Contract with a Star (On Hold, Possibly Forever)

The Warriors and the Star

            “…And I pledge my eternal alliance to our Good King Veret Asnin and the great country of the Forest Star.” Neverix and Everin repeated the memorized pledge with their fellow students as they had for the last ten years. They were not Pages anymore, pledging with pride and stumbling over “eternal alliance,” nor were they Fighters, replacing the words with dirty ones and adding ‘s’ to the middle of the king’s name. They were Warriors, the leaders of the current Warriors, and they had two months before they graduated the Royal Academy of the Physical Arts. They had lost interest in the technicalities of the school.

            Today was not a normal day for the school, though. They were going to have a visitor that day.  It was not a regular visitor, inspecting the school for the king or the parents of potential students. This visitor was a complete mystery and the rumors were flying.

            “So, have you heard the one about the king from the Fire Star Country coming to find a new concubine for his thirteenth son?” Neverix whispered with the smallest twitch of her lips. She stood straight and uniform behind Everin with her staff perfectly beside her, her ash-blond hair and shoes smooth and shiny, and her deep blue eyes never straying from the opposite wall. They were all line up for the important man or woman.

            “That’s nothing. I heard the Forest Star herself was coming.” Everin’s breath became slightly heavier with his hidden laugh. He was just as perfect as his best friend, his daggers placed discreetly in his sleeve. He could feel Neverix’s laugh through the black hair that tied at his neck but his even darker black eyes did not stray from the little dot on the wall he had found.

            The Forest Star hadn’t been seen in over a millennium. One of the first kings had locked her up in a tower, for her own protection, and had never let her go. The only reason everyone knew she was still alive was that babies were still being born with the contract’s sign on their hands. That, and the walls she had created were still keeping out enemies.

            The director of the school called the children to attention and the already spotless duo became even more perfect. Slowly, the visitor walked down the hall, survey the students. She might have been there to pick the next Guardian; she might have been there to find her runaway grandchild. It was impossible to tell. She was very old and walked with a poorly made cane, it was almost more appropriate to call it a branch than a cane, although it was the most likely cause of the strange tapping sound on the stone. When she reached the middle, she stopped.  She leaned down so far her chin touched the top of the cane. Then she popped up her butt and wiggled it. All the children laughed, save Everin and Neverix.

            The old woman narrowed her eyes at the unhappy boy and the room grew silent. She beckoned him with her cane, and the director hurried to bark out an order. Everin walked forward with confidence and superiority. When he reached a respectful distance from the white haired woman, he stopped. She stepped closer though, and he could see her green eyes held an unnatural brightness for her age.

            “Did you not find my joke funny, little boy?” She grinned at him with teeth that were white, though they were few and far between, and with more wrinkles than a Sharpe. Everin was instantly repulsed.

            “There is no amusement in an insane old woman acting like an eager dog in front of young and impressionable children.” Everin sniffed in disdain.

            “Then, what about a pompous little boy instead?” The green eyes twinkled with mischief and she leaned even farther towards the boy.  Everin jumped back in an unsightly manner, bumping into one of the Fighters behind him.

            Everin did not touch the boy with his back though, rather with the new dog tail protruding from his backside. He turned to see it and looked quite ridiculous chasing after it. The other children giggled as the old woman laughed in his face outright. It was not a cackle, but a light-hearted and childish one. Everin whimpered as the woman walked away.

            Neverix pushed her way through the crowd, running to her best friend.  She yelled at the woman, calling her to a stop.

            “Change him back! Stupid old woman, he can’t walk around with a tail for the rest of his life! How is he supposed to fight with that?!” Neverix glared at the woman’s back, daring her to take another step.

            Without turning around she said, “You poor deprived children. Absolutely no sense of humor,” she sighed, “Fine.” The woman faced the two and walked slowly back, they could hear the tapping sound with every step. When she saw Neverix’s eyes, she jumped a little in surprise and made a little ‘k’ sound, but neither were noticed. She yanked on the tail; it popped off and went back into nonexistence. This time, she walked out the door, with none the wiser as to her purpose.

            Outside the school, a carriage waited for her. It was surrounded by disguised Guardians, the only people strong enough to protect the royal family and the country’s star. She ascended the small step smoothly, sitting across from the only person of higher rank than her.

            “So, Rena. Did you find what you were looking for?” The young king stared out at the old castle-like school as he waited for the girl’s answer. Rena shook out her hair and the wispy white became a thick black mess. The wrinkles that marked her as old smoothed out and returned her skin to the softness of a twelve year old.  

            “I don’t know their names, but I like these two.” She waved her hand and the image of a black haired boy and a blue eyed girl appeared between the two. Rena rubbed her tongue over her disguised teeth and the illusion fell away.

            “Very well,” the king did not look at the vision, “If they pass my tests, you can have them.” With that, he knocked on the wall behind him and the horses started off, back to the castle and Rena’s personal prison.