The Champion

Chapter Four

That night, Dorothea gave Kyana a lovely lilac dress to wear. When Kyana put it on, she felt like a princess. It was sleeveless and the skirts had many folds. 'Have a good night deary.' Dorothea said. 'Thanks, Dotty.' Kyana smiled appreciatively at the old woman. Kyana strode into the main hall. Her cheeks burned a little when she felt most of the eyes in the hall turn toward her. Dakari walked over to her. 'Glad you could make it.' he said. 'Me too.' Kyana breathed. 'You look stunning tonight.' he smiled. 'Thank you. I could say the same thing about you.' Kyana replied. She studied his outfit. He was wearing a suit made from the finest material. It was dark blue and his shoes and tie were light blues. His shirt was white. 'Are you hungry? You look like it.' Dakari asked. 'Oh, yes. A day of training and I'm famished.' Kyana let Dakari lead her over to the buffet. 'Come sit at the head of the table with me will you?' Dakari asked. 'My pleasure.' Kyana picked up a plate and covered it with food. 

At the head of the table were the King and Queen. Kyana had never seen the Queen up close. She was absolutely beautiful. Her dark brown hair hung in waves down her back and her periwinkle blue eyes were creased with laughter. 'I don't think I've introduced you to my wife Eliana.' the King said. 'Pleasure to meet you. Who might you be?' the Queen's voice was a lovely soft hum. 'My name is Chrysanthemum Shard, your highness.' Kyana curtsied. 'Sit my dear Chrysanthemum. Up here next to me.' The Queen patted the chair next to her. Kyana hesitated and Dakari gave her a small push in the middle of her back. She looked at him and he smiled encouragingly at her. She sat down and slowly began to eat, minding her manners and smiling at the Queen every once in a while. 

About half an hour later, the orchestra struck up a medium-paced song. "Care to dance?" Dakari asked, almost shyly. "Of course." Kyana took his arm and they strode into almost the centre of the ballroom. They both weren't the best of dancers but they kept the beat and managed to avoid a clash with other dancers. "Chrys!" Kyana turned to see Jack walking toward them. "Chrys," he said again, "I need to talk to you." Kyana let go of Dakari and followed Jack silently out of the ballroom. Once they were in the wide corridor, she said "What do you want me here for?" Jack sighed. "Another body reported." "Who?" Kyana asked. "Again, I'll take you there." Jack motioned for her to follow him and she did. They reached the third floor and found the body in one of the corridors. Once again, the person looked as if all the blood was sucked out of them, leaving the skin. The body was Archan Boswick, the first to do the dagger throwing challenge. "Hmm..." Kyana mumbled. "Why and who is doing this?" Jack raised his eyebrow. "Don't you think I would have told you by now if I knew who it was?" he huffed. "I suppose." Kyana shrugged. 

Later that night, Kyana lay in her bed, thinking about the two dead people. "Why would anyone do that?" she thought. "Is someone human doing it?" Slowly and carefully, she drifted into an unwilling, dreamless sleep.

"Hey. Kyana." Kyana sat bolt upright in bed and clashed heads with Jack. "Owww." She groaned. Jack clutched his forehead and staggered backwards a few steps. "Why must you get so close?" Kyana asked, slowly getting out of bed. "I didn't think you'd react." he gasped. "I'm an assassin, doofus." she rolled her eyes. She was supposed to be alert. "Well, you get dressed and I'll quickly find something to ease my headache." Jack stumbled slightly as he left the room. "Are you alright, dear?" Dorothea entered the room. "Yes, just a slight head clash with Jack." Kyana rubbed her head and Dorothea said, " Big day of training today." "Really? Why?" Kyana took the clothes Dorothea was holding. "Remember? Your next test is in two days!" Dorothea exclaimed. "Oh, of course! Thanks, Dotty." Kyana left the room to change. 

Again, Jack and Kyana stepped into the dining hall to pick up some breakfast. "Today we will be doing a series of obstacles and weapons that you might not have wielded before," Jack explained as they were walking through the courtyard. "You think that there is a weapon that I have yet to wield?" Kyana questioned. "Uh, of course!" Jack looked at her. "There is some you haven't tried, isn't there?" "Maybe. But it is highly unlikely that there is a weapon I have not used." Kyana smirked. "Now, now, don't get cocky Chrys." Jack mock-scolded. 

They reached the obstacle course, but not before going through a dense forest. "Did you make this?" Kyana asked Jack and pointed to the sandbags, beams and ropes. "I had help." he shrugged. Kyana thought it didn't look very easy. Jack thought that she would never make it through. "Okay. I'll give it a shot." Kyana said. She took a deep breath in and walked toward the platform that was marked with the word "START" in chalk. "Remember," Jack called, "The obstacle course goes high into the trees as well." Kyana looked up. Sure enough, there were suspended platforms and ropes. 

Jumping onto the first balance beam was too easy. Again with the next one. However, there were two balance beams in front of here. "One of them surely contains a trap." she thought. Crouching down, looking closely, she noticed that one of the beams was slightly off colour. Just a fraction of a shade lighter. "Don't overthink this," she told herself. The discoloured one was surely the trap rigged one. Following her instincts, she jumped onto the normal coloured one and sprinted to the next beam if there were any traps. She reached the next platform quite easily. It was a rock-climbing task. A wooden plaque read, "Do not touch the rocks that are painted green. Why? You do not want to find out." Looking up, Kyana saw that about 1/4 of the wall was made up of green rocks. She started the long climb up, careful not to touch the green rocks. At around the 3/4 mark, Kyana thought she accidentally touched one and one of her hands came off the wall. This left her unbalanced and she scrambled to cling onto a rock. Breathing heavily, she paused for another minute and kept climbing. 

The next two hours were frustrating and hard, though Kyana never gave up. High above the ground, in the trees, she swung from rope to rope, muscles screaming in exhaustion. Kyana reached the next platform only to be scared by a huge bird. Stumbling backwards, she fell from the platform, hitting multiple branches before hitting the ground. 

Jack rushed over to Kyana, only to find her unconscious. Gently, he picked her up and carried her back to the palace, to find a healer. 

Would she be ok?

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Queen_Pixel13 here! If you want to read the next bit of the story, let me know. If you have any ideas for another book, let me know too! I'll choose one of your ideas and then I'll mention you in the Author's Note.

Thanks!

THE END