Chapter Twenty-Three: Talk To You

  Immediately, the Lord and Ladies began to murmur about the interference as the woman screamed for the princess and more than one glance was thrown at Elijah, who stood in the back, watching with a wide-eyed expression.

  Don’t get close to her, Guide Amanda warned. I wouldn’t trust her if I were you.

  She looks desperate, Elijah responded, cautious yet curious, but the Guide was quick to interject.

  Of course she’s desperate, all beggars are. Most likely, she wants to gut you or ask you for money. Don’t put my life on the line, boy.

  Sorry, girl. It isn’t your life anymore. Striding forwards, Elijah gently pushed the people in front of him to the side and spoke in a regal voice, drowning out even the woman as she fell in silence at the sight of him.

  “What is the meaning of this disturbance?” He asked. “What is your name, and why have you broken into this house?” Raising his hand, Elijah nodded softly at the guard, who stopped behind her but kept his sword unsheathed, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Einar the Ulfír, as well, had by now joined the princess’ side and was holding his blade out threateningly, and Elijah silently thanked him for it.

  When he neared the woman, he towered over her and looked down, not condescendingly, but in a way to show he was the one in power. To his surprise, though, she didn’t flinch, and instead stared at him, daring him to blink.

  “You!” The woman hissed, her hands balled into fists. Einar and the other guard both stanced themselves, but didn’t react, although, from the corner of his eye, Elijah could see Einar’s ears flatten. “You, who claim to be the princess, are fake. You are not the Princess! You are NOT THE PRINCESS!”

  Shocks and gasps of confusion and ridicule spread through the nobles, and most of it was unintelligible, but as far as he could hear, none believed the woman.

  “Hey, I was right!” One of the Lords Melnior exclaimed.

  “No, she’s saying the one who passed us was the real princess and this one’s the doppelganger!” The other replied.

  “Shall we take care of her for you, your highness?” Einar asked.

  “Not yet,” Elijah replied calmly, but inside, his thoughts were in turmoil. Who the hell is this woman? How can she know I’m not the Princess?

  I don’t know, I am just as troubled as you are, my guided one, she replied. But whatever this woman thinks, you are the Princess. Amanda is gone now, replaced by you. Amanda has become your guide. This beggar is simply crazy, so expel her before she takes this farther.

  “How dare you say all of this about your Princess?” Elijah asked then, anger rising into his voice. I think I’m getting pretty good at acting as a princess.

  We shall see.

  “Because you are not my princess. I have no princess; Advantia has no princess!” The woman shrieked, hands flying in motion as her own anger reached a pinnacle. “You are a murderer, a dupe, and you deserve to die!” Saying thus, she reached at the princess, somehow dodging the sword that swung to her from the Guard. In her hand suddenly was a dagger, sharp and ready to cut, and Elijah’s stomach turned as Einar forced him back, using himself as the princess’ shield.

  “Stay back, your highness,” he growled. “I can take care of this woman easily, just keep all the court away. I would hate to injure them.”

  By now, other guards were already inside the room, and more were rushing in, surrounding the woman, who growled softly to herself, dagger swinging wildly, dissuading anyone who wished to approach her.

  “The fake princess must die!” She exclaimed. “Do you not see? We must kill her before she can be coronated. This is not Princess Amanda Gold.”

  The guards slowly edged closer to her, and she maneuvered to the side, aiming for Elijah, but Einar was already in the way, teeth bared.

  “One step closer and you’re dead,” he roared at her, and she stumbled back, careful to avoid the circling guards.

  “She’ll die anyway,” another guard smirked, blood-lust growing in his eyes.

  “BETS!” One Lord Melnior screamed. “Bets on who shall kill the woman. At least three drakons to place a bet.”

  Some Lords and Ladies were reaching for the exit, while others watched in stunned silence. Lord Thomas, whispering words of comfort in Elijah’s ear, grabbed his hand and squeezed it comfortingly.

  “You’re safe, darling.”

  No thanks to you, the princess thought to himself.

  By now, the beggared woman could tell she was at an impasse, and any move could be the death of her. Her eyes roved wildly through the room, searching for any exit, or any way to reach Elijah, but the Guards kept a tight circle around her. With a desperate glance at the fake princess, she spoke in her shrill voice.

  “This isn’t over, your highness,” she spat, and then threw her dagger at one of the guards, catching them off guard. As they dodged to block it, she also was on the move already, dashing through the small empty slot with surprising agility, and shifted herself towards the Lords, who all gasped or screamed. As the guards came to their help, she once again evaded them, and this time dashed for Elijah, and even with Einar blocking him, she was able to tackle him to the ground.

  The princess struggled to push the woman off, but she held on tight, her arms grabbing his neck and squeezing roughly.

  “Tell them all who you really are, princess,” she squealed. “It’s time you stopped lying to us all.”

  Due to the risk of hurting Elijah, Einar, instead of thrusting at the woman with his sword, was forced to pull her back, and immediately she began to writhe, but this time, she was the one stuck.

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  “I’ve got her,” Einar said. “Stand down, woman, and you may yet live.”

  “Fuck this,” the woman replied, digging her elbow intothe Ulfír’s stomach before she stuck her foot out, catching him on the toe. For some reason, this seemed to really affect Einar, as, howling, he stumbled back and the woman ran for the exit, dodging all the Lords and Guards. Just as she passed the exit to the ballroom she screamed to the wolf, who was clutching his foot. “Sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you!”

  Then she was gone, and for a moment, there was silence as every person in the room processed the strange occurrence and danger that had just passed. The first one to break the silence was the Guide, who herself sounded shook up.

  We need to find out who that was, because she clearly knew too much. She even knew Einar’s—

  “How the hell did she know where my deficiency is?” Einar said, cradling his foot as he collapsed on the ground. “I only ever told a few close friends, and I’ve never seen her before!”

  What is he talking about? Elijah asked.

  Einar was born with a small deficiency in his foot, Guide Amanda responded, which causes his bone to rise over his fur just a little. If he was barefoot, you would notice that there’s a small ridge of right just between his toes, and he keeps that secret well hidden.

  It could have been an accident, right?

  Looked deliberate to me, she replied darkly. Something’s going on here.

  There’s more conspiracies? Elijah groaned. First the assassin sent by Faría, then the problem with Lord Thomas’ father, then the Nightmare, which was sent from someone else, then this?

  Maybe the last two are connected somehow. But we must talk about Faría, as I wasn’t there and I wish to know from your mouth, not your thoughts, exactly what happened.

  Later, Elijah promised. Just need to deal with this first. Turning to the stunned court, he raised his arms and they turned to him, some frightened, some angry, and even some excited.

  “Lords, Ladies, all the fine men and women of the court, the danger has been neutralized and is now gone,” she said. “While she is out in the streets now, she shall not bother us again today. Still, I advise you all to travel to your homes in your carriages now, preferably with a Guard. Thank you, and you are dismissed, with Lord Thomas’ permission.”

  The Lord-heir, catching his bearings, cleared his throat and nodded. “Yes, my girl—her highness is correct, you must all go home. You are dismissed.”

  Thankfully, they all began to shuffle away, and although there were a few frustrated Lords, most looked grateful to leave. Letting them go, Elijah turned to Einar and lifted him up. She could see there were still tears in his eyes from the blinding pain, and he hugged the Ulfír.

  “I’m sure it was an accident, don’t worry about it,” he promised. “You saved me again. Thank you.”

  “Anytime, Amanda,” he winced. “Whenever you’re ready to leave, I’m ready to escort you home.”

  “Just give me a few minutes,” Elijah replied, and the Ulfír nodded, moving to stand next to the exit, sword still unsheathed in anger.

  Analyzing…

  Wait, why is this happening now? Elijah asked.

  You got into a small brawl, Guide Amanda shrugged. It’ll be a slight change, nothing important.

  Amanda Gold

  Level 2 Princess

  Overall Offense: Level 2 100%

  Melée: Level 2 100%

  Hand-to-Hand Combat: Level 3 100%

  Overall Defense: Level 3 85%

  Shielding: Level 2 38%

  Reflex: Level 2 100%

  Endurance: Level 2 100%

  Speed: Level 2 100%

  Awareness: Level 2 50%

  Strength: Level 2 89%

  Upgrades ready for: Overall Offense, Melée, Hand-to-Hand Combat, Overall Defense, Reflex, Endurance, Speed, and Strength.

  What? The Guide exclaimed. How the hell are there this many upgrades?

  After the upgrades finished, the familiar words appeared in front of him, and he couldn’t help but let his jaw drop.

  Upgrade ready for: Princess Amanda Gold.

  Princess Amanda Gold has been upgraded to Level 3

  Skill Punch unlocked.

  YOU LEVELED UP? Guide Amandfa exclaimed. That should be impossible, you just got Level 2 recently.

  Guess I’m just good at this. One question, though: what the hell kind of a skill is ‘Punch′?

  I have no idea, the Guide responded. Right now, I couldn’t care less.

  Leaving the Guide to stew in her incredulity, the princess turned to Lord Thomas as he stared at her, checking her both to make sure she was alright and also because he just liked staring at her.

  Can’t blame him, we look good, Elijah thought.

  “I’m totally fine, she didn’t hurt me in any way,” he said before the Lord could ask. “What about you?”

  The Lord nodded. “No issue from me, I’m just glad you’re okay.” His voice lowering to a whisper, he leaned into her and gently grabbed her shoulder. “Did you do what I asked you to?”

  “Who do you take me for?” Elijah asked, putting a hand to his chest in mock outrage, shaking his head in disbelief. “You think I wouldn’t keep my promises?

  “No, I didn’t do it.”

  At the Lord’s disappointed and hurt expression, he laughed, clapping Thomas on the back and winking at him.

  “Of course I did, but…” he gulped. “I may have offered more than I should.”

  “How so?” The Lord-heir asked, cocking his head.

  “I may possibly might have maybe kind of could’ve told them that it was a possibility that probably your dad would come back maybe and that possibly he would bring some sort of new enterprise that could well…bring you back, so to speak. But it’s ok, right, considering all you need to do is bring your father?”

  Lord Thomas Penrose blanched, stumbling back and eyes widening.

  “I…I don’t know about this, Amanda,” he replied. “I appreciate you for trying, but I think that’s going to be worse for me than you think.”

  “Why can’t your father just come back? What happened?” Elijah asked again, shaking Thomas softly. “What is going on?”

  “Nothing, he’s just indisposed,” Lord Thomas replied, clearly lying, but unwilling to even hide the fact. “We’ve gone over this, darling, I can’t tell you anything.”

  “Why?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he replied, frustrated and sad, backing away from him. “You just have to trust me.”

  Sighing, Elijah nodded softly, reaching out to the Lord, who gently took his hand in the princess’.

  “Okay, I will,” the princess responded. “But can’t you at least do something with what I told the court?”

  Lord Thomas thought for a moment, biting his lip in concentration before finally nodding in a resigned way.

  “Yes, there is something, but I’ll need a week or so to prepare for this, especially with my mother’s permission.”

  “That’s perfect,” Elijah responded. “I’m sorry if I messed up a little.”

  “No, you did perfect,” Lord Thomas said, hugging her tightly, breathing in the scent of her hair and perfume. “Thank you.”

  The Princess Amanda Gold gagged.