The DragonOrb

Rogdan

I had not failed to notice Milo's hostility. He fake-smiled (which was very obviously fake), he rolled his eyes, he showed weakness, but the whole time, I could sense that he did not trust me. He might not have even trusted  Mary.

Mary hadn't described him as pale, either. In fact, the only thing she'd really said about him is that he had dark hair, and he didn't. Rather, his hair was a very bright shade of red. Mary herself had not recognized him. And so I assumed he was using magic right under the Queen's nose and followed Mary to the balcony overlooking the training fields. There we watched as he beat up on Drake, whom we'd met outside the castle and confiscated Milo's keys from.

There are few things that I'm not willing to show even the slightest humility about. Magic is one of them, and my prowess with a sword is also among the list. I see no point in saying I'm not good at either of them. Actually, I like to think of myself as excellent at both skills.

Compared to Milo, I was nothing. At least with a sword.

And so I watched in awe as he whirled and jabbed, slashed and rolled, all with amazing speed and agility. The squire himself was very agile, however, and neatly dodged most attacks.

"He's going easy on him," Mary muttered.

I turned to look at her incredulously. She laughed loudly at my face, her brown hair sparkling as she tossed it over her shoulder.

"And here you thought yourself good at sword-fighting! He's been fighting since he was a small child!"

She continued laughing.

"It's a good thing you aren't overly attracted to such skillful men," I murmured back. "Or I would've never had a chance."

Mary stopped laughing. "Oh, that isn't the main reason I'm not attracted to him. I may be his half-sibling, and he may be . . . not my type, but that's not the reason I've left him alone for so long, though it definitely helps. No, he's attracted to someone else. They're just too distracted to notice such things . . . for now."

She turned and walked away, a faint smile on her face, like that perfectly explained everything. Which it didn't.

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Milo met us at the bottom of the stairs, having barely broken a sweat, and seeming more . . . mentally together than before. I hadn't realized that he was distracted before until this moment, when he wasn't anymore.

"So," he began, checking to make sure Mary was listening. He clearly didn't care if I was or not. "here's the plan. I, unfortunately, have to take you out to dinner tonight, Queen's orders. Fortunately, however, she didn't say where."

Mary's eyebrows popped up.

He finished, "So I'm taking you out to a small battalion near the flooded villages from the last war for a romantic picnic that won't be romantic and I won't be there. Okay?"

Mary's eyebrows were still raised. "Um . . . Sounds like a plan . . . but why are we going there?"

Milo was clearly still very distracted, for he just kept walking.

"Answer me," Mary ordered, stopping. "Why are we going to a battalion?"

He still ignored her for the most part, but he slowed down a little bit, shook his head, and sped up. He was acting like a maniac.

"Mi-Nathan!" Mary shouted. All traces of gentle, kind, friendly Mary were gone, replaced by a future queen. "You will answer me!"

Milo stopped, suddenly stiff as a board. He turned on his heel and marched towards us.

"You disappeared," he whispered, and in that moment, I was genuinely afraid. I saw Mary turn pale.

He continued, only inches from Mary's nose. "You left us. I couldn't help what Brooke said. That was all her. I was just her voice. What you said. What you did? That was all you. Brooke was sorry you left. She was sorry for her words, but by the time we got around to you, you were gone. Figi got help. She got us, and she died doing it."

Mary stumbled backwards, shock clearly written on her face.

"And where were you," he continued. "You were prancing around with your new best friend. You were off getting engaged while Brooke and I worried and wondered about where you could possibly be. And now you're going to order me around like you're Queen? Well guess what. You aren't yet. And if you're planning on trying to be queen . . . early? . . . Well that's what my mom did, and look what's happening now."

He took a deep breath and turned around, his eyes on the ground.

"I'll tell you everything later."

With that, he was gone, and Mary was in tears.

"Figi," she whispered, "dead?"

Well, how'd I do? I figured that that was a good way to reopen a paper-cut (since it wasn't really that much of a wound) Don't worry, though. The worst is yet to come. I've got all kinds of evil things planned: betrayal, death, and worse! But, again, don't worry. The best is also coming. I promise. :)

Remember to comment! Oh, and vote, too. ;)

-Your Favorite Fangirl