A Year of Stories (Collection Two)

Crowning A King

"Would you like me to slow down Prince?"

"Not on your life Issak."

"It's not my life I'm worried about. By the way, you should probably duck."

A branch about the width of my wrist cuts through the air a hand's breadth above my head. It's not much, easy to miss in the blur of green and brown, but at the speed we're going, it would be plenty enough to snap my neck, and deliver my corpse straight into the Indriel's golden bosom.

What's worse is that the only part of the ordeal that would bother my mount is losing the extra set of eyes. That's the thing about flying birds – you can train them to do just about anything, except care.

I guess that's why Issak is here, well, one of the reasons.

"So this is how I earn my father's crown then? Flying his favorite bird through the Winding Woods? It doesn't seem like much of a Trial to me."

"That's because we haven't arrived at the Trial Prince, and we never will, if you don't manage to keep your head on your shoulders!"

"It's not my fault I wasn't born on a bird like you, Last Knight."

"But it is your fault that you've spent the previous fifteen years ignoring every flying lesson I've ever tried to jam into that brain of yours. Now, take her higher!"

I check the straps that bind my wrists to the giant bird's mane, running through the checklist that Issak taught me. No point in getting myself killed just before taking the throne. When I'm sure that I'm secure, I whistle high and sharp, a sound mid-way between a scream and a cough. The bird responds, wings powerful enough to shatter bones lifting us into the sky until the trees are an endless, undifferentiated carpet of vermilion.

When the bird finally levels off, the Last Knight is nowhere to be seen.

"Issak, where did you run off to now? As much as I love freezing my bullocks off out here, I'm sure we have places to be."

I imagine it's hard to hide a woman in flying leathers riding a giant, black bird, but somehow Issak has managed to do just that.

Which would normally be fine, the bird can get me back home on its own. Unfortunately, father made sure that the Last Knight was the only one who knew anything about the Trial, including where it is.

And without the Trial, there is no going home.

"We've had our fun Issak, now lets get on our..."

A sound like an explosion, followed by the beating of black wings. It's Issak and her bird, but they're not alone.

"Not quite yet Prince. First, it's time to see whether or not you remember your lessons."