The Sun, The Moon, The Dragons.

Chapter 41: Ranked Eggs

Lark POV:

When King Alexander told me his suspicion I was to say the least, shocked, me being the King's daughter pffft. That's a laughable thought. A joke.

I noticed that Ria seemed to be shocked, probably never in a million years imagined this happening. Kyle on the other hand although quiet he appeared ecstatic, him being our brother wouldn't change too much we already both view him as one, however, it would mean we have a father. And not just anyone either, the King, the highly respected King too.

I sat beside Ria, my back pressed against Whisp seeking warmth. Our group milled around us, none getting too close knowing when Ria's moody, she's bloody scary.

I look up when someone on the podium clears their throat, "Time for weapons assessments, starting with swords." King Vincent calls out. My gaze settles on the unflinchingly cold face of King Vincent, his eyes scan the crowd and narrow when they land on my group.

"Rank number one go to area one, etcetera, there are about 200 students here and 6 classes." He continues, "Number one's are as follows: Samson, Alaria, Daryl, Kasper, Jailen, and Harry. Please make your way to area one now." I watch as Ria stands up stretches and plods away without a single word. As soon as she's out of earshot, I mean werewolf earshot, questions are fired one after another at me.

'What happened?' and 'Are you guys alright?' I just grimaced but nodded, not too vague but no need for words. I haven't yet comprehended the... uh... new situation.

"Seconds: Kalan, Francis, Yamin, Miles, Norman, Brea. Thirds: Blaze, Harper, Larry..." I zone out as he lists everyone's names. "Sixths: Larkin, Sarah, Jack, Paul, Farez, Kalianda..." Hearing my name I stand and walk to where the sixths have gathered. Looking back I see only Kyle and Thalium are left from my group of friends. A few kids have gathered to watch my match but mainly students are watching the firsts, seconds or thirds.

"I want nice clean fights, you can use your Vampire and werewolf skills but no transformations. You will pair up and fight, keep track of who you beat and tell me if you won or lost in each match." The teacher who I've never met before drones on about the rules and expectations of how the fights will play out. Eventually she stops and I dump my weapons near the battle between the fighting courts and crowd, keeping my sword sheathed I face my first opponent, someone I've never met before.

"Fight!" She calls out and the girl I'm facing charges, her sword behind her as she runs full force at me. I duck and roll as she gets close and pop up to her left jabbing her in the ribs sharply with my sword. My opponent swings her sword at me but I knock it away with the flat of my blade and whack my sword against her chest, she stumbles back and I use that to get on top of her. I sweep my leg under her causing her to trip over, using her falling to my advantage I pin her with my knee on her chest and sword to the throat. Tapping her knuckles on the ground in forfeit I get off and help her up.

"Good fight." I bow and walk to the teacher in charge of my group. "I won."

"Name."

"Larkin."

"Ahh yes, against Sarah." The teacher mumbles and jots my win down on the paper, the rest of my games go by and I end up losing one round against Jack who used his werewolf strength and toppled me over. Sadly that loss did make me tied for first but against Kalandia who I beat so I just have to fight her again for 1st in my group.

The fight ends as quickly as it started with me being victorious and therefore placing first in the sixths, which I'm happy with, I'm better with daggers and hand-to-hand.

"Are all the matches for swords complete?" King Vincent calls from the podium, I gaze around at the large crowd and spot Ria standing still looking bored as h*ll by the firsts. I notice two others are standing beside her and when they speak to Ria she smiles and nods but goes back to looking distant when they turn away.