The Heart of King Travis

Avery Morgan

Right when tears began to pour out of my eyes, she began to cry as well. I thought I'd never see her again, but I was wrong. It had been two years and those two years contained the loneliest moments I'd ever had. Before she came, I never knew what a true friend was. When she left, I did know for once, but my true friend was gone. I was overcome with joy at the surprise and simply couldn't contain it.

One we separated, I looked at her again. It was like she hadn't aged a day. I had my friend back.

That was when I remembered the bad note we had ended on when she left. Before I could even finish my thought, she knew what I was thinking. Her big green eyes looked at me and she immediately answered. "I understand now, Arden. It's OK. I know you couldn't have come to visit me," she whispered. I looked down at my feet. "I felt like such a bad friend, and after you called me a monster..."

She wiped a tear from her eye. "I'm sorry I was so inconsiderate. I was just dealing with a lot and I wanted to take it out on someone. It shouldn't have been you," she replied. I looked at her and immediately forgave her. Mika was the best friend I ever had, and I knew she didn't mean to make me feel bad about things I couldn't help. It took me a few minutes before I saw the girl in the electric blue dress staring at us. She didn't seem to be judging, but she was enjoying the drama. The girl in the plaid rolled her eyes again and sank into her sky blue chair. Mika and I just glanced at each other and laughed silently. We were drawing a lot of attention to ourselves.

The next few minutes were spent smiling and thinking about all of the good memories we'd had. Finally, I remembered my first crush. "So, if you're here, does that mean Noah's here?" I whispered, not wanting anyone to hear. When she gave a sort of half smile, I was kind of confused. "Is he doing alright?" I asked. She nodded hesitantly. "I guess so, but he's different from when you last saw him," she replied sadly. Before Mika could finish, Gwen started talking.

"OK everyone, listen up! I'm going to bring you out to the main room so the instructor can teach you about what the next few weeks are going to be like. Let's go!" she yelled as she strutted out the door. Everyone got up and started to follow her. Mika and I walked next to each other, but she wasn't talking to me. She just looked down at her feet as we went. The smell of sweet roses floated through the air and the ceilings were covered with simple gold chandeliers. The king sure had an extravagant taste for his magnificent white and blue palace.

Finally, we reached the main room. Right away, I noticed the king. He had a tall silver crown with diamonds put in it to make a sort of swirly pattern. His cape was a long, red, flowy material that I couldn't quite identify. His long fingers were covered in rings of various types, which probably had meanings that were lost to me. His outfit somehow made me a bit uncomfortable, but the worst thing about him BY FAR were his dark, dark brown eyes and raven black hair. In fact, his eyes were so brown that they almost gave off a blackish appearance. I could feel the temperature in the room get colder as the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

Gwen waved her hand at one of the walls, gesturing for us to stand along it. I tried my hardest to stay in the middle of the crowd as the girls walked to their places. I didn't want him to notice me, but I somehow felt like he could. That man could probably pick out anyone he wanted. I could immediately tell Mika was uncomfortable from the way she rocked on her two feet. I didn't blame her. The man was extremely creepy. Behind the king stood a group of other people, which I assumed were his advisors. They all wore completely sky blue uniforms, probably to make the king stand out more. Their facial expressions were blank and lifeless.

After taking a minute to observe the authority, I looked across the room to see the boys. My eyes immediately scanned the crowd for Noah, and I picked his bright red hair out almost instantly. He wore a dark brown leather jacket and black jeans. His hair was slicked to the side with vast amounts of hair gel. It was good to see him I guess, but it was a bit odd that he went from a preppy, well-behaved kid to whatever...this was. I couldn't judge him without talking to him, though. He was chatting with a kid who had shadow black hair and all black clothing, but still...I couldn't judge...

Before I could observe him any further, Travis spoke up in a booming voice. "Greetings, campers. My official title is King Travis of Pleamonte, and that is what you will call me. All of you should know why you are here, but in case you don't, I will tell you." He let out a deep sigh and I immediately got the impression he didn't want to be there. "I call you campers, but this is not a camp. It is a test, and it should be treated as such. It will last an indefinite amount of time, but in that time, my advisors will follow you and take notes on your behavior and intelligence. Once I have gathered all of the information I need on each of you, I will choose one of you to join my team of advisors. Understood?" he asked. Everyone nodded their heads, too afraid to speak.

"Each of you will be assigned an advisor for the period, and they will follow you everywhere in public areas. You may speak up to them because they are considered to be of higher rank than you. Is this understood?" he asked in a drawling manner. Everyone nodded once more, and he continued. "I'm sure many of you know about the harsh punishments I give out to those who disobey my laws. Criminal punishments can range anywhere from a large fine in gold coins to death. I am not afraid to punish anyone who breaks my laws, but I want you to know that if you listen well, you'll be smart enough to get through this alive. Is this understood?" he asked once more. I heard a few gulps, but everyone still nodded. "Advisors, go find your campers," he said calmly as if he hadn't just mentioned such cruel punishments.

The campers on each side spread out a little bit as the advisors went to meet them. A short man with a gray beard went to stand by Mika as I waited. After about fifteen seconds, I was wondering if anyone was coming. I looked up. Everyone else in the room was paired up, but I stood awkwardly by myself. That was when I noticed the last advisor. He was still standing at the front, having a chat with the king. They were talking very quietly and the advisor was nodding obediently. I took a sharp breath when I saw the king's black eyes closing in on me. His expression was blank, but I could see he was observing me. He said one last thing to the advisor before sending him over.

When he turned around, I noticed his cocoa brown skin and beautiful brown eyes. He looked to be a bit taller than me and the way in which he walked gave me the impression that he was well-practiced at being an advisor. Once he reached me, he held out his hand in a surprisingly friendly way. I grabbed it and he shook my hand very firmly. "Nice to meet you," he said cheerfully. "My name is Avery Morgan." He smiled to reveal perfect white teeth. That was odd. I hadn't expected him to be so kind, especially since he was an advisor of the only person worse than Tremaine. I didn't want to look rude, so I quickly replied "My name is Arden Brown." His mouth froze for the briefest of seconds, but then it returned to his smile.

Before any other words between us were spoken, Travis spoke again. "Campers!" A wave of silence washed over the room. "Now that you know who your advisor will be for the next few weeks or so, it's time to explore the palace. You get to do this on your own, but the advisors will be with you when you return in an hour. You may go now." The campers quickly scurried down each of the hallways and I think I caught Noah glance at me before he disappeared. Maybe he recognized me. Maybe not. Before I could leave, Travis looked at me and held up his hand. "Wait a minute, Arden!" he exclaimed. I froze mid-step as he walked across the room to me.

Avery stood by my side as Travis approached. I looked at him with the face of a scared little girl, and he simply said "You'll be fine, Arden." When Travis reached me, he looked me up and down and nodded with approval. "Arden. Isn't your last name Brown?" he asked in a freakishly calm voice compared to the one he had used before. When I didn't do anything, Avery nodded for me. The king raised an eyebrow and replied "Then does that mean by any chance you're related to Vince Brown?" he asked. This time, I nodded for myself. How did he know that?

"How...how did you know that?" I stuttered. He smiled. "Vince is a good friend of mine. He frequents at my parties." That made sense. Vince was probably the weird drunk guy everyone tried to avoid. Travis looked at me one more time and then nodded. "You may go now, Arden." Without another word, I darted out of the room, silently hoping he wasn't still watching me.