Sword of Flames [Book I] - {#Wattys2017}

Chapter 7 - Levana's Decision

Chapter 7 - Levana's Decision

Levana dropped her utensil onto her plate.

The room was hushed with each pair of eyes on her. The girl's response was rather boring; there were no gasps or constant shots of questions like there would be on a normal day. She was only silent.

The largest part of this happening was that Levana did not even process the request; it was too bizarre to be real, and her brain made sure that her heart knew that. Nothing made any sense; why her? What extravagant thing had she done in her life that made her qualified for such an important mission? The possible reasoning escaped her.

The prince's eyes moved around the room in an awkward manner until he put his hand across the table into Levana's space. "Miss, are you alright?" The woman sitting next to him watched her with great concern. Ms. Ganim inhaled heavily in which the others took as the first sign in minutes that she was fine. Levana tucked the flyaway strands of hair behind her ear and murmured a long "um" before proceeding.

She knew she had to say something quick. Just say what's on your mind, she convinced herself, and that's what she did. The words "Are you sure you got the right person?" left her mouth, shocking everyone in the room.

"The Above never makes such crucial mistakes," the king claimed, taking the comment as offensive. Scared, Levana bowed in her seat.

The king waved her off. "Please do not bow. I am not your king." Levana sat up straight with her Earthian pride and opened her mouth a few seconds later.

"I sincerely apologize for my tone, sir," she expressed, vowing to never speak without thinking again. "I'm just confused as to why I was chosen for such an honorable job. Especially as an Earthian that has no correlation with The Above."

The king cleared his throat and picked up his handkerchief to wipe his mouth. Once he placed it back on the table, which a waiter came to replace within an instant, he nodded. "I understand your concerns, Ms. Ganim. I will explain everything you wish to know."

Levana felt some sort of relief; she could finally get the closure she needed in order to understand what was going on. The teenager thought hard about her questions. "Why did you chose me? Why do you want these swords? And how do I know that I am doing work for the good guys?"

"We did not chose you, Levana. That's where you are wrong." She looked over at the woman with the parchment, surprised to finally hear her voice after a whole evening of her silence.

"Then why am I here?"

The woman looked up at the ceiling in serious thought. "Imagine this as a lottery. The year you were born was the one we set a lottery in order to have a human from earth; all of the babies born that year were contestants, and you won. In case of an emergency in The Above during your lifetime, you would be the one who comes in order to do as we wish."

Levana tried to make sense out of it. "So I was involuntarily made your slave since my birth?"

"'Slave' is a harsh word, is it not?" The king jumped into the conversation. "But yes, ever since birth you were meant to come here for any trouble we may have had."

Ms. Ganim was livid. She had no say whatsoever in her own fate; it was given to her by a people she had never known. It was as if her life had been decided for her since the beginning.

Regardless of her anger she continued with her questions. "But why only me?" she asked, putting emphasis on the word "only."

"The Above has a limited amount of energy," the king began. "In order to bring a human up to The Above, as one could imagine, it requires a tremendous amount. Therefore, after the years we spent of accumulating excess power, even then we only had enough for one human's transportation. In order to bring another one it would take a decade worth of energy. There is not enough time for us to bring another human before it's too late." The waiters returned to take the finished plates and dishes. "I am sorry, you will be conducting this journey on your own."