“Stop it!” she shouted, to no effect. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Aaron running towards them, but he appeared to be too slow. Dars managed to get on top of the other boy and swung his fist. Elena grabbed the back of his collar and yanked with all her might. The blow never landed. Moving backwards, she dragged her kicking brother away from the other youngster. Dars struggled, throwing her off balance. She tripped and fell on her back, Dars landing on top of her. It knocked the wind out of her. Aaron gave the scene one unhappy look and stepped towards the royal siblings to grab the kicking and screaming Dars. The prince screeched, as he was bodily lifted into the air.
“Enough!” Aaron barked into the boy’s face. Dars stopped kicking. Aaron put him down. Free of her brother, Elena stood up shakily.
“What’s going on here?” Aaron hissed, anger in his voice. Elena looked at the other boy standing sheepishly a few steps away. His face was dusty gray, and a heavy nosebleed trickling down his chin.
“He attacked me!” Dars accused viciously. “He jumped me and knocked me down!”
“Michael?” Aaron turned to the other boy. Michael stood with his head bowed, staring at his boots.
“Elena was unarmed, when he knocked her down and kept attacking, he wasn’t gonna stop,” Michael answered simply.
“He attacked me without a reason!” Dars repeated.
“He only wanted to help me!” Elena pleaded for her rescuer. Aaron turned to her. Elena explained what happened.
“Don’t snitch!” Dars growled at her.
“Dars?” Arron questioned.
“He attacked me!” her brother persisted, and Elena thought it childish. All that was missing was him stomping his feet.
“Did you attack your sister when she was unarmed and on the ground?” Aaron asked Dars. He took one step forward. His tone cutting. Dars finally got the message. Not even his arrogance could equal Aaron’s calm fury.
“Everyone, back to your training! The three of you come with me!” Aaron commanded. Damn Dars! That kid was nothing but trouble. Nobody had to remind him that Dars was the King’s son. Aaron was far too aware of that. Under normal circumstances both boys would simply receive due punishment for violating training ground rules and the matter would be dealt with in no time. Under normal circumstances he would not give it much thought. It was just another example of the roguery he saw nearly every day. Thinking about it, he was inclined to believe that Michael had done the only right thing. If it were solely up to him, Michael would get a token punishment and Dars would get what he deserved. All the boys were being trained to become warriors and all warriors had to obey commands. Simple as that.
Dars began to rant about girls not belonging on the training ground. Elena should be learning how to wear a skirt, to converse about silly, unimportant, stupidities, and to be beautiful. Not that she was beautiful, anyway. She’s nothing but trouble, keeps provoking him, getting under his feet… Aaron was not really listening to him; he had heard it all before. One would have expected Dars to get it by now; everyone else had. Besides, none of what the prince had said wasn’t true. Elena trained a lot more and harder than anyone else and by now she was capable of defeating almost any boy her age, and even some of the older ones, too.
“Ya’re angry, cause she’s better than ya’. She can beat ya’ any time she wants and that sets ya’ off.” Michael lost his temper and interrupted Dars’ monologue. This caught Aaron’s attention. Michael was right. Aaron had made up his mind. After all, he was the commander of the Berber army; the decision was his. In time of war, even a royal brat would have to obey his command. It was true that when at war the King was his superior, but the training ground was his on all accounts. It was about time to make Dars responsible for his actions.
“You will both be punished,” Aaron announced. Dars went all red and took a breath to retort, but was not given a chance to speak. “The training ground rules exist for a reason. Everyone has to obey them. End of story, no debate!” Aaron cut him off.
And thus, both boys were escorted to their cells. Elena remained in Aaron’s office facing her commander. She watched him with her head tilted to one side, an odd expression on her face and a strange look in her eyes. Aaron rested his forearms on the table.
“Are you all right?” he asked. She looked a bit under the weather. There was blood on her chin and shirtfront, her lip was split, and she looked tired. However, it seemed as if that was the least of her concerns.
“You don’t like my decision, do you.” It was not a question, but rather a mere statement of a fact.
“I know Michael broke the rules, but he was just protecting me. We both know it was the right thing to do.” Elena frowned at him. It was quite evident she was pondering something.
“Do you understand why I punished him?”
“Hmm,” she murmured. “Dars is an idiot,” she added and to her surprise Aaron smiled.
“Will you accompany me to see your father?” asked he and she looked up at him.
“May I?”
He nodded. Together, they walked into the morning sun.
Elena suspected it might not be such a good idea to see father today. Not after last night. Her misdemeanor was far too fresh. She had a slight feeling of déjà vu, following Aaron to the king’s office. King John lifted his head from a huge pile of documents on his desk. Without ceremony, Aaron told him what had happened at the training ground. Elena stood quietly behind him, listening. The office seemed odd, different. She noticed many things that weren’t there before. Or had she just never noticed them before? The room was strangely quiet. There were no sounds from outside. Even her father looked different, but she could not exactly pinpoint how. He wore his regular loose black vest over a white shirt. She could see his muscles bulging under the cloth. He looked threatening but dignified; in a way that reminded her of Ashrack.
“Elena?” His voice startled her.
“Hmm?” She looked at him, surprised. What had she missed?
“Are you all right?” Father asked her and she wondered why was everyone questioning that.
“I’m fine,” she mumbled.
“I asked you something.”
Elena tried to remember what it was her father had said. Much to her own surprise, she realized she had missed part of the conversation.
“I wanted you to tell me what happened,” he repeated his question. Elena’s slow reactions worried him. She looked seriously under the weather.
“I wasn’t paying enough attention. Dars knocked my trak out of my hand and me to the ground. It was not enough for him, he tried to hit me again, repeatedly.”
“Are you saying your brother attacked you needlessly?” She did not like the tone of his voice in the least.
“I wouldn’t say anything that weren’t true. And everyone saw it anyway,” Elena answered and the king heard a hint of her usual energy in her voice.
“Michael was only protecting me. He doesn’t deserve to be punished,” she fired.
“He broke the training ground rules,” Father commented drily.
“He just prevented Dars from hurting me.” This time she used her father’s matter of fact tone.
“I’d like to know how come you were so distracted. It wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with your yesterday’s little trip, would it?” His look was so severe! She felt Aaron looking at her questioningly. Suddenly, an idea hit her and she spluttered out:
“You said I need my own personal guard. Berber law states that the duties of a personal guard are above the rules of the training ground, right? And it is my birthright to pick my own personal guard. I choose Michael, the son of Magnus, as the captain of my personal guard. If he agrees to assume this position, he only performed his duties and therefore cannot be punished.”
Suddenly, there was a deathly silence. The king stared at his daughter in utter bewilderment. Her thoughts made a multiplex summersault backwards. She had applied his own threat together with the letter of the law and aimed them
brazenly at him. It caught him so flatfooted, it took quite a while for him to react. In vain he tried to find a flaw in her logic.
“You refused to have a personal guard,” he tried.
“I am only respecting your wishes, Father,” she reacted with ice calm, her nerves strained to the limit. The king looked at Aaron, who stood as still as a statue, looking straight ahead, trying not to take any part in the conversation.
“Aaron?” John was clearly seeking help.
“The letter of the law is clear,” Aaron answered.
Silently, Elena waited. It was vital not to spoil the impression she had made. Her father was obviously looking for a way out of an uneasy spot. However, he was at a loss. His eight-year old daughter had used his own weapons against him. John sighed. With arms akimbo he stooped over his daughter.
“All right then. If he agrees. Only, if he agrees. Are you aware of all the consequences?”
“Yea, sir!” she answered firmly.
“Go, then.”
A charming, happy smile appeared on her face. She hugged him, kissed him on the cheek, and ran out of the room. Baffled, he stood looking after her.
“She’ll be the death of me! Where does she get these strange ideas?” he shook his head disbelievingly. “Did you advise her?” he turned to Aaron. Had Aaron allowed his face other than a neutral expression, he would have looked offended.
“Of course not. She just listens to what she’s told and thinks about it,” he commented dryly. They both felt outsmarted like two little boys. Where did she get these ideas? Young girls should not brandish the law like that. To the King, it was unsettling that she had done exactly what he wanted her to do. She just did it her way, turning it all in her favor. Dealing with her three brothers was so much easier!
Michael sat in his cell, listening to the training ground sounds coming from the outside. The sun shone through a barred window and he sat, relishing its rays. Ye gods, this was, once again, a pretty stupid idea! He knew he had done the right thing, but his instincts and, as his mother always said, his exaggerated sense of justice had a tendency to get him into trouble. There was no doubt in his mind that protecting the little princess was the right thing to do. On the other hand, getting mixed up between the king’s children was outright idiocy. He took a perch on the plank bed and decided to make the best of a bad situation. All he could do was to await the end of his punishment. He figured he should promise himself, that next time, he would think things through first, actually before doing anything. He chuckled to himself. Now that was double stupid. Father always said he should not promise what he could not deliver. Not even to himself.
◆◆◆
Elena ran almost the whole way to the cells. Out of breath, she talked the guard into letting her into Michael’s cell. The guard was reluctant, but gave in in the end. Michael got up from the bench bed. He stood almost to attention. The girl contemplated him for a moment. He was more than a head taller than she was, which was not that surprising, since he was five years older and she really was a shrimp. Even so, compared to other boys he was rather short and stocky. And despite his young age, muscles were visibly stretching his black shirt. There was not a gram of fat on him. His cheeks were still smooth and beardless. What made him so noticeable among the others at the training ground was his head. It was as bald as a snooker ball. Most Berber men had naturally dark hair, and lots of it. The whole nation proudly wore a dark, thick scalp. A bald Berber was an unusual sight to see, and Elena was not really sure if Michael’s baldness was natural, or self-inflicted. He had gray, piercing eyes. Now he had them fixed on Elena, waiting patiently. The moment she faced him, some of her enthusiasm subsided and made way to logic. Not used to warriors standing to attention because of her, she had a hard time not to start fidgeting.
“Thanks!” she broke the silence. Michael nodded.
“Pleasure,” he mumbled, trying to figure out what was the princess tyke doing by his cell. She stood to her full height, which was not much. It seemed as if she was trying to look important.
“I have an offer for you,” Elena proclaimed, doing her best not to seem overly excited. Admittedly, that was quite an effort. Michael waited dispassionately.
“According to ancient Berber law I am entitled to choose my own personal guard. If you will accept my offer, I choose you for the captain of my personal guard.” She said slowly and seriously, then went quiet. She was surprised the suggestion hadn’t shot out of her. “We will ignore the fact that you have no one to command, not yet,” she mumbled, when Michael said nothing, just gazing at her aghast.
“Me?” he managed finally, after quite a spell of time.
“Aye. Who else?” As if there were anyone else here, she thought.
“Why?” he asked, taking the wind out of her sails. Elena was expecting quite a number of questions, but “why” was not among them. Slightly baffled, she sat on one end of the bench with her knees under her chin.
“Sit down,” the girl told him, and he obeyed reluctantly, not sure how to treat her once off the training ground. High society manners were simply not part of his education.
“Why did you help me?” Elena wanted to know. He laughed a happy, lively laugh.
“Seemed like a good idea.” His shining eyes gave him a slightly crafty look.
“It got you in trouble.”
“Just a few days in the joint,” he shrugged, looking like he really did not care.
“That’s why,” Elena exclaimed.
“Why what?”
“You asked why, that’s why.”
He laughed again. “That’s probably not enough to become a captain of a princess’s personal guard,” he acknowledged, and she had to admit the thought was not out of line. Suddenly she looked taken aback.
“I have my reasons, but they are kind of hard to explain. But it’s just a suggestion anyway. And the decision’s totally up to you. You can say no.” She mumbled, suddenly unsure, and fell silent. Michael nodded in consent, raising both his eyebrows in silent question.
“Well, I’ve been fighting my father for ages to be free of a bodyguard. He keeps looking for reasons to get me stuck with one. Bit I like my freedom. Who would want an adult in the rear all the time? But I guess I messed up badly yesterday. Unless I do something, father will choose someone he likes.” There was a pause. “I have the right to pick my own guard. And you I know. We’ve spent a ton of time together at the training ground. I know you can fight and I know that… you are a square guy. You have always treated me as a friend. You didn’t have to help me today, but you did anyway. You didn’t even mind getting grounded in her.” Once again, she went silent. Then she mumbled more to herself than to Michael: “No one has ever stood up for me against Dars before.” Silence. “And I wanted to help you off the hook, because you don’t deserve to be punished, even though you say it’s nothing,” Elena continued and stopped again. A thought finally hit her. Maybe he was angry at Dars for being a spoiled brat, and maybe for being punished unduly, but he didn’t need her help. Michael had stood up for her and she wanted to return the favor, but it seemed kind of foolish now. Foolishly childish, and maybe a bit selfish. She shrugged to herself. Michael watched her face carefully as the expression on it changed with her thoughts. It seemed she had reached some kind of a decision, before jumping to her feet and standing to her full height.
“Right. Cancellation of your punishment is not important, so the choice is yours. You know what it means to be a member of a royal personal guard, let alone its captain.” She bounced on her heels a bit. In her uncertainty, she found refuge in protocol, the seriousness of the situation, and her status.
“However, before you decide, beware that service at my side will not be easy. I want to learn, travel, meet people, and see new things… And I do not intend to be held down.” And I’m a real livewire and a fidget, she thought. Which would be stating the obvious, so she did not have to mention it out loud. Michael was contemplating her with those piercing gray eyes,
thinking.
To be the first man of a princess’s personal guard was a great honor. Only the best of the best had the chance to become royal guards. His father used to guard King John. Thanks to his bravery in battle was Michael able to study and learn at the training ground, instead of spending his days braking his back with work in a field or mine. The children of Berber warriors were well taken care of. Michael’s father died protecting the king, coincidentally the day Elena was born. He would have been proud of his son. But definitely not as proud as his mother will be. In addition, it would be practical, if he were able to help her out with good salary. Besides, he couldn’t deny he quite liked the little princess. Even though she was socially very distant from him, she was always friendly, kind, and treated him as her equal. It was true she knew him well, and he knew her, since they often practiced together at the training ground. So he bowed slightly.
“I’m not sure I’m worthy of the honor,” was his humble answer. Elena almost asked him; why? But then she thought better of it. It was obvious. She figured he would state the same objections her father would have. He was too young, did not have enough experience.
“Well, I am!” She beamed at him. Her pure confidence surprised him. It was contagious. Quickly, he made up his mind. He kneeled with his right hand on his heart, his head bowed.
“Then I accept. I can’t promise more than doing my best, though.” Elena grinned. She took a deep breath. Drawing her short sword, she lay it gently on Michael’s shoulder.
“Repeat after me.” She didn’t even know where the idea came from, but she decided to use the ancient loyalty oath of the Adragon her mother had taught her, and began to recite in a language unknown to Michael. Even though he was aware of the absolute strangeness of all the words, without knowing why or how, he understood exactly what Elena was saying and was able to repeat everything correctly. He vowed loyalty to her, Elena the Berber princess, the daughter of dragon blood. With his blood and honor he pledged himself never to betray the girl, to keep all her secrets, to protect and respect her. As the words floated through the air, Elena could feel the enchantment winding around them both, binding them with an invisible bond. She finished the simple ceremony.
The Witch (Dragon Eyes Book 1) Page 5