Crowns And Swords

Chapter Two

Sebastian turned his neck to see our little brother, Liam. "What are you doing here?" His smooth, somewhat velvety voice boomed.
"Well, dear brother, I heard you two were going to go at it once again. I wanted to see you and our sister fight," Liam responded in a low-key threatening tone. The sound of him talking in such a manner ran chills down my spine.
I started to approach my younger brother. "Liam, you should leave. Mother wouldn't be happy to hear that her 'precious baby boy' is in the West Wing, especially with all of these sharp, dangerous swords scattered around this place."
"What-? How did you-? Don't call me that! Only Mother can! A-an-and she'd be upset with you guys too! Don't you remember what she and the educators tell you? Giada, you're not allowed to play with swords!"
"Yeah, like a fourteen year-old is going to force that upon her. Giada's too stubborn," Sebastian said. He bent down and grabbed the foil resting at his feet, gently rubbing his right hand over the engraved designs in the handle. "Besides, we aren't 'playing' with swords, we're training each other for combat."
I knew he was ready to start. I bent over, picked up a section of my dress skirt, and pulled it up to my waist. Tying it at the hips, I also quickly picked up my foil and approached Sebastian. "Stand back, Liam, we don't want our 'momma's boy' getting hurt."
"I- You- Gaaahhhh...." Liam turned in a huff and walked towards the outer edges of our arena. He stood with his arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed as he watched us take our stance.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Ready."
We went at each other, full charge. Clank! Clank! Metal clashed against metal as we made various grunts and shouts. We climbed over piles of dust and broken furniture, going at it like two hungry wolves. Liam slowly, but surely, unfolded his arms and watched in amazement. With every glance I could get, I could see him looking with a gleam in his eyes, as if he was just watching a sword fight for the first time in his life. It felt weird having him here; Sebastian and I never had an audience before-
I felt a slight poke in my torso. I looked down at my twin brother, who was smiling devilishly up at me with his foil piercing gently against my chest. I gasped quietly as Sebastian said, "I win." I dropped my sword and threw my arms up in the air, walking away. "Come on, man! We just started that round! That's not fair!"
"Oh, it's totally fair. You got distracted with Liam, so it's your fault."
"No, I didn't!"
"Then why were you looking in his direction every chance you got?"
"I... I, um..." I looked back at Liam, who was now blushing with his arms crossed because, of all times, his older sister was now paying attention. Poor guy.
"You were saying?" I heard from behind.
I looked back again at Sebastian in anger. "SHUT UP!!" I push his face down and away from me.
"Geez, okay, okay..." Sebastian said. I went over, put my hair up in a quick bun, and picked my sword once again. After a few deep breaths, I calmed down. With my left, I pointed my foil at Sebastian. He pointed back. We continued to fight for a while, thrusting and pulling our swords back and forth. We lost track of time after a while, and when we finally stopped, it was already that time of day, just an hour or so before sunset. Liam had already gone off to do whatever the hell he wanted, so Sebastian and I did the same. Cleaning up a bit (as we usually did) before we left, we set aside our swords in a "neat stack" by the hallway from where we came. I went ahead while Sebastian "turned out" the fire that surrounded our arena, jogging through the empty wing as my wavy hair bounced behind me.

As I made my way down the lit-up hallway just outside of the West Wing, Sebastian made his way to my side. We didn't say much, just walked in silence. I guess we were both just tired from how much we fought.
We soon found ourselves in a crowd full of people in the main hall: guards, maidens, families of those who worked here, and others I didn't recognize. Curious, my twin and I swam through the sea of brown cloths and an unusual and unpleasant stench - that is, until the crowd realized who we were and parted like the Red Sea in front of us.
"What's going on here?" We asked simultaneously when we reached the core of the crowd.
"Some fancy lookin' stranger came in here, struttin' about like some noble or somethin', Your Highnesses!" One shouted.
"It appears that he has some news. Look, he's been carrying that fat scroll in his hand tightly ever since he waltzed right in!" Another exclaimed, pointing at a court official at the top of the main stairway. I looked at Sebastian, he looked at me, and we nodded. We ran together through the crowd, attempting to reach this official.
Sebastian reached the top of the stairs first, but that's only because I was trying to untie my dress and undo my messy bun while I ran. I would've ditched my shoes if I wanted to, but there was a lot of people in the hall and I didn't want word going around that I was to be the next Cinderella.
"Ah, Prince Sebastian and Princess Giada. I see that you've found you're way up here, and fast, if I might add," The official said in a very gentleman-like tone. Upon closer examination, he looked a lot younger than what he did from afar; probably in his mid-forties. He reminded me of the jester, for they both shared a shiny bald head and a short, fuzzy goatee. Only difference was that the jester was as pale as the noontime sun, while the court official was almost as dark as his black attire.
"Yes, sir. We saw the commotion going on as we were heading to supper, so we chose to check it out." Sebastian said. The moment he said the word "supper," all of my thoughts revolved around food. I hadn't eaten anything at all today, and now all I could think about was how good it would feel to get some mashed potatoes in my belly.
"Very good, young sir. Say, I was about to read this off to the good people of Deprimere's royal family. I was going to do it right away, but seeing as you and your sister are here, I'd like you to be at my side for this and approve of my speech when I finish. Would that be okay with you?"
"Of course, sir."
"And how about you, Princess?"
I stared at the official blankly before I realized what he had asked of me. "Oh, um... Yeah- ..Yes, sir. Proceed." I stood up straight, coughed, and smiled in attempt to cover up my awkwardness.
The court official unrolled the weathered scroll, cleared his throat to grab the people's attention, and bellowed, "People of the Deprimerian Palace! I have brought forth two shreds of news! Not far from this kingdom's walls, the Forrester Guard Training Academy has opened its gates and is accepting any man who wishes to train himself to become apart of the Royal Guard, whether it'd be here, in another nearby kingdom, or anywhere else they may wish to serve! If you have a desire to do so, the Forrester Guard Academy lies half a day's worth of travel by foot in the Tenshoo Forest, south of Deprimere."
Many ooh's and ahh's came from the young men in the crowd. The maidens surrounding them had either a look of joy or worry, depending if that maiden had a family of some sort. Sebastian and I looked at each other with excitement; we've been waiting to hear about something like this for our entire lives. If we could persuade Mother to let us go to train our hearts out, surely we would be living the lives we've wanted since childhood.
"Secondly!" The court official bellowed once again. The hall silenced almost immediately. "As apart of the Deprimerian Royal Court, I am pleased to announce that our princess, Princess Giada Hope Daotre, shall be approaching the bright age of seventeen in the matter of weeks."
I was shocked to hear my full name be spoken out loud like that. I quickly felt hot in the face, staring down into the crowd to rid myself of the embarrassment (which wasn't all that good of an idea, I continued to feel embarrassed). The official continued on to say, "As custom, princesses in Deprimere are to be coronated the day they turn seventeen. Along with that is the custom that she must find a suitor to rule beside her during her reign! We have called for available princes around the country to come and celebrate with us on Princess Giada's special day, and hopefully, she will find the one to marry."
I was blushing with both embarrassment and terror at this point. Me? Find a suitor? On my birthday, in front of the world to see? I can't do that! I'm not ready! I don't want to get married! I didn't know what to think about the words shoved into my ears. The crowd seemed happy, the court official was pleased, Sebastian, well.... it didn't look like he approved of this either. The court official said his last words and exited from the door behind us as the crowd dispersed. On the very other side of the hall, both Sebastian and I could see our mother. We ran from where we once stood and made our way to Mother, who had a content look to her old, weathered face.
"Hello, my children. What got you two in a rush?" Mother asked.
I attempted to make words, but I was too busy catching my breath from dashing across the enormous main hall. Leaning forward, hands on knees, I steadily caught what breath was taken away before. I was about to speak up before I got interrupted by Sebastian. "We wanted to ask if you approved of this, the whole suitor thing with Giada."
"Why, of course I approve of it. As it is custom for not only our kingdom, but many others, the Princess must find and marry a suitable man to crown king at the age of seventeen, so each legacy lives on. You and your sister will be celebrating that day together only a few weeks from now. Besides, it's not the end of the world."
"But, Mother, she isn't ready! Can't we wait until she's older? Maybe at the age of, um... Twenty-one?" Sebastian suggested.
"And set our customs off of balance? I'm sorry sweetie, but this is just the way how things are. And, if anyone should be worrying about this as much as you are, it should be your sister," Mother said. She paused. "I mean," she continued on with a scoff, "she's the one who has to pick a suitor and learn all the laws for becoming a proper queen. I won't be here for much longer, and it's up to her to rule in my place once I'm gone."
I stood up straight; the words Mother said were becoming engraved into my mind. "But, Mother," I pleaded, "What if... What if I don't want to pick a suitor? What if I just want to be a 'free queen?' No husband. I can rule by myself, with the exception of help from the boys. Can't we make that happen?"
Mother's content smile quickly faded into a bit of a frown. "Young lady, do I have to remind you that these are our customs? Our laws? Our ways of life? It's like I have to have this talk with you every time you bring this up. Not only are these the rules we abide by, but it's a way for us to keep our kingdom safe from enemy hands. We made a truce with them. The King of Misia stated that he'd spare our kingdom if his firstborn son had a chance to be yours. Do you know what could happen if his firstborn came back from here on the day you choose your to-be king, and he wasn't chosen? The king would wage war on us. He and his people have always been aggressive and will never cease to be."
"Mother..." I said quietly.
"Giada," Mother said as she placed her hands on my shoulders. She let out a deep sigh. "You must do this. You have no choice."
"But, I don't want-"
"I had to go through this too. It's hard. Don't worry, you'll be fine. For now, you don't have to do much."
I nodded. Mother let her arms drop back down to her sides as I slunk away, back to my room. Of course, Sebastian tagged along. He held my hand tight as we ascended the spiral of staircases and navigated through this maze of a castle. It wasn't long until we reached my room, I knew the way well. I slipped off my flats, threw them aside, and plopped onto my cozy mattress. Sebastian followed along, sitting beside me on top of my feather-filled, off-white comforter. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of multiple thundering knocks on my wooden door.
"Giada! We heard the news!" A girl's voice said.
"Yeah! We want to see how you're dealing with it all!" Another added on.
There were more mumbles coming from the other side of the door that I couldn't catch. "Come in," I shouted, not moving a single muscle.
One by one, the maidens' daughters came trickling in, like sand in an hourglass. They stood in a semi-circle around the side of my bed, either blushing and giggling to see my oh-so charming brother or mumbling about the events of tonight. I sat back up and leaned against my brother's shoulder, waiting for the girls to close the door.
"So, we've all heard the news. You're turning seventeen and you're being forced to pick a suitor to marry. Do you know why? We aren't exactly accustomed to the rules around here," piped up Penny, the younger sister of the same maiden I tripped over this morning.
"Well, um..." I replied quietly.
"Penny! You can't just be so brash about such a sensitive topic like suitors like that, especially with Giada," Leila, the maiden from before, quietly exclaimed.
"Sorry..."
"No, it's fine, you guys deserve to know." I sat up straight and took a deep breath. "Mother said that it had to do with the customs we've had since who knows when and the treaty between our kingdom and the kingdom of Misia. If I don't pick a suitor, then everyone's going to be upset. If I don't pick the right one, war will be waged on us."
A small, pale, black-haired girl stuck her head out from behind the taller girls. She asked, "Why can't you wule alone?"
"Well, Kathy, it's like a big ol' law," the girl standing in front of her replied. "A princess, when crowed queen, must have a king to rule by her side." The taller girl pulled Kathy out from behind her and held her on her hip, just as a mother would hold a baby.
"Oh. That makes much moh sense!"
"Exactly."
"That's... That's what I don't want," I said. The eight girls standing around me began to murmur, looking at each other confused.
"Why is that?" Asked Eliza, one of the only colored girls allowed to live in these walls. She pulled back a piece of her curly, dark chocolate hair and tucked it behind her ear.
"I want to be free. Free from that choice. Free from all the responsibilities I've been given. I... I don't want to be queen of Deprimere. It's too much, and I don't feel ready for that title."
The eyes of these girls widened (all except for Kathy). Sebastian wasn't too surprised; he knew the feeling. The girls began to murmur within themselves once again before Sebastian leaned closer to me with a spark in his eyes and whispered: "I might know a way we could get you out of this."
I gasped. I looked at him quickly with the feeling of excitement running through my veins. "You really think so?" I whispered back.
He nodded and said that we'd have to wait until later in the night, when the girls were gone, before we could plan. We agreed to stay with each other until then. The girls finished their murmuring as soon as Sebastian offered to play chess with a few of them, which Penny, Leila, Kathy's older sister, and two others happily obliged. I sat with Kathy in my lap, fidgeting with her hands and hair and the other girls at my side, watching Sebastian stump the girls I've "trained" with for so long.
With each move forward his pieces took, ideas of possibilities popped up left and right in my mind. He could fake being me for the time being and have me run away. No, that's stupid. Or, I could fake my death and go to another nearby kingdom and work as a servant there. Too much, Mother would be devastated. Maybe I could just go and fight against the King of Misia in war- No, no, too many lives would be at stake. Maybe if-
"Checkmate," Sebastian said.
Eliza looked stunned. This must've been the third time he beat her. "I can't believe it..."
"I understand why you must be so shocked, my dear Eliza. I've had practice. Besides fencing, chess is my favorite pastime."
Eliza blushed and giggled a bit. The four girls behind her did the same as they approached the playing table. In unison, they said, "Teach us, Prince Sebastian!"
"Calm down, ladies. I know you all want a little piece of my knowledge, but it's getting late. I believe it chimed eleven not to long ago. Run along, you little ones should go be with your parents. I'll teach you tomorrow night." Sebastian stood up and walked the girls to the door, holding either a dainty little hand or supporting a whole body on his way to the door. The little ones who sat with me ran to their sisters and waved goodbye before they disappeared down into the halls.
Sebastian shut the door gently and sat back down on my bed. I got up from my chair and sat next to him. "So, what's the plan? Fake my death? Run away while you pretend to be me?" I asked.
"No. I've got a much better idea, and one you might like very much," Sebastian replied with a smug smirk on his smooth, shining face. My eyes lit up once more. "What is it?"
"Before the court official announced the whole thing with the suitors, he also mentioned that there was a training academy in the Tenshoo Forest. I was thinking that we would go along with whatever happens on the night you have to pick a suitor and get coronated as queen, then at the last minute, you say you need some 'time to yourself.'"
"And maybe... You could... You could help me escape with one of the horses from the castle stables so I could get to the academy?"
"Exactly. Once you're long gone, I'll let Mother and the suitors know that you-"
"No, don't do that. Let them figure it out for themselves."
"Good point."
A rush of glee flew through my body; this plan had given me new hope I've never had before. "This is genius! I've always wanted to learn the art of the sword. Now, I finally have a chance!"
"Don't get too excited now, Giada. We still need to flesh out the details and find a way to do this without any guards knowing. We wouldn't want to found out during your great escape, now wouldn't we?"
"Oh, stop. You're acting more like a dad than my brother."
"I've got to play the role of both sometimes. I'm an example!"
"Oh yeah? To who?"
"Liam and Elijah, of course! They didn't grow up with a dad, so I, their older brother, am taking that place."
"Oh really? Just them, huh?"
"W-well, sometimes I act like it to others, b-but that's not the point."
"Of course, 'dear brother,'" I teased. We went back and forth throughout the night with comebacks and more ideas to add to our perfect plan. Of course, since it was so late, we eventually drifted off into sleep with new hope in our hearts. Everything was beginning to change, for the better of us.