The Silver Crown

10.

The messenger came, and the queen sent for the High Priestess.

"Dionisa, I wish you would not do this. I hate to see you disappointed again," The king said, but his voice was resigned. He knew he was arguing in vain.

"I do it because I believe, Peter," The queen retorted.

"You do it to any girl that comes in here that could be the right age," The king said quietly.

"Because I have not given up hope, even if you have."

I tried to follow the exchange but I quickly realized I had no hope of understanding and tuned out the monarchs' conversation. I began to plot instead.

As Tirasth, home to the largest temples of the gods and also home to the High Priest and Priestess, was an hour from the capital, I was moved to the side of the room and allowed to sit on the floor as the king and queen and captain whispered, presumably about me.

When the first person, about ten years of age and clad in a lilac colored dress, made her way in, Brinian left the sovereigns and sat in a chair next to where I sprawled on the floor. Five guards were stationed along the wall by me and my hands were tied behind my back and to the foot of the chair that Brinian was sitting on.

"I'm flattered," I whispered to the captain. "To be considered such a threat." I explained when he raised his eyebrows. He kicked me lightly to shut me up.

More people began to make their way into the room and settled around the table. When every seat had been taken and the room was filled with quiet chatter, one young man spoke up. "Aunt, forgive me, but I believe we are all wondering what that wench is doing in the dining room. Are we not here to have breakfast?"

"Peter and I have this girl here as we are making an inquiry as to her origins," The queen explained.

"Is that the person who ruined the parade yesterday?" One of the younger girls asked.

"Yes, Aria, it is she."

"Then I hate her," The little girl answered. "Parade days are my favorite and she made it end early." I tried not to care what an aristocrat thought about me but it was hard since she was so young. She reminded me of Tobin when I first met him, only not bruised and afraid.

"You don't know her yet, darling. Give her a chance," Dionisa said.

"Who do you think she is?" The first speaker asked.

"That will come later." The king sighed. "For now, she is known as Kade."

"Can we meet her?" A different little girl squeaked.

"Brinian, bring the girl closer," The king commanded in response.

Brinian stood and untied my hands from the chair. The guards each took an arm.

I began to get nervous; who knew that I would meet the entire royal family? It was hard to be confident when was one was dressed in bloodstained rags. My breaths started coming faster and I realized I needed to escape. Energy surged up through my veins, ready to power either fighting or fleeing.

Brinian nodded to the two guards holding my arms. They jerked me forward and I shrieked; the pain in my shoulder was too much to bear. I screamed and swore. I probably said some words that most of these sheltered noble kids had never heard before. "Let go of me!" I shouted.

The room was unusually quiet. I fell silent too and gulped. Figuring that politeness was my best bet, I said. "Please, let go of m' right arm. I am injured there. Mayhap you could hold somewhere else instead." I would have liked to go for the king or queen but they were farther away so I settled on Brinian, flexing my fingers.

The queen immediately followed up on my request. "Do not injure her further!"

"My queen," The guard on my right said, "she is uncontrollable. I have the best control of her this way. It is my duty to protect you."

"Just listen to my wife," The king sighed again, backing up his queen, however reluctantly. I made a note that the king's weakness was his wife; that could come in handy later on.

The guard on my right let go of my arm and moved to grab my waist, but I was too fast for him. I jerked my left arm away and escaped. I leapt free of the guards grip and reached my left hand up to my hair. I expertly maneuvered the knife out of the tangled mass on my head. I leaped toward Brinian, rolled beneath his punch and came up behind him. I had my knife up to his throat before he could get his sword out.

I was lucky that the guards had broken the fingers on my already injured side. If they had broken the fingers on my left hand I wouldn't have been able to hold the knife properly and the pain in my shoulder would have stopped me from using my right hand.

The guards who had been holding me were dumbstruck. I gave a grin of superiority; I was lightning fast.

"I am goin' to walk out of this room and out of this palace. I am goin' back to the city and you are going t' forget I ever existed." At least until I return to ruin you, I thought. My hatred of royalty had only grown with my stay in the palace dungeons. "Does e'ryone understand?"

I started moving forward, pushing Brinian in front of me. I forced him to step one foot off the dais, then the other. Suddenly he bent down and reached back. Grabbing hold of both of my arms he flipped me over his head and slammed me into the marble floor.

I winced then quickly wiped the pain off of my face. I could hear some of the younger children and girls screaming. One older boy was on his feet. I saw him reach for his sword and swear when he realized it wasn't there.

I was on my feet momentarily. I bobbed away from Brinian's hand, which was reaching for me. I circled, but Brinian kept his hands up and backed away. I was puzzled that he wouldn't fight me until my fuzzy brain remembered there were two guards behind me and two more were standing guard at the door. I spun around but it was too late. They had already grabbed me and ripped the knife out of my hand not caring that they almost sliced off one of my fingers.

I struggled to get out ofthe guards iron grip and was hit hard across the face. Black clouds rushed upto swamp my vision and it was a good thing the guards were holding me or Iwould have cracked my head on the marble floor.