The Prince and the Guard

Chapter 1

Breathe in, breathe out I tell myself, it's only a family dinner. I open my eyes just in time as my mom passes me a plate of mashed potatoes, I take some and then pass them to my girlfriend, Jemma. Oh man, I am so nervous for her because this is only her second family dinner and with Adam and Athena bickering all the time and my Dad asking the most personal questions, it can be so overwhelming. I mean at least they're trying, I know other friends whose family didn't accept them when they came out. So I really should be grateful for how awesome they are. A loud knock makes my head jerk towards my door and my heart skips a beat as I quickly drop the illusion of my family dinner. I get off the floor from my crisscrossed position and open it.

"Adira, you ready?"

"Always."

"Great, see you in the arena in fifteen." I nod my head and close the door listening to Captain Chandler's footsteps disappear down the hallway. I quickly run to my bed and put on my training gear and open my drawer to grab my bracelet, the very last thing Jemma gave me before she died. I lost everything that day, my family, my girlfriend, my whole school even. Why we had a field trip to the islands and why my parents had to chaperone makes no sense to me, it makes me angry. Talk about luck. I close my door, lock it and speed walk towards the arena.

"There she is, the future member of the Queen's Guard" Kida says as I enter the locker room.

"Shut up" I tell her as I open my locker and grab my weapons and strap them into my suit. Kida has been my best friend since grade school, we both went to the same small science school that taught us all about the different fields. She was interested in zoology while I always thought about oceanography. We actually were both supposed to be on the plane that went to the islands and crashed, but I missed it due to training and she had the flu. We are the only survivors from our school. "Is he here yet?" I ask her, hoping she says no so I have time to warm up in peace. She takes her long blonde hair out of a ponytail and shakes her head while stating "Haven't seen Lucas all day."

"Did someone say the name of the future member of the Queen's Guard?" Lucas says as he enters the locker room.

"Spoke too soon," Kida mumbles. Lucas walks over to me and I can see that it takes everything in Kida not to trip him. He pulls his shoulders back trying to look intimidating but fails, because no one with that much of a baby face could ever be intimidating.

"I think it's funny that Chandler paired us up to fight, I mean it's not even going to be fair. How could a women, whose a bisexual may I add, ever get this spot in the Queens Guard over me. I think they've just kept you here this long because it's good propaganda, I mean now the little alphabet army will love Queen Christine because she is so inclusive. You know? Be happy you've been able to milk it for so long."

"You should be happy that I'm not allowed to kill you in there, because it would be extremely easy given how slow you are, mentally and physically." I spit out.

"Watch your mouth, bitch" as soon as he says this I stop leaning against my locker and stand to my full height, and watch him squirm. I am taller than him, actually taller than most boys, by 4 inches. Sometimes I love being 6'1 because I can make jackasses like him feel so insecure about their masculinity.

"Watch your back, cunt" I say as I smack into his shoulders and walk out with Kida. We both give each other a look that says "men suck" and enter the arena.

"Good luck, Adira. You got this, no sweat." Kida adds as she makes her way to the door that leads to the stands.

"Thanks." I smile and start stretching, going over the rules in my head. I will be fighting Lucas with my weapons of choice, first to either step out of the boundary or to be too injured to continue, loses. The winner gets to join the Queen's guard, an elite group of 8 people who are Queen Christine's inner circle and get to fight, strategize, and go on quests. I have been training for this since I knew it existed, and now at 19 years old, I will not let this opportunity go by, because who knows how much longer until the next spot opens.

I look up and see more people starting to enter, this is a big deal in the Kingdom because it is a rare occasion. I see Kida give me a thumbs up and smile. I look over to the other side and see the Queen in her box wearing a red gown with a black chain corset. Her son, Roman, next to her in a black suit with a red shirt underneath that's unbuttoned, probably too low for someone in the royal family. I realize he is staring back at me, and quickly turn my head.

I am not going to lie that man is hot, with brown, floppy hair that frames his face perfectly, green eyes that are hypnotizing, and he's taller than me... I freak out a little just thinking about him. Suddenly, I'm pulled from my thoughts as I see Lucas enter across the arena. Captain Chandler then stands up to the mic and announces our names and restates the rules. The crowd is going nuts, dying for a good show to see who is worthy. I would not be the first woman to be in the guard but still a lot of people believe the group should be a majority of men. The crowd goes wild again about something Chandler said, but I really don't care, I am just trying to breathe. Breathe in, breathe out I tell myself. "Players to the ring" Chandler's voice booms over the speakers.

I move up to the red spray painted circle in the dirt and step in. I see myself on the jumbotron, and damn I look badass as hell. My black wavy hair is put into braids and my body looks sleek in the tight black armored suit. I have a silver sword on my left hip and you can see the handles of the numerous daggers on my body. I look at my face and see my blue eyes staring back, I actually look calm and prepared.

"Scared?" I turn my head and see Lucas start swinging his flail. I scoff and draw my sword ready for Chandler to say the magic words.

Right on cue he screams into the mic "Fight!". 

Lucas swings his flail right at my head, I duck and roll and use my sword to slice his shin. He stumbles forward, but quickly turns around and kicks me across the face. I turn from the momentum and plant my hands in the dirt as he takes this opportunity to bring down the spiked ball into my back. My armor stops it from going into my skin but I still feel the pain and let out a small scream. I use my sword and swing, watching as it goes into his ankle. He kicks me in the stomach and I roll towards the line. I get up and tackle him, my sword flies out my hand when we hit the ground. Now I have the advantage, straddling his stomach I punch his face, praying for a quick knockout. After a couple Lucas grabs my fist and rolls me over, my hands and body are now pinned under his weight. His breath is horrid as he lets out a laugh, I will not let him enjoy this. I take my head and ram it into his, in his dazed moments, I take both my legs and shove them into his stomach watching him fly to the other side of the circle. I kick his flail outside of the line, and throw my daggers into his arms and stomach. He moans and tries to pull them out, while he is distracted I go to grab my sword but he is quicker then I expected and with my daggers in each of his hands he charges at me. I side step and arc my sword upwards across his back. This causes him to fall and his hand lands outside of the red line. I can hear the crowd cheer in my ears and I crouch down towards Lucas's face "Told you you should've watched your back.".