"Lilly! Lilly!" cried a high pitched voice. Running through the Gardens of Mohthelieum was a very young boy around the age of seven. He had dark brown hair of his Father's along with many noticeable facial features, quiet the opposite of his older brother who was handsome no doubt but took on the look of his mother.
This energized little toddler was that of Kalecgos and Anveena. Not too long after we left Aslan at the age of ten, did the announcement of Empress Anveena giving birth to a healthy baby boy appear. Stelan II was the youth's name, taken after his deceased grandfather on his mother's side.
Stelan ran until he got to the West Gardens. There he finally found the young woman he was looking for, who was examining a withering bush. With great urgency, the toddler ran up to the beautiful maiden and pulled on the skirt of her sapphire blue dress.
"Lilly, come quickly!" Stelan panted. The girl looked down at the exhausted child, and let out a harmless giggle.
"You look like you ran from Barrenport all the way back here! What is your hurry, Stel? I'm trying to prepare the bushes for the upcoming frost."
"Aslan's up," Stelan said taking her hand. "The duel has already started! Come on, we have to hurry otherwise we'll miss him!"
"Miss him what? Winning?" Lilly said, unenthusiastic about the whole matter.
"Come on!" Stelan whined. " You girls are no fun! How can you not like watching duels?"
"Alright, alright!" Lilly sighed, silencing the boy. "Come with me, I know a good spot where we can watch from. Is he dueling by the fountain?"
"That's where he said it would be. Sir Gills-Gilfs- I can't say it." Stelan said with defeat in his voice.
"Sir Gilsdorf?" Lilly smiled.
"Yea! That's him. Hurry, let's go see!" Stelan was going at a mad sprint down the pathway with Lilly jogging behind. When the time came Lilly pulled the toddler aside and showed him her secret spot for watching the duels.
At the bottom of one of the tall hedges was a hole that the thin branches formed. It was large enough for both Lilly's and Stelan's head to fit side by side and it had a pretty good view into the next span of garden. Both the toddler and her laid down on the grass and looked through the gap. The fountain was not in their view, but the dueling field was in perfect sight. There was a makeshift pavilion where the Lords of the squires and then the Emperor and Empress themselves would sit and watch the swordfights. This year there were very few squires that made it this far in training. Only four actually, including the Prince. Today, he was facing one of his fellow squires. In excitement, Stelan whipped his arm out, pointing at two men standing exactly five feet away from each other.
"There he is! He's facing Charon! Oh this is going to be good. Brother always wins his fights, I've never seen him lose once! Not once Lilly!" nothing but sincere pride was in Stelan's voice.
" I've never seen him lose one either, Stelan." Lilly added considerately. "But be quiet. They're starting."
The two boys wore thin chain mail under their thick tunics, along with dense leather gauntlets. Aslan unsheathed his long sword. The blade and guard made of steel, with a polished wooden grip, and then a golden pommel formed to look like the bust of a lion.
His opponent unsheathed his sword as well. The squire's hair was that of the darkest piece of coal, and eyes of a beautiful yet mystifying frosty blue. His body shape was fairly similar to the Prince's, strong and thin, a very equal match no doubt.
Lilly watched intently, Aslan happened to be very good friends with his challenger, and she grew worried that they would break the boundary of friendship so they could feast on the fruits of victory. However, the Knight training these advanced squires as mentioned earlier: Sir Gilsdorf, did not allow blood spilt in these duels. If there was any injuries they would only be small cuts or possible bruising. Although, that did not mean that once or twice someone did receive a serious wound and nearly died in the process. This was advanced as the training got, duels were taken seriously by their squires. Each had a dream, and that was to win their spurs, to become a knight.
"There heading towards the middle." Stelan muttered in excitement. Lilly said nothing and kept her eyes on the Prince and Charon.
The two squires stood straight in front of each other. Liquid gold staring into a frozen ocean. Simultaneously, the two rose their swords to their face, the blade cutting them in half.
"On the count!" came a hoarse, loud voice.
"Where were we supposed to meet Tomas and Xavier?" Charon whispered.
"One!"
"You would ask a question like that now." Aslan muttered with a grin.
"Two!"
"It will bother me the entire duel if I don't find out. And I do not want to be sidetracked, otherwise I cannot defeat you."
"You won't defeat me. It was by the creek near the forest."
"Begin!"
Both swords shifted sideways, catching one another. Charon fell back, and repositioned himself. Aslan held the sharp blade up, waiting for his opponent's next move. One step, a second, then a third. Charon swung the sword forward, a battle cry piercing the anticipating silence. The Prince collided his own sword with the swing, stopping it an inch from his neck.
Aslan pulled to the left, making Charon unbalanced--now was the time to attack. A sudden jab cut Charon's tunic, but the cloth was thick enough that the sword did not pierce into his flesh.
The coal-haired squire was then bombarded with many rapid swings and lunges, all of which he skillfully blocked or evaded.
"Charon has gotten better," Lilly muttered impressed at the squire's proficiency.
"That won't matter!" Stelan said gaily. "Aslan will still beat him." Such satisfaction and support did the toddler give to his older brother!
"Just don't jinx it Stel." Lilly laughed.
"What's 'jinx' mean?" the confused child asked.
"Shh! Watch!"
It was Charon's turn. He spun the sword around, swinging low this time at the Prince's feet. Aslan jumped up, the blade flying underneath him.
Angry the move did not work, the squire snarled angrily, like a blood thirsty animal. The Prince took no notice to the malicious noise and thrust his sword forward at his opponent's chest. Charon saw it coming. The screech of colliding metal came, and then he put all his strength into brining Aslan's sword to the ground. The plan worked, the Prince was sidetracked for a just mere second---Charon's chance to strike. With his blade still down, he pulled the sword up, making the butt of the hilt smash into Aslan's mouth. A shocked gasp came from the pavilion as the Prince staggered back his hand pressed against his jaw, which was bleeding.
Lilly covered her mouth in alarm, watching Charon raise his sword above his head ready for the final blow. He was going to win.
"I can't watch!" Stelan cried covering his eyes, he did not want to witness his brother losing for the first time.
Cling!
The sound broke through the uneasy air with an eerie calmness. There was silence. Stelan uncovered his eyes, tempted to see who came out victorious. The child noticed Lilly's face, twisted in stunned relief. He looked out of the hole again, seeing what had happened.
Charon stood above his hunched over opponent, his icy eyes filled with confusion and astonishment. The Prince had blocked the winning strike. The two blades glistened in the cold sunlight. The whole moment seemed to be frozen in time, no one moved, no one spoke, not even a breath was exhaled.
Slowly, the Prince rose to his upright posture and them removed his large hand from his face. The sword's pommel scraped against Aslan's lower lip, leaving a small, deep gash on his soft pink lip. He smiled at his opponent, his white teeth were stained with red.
"Nice try," Aslan said triumphantly. Charon only stood there, dumbfounded. The Prince turned his head away from the pavilion to spit, which was a disgusting mix of saliva and blood.
The coal-haired squire finally awoke from his state of disbelief, and swiped the blade again. Aslan easily blocked it. There were a few more rounds of numerous blocks and swings which made the duel all the more apprehensive. Charon finally had enough, he collided his sword with Aslan's attack and then swung the tangled blades in a rotary motion, but the Prince wasn't going to let his opponent take him down that easily.
"They're doing the death spin!" Stelan exclaimed, his hand clasped tight with exhilaration.
"'Death Spin'?" Lilly repeated.
"That's what I call it." Stelan said quickly, watching intently at what was going to happen next.
The 'Death Spin' as Stelan identified it lasted only a few more seconds. Only when the swords reached the peak of the rotation, did the spin stop and the pushing began. The squires were forehead to forehead, shoving against one another, trying to knock the other down to the ground. The Prince thought quickly, planning the final blow.
With Charon occupied by his objective of trying to get his opponent unbalanced, the Prince surprised the squire with an unexpected knee to the gut. Now with the wind knocked out of him, Charon became dazed and unfocused and dropped his sword as he hit the ground. Wasting no time, Aslan scrambled for the sword.
When Charon regained his focus, he found himself lying on the muddy ground. The Prince stood above him, faintly painting with a smile on his face,. Charon looked down, the tip of his own sword was pointed at his throat. It was over. The duel was won.
Cheers and applause came from the pavilion as well from the hedge across the way. Aslan ignored it all. He reached his hand out for his friend who accepted it without protest.
"I was pretty close, you must admit that." Charon remarked. The Prince smile, handing the squire's sword back to him.
"Indeed you were," He said. "My lip feels like it has puffed-up to the size of a melon."
"Only because it has." Charon laughed walking off the field, side by side with the Prince. The two boys were making their way to the fountain, where Aslan had left the vile of fire flower juice carefully wrapped in a scarlet handkerchief.
" Not going to show off your battle scar, Aslan?" Charon asked, taking a handful off water from the fountain and washing his hot, sweaty face.
"I'd rather not," the Prince replied, pulling off the cordial stopper. " My lip will look like this for days, and it probably would get infected."
"Wimp," Charon muttered, splashing another handful into his face. Aslan responded to the presumed silent remark by pushing his unsuspecting friend into the pool.
Charon was not too happy about being shoved into a deep fountain filled with the ice water of winter, and decided to share some colorful language with the Prince of how much he disliked it. Aslan could only respond with hysterical laughter.
"Brother!" exclaimed the high pitched voice of Stelan, running up to the Prince.
"Stel," he called back as the little toddler took hold of one of his legs.
"I thought you were going to lose for a second there! Oh, but I knew you wouldn't lose, you never ever lose!"
"Thanks for all the compliments Stelan." Charon said in a teasing bitterness, who for some reason was still in the fountain.
"Oh, sorry Charon! You fought well too!"
"You both fought well," it was Lilly's voice who so sweetly chimed in on the conversation.
The young woman walked up the Prince and hugged her congratulations. Over the passed seven years they had grown very close, they were undoubtedly best friends. Nothing more than friends, though some of the squires took joy in teasing the Prince about Lilly. He rarely took any heed of it, Lilly however at times would get red and be as silent as a rock when she heard some of the jokes.
"What happened to you Charon?" she asked seeing the dark haired squire sitting in the frigid water.
"Ask your boyfriend." the soaked squire muttered splashing some water at the Prince.
"Don't listen to him 'Lil." Aslan said with a smirk. That was his nickname for her. 'Lil. "He's just upset that he's going to have to do all of the squires' laundry because he's soiled his own. Sir Gilsdorf's rules."
Charon stepped out of the fountain, surprisingly not shivering nor chattering his teeth.
"I'll meet you at the creek at noon, Aslan. Tomas and Xavier will want to hear all about this. Hey, Lilly, why don't you join us? I bet someone will enjoy your company." Charon said as he walked off toward the field again.
"Must he always do that?" Lilly asked with a tint of annoyance.
"He's just mad." Aslan said with a shrug of his shoulders. "You know him just as well as I, he only gets bitter when he's in a bad mood. He knows we're only friends. Wait, where's Stelan? It's been awfully quite the past few minutes."
"He's over by Kalecgos and Anveena." Lilly answered looking toward the pavilion.
"Come, I want to show you the Dining Hall, it is all set up for the Christmas Party. You won't believe how amazing it looks!" Aslan intrigued tilting his head to the castle.
"I suppose I can. I hope that frost comes as Zanze said, I swear I am about to go insane with all of the tending I have to do for all of these blasted plants!" Lilly heard a soft chuckle from the Prince as he led her off back to the white castle.
The plans to meet the other two squires were cancelled that day due to a spur of the moment meeting Sir Gilsdorf decided to have. The knights-in-training were told to meet in the Throne Room. The Prince sat himself with Xavier and Tomas, the other two squires in the advanced group. Charon mentally separated himself from the three, he still seemed upset about having to clean the musty, pit stained training tunics for today. If he kept the attitude up, Sir Gilsdorf would not have any of it.
"We heard you won Aslan." Tomas said softly, not trying to offend Charon by talking about it.
"It is nothing to fuss over, Tomas," The Prince muttered with little emotion in his voice, actually sounding a bit tired.
"Do any of you know why Sir Gilsdorf called this meeting?" Charon asked, finally entering the discussion.
"I heard it is a mission for us." Xavier said with excitement. "I hope we get a challenging task! Maybe the Emperor has found a hidden encampment of Dark's soldiers, and he wants to send us to dispose of them! What a quest that would be, killing those evil and spiteful brutes will give me such a rush!"
"Honestly whatever happened to killing a dragon?" Tomas said, sounding nervous of what Xavier was talking about. "Wouldn't that be easier?"
"You're such a timid thing Tomas!" Xavier exclaimed. "They would not give us an easy assignment! We are the best knights-in-training Moht has to offer! We have to be put to the test to become knights, you think killing a fire breathing lizard will give us knighthood? I think not!"
"Boys!" came a hoarse, booming voice from the left doorway. There was Sir Gilsdorf and Emperor Kalecgos walking in together. The four squires stood up and were silent as the Great Emperor sat in his throne and his knight stood beside him.
"Squires," Kalecgos began. "Sir Gilsdorf and I have come to the agreement that it is time for you to receive your spurs. All of you, along with some of the more experienced knights will set out on a journey that was agreed to by your Knight and myself." The boys all looked at each other with happy and excited glances and smiles.
"What is our task, Great Emperor? If you do not mind my asking." Tomas inquired shyly. Kalecgos smiled and answered the squire.
"You four are to go and capture the White Stag and bring it back to Mohthelieum. There are some important questions we need to ask of it."
Xavier's mouth dropped in disappointment. Tomas' face was distorted with confusion, as well as the Prince's. Charon looked as if he was going to burst into flames he was so angry.
"That is our task!?" Charon asked, a calm anger in his voice. "We are to go and hunt a stag and bring it back here? That is a task for beginning trainees! You cannot be serious!"
"Silence yourself!" Sir Gilsdorf snapped harshly. "How dare you question the Emperor's motives in such an offensive way?! I should expel you from this mission, for it seems you have not learned the basics of the code of chivalry!" The dark haired squire lowered his head and remained silent for the rest of the meeting.
"Thank you, Gilsdorf," the Emperor said calmly. "Do you all understand the task, or must I explain further?"
Aslan rose his voice. "I do not understand, why a stag? What does a deer have to do with anything, what aid can it give us?"
"That is where you are wrong, young one." Kalecgos replied. "It is not just any stag. It is the White Stag. An incredibly fast creature that if caught, can grant wishes...or so the myth goes. No one has ever caught the mischievous beast, for it enjoys manipulating its hunters into not trying to capture it, or it drives them mad by the great spans of distance it runs. It is your task to capture the White Stag and bring it to the castle. Only then, can you become knights."
"How can we catch something that has never been caught before?" Xavier asked.
"How can one understand victory without failure?" Kalecgos answered back, now rising out of his throne and pacing back and forth.
"Yes, there are very few of you. The smallest group of squires I've seen for a very long time. The four of you are the best we have, the most experienced and the most talented. We ask such a task of you because we know that you all can accomplish it. As long as you all work together and put into practice what you have learned from your many years of training you will succeed. Do the four of you agree?"
Their heads nodded, and Kalecgos smiled.
"Good, your quest sets out the day after the Christmas Formal."
"Why not sooner?" Aslan asked and then added. "My Emperor."
"I know you are all itching to begin the mission, but I have an important guest who wishes to give all of you something before you embark. And he can only make it to the Winter Formal and no other day." The Emperor paused for a slight moment as the squires looked at each other wondering who the guest was.
"Sir Gilsdorf do you have anything further to add?" Kalecgos asked his knight.
"No, you have explained all that was needed to be, My Emperor."
"Then if that be the case, you are all dismissed." The Emperor said with a toss of his hand. The squires all bowed their heads in unison and left the Throne Room in silence.