“Good morning, Your Highness.”
It was the day before Tiara’s birthday. Vice Captain Harrison and Vice Captain Eric arrived for their imperial knight shifts, greeting me with bows.
“Good morning, Vice Captain Eric, Vice Captain Harrison. Thank you for escorting me today.”
Heading down the hall, I soon found Tiara and Stale. The five of us continued as a group. Tiara had already grown accustomed to Vice Captain Harrison and greeted him with a hearty, “Good morning!”
He dipped his head in response. Despite the blunt cut of his bangs, his long black hair spilled in front of his face when he bowed. Tiara actually had yet to hold eye contact with him. The same was true for me, as he quickly looked away as soon as our gazes met.
“Vice Captain Harrison, may I ask what you do in your free time?” Tiara said.
She’d been asking him questions off and on during his shifts, trying to get to know him. Of course the friendly Tiara showed no fear, even in the face of someone as intimidating as Vice Captain Harrison. Hearing the other knights talk about how much he doted on Arthur likely went a long way in dispelling his menace.
Stale didn’t speak to Vice Captain Harrison much, but that wasn’t a sign that he didn’t trust the knight. At their first meeting, he beamed at the vice captain, shook his hand, and told him to take good care of me.
“I know you defended King Yohan’s life and the southern region of Chinensis. I’ll be expecting even more great things from you in the future.”
Vice Captain Harrison’s eyes glinted at that.
Those “great things” Stale mentioned consisted of slaughtering a bunch of enemies…
“I train.”
The taciturn Vice Captain Harrison had nothing more than two words to say in response to Tiara’s question. I knew it didn’t mean he was upset with her, but his curt answer left Vice Captain Eric and me a bit uneasy.
“Of course! That makes sense!” Tiara replied, not taking his brevity personally at all.
My heart ached at how much she could enjoy even this conversation compared to the ones with Cedric. No, that’s only because she’s friendly with everyone other than him…
Tiara had accepted Cedric as a marriage candidate, but even now, I had trouble reading her true intentions. Things seemed to be going well for them only for the briefest of moments, but ever since he upset her again, Tiara had been avoiding him. Aside from basic greetings, they’d barely spoken in the four days after his arrival. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say she was too busy to speak to him.
My sister had lots of ideas about the important occasion of her sixteenth birthday and spent her days planning the event with Mother. Her schedule was packed again today, so I doubted she would speak to Cedric. I pitied him, as it seemed Tiara might have accepted his proposal just so she could stay in Freesia. Not that he seemed entirely dissatisfied with that.
Stale headed to Uncle Vest’s office after eating, so Tiara and I passed the time before our studies began in the garden. She would have to work on the final preparations for tomorrow’s party after our lessons, while I had a meeting with Mother and our guests about the postal service announcement. Tiara and I held hands and stepped into the garden, eager to get a little fresh air while we still had time.
Just then, a breeze blew past us, carrying with it a subtle but palpable rage.
The strange gust sent a chill down my spine. Then a scream cracked through the garden, followed by a bellow, the rumble of quaking earth, and the clang of something metallic. I whirled around to find Vice Captain Harrison gone.
“Vice Captain Harrison?!” Vice Captain Eric called out.
Panicked, Tiara and I made a mad dash for the commotion.
“Damn it! What the hell do you think you’re doin’?!”
Once that second shout reached my ears, a wave of relief washed over me. Good, he’s still safe for now!
Vice Captain Harrison was attacking a figure down near the palace gates. They were too far away to make out, but those dirt walls could only belong to one person.
“Stop, Vice Captain Harrison!” I shouted frantically, sprinting toward him.
The vice captain swung mercilessly at Val, who fended off the sudden ambush with the dirt at his feet. He knocked the blade and even the knight’s bullets away with his sand. Clang, clang! Even at a distance, the sounds rang out clearly.
Sefekh blasted the vice captain with water, but he zipped past it. He didn’t hesitate to fling his knives in retaliation, but Val blocked them using the earth as a shield. Val turned his sand into thornlike daggers and launched them at Vice Captain Harrison, who swiftly dodged the sand. I knew right away that Val was trying to protect the two children from the knight’s assault. His fealty contract would’ve stopped him from attacking in any other circumstances.
Finally, Val gathered the earth around him into one massive wall, triggering an earthquake large enough to make me stagger. From a distance, it looked as if Vice Captain Harrison was battling a giant, but he never faltered. Instead, he tore at the earthen wall before him. I could hardly believe my eyes as he steadily chipped away at the thick structure with nothing more than his sword.
When Vice Captain Harrison penetrated the wall, he was met with a jet of water from Sefekh. He evaded it, breaking through again, but each time his sword punctured the wall of dirt, Val patched it back up. Seeming fed up, Vice Captain Harrison raced up the wall using his incredible speed. He made it to the top and jumped over before I could do more than shriek. This is really bad!
Khemet screamed again as Val roared on the other side of the wall.
At last, I made it close enough for my voice to reach them. “V-Vice Captain Harrison! You can’t kill them!” I was so out of breath, that cry alone nearly sent me to the ground.
The other side of the wall fell silent, and I broke into a cold sweat.
I straightened as I caught my breath, then inhaled for one more shout. “They’re my delivery people! Please don’t hurt them!”
No response. I had a very bad feeling about this. My throat went dry, and I started heaving again. Tiara trembled beside me, covering her mouth with both hands.
Step by step, I advanced toward the wall until I could reach out and touch it. I gave it a knock, but there was no way the sound could penetrate such a thick barrier. Then I tried to walk around it, only to find the structure was closer to a dome than a simple wall. Perhaps Val had been trying to make a protective dome and was interrupted when Vice Captain Harrison attacked. I bet Sefekh and Khemet are terrified.
“Val! Can you hear me?! Please tear your wall down!”
Crack! Fwoooosh!
His special power deactivated in response to my voice. The relief that hit me was so powerful, I almost fainted. Vice Captain Eric steadied me so I didn’t crumple where I stood. I took Tiara’s hand, and we backed away.
The scale of the giant wall had attracted a group of guards and gardeners—the latter of whom were relieved to see that the threat to the palace gardens had been neutralized.
When the wall fell, a cloud of dust rose into the air. Figures slowly materialized in the haze. The tall one was definitely Val, with Khemet clinging to his side. Sefekh had her hands up, poised for an attack. Vice Captain Harrison stood frozen in front of them…his sword just shy of Val’s throat. Between his black locks, the vice captain’s purple eyes shone as he and Val glared at each other.
As I approached, I found Val had covered his neck with sand to protect it from the blade. Vice Captain Harrison could have easily sliced through it, however.
The tip of the vice captain’s sword trembled against the sand wall as he struggled to hold back his urge to thrust it. Val and Sefekh looked ready to jump him, but if they made one wrong move, Vice Captain Harrison would slit Val’s throat.
Val leaned his head back, turning his glare on me this time. His eyes said, What the hell’s goin’ on?!
“Forgive me, Vice Captain Harrison!” I called out. “I never explained this to you! This man is my personal deliveryman, not a threat.”
I slid carefully between them so as not to set them off. While I explained about Sefekh and Khemet too, Tiara placed her hands on the children’s shoulders in a show of trust. The terrified Khemet still clung to Val, and Sefekh glared ferociously at the knight with tears in her eyes.
“It’s all right! This man is here to protect us!” Tiara cried out in desperation. Unfortunately, she would fail to persuade either of the children while Vice Captain Harrison’s sword was at Val’s throat.
“Please, lower your sword,” I said slowly, like I was negotiating with the knight. “He’s not going to hurt anyone anymore.”
Finally, Vice Captain Harrison brought his sword down. The sound of the blade sliding into its sheath broke the tension, but he never tore his eyes away from Val. As for Val himself, he righted his posture and dropped the sand now that the immediate threat was gone. He rubbed his neck with one hand, confirming it was unscathed, and stepped aside to keep Sefekh and Khemet behind him.
“Mistress, what the hell’s wrong with this knight?”
Val looked between the vice captain and me. He was more than just angry—each sharp breath was laced with deadly intent. Frightened, I locked up on the spot. I was standing right between him and Vice Captain Harrison, who was just as bloodthirsty as Val.