirts of town. I thought they were heading back to campus and felt foolish for being so paranoid when Malcolm took a turn off the highway onto a vacant dirt forest road. Well, that was just a little too private for my comfort, so I followed.
Ivy seemed to be having a good time, as she was laughing and singing along with the radio. I also noticed that she asked him odd questions about his family and his past. It was like she was also looking for corruption. In fact, the way she talked to him wasn’t right at all. I knew how she spoke to someone she cared about, it was more gentle nudging instead of the serious questioning I had heard her exhibit.
“Malcolm, I told you, I’m not that type of girl.” My ears perked up when I heard her say that.
“Oh come on, it’s been weeks.” I heard Malcolm push. I glared down at the truck, trying to evaluate whether or not I should jump down there.
“Seriously, I will leave, kindly remove your hand.” Ivy snapped. Remove his hand from where? I would crush every bone in his hand for whatever he touched. The power within me felt like it was making my blood boil.
“You know, you’re a real prude sometimes.” Malcolm tried to tease, but I mostly just wanted to rip his spine from his body. No one should talk to a woman like that.
“Just take me home, please.” Ivy snapped in that regal prissy tone she’s so good at wielding. “I don’t know why you drove out here or what you were thinking.” I’m not going to lie, knowing that Ivy had just rejected him made my entire month.
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