Sword of stars

Newfound Purpose

To my relief, my parents pretended like the whole trip didn't happen in the weeks to come. I went out of my way to try and not get into trouble. Every morning was the same routine. Breakfast with the Royal family, then walk to school. I passed by the blacksmith's forge and coliseum every day. After several hours of relearning what I had already learned three years ago and being ignored by everyone including the teacher, it was back to the castle to sleep and do it all over again the next day.

The only thing that killed the monotony was Sunday. I was made to sit through an hour and a half of preaching, but after lunch I had the rest of the day to myself. I usually spent it in the library reading the Royal Chronicles.

Every Emperor kept a journal of their day-to-day lives in their own handwriting. Though most of them were copied and the originals were kept under a lock-in key somewhere. I was told I'd have to keep one myself here pretty soon.

I heard someone shuffling through the books a couple of rows from the table I sat at. I peaked around and saw the Emperor with a pen writing in a book and then putting it on the shelf. When he left and I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, I picked up the book he put down. It was his Chronicle. Reading through I found that he and the Queen had both been Forest Rangers. They were known as the best of the best. Especially the Queen, which was shocking.

I had never once seen her lift a sword, let alone hurt someone. She was proper and wholesome. With the best etiquette of anyone, I knew of. She was kind and gentle, not rash and barbaric.

What I was reading through, told another story. I almost thought I grabbed the wrong chronicle. It told of a battle in vigorous detail and how 'Lieutenant' Amethyst rose to rank on the field. She leads her squad through each swing of her sword. They would rally to the fiery blonde painted red with the blood of her enemies.

I reread the story. It couldn't be the same person. I carried the book to the Emperor's office and laid it down in front of him.

He saw what I laid down in front of him and looked up at me. "So, what do you want to know?"

"The Rangers. I want to go to the Battle school."

"How come the warrior I read in that book is not the same woman that gave birth to me? What has changed since then," I asked trying to understand what I had read and maybe try to convince him further.

"You."

  "I want to be a Ranger," I said.

He sat back in his chair and looked at me. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yes."

"Did you consult this with your mother?"
"No."

"Summon the Queen!"

Within a few minutes, the Queen made her glorious entrance and the question was asked.

"No. Absolutely not," the Queen said.

"Why," I said.

"Because I said."

"That's not an answer." I shouldn't have said that. Her gaze bored into me.

She flew her arms up. "It's dangerous! Besides, why do you want to join all of a sudden?"

The Emperor picked up the book I brought in. "She's been reading." The Queen pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Why did you give up," I asked. I looked up into her eyes.

"If you live by the sword, you'll die by the sword. I knew that all along, but it never sunk in till the day I lost you. I might as well of died." I knew she was just worried about losing me again, but I couldn't live under a rock my whole life.

"This is my choice," I argued.

"Do whatever you want. I've said my piece." She walked out of the room and I could see the start of tears.

"I'm doing it with or without her permission," I told him.

And so I did. The training auditorium resembled the Gladiator Coliseum on earth. The training proved to be more difficult than I originally thought. I guess the time I've slacked off from martial arts training was stupid, but I wasn't about to quit any time soon. The start of our daily training was running around the huge complex, then up and down the stairs themselves.

For sword training, we used wooden swords and posts. We would practice hitting the post in several maneuvers. After several weeks I felt like I was doing pretty good.

=

"You need to see this." I was standing in the Royal booth of the coliseum watching Raibyn practice.

The shade from all the draped fabrics was nice, today was especially hot.

Amethyst watched attentively. She shook her head.

"Who are the instructors? I didn't train them."

"Some of our best warriors. Why?"

"They're sloppy. Look at the kids. Their postures are off. That one keeps tripping over himself."

"Raibyn seems to be doing alright though."

"She won't survive learning from these fools." She began to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"Coming out of retirement."