Five Kingdoms

Chapter 8

I skip dinner and now stand outside my door. This is ridiculous. I should be able to go in, but I can't. They used the same room; they used my room here as a template for the test earlier, so I continued to stare at the door until I see Cara walking up to me, a plate in her hand.

"I figured you're not hungry, but I'm sure you need to eat something." She says, handing me the plate that holds a single chicken wing.

I raise my eyebrows but take the plate anyway.

"What happened with Vance?"

"Nothing."

"Does "nothing" always end in a punch?"

"Depends

We stand in silence as we look at my door.

"The fights will probably start soon," Cara adds softly

"Where are we supposed to go for that?" I ask

"The board room from this morning. Do you want to head there now?"

"Go without me; I need to do something real quick."

She nods and walks off as I turn my eyes to the door beside my room and walk into Ryder's room. His room is dark royal blue with gold accents, a different layout from my room, a different floor, and, best of all, no balcony. I put down the plate Cara gave me on a desk in the corner of the room and walk to the closet, grabbing all of Ryder's clothing. I walk into the hall placing the clothing down in front of my old door, and go back to Ryder's room to grab the chest from earlier filled with weapons and place that at my door as well. Once I'm done removing all of his belongings, I head to the boardroom, ready for my last test. The room is filled with the Royal families once more as I walk up to the others. Vance turns so his back is to me, and Ryder is nowhere to be seen.

"There you are, people were starting to wonder what happened to you," Ivory says

"There's no need to do that. You ready?"

"Obviously. This is my strong suit; I've been training my whole life for this moment."

"Don't you think that's kind of sad?" Ryn asks while on his knees so Cara can put his white hair in a bun.

"Says the guy getting his hair done." Ivory scuffs

"Hey, I'm trying to look my best." He states with a smile, but I have a feeling he noticed Cara's nerves, and this was the best way to distract her.

"You don't need to worry yourself with that, half of the girls haven't taken their eyes off of you since you walked in."

"Most of the girls here are queens who are married."He says in denial

"Exactly my point."

"Attention everyone, please have a seat as we get ready to begin. Princes and princesses of the five kingdoms, meet me in the front of the room." Says the Yarrow king

We move to the front, where the stage was this morning but has been removed for the fights. Ryder makes his way over to us from wherever he was before

"Normally, as you know, you would be fighting a member of the Amaryllis army, however, this year, because we have an even number of potential rulers, you guys will be competing with each other. Three of you will draw a name out of a bucket, and that is who you will fight. Understood?" The Yarrow King states

We nod, and he walks away.

"Whatever happens, I won't take it personally," Cara says

"Same here." Ryn agrees

"Let's begin," The king yells, "Ryn, your first."

Ryn walks to the center, where a bucket sits. He squats down and picks a piece of paper as he stands. He unravels it and announces, "Ryder"

The two walk to the front, draw their swords and bow. They then lunge toward one another, Ryder getting the first hit before Ryn can block. Ryn still manages to surprise his opponent when he twists away to get behind Ryder, stabbing his back. Ryder caught off guard, falls to his knee but waves his sword at Ryns ankles, giving him time to stand and then go for his shoulder. Ryn falls back as Ryder points his sword at Ryns neck.

"Ryder wins." The king states, " Next up is Ivory."

Ivory makes her way to the bucket just as Ryn did. "Evelyn."

I go still, I try not to think, "Shit," but that's the only thing I managed to do before I draw my sword. We both bow as I notice in my peripheral that Cara gives me a thumbs-up before me and Ivory attack. She strikes first, but I block, feeling the pain in my bandaged arms. She backs away, leaving me space to go for her arm, but she pounces and cuts my exposed leg. I try not to laugh as Ryder's words ring in my head, "What are you wearing?" He asks, "You're asking for someone to cut open your leg, sweetheart." I go for her arm again, as it's still lowered to my leg, and cut her shoulder. She retracts, and I move forward as she trips me. I use the momentum to twist my body, holding my sword out, and slash her chest. My back now faces her as I quickly turn, but she gets her sword in my shoulder blade before I fully turn to her, and she loses her sword as it's stuck in my back. I grab one of the daggers hidden beneath my clothes at my waist to throw to her. She raises her eyebrows in question but willingly takes it. I have the advantage of a longer weapon and hit her shoulder again, but she grabs my sword, drawing blood to her hand as she pulls me down and cuts my ear. I draw my second dagger quickly and stab her lower stomach, and she lets my sword go but cuts my hand that's still on my dagger in her waist. I stand, pulling my dagger out and placing it in my waistband. She goes to grab my sword again, but I spin to the side as her sword in my shoulder blade falls to the floor. I thrust the edge of my sword to her side as she stabs my arm with my dagger. I back away, kicking her sword that's fallen out of reach, and she goes to strike, but I block and push forward as her foot slips, causing her dagger to lower, and I place my arms quickly to the other side of her head placing my sword around the back of her neck.

"The winner is Evelyn," The king yells.

Ivory must hear him but stabs my exposed leg again out of frustration as I let her go. She gets up and walks to Ryn, clearly about to rant his head off. I take a deep breath and walk to the side where Ryder stands.

"Last but not least, Vance."

"Good job out there," Ryder says

"I didn't think I would win against her." My breathing still uneven, and my heart pounding

"Me neither."

I look up and stare at him as he grins.

"You should see your face, darling."

"Are you still going to call me darling after that?" I say, pointing to the floor where I just fought

"Absolutely. Also," He says, looking at my leg, "I told you so."

"Oh, shut up," I say as I lightly punch his shoulder

Vance doesn't bother with the bucket, as there is only one person left to fight. "Cara." He says

She walks to the front and draws her sword as they both bow. Their fight starts with Vance clearly not fighting well to help Cara at least look good before he wins, but Cara is clever enough to know he's taking it easy and pretends to get hurt while they are fighting. He goes to help her, but she puts him in a chokehold, overpowering him.

"Cara wins! Thank you for coming tonight, place your votes, and we will see you tomorrow for the results."

People start clearing out, and I notice a refreshment table in the back of the room. Luckily, Ryder doesn't follow me as I walk to the table. My eyes land on what I'm searching for, and I grab some random bottle of alcohol. I quickly leave the board room to avoid eyes and make it over to my new room to see Ryder's stuff still in the hallway. I enter the dark blue room, closing the door and only making it a few steps before I decide to collapse to the floor and lean my head against the wall. I lift what seems to be a bottle of whiskey to my lips, taking a sip. It hits me that I'm probably getting blood all over the wall, but I don't move from where I sit. I sit up, removing my back from the wall to unzip the back of my top, but only get halfway before my door opens.