Pandora's Box

Chapter 1: Part I

Pandora squinted through her protective face mask, cursing under her breath at her own foolishness. She eased backward, carefully maintaining readiness, saber poised and ready. Advancing so quickly had been a mistake. The cost would be dire.

The sun threw down burning daggers and with a final glimmer of his steel, Pandora's opponent vanished into the glare. She knew it wouldn't help, but she reached out with her will and let the magic sift through the screen of white light.

Wind whistled through Pandora's face mask. The lunging strike would soon emerge from the blinding light. Pandora gritted her teeth, focusing. She let the countless hours of hard lessons pool into a single stream of flowing instinct. Her posture shifted, and her weight re-balanced in her stance.

A glint of steel flashed at the edge of Pandora's vision. She dodged left, then immediately ducked. Her opponent's backhanded slash sliced the air harmlessly above her head. A tiny voice in Pandora's head urged her to counter, but the pool of flowing knowledge, hard-earned, whispered otherwise. She dived into a somersault, rolling by her opponent. She sprang up gracefully, seized her opponent's wrist and twisted. A large body suddenly flipped and landed hard with a thump.

The guardsmen watching the sparring session cheered from the copse of trees providing much needed shade. Princess Pandora gave a flourish with her saber and deeply bowed.

"Thank you ever so much-"

The downed opponent's leg flashed out, striking the princess in the back of the ankle. Pandora toppled and crashed to the ground. The impact rattled the saber from her grasp. She gasped for breath as the training blade skittered away. Her opponent towered over her, casting a long shadow over the glade. A saber tip stared at Pandora's chin.

"Was it worth it? Was defeat worth the moment's gloating and embarrassment of your foe?"

Pandora flipped off her training mask. The princess slammed its mesh onto the ground.

"The bout was over, the victory mine."

A thick mane of golden curls spilled free as Pandora's opponent followed suit, removing his own mask. King Drake sheathed his weapon and offered a hand to his bested daughter. The princess hesitated, then caved. Pandora took her father's hand and allowed herself to be pulled upright.

"Whenever blades are set to dancing life hangs in the balance. Fencing or not, there is no place for gloating. A savvy foe will be ever vigilant in searching for the moment you think him defeated."

Drake pinched Pandora's chin, gently tilting it up. "Do you understand?"

A prickling wave of flushing embarrassment colored Pandora's porcelain skin. She hated being spoken to like a child, but knew her father to be right. It had been Drake who insisted that Pandora take up training with the steels, knowing full well the dangers an ungentle, unjust world could present a young woman.

"Yes, faday. I understand."

The use of the traditional word for 'father' softened the edges of the frown framing the king's chiseled jaw. "We shall see, my daughter. There is much yet left for you to learn and the hours available dwindle by the day."

The reminder hollowed the pit of Pandora's stomach. She didn't particularly enjoy being reminded that the time of her ascension to adulthood was nearly at hand. In many ways it had already happened. The way the hand servants had taken to calling her by the more formal titles, and how the common folk both within and outside of the castle walls now nodded deferentially as she passed were plain reminders that her childhood had all but come to an end.

Soon, she could look forward to endless, soul-crushing days of boredom at court and a never ending parade of suitors vying for her hand. None of it seemed at all appealing.

And there was something else. A presence had dominated her dreams of late, it's whisper promising vast power beyond the childish magic she'd been taught. 

Crestfallen, Pandora kicked at a clutch of pebbles. She looked to the storied castle on the horizon, wondering how she could slip away from the life that had already been chosen on her behalf.

"Beautiful isn't it?" the King asked, catching note of the same view as he stowed his fencing gear in a saddle bag. Nearby, the four soldiers assigned to the royal guard detail, gathered up the rest of their equipment and took to their mounts.

"Yes. It truly is, father," Pandora replied absently. She dragged herself through the motions of removing her training garb.

King Drake missed nothing, especially when it concerned his only daughter. "You know, if you squint, you can almost see the cloud of striped elephants descending upon the north tower."

"They're wonderful, father." Pandora's hollow voiced mustered all the joy of a deserted tomb.

"Pandora, stop," Drake said. He guided the girl's shoulder until they fully faced the empty skies above the castle. "What do you see, my daughter?"

"I see nothing," Pandora said, shrugging.

Drake's eyebrow arched. "Look again."

Pandora sighed. She knew her father wasn't one to let a possible lesson slip by. "I see the castle. I see our Capital at its feet, and the Sterling River tracing the countryside."

Drake shook his head and focused the gentle steel of his eyes on her. "No. That's what everyone else sees. What do you see?"

The lump formed almost instantly in Pandora's throat. It squeezed her voice as though she were being choked. Pandora hated the way her father managed to pull guarded truths from people.

"I see the future. I see the place where my dreams shall die and my voice silenced. I see endless days of people telling me what to do and what to think and how I should aspire to be mother's equal."

The King wiped a tear from Pandora's eye and pulled her into a hug. Pandora pressed her cheek into her father's chest and squeezed him hard about the waist. But she did not cry. She would not allow him to catch a single sob.

"Oh sweet daughter of mine," Drake said softly, brushing Pandora's fiery red hair back with his fingers. "That shall never be your fate."

The King lowered himself to a crouch. He pointed over the horizon. "That is the future, but in the future I see, I see a strong and just Queen Pandora bringing justice and prosperity to our people."

Drake's finger selected several sites among the glistening buildings of the capital.

"There shall be your highest seat in the Court of Ages. And there, in the grandstand of the arena where you shall mark the beginning of our summer seasons and bring joy to our noble workers, without whom we could survive. And there, at the Mausoleum, you shall preside over the Final Rites ceremonies and see our kingdom's families to the World Beyond."

Pandora twisted free of the king's grasp. "That's exactly what I mean! What if I don't want to sit on the Court or handle funeral proceedings? What if I want to be left alone? What if I only want to spend time at the Grand Library or sailing the Queen's Breath?"

"There will be time for all of that and more, young one. As queen, it shall be your sacred duty to uphold the law and provide for our people. Such is the highest honor, the most noble path one may walk. But you are right to suspect that the burden shall be a heavy one. Many a day has gone past when I found myself wishing not for an extra hour to squeeze in one more hearing at court, but for only a moment's peace to be shared with your mother."

The princess wrestled with the idea of a day filled from dusk till dawn and an endless parade of people who had need of her ear and hand. Even now, years before the great burden of that duty had found its way to her shoulders, Pandora felt the specter of the cumbrous weight.

"Then how do you do it, faday?" Pandora asked.

King Drake chuckled, stepped into a stirrup, and slung himself into the saddle of his ivory charger. He wheeled the magnificent animal around. "By seizing every moment I can!" The king drove the mount hard toward the padded earth of the old country road. Two of his royal guard took off in close pursuit.

One of the remaining guards nodded to Pandora's own horse, before offering a challenging smile.

"Shall we, princess?"