The Lady Knight

Chapter 16

          "Hey! She's waking up!"

          Alex held a hand to her aching head and groaned. What the hell happened? 

          She slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the bright light. Henry and Archer were on either side of her, helping her sit up. She was on the floor of the armoury, the cold from the metal sinking in through her clothes. Blaze stood at her feet, gazing down at her, his face devoid of emotion. She met his eyes with a look of confusion. As she tried to remember what happened, her head throbbed and she groaned. She closed her eyes and held a hand to her hot forehead. 

          "What happened while I was out?" she murmured lowly.

          "Harapós Allat has chosen," Blaze responded, his eyes holding a secret. 

          What?! Harapós Allat had chosen and Alex didn't see it?! She couldn't believe her own ears. The sword hadn't chosen for thousands of years! She couldn't believe she missed such a historical event!

          "Who was it?" she asked suddenly. No one answered her for a long time. The silence stretched on until Alex thought she was going to rip her own hair out. The anticipation made her want to pace. 

          Blaze, without a word, reached out a hand towards Alex. She cautiously took it, and allowed herself to be pulled up. She stood in front of him, at least a whole head shorter. As he gazed down at her silently, she suddenly felt nervous and jittery. Why was she feeling like this? He was just looking at her. 

          "You."

          Alex's head snapped up. 

         "What?" she asked.

          "Harapós Allat, it chose you to wield it," he said lowly.

          Alex thought she was going to faint. Clearly, she was dreaming. A legendary sword couldn't have chosen her! 

          "How?' she asked herself more than him. She was so, so confused. 

          Blaze reached out and brushed his fingers along her wrist slowly. He raised his eyes from his fingers and looked in her eyes.

          "When you went in the wardrobe, the doors slammed shut behind you. We tried to get you out, but the doors wouldn't budge. We waited out here for you. We knew there must have been a good reason why the doors wouldn't open. You weren't in there for very long. We heard you screaming but the wardrobe didn't open until you went silent. You fell out, unconscious. You were wearing the Éjszaka suit. Harapós Allat was tied to your waist. Henry tried to remove it, thinking you attempted to rebel against the sword's barriers. We knew better when he was knocked across the room the moment he touched it. You are the chosen one, and I see why," he concluded with a tiny smirk.

          Alex frowned, her mouth set in a grim line. Looking down, she noticed the tight but comfortable black suit she donned. She raised her eyebrow when she realized the arm and leg lengths had fit to her body perfectly. It seemed like the suit was made just for her. She tried to ignore the slight weight of the sword at her waist, but she couldn't help it. She fingered the handle, feeling its power just by touching it. 

         She raised her head, "I didn't put the suit on. The last thing I remember was something flying at me."

          "Yes, Harapós Allat and the Éjszaka suit are tied together. Once the sword chose, so did the suit," he informed her gently. 

         She frowned, thinking about what Archer had said before she'd gone in the wardrobe, "So you sent me in there, knowing that something happened to the last person who tried?" He simply nodded. "Why?" she exclaimed. "I needed to see if you were the chosen one," he said it as if the answer was obvious. She grumbled under her breath and turned her back to him.

         She stood in the center of the room and looked at Henry and Archer, who had been absolutely silent during her and Blaze's conversation. She huffed out a breath.

          "We'll bring you to your room," Archer spoke. She went to follow them out of the room, but a large hand held her back by the arm. She snapped her head back to Blaze. After a moment of simply staring at each other, he spoke.

          "Meet me in the courtyard at midnight. Tell this to no one."