Mountains Vast and a Kingdom So Red

Chapter 2

Home, in my worldview, is the best region in Ganymede. We are absolute alchemists and inventors, our metropolis is organized in circular pattern where people ride hoverboards that respond to electricity humming in the dirt below. We've learned to harness energy from the planet, not killing it, not draining one part. There are buses that look like carriages, story high buildings that mirror tree houses, and a beautiful lilac sky where sparrows and other carrier birds deliver information. The shopping areas have a haberdashery, a footwear warehouse, a clothing company for all genders, and a bakery bordering an inner bow. Ohhh with my first tutor, I loved learning about my country's structure; it took my brain half a century to grasp: there is a circle, where I live, in the middle, and five interconnected bows branch out of it, making the little subsection I'm in is one of many. Baker Quill hands me a coffee with goat's milk and I hand her my vesTone magnet which she clings with hers. After one sip I'm met with Delphina, her black beak in my eyeline.

"Hello dear," I say, and accept the letter from her talons. She flies away. Most birds have multiple clients, but Delphina just needs me, one princess for that fat envelope (of seeds!).

The letter is from the Defender soldier, whom I know as my trainer and sort of friend. His cursive states: meet me at the compound as swift as you can. Please, the only thing I'm swift about is...undressing for a shifter. Oh dear. No time to daydream about Leviys. I swig down my scalding out coffee and wave at a passersby. People are friendly to me because I am the princess. The passersby lets me get on their hoverboard and once we tap vesTone magnets, they know which way to go. People not associated with the kingdom's affairs are not allowed on the estate's property, so I get dropped off at the front gate.

"Bye Mikah! Many triumphs!"

"And to you!" I shout back, a bit distracted, as I use one of my keys to unlock the gate. Wait, I should have practiced using my wand.

Simmons, the Head servant, folds his arms against his back in the garden, the last person I want to see. I roll my eyes.

"Ryder expects you at the compound, your young highness." This time I don't roll my eyes, I glare. The man's a ninny, he's no better than the things that trim roses. In his world view he cannot call me your highness because that is my mother's title. Strumpet would be less offensive than young highness. I think he knows I hate him.

I show him the letter and walk past him. Does Ryder tell him about our meetings? I doubt it; Ryder has to appeal to my father and other courtiers. It must be because Simmons is nosy.

I use a different key to enter the compound which is a plain looking from the outside. Inside the modernity is almost laughable. No one comes here to lounge. Just to shoot firearms.

Ryder smirks at me. "Nice uniform. Are the frills fireproof?"

I smirk back, and once my wand is out of my boot, clothes akin to what soldiers train in appear by my side. He has to twiddle his thumbs as I change in the bathroom. My all gray color scheme contrasts his black uniform and red tie, carelessly done per usual.

"Get your eye visors," he commands, not in a nice tone either. Simmons, Ryder, men in my life with no tact. I should complain to my father, but I know even a female soldier will train like a bitch. I put them on and assume I'm ready to blast the firearm.

"The bullets are fake," he tells me.

I'm surprised by this. "Why?"

"Because instead of aiming at a target, you will be aiming at me princess." This is new. As desirable as it is to perform bravado and bravery in front of him, I am nervous. Sure I have good form, feet hip width apart, fingers tense, hands relaxed, back straight, but adding movement to it? Fighting Ryder?

He actually seems interested. "Is this alright by you?"

I nod, and remember what Leviys said about a loophole. Does the Master of Bewitched Humans have any kind of enemy on the fringes?

"We'll go slow. Repetition gets the unicorn rainbow." He says. I smile at that stupid turn of phrase. He might be the "baddest of them all" but he thinks unicorns are cool too. Unicorns–

"Mikah, the safety is still on." I groan, and take it off.

He slides on his eye visors and falls into a deathful stance. I try to mirror him. He aims the firearm at me and shoots. A wooden bullet pelts me. Another, and another.

"Enough," I say. "I get it, I am dead."

"Elimination is not acceptable. We need the princess alive. What does a princess do to stay alive?"

I show him. I show him I know how to shoot. I show him that I keep my form, that I can duck and run and kick.

"Now we're getting somewhere."

After the hour is up and we've picked up the bullets, I hesitate at the door. "Is there a reason we trained harder today?"

His mouth is a grim line. "Each lesson is harder. Your father trusts me to teach you how to become a lethal weapon."

"Am I a lethal weapon?" I ask, knowing it's a trap door.

"Not even close," he smirks, walking past me and I inhale his sweet scent of cinnamon and soap.