Ebby Flint and the Sword of Sorrows (Book 1 in the Artis Trilogy)

Billy Shakespeare

Chapter Nine - Billy Shakespeare

I wake in strange bed, and it takes me a few seconds to realize where I actually am. The events of last night flash through my mind. Meeting King Tyri, the quest for the Sword of Sorrows, seeing my father for the first time.

After I had left my father it took me awhile to find my grandmother's quarters. I didn't have Lenhi to guide me and ultimately became so lost I had to enlist another servant to help me. When I had successfully made it back to my room, I noticed how hungry I actually was. All I had to eat for the few days have been mysterious looking plants that Naeri had been shoving down my throat. So when I found a steaming ball of stew placed on the table beside the bed, I was ecstatic. Afterwards, I had fallen asleep, exhausted from the circumstances of the day.

The bed is comforting, and I find myself wanting to stay in it all day. I know that I can't because I have to start my training today; something that I'm both excited and afraid to do.

Reluctantly, I get up and change into the trousers Lenhi had mentioned the night before. Just like the night before there is food placed on the bedside table. This time it is some strange looking baseball sized fruit. Red with black spots on the outside and pure white on the inside. I'm skeptical at first, but once I have the first bite, I'm more than happy to finish the meal. Once I finish, I venture out into the hallway and hope that maybe I'll run into someone that can lead me to the room I met King Tyri in.

I'm turning yet another corner when I come across a petite sitting room. Inside, there's a boy around ten, crunched down on a white love seat. He hold a brown leather book in his hand and frantically writes. I expect him to be holding a quill or something else that would fit into this strange world, but I'm surprised to find him holding a black pen.

I clear my throat. "Hello, hi, my name is Ebby Flint. I'm kind of lost and was..."

A furious face looks up at me. His eyebrows are furrowed, and he's sucking on his lips. "Yeah, I know who you are," he interrupts aggressively. "Eboni Flint, the only witch left in the world. Whoop-dee-doo. You know, we all have lives here. We can't just stop because some teenage girl who, let's be honest here, is lacking any sort of pigment, needs our help."

I'm dumbfounded to say the least. I didn't know that such a tiny boy would be able to speak so violently. I finally catch my voice. "Listen kid, I don't want to be here as much as you don't want me to be here. So if you could please just lead me to the ballroom, so I can try my best to leave this place as fast as possible?"

The boy matches my earlier facial expressions. "Kid? Kid? You think I'm a kid? What part of me makes you think that I'm a kid?"

I do a once over of the boy. He looks to be about four and a half feet tall. His face, though angry, still holds some baby fat which makes his cheeks bulge up toward his eyes. Sharp pointy ears stick out behind his brown raggedy hair. He doesn't wear the traditional clothing like any of the other fairies I've seen around this place, but instead sports a pair of brown trousers, and a shirt with the batman logo on it.

"I'm sorry for calling you a kid, buddy. You've got to be at least twelve. Practically a full grown adult," I reply completely monotoned.

"Let me inform you that I am actually fourteen, so you making fun of my 'childlike' qualities is quite humiliating," the boy says, suddenly proper, using air quotes when he says childlike.

I decide that, although it would be fun to continue teasing this boy about his age, I'm not in the right place to do it considering I'm only one year older. I don't tell him that though.