The Chosen (43 page)

“It’s not just because he’s royalty,” Kathryn protested. “It’s because the whole royal family’s character is all the same and I can’t see it changing in the last prince.”

Natalie sighed heavily. After a moment she asked, “Do you want me to do your hair for the tournament?”

Taken off guard by Natalie’s offer, Kathryn stared at her in bewilderment. ”What?”

“Would you like me to style your hair for the tournament?” Natalie reiterated with a roll of her eyes.

“What’s wrong with my hair?” Kathryn demanded.

“It’s boring,” Natalie said candidly. “You never vary your hairstyle, it’s always the same bun.”

“I like it,” Kathryn protested.

“Which is part of the reason I think you’re a boring person,” Natalie informed her.

David watched Kathryn’s entire frame go rigid. Quickly he ushered the two girls outside the library so that they wouldn’t disturb the other readers. “Come on,” he urged. “We all need to get ready for the tournaments,” he fixed his gaze on Natalie.

She shrugged. “See you later,” She tossed the phrase over her shoulder as she was leaving. David turned to face an irritated and angry Kathryn.

David braced for a repeat of yesterday’s scene back in her room, instead Kathryn surprised him.

She swallowed hard, closing her eyes tight—as if she was willing her ire to disappear
. Or trying to prove to both me and herself that she is in control.
After a moment she opened them again and looked at him. “I’m going back to my room. Do you know when the archery competition begins?”

Surprised that Kathryn had managed to hold onto her temper, David had to race to collect his thoughts. “I think it starts just after the ninth radian.”

She nodded a thank you before abandoning him in the hallway. He watched her go with mixed feelings of annoyance and admiration.

Turning he returned to his room and collected his bow, quiver of arrows, and sword. He had no illusions that he would be the best archer on the field, however he was confident his swordsmanship would put him in the top three. After all, the only person who could out-spar a Guardian was another Guardian.

He spent the radian before the ninth rechecking his equipment and practice weapons. When he got to the archery field he noticed that the crowds had already gathered. Kathryn and Amy were once again seated in the royal box. He grimaced remembering how Kathryn had pursued the truth about his parents and how she’d just told Natalie that she didn’t want to associate with royalty. Life had a fine sense of irony,

He didn’t know what she’d do if she found out that he was really Prince David, not just an annoying family leader who couldn’t leave well enough alone. Come to think of it, he really didn’t want to find out what she’d do if she knew the truth. Of course, once he turned twenty she’d find out. He wasn’t looking forward to that. Come to think of it, he wasn’t sure whose reaction he dreaded more; hers or Natalie’s.

The royal family would never speak of it—it was against the rules of the Guardians. As a Guardian, David had forsaken his royal heritage to become someone, and something, else. Only if both his brothers died would he be permitted to leave the Guardians to run the kingdom. There were many reasons that the Guardians did not allow the public release of the
fact that royal children often joined the ranks of the Guardians. The most important reason being that there were discontented people who would accuse the royal family of placing their children in positions where they could control the justice the people would receive.

David had never heard of such an event taking place. As it was, royal children technically forfeited their royal status when they entered the school—only under extreme circumstances with approval by the entire Guardian council, could a royal child take place in official sovereign affairs once inducted into the Guardians. The reason for this was simple. A power hungry king was a pain but a manageable one. A power hungry king trained in the ways of the Guardians would be nearly unstoppable. Of course, in reality, royal children were expected to be seen at court. They were expected to be seen with their kin, or at least maintaining their own castles and families. More often than not, any gifted children born to the King and Queen were presented at court once and their continued lack of court presence was covered by carefully selected doubles who would take their place when the Guardian returned with his assigned family to their region. It wasn’t a perfect system, but the fact that everyone involved kept their lips tightly shut allowed for nothing more than speculation from the ranks of nobility.

Balls and feasts such as the one David was attending now were a common occurrence in a Guardian’s life. They needed to be able to mingle with both the common people and those of the aristocracy.

Royal children and children of nobility came in handy in situations like this because they already have contacts in the form of their own family. Just as in the same way children from the villages and farms came in handy because their biological families served as contacts.

A trumpet signaled the start of the competition. David wondered what the other Dragons would say if they knew he was about to throw the competition.

After all
, he thought as he released his first arrow, it hit just outside the bulls-eye,
nobody can excel at everything except a Guardian
. At least that what was generally believed. And that false perception was also what gave those who were gifted the ability to hide in plain sight. The people, common and nobility alike, were fed stories and legends of omnipotent Guardians and warriors. As such that was what they expected to see. When what they saw didn’t match their own perceptions, they disregarded it or completely disbelieved it.

He made it to the fifth round before his shooting wasn’t good enough to go on. As he left the field he looked towards Luke and the rest of the guys. From their sympathetic faces it didn’t appear as though they had picked up that he purposefully lost the match. Amy had the same sympathetic look as the guys. Kathryn’s face was set in its usual rigid expression.

Mentally sighing, David found a place on the sidelines and watched the rest of the contestants. Prince Derek hadn’t even entered the competition, supposedly to prepare for the swordsmanship contest, but David knew better. His oldest brother’s archery skills were pitiful. Prince Darcy was an exemplary archer, so was Lord Tanner. In the end it came down to the two men, with Lord Tanner scoring three points higher in the end.

The sparring tournament was one David was determined to win. When it came his turn to spar he had been able to watch most of the contestants go before him, giving him a chance to analyze the stronger competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. 

His first opponent was a Lord Grenville, a man he knew to be a pompous windbag in his father’s court, but equally well known for his strong arm on the sparring field. However Lord Grenville was not as young as he used to be and he preferred his reputation from his younger years do the fighting for him. He was good, yes, but his style was severely outdated and couldn’t account for new maneuvers and techniques that any recent Guardian graduate, or even newly appointed knight, had been thoroughly grounded in.

However he was a very good warm up exercise and David let the man thrust and attack until his own muscles were warm and fluid. Then he struck, not in a quick and rapid form that so many of the newer knights preferred but a slow and steady approach that ensured that he made no mistakes. Each challenger he faced he tackled the same way, giving ground for a few moments into the fight before standing firm and utterly destroying his opponent’s defenses.

Darcy was his first opponent in the semi-finals round. David knew his brother’s strengths lay in agility and swiftness rather than the heavy handed blows Lord Grenville preferred. Quickly he exchanged his two handed grip for a one handed grip to allow for fast returns and parries.

As the two fought, David had to admit that his older brother was indeed quick, not to mention devious. There were several times during the fight when Darcy had appeared to swipe at David’s legs, to change direction at the last second and aim for his shoulders or arm only to change direction halfway through and strike at the legs again. David had often used the double feint attack, aiming at one target and then switching to a different one at the last second, but he had never heard of, let alone seen, a triple feint attack. It took enormous wrist strength and flexibility to change the momentum of a moving sword and to do it twice in a row was a considerable show of control and strength.

Suddenly it was over, a quick side thrust from David and his brother was abruptly disarmed. Surprised, David looked at his brother and saw the answer in his eyes. He threw the match. The truth surprised him, Darcy had always been competitive when it came to swordplay, and yet here he was, throwing the match to his younger brother. David would have to ask him why later.

Finally it was down to Lord Tanner, Derek, and David.
Interesting
, David thought as he faced off Lord Tanner,
The champions from the jousting tournament once again facing off on the field. Only this time, I shall be the winner
, he vowed has he lunged at Lord Tanner.

Tanner was good, David had to admit it. Tanner used the same triple feint attack that that Darcy had used earlier, only Tanner used it with more skill and ease. After the fourth triple feint attack, David understood why Darcy, who wasn’t nearly as effective or at ease with the technique, had used it. To prepare him for Tanner.

Finally David had decided he had had enough. A rapid fast series of thrusts and false attacks had Tanner disarmed. David fought to keep a smile off of his face. When it came to sword fighting, he was a fast learner and the technique hadn’t been nearly as taxing as he’d expected it to be. Both men stood panting in the hot sun. Because Tanner had been defeated he would face off with Derek and the winner of their match would face David.

Grateful for the respite, David watched his brother fight. Derek had a style that was completely his own that was difficult to predict. David instinctively knew he would end up fighting his brother so he paid close attention to the small signs that signaled his brother’s next move, rather than watch Tanner.

His prediction was correct, Derek emerged the victor. The two men bowed to each other, Tanner’s a bit begrudging.

After a half radian break, to give Derek a chance to rest, the two brothers faced off.

As their swords clashed, David felt the steely strength behind Derek’s blow. Quickly he brought his sword upwards towards his brother’s head, only to flick his wrist and send it whipping around at the last second to aim at the ribcage. Derek wasn’t fooled by the maneuver and quickly brought his sword around to block David’s strike.

The Crown Prince angled his sword for a strike at his opponent’s left arm, which David easily blocked, only to feel the Derek’s sword sliding up his own sword. Quickly he spun away, dropping his shoulder and pulling his neck away to prevent a strike that would have probably ended the fight. As soon as his back was facing Derek, David raised his sword over his head, the tip pointing downwards, blocking the strike he knew had been coming. Turning your back on an opponent during a fight usually resulted in your death, David knew, but the row of shields that now faced him had provided a makeshift mirror that had only confirmed his prediction of Derek’s blow.

Spinning, he went on the offense with rapid fire strikes. His first blow was aimed at the neck—blocked. Thrust at the ribcage—blocked. Thrust back at the head, whipping away at the last second to the right knee—blocked. His fourth thrust touched his brother on his arm, but did not score as a disabling injury.

Derek swung his sword in a wide cut, David jumped back to avoid being caught in its path, only to realize that as he jumped back Derek jumped forward ending the wild cut and changing to a thrust aimed at his middle.

As he turned away from his brother, David brought his sword down, managing to deflect most of the attack. Derek aimed an attack at his feet, instead of leaping backwards; David leapt up and brought his sword around for a side cut.

His sword too low to parry his brother’s attack, Derek jumped back and to the side. David’s sword missed him by centimeters—but a near miss didn’t account for anything in this game.

Derek leaped forward with an attack aimed at his brother’s head which David parried, but instead of parrying with a moving block, David held his sword steady. Their blades locked, the brothers looked at each other, each putting all his strength behind his sword, hoping to crush the other’s block. Knowing that remaining locked would drain his strength faster than David’s, Derek flicked his wrist, releasing his sword and sending it into a wide circle that brought his sword up again in time to block the younger man’s cut at his head.

David had had quite enough. He picked a point on the ground and refused to give any ground, weaving right and left, back and forth—always returning to the same spot, while at the same time running through several two and three point feint attacks in rapid succession. Derek barely managed to keep up, and a sharp flick of the wrist brought David’s sword clashing down on his brother’s near the hilt. The sting from the sudden sharp vibrations loosened Derek’s grip on his sword and another rapid strike from his brother’s sword disarmed him.

The crowd went wild, but neither brother paid them any mind. David picked up the sword and handed it back to Derek who accepted it with a graceful loser’s bow.

The second jousting tournament took place three radians after the morning meal the following day. All of the Dragons but Matt made it into the final joust. Lord Tanner, Kathryn was pleased to see, didn’t make it through the second qualification round. The final event took place at midmorning on the day of the final ball. Crown Prince Derek was the winner and received the victor’s crown and scepter with pleasure from his proud father.