The Magical Stone

Chapter 8

   Lance finally returns to the Knight quarters to see Lucinda making dinner while Lindsey and Tina are playing a game of chess in the living room.

  "How are you that good?" Lindsey asked as she knocked down her king piece.

  "I just am. Been practicing. Oh hey Lance! How was training with Shelia?" Tina asked as she gave him a hug.

  "It was okay. Didn't do much since I had to wait for my sword to be made but a nice dragon showed me around the kingdom." Lance explains as he tries to get out of his armor.

"Emma? Oh she is nice, but a competitor who fights all the time." Lindsey explains as she helps Lance out of his knight armor and hangs it up for him.

"Go wash up, dinner will be ready in a sec." Lucinda says as she sets up the table.

  Lance says as he went to the washroom to clean his hands and face and dries off with a towel.

"I wonder if Shelia is coming for dinner on time?" Lindsey asked.

  "She has extra responsibilities since she is the captain of the knights. She might be doing extra training on the recruits." Lucinda explains.

  "Whatever she's doing. She will miss out on mutton Thursday." Lindsey says as she sits down.

 
  Lance then came into the dining room and Tina sat him down as they heard Shelia coming in.

"Speak of the devil." Tina says as she notices.

"Hey Shelia. You're just time for some mutton and mash potatoes today." Lucinda says.

"Yeah yeah." Shelia says as she sat next to Lance since it was the only available chair.

  Lance then looked at her for a sec until she turned her head at him which made him look away. Tina was a little suspicious, but brushed it off when she started cutting the lamb and everyone got a piece and some mash potatoes on the side. Lance did have the appetite to eat some good meat after an adventure he had during the day.

"Slow down honey. It's not going anywhere." Lucinda says as she giggles a little.

  Even though Shelia tries to forget that moment when he accidentally called her mom. But deep down she didn't want to forget it even though she tries to stay edgy on the outside.

  Lance was able to finish what was on his plate and asked for seconds. Lindsey smiled and filled his plate for him. Shelia just can't stand how he is even though she wanted to care for him.

The next morning...

   Shelia went to Lance's room and woke him up early in the morning.

"Time to get up, runt. It's time for your first day of training." She explains as she pulls the covers off him.

"Mmm.... This early?" He asked.

"We knights get up at 6am. I told you this isn't some pretend and fun game here. Now come on, get dressed, get your armor on and get your sword on your side. You will be patrolling with Emma early in the village." Shelia explains as she pulls him out of bed.

  Tina and the other knights get ready for the day and Lucinda packs a lunch for Lance before heading to the training ground. During the day, Lance was with Emma keeping watch at town square patrolling for any crimes or altercations.

"This is boring. Nothing is happening." Lance says as he leans on a post.

"I know. I do want to fight crime as well. That's how being a knight is honey." Emma explains as she opens her helmet for a minute.

"Oh." He says as he kept watch at the local walking around and doing their business.

"Let's take a break. It's almost noon." Emma says as they sat down at the bench for a minute to eat their lunches.

  Lance opens his sack and starts eating a sandwich and some fruit that Lucinda made for him. As for Emma. She ate some cooked ham that she packed for herself and chowed down.

"So just wondering. Is our captain really a mother to you?" She asked.

"I don't know now." Lance says as he dodges the question.

"So calling her a mom wasn't an accident?" Emma teased.

"It was an accident." He lied.

"Doesn't sound like it was." She spoke while raising an eyebrow.

"Even though she's a little mean, but... she did care like a mother." He confesses.

  "Shelia can be like that sometimes, mostly because she cares. She thinks tough love is the answer to everything."

"I bet she was mad about that."

"No. It's just that you made her show her soft side for a moment. She wasn't mad about you calling her a mom." Emma says as she laughs a little.

"How do you even know?"

"Honey. I have known Shelia for years. Even before she became the captain of the knights. Deep down I bet she was touched by you thinking of her as a mother."

"She does?"

"Of course. She just tries to be tough just because of her job and responsibility as a knight. One thing I wondered, why did you run away from your actual home?" Emma asked.

  Lance wasn't sure how to tell the truth to her since it was very personal and a painful memory to explain.

"I don't want to talk...about it...." He says while remembering the physical abuse in his head.

"It's okay. Just..."

"No... please." Lance begged her in a defensive tone.

"Okay.... Okay... calm down." Emma says in a calming tone.

"I'm sorry. It's just that.... My parents hurt me...." Lance confesses.

"They hurt you?" Emma asked in a worried tone.

"Yes.... Just because I didn't believe them that you are evil monsters trying to attack humans for fun." Lance says.

  Emma was shocked and in pure sympathy about what endured from his actual parents. Lance started crying as the bad memories came back to him as he remembered his father whipping him while in the house and his mother yelling at him with colorful language. Emma then pulled him in a deep hug to help him stop sobbing.

"Shh... it's okay. I'm here for you. They won't hurt you anymore." Emma says as she hugged him tighter.

   Lance finally stopped crying and hugged back as they continued patrolling around the village for the day.