Tales of Aridia

Lucy

I woke bright and early, letting the sun force me out of bed with its' blinding rays. Rolling over to face my window a waft of smoke entered quietly, uninvited. I winced and focused on the smoke. It was clear, nothing there but a faint smell.  I checked to see if anything had happened in the garden but the sight was clear. Everything was unmoved from the previous night.

Opening my glass wardrobe I pulled out a long white Lacey dress, embroidered with the finest of diamonds. I paired this with a headband of  blood red roses and a black velvet cape. I pulled back my long brown hair and decorated my neck with another set of diamonds hanging from a golden chain. Once i was properly dressed I pondered the idea of escaping, running into the forest with Jayden and Max. It was my birthday after all. But I could not. The queens daughter was already thought of as nothing but mischief. It was better not to make my reputation worse for myself.

Slowly, I paced back and fourth behind huge wooden doors waiting for the signal to enter. And then, two guards opened each door and I walked down a long red carpet, my white dress trailing behind. At the end I curtseyed before the king and queen. A moment of silence occurred, and then my mother rushed over to me and placed a tender kiss on my cheek.

"Happy birthday my love," she whispered. My father stared motionless, then he broke out into a laugh. "No need to be so tense," he chuckled.  "Happy birthday!" He shouted.  The happiness in the room has been unexpected. Everything was so unhappy before due to the tensions concerning the war. "Have you decided what you want to do for your birthday?" My mother asked. 

"Yes, in fact I have,"  I snapped back, my father surprised that I had replied so quickly. I was not one to ask for things. "I want to learn how to be a queen. I need to know how to run a country, how to take care of my people. I also certainly need to know if there is an upcoming war and why it's happening."  My voice grew more frustrated and I took a minute to calm down before I said something I would regret.

"But Robyn, you are so young you don't need to be worried about such things."  My mother said  quietly, as to not alert the guards of what was happening. "I am 18. I am no longer innocent. And one day, I will be queen. And I will be alone on the throne. If I don't know how to rule this world will crumble, and it will be your fault."  I replied angrily.

It was silent.

My father began to clap slowly. "She's right, my love. I've been trying to tell you we need to train her but your objections have been persistent." He said.  My mother sighed and her smiled turned into a slight frown. "Fine. But by Wednesday I expect you to be able to duel for us. That gives you two days to prove your a queen." 

I smirked, "well, where do I start?" I said slyly.

I was dragged into a big grey room with soft walling. A girl sat on a chair in the corner reading a book quietly. She spotted us enter but chose not to say anything. Our voices echoed far, so the girl could hear everything that was spoken. "Lucy will train you," my mother said. And like that, she left.

I heard the metal doors slam behind me and I was left alone in darkness. A small lamp in the corner of the room illuminated where the girl sat. She payed no attention to me. I walked slowly over. Every step I took echoed out across the room. I coughed as to get her attention but she continued flicking the pages of the book she was holding. "What you reading?" I asked politely, trying to make a good first impression.

"Nothing of your business," she replied coldly, glaring up at me through small black glasses that were cracked at the corners. When I got nearer the light I studied her in more detail. Short straight black hair, and arms riddled with tattoos. She wore black trousers and a white top which was stained red. I frowned at this, hoping the red staining was some kind of red wine. "How did you get those stains?" I asked. She peered at me coldly again and grimaced, "yet again poking your nose into my business. Why should I tell you anything?" She said spitefully. I backed away, hoping she would lighten the mood by saying something welcoming. She said nothing. 

"I want to learn to duel." I said plainly. Lucy closed the book and set it down on the floor. She looked me up and down in disgust. "Dressed like that?" She mocked. "I am a princess I am always dressed in such clothing. If there was a fight I am certain I would not have the time to dress up like a soldier." My voice grew more intense, I started to become angry at the rudeness that was being shown. Despite her reckless appearance she still seemed younger than me. I was insulted that a younger person with no royal blood would speak to me in such a manner.

"You will teach me. You have been commanded by the queen to do so." I said my voice nearing  a shout.  Lucy remained silent.  "Which sections?" She asked. It was my turn to be silent. I had no clue what she meant. "You can either choose to be a soldier on the frontline, using weapons as your combat. You can do explosives behind the scenes, or probably the hardest of them all, magic, where you will stay hidden away from the frontline and fighting from a distance."  She explained. I pondered my options.  "Magic." I said. She laughed and said, "I'm not surprised, your mother probably wants to keep your pretty little face away from harm."

Talking was boring me, I swung of my cloak and ushered her to stand. "I want to learn -now." I said.  Eventually she rose to her feet. "You know defensive spells I assume?" She asked. "Of course." I said.

"As you know, to perform magic it requires a particular movement of the arms and extreme levels of concentration." I nodded, following her words carefully.  And then, she centered herself in the middle of the room and waited. The big metal doors swung open and a boy walked through. It was my brother, sparrow. He bounced in wearing his leather clothes, much like what the valkyries wore. Since he was a child he wanted to be exactly like them, which is why he's training to be a lieutenant. He had a fighting nature about him. "I was told you needed help." He said smiling. His tone of voice was inviting and warm. Even the gloomiest of people lightened up around him. Which is why he was a spokesperson for the king and queen. The public didn't take kindly to me, they didn't trust me. Apparently it's all because I stole sweets from the town market as a small child.

Despite knowing my place on the throne was obsolete, my people would have much preferred Sparrow as their king.

"Stand there," Lucy said. Sparrow threw his arms to his side. "Yes sir," he said saluting sarcastically at the girl. Lucy waved her arms in the air in two circles and pushed forward.  A gust of wind blew forward and Sparrow was sent spiralling across the room. His body came back down with a crash and he cried out in pain.  "Sparrow!" I shouted, running over to him.  He seemed okay, just clutched his arm hard from the fall. Without thinking I turned to Lucy and replicated exactly what she did.

I elevated my arms, concentrated and drew two circles with my fingers and pushed forward. Lucy didn't have time to react, she was thrown to the other side of the room with a loud clash as her body hit the metal door. Her weak feeble body got up and stood limply. "That was more powerful than I had anticipated. Even for a princess." She groaned pushing on her side. "Why is that?" I asked, still feeling the energy rushing to my fingertips. "Because it was fuelled by anger. You need to get that under control, you have quite the temper." Lucy added. I rolled my eyes twisted my head away from her. "I would kill anyone who hurt someone I loved." I said coldly.

Lucy's face grew panicked, she began to fidget with her fingers. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." She said quickly. And just like that the girl left Abruptly. As she passed through the doors I eyed the large tattoo she had printed on her back. It was something I hadn't seen before. A language. Perhaps spoken in the other dimension I thought.

Sparrow whelped again and my thoughts were diverted to getting Sparrow into hospital, hoping that tomorrow I would not end up like him.