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A/N: Thanks a lot to all of those who reviewed and to Ally Serenity for betaing this chapter

Chapter Six

Sir Albus and Praïn went quickly to the shack. At first glimpse, they were reassured: Amaris was sleeping on the grass under a tree.

They climbed off and hurried into the house. Lily was in her room, lying on her bed, resting.

"Lily?" Praïn asked carefully.

"Sir?"

"How are you?"

"Don't worry, I will be fine… It was just a bit hard to hear that, even if I have prepared myself for these kinds of reactions. I just did not expect this from the Prince and from Sir Sirius."

"Will you come back?" asked directly Sir Albus.

"I would rather not, sir, I will continue to train myself here, and be ready if the King or the Queen need me, but I do not want to go back. People will reject me. If the Prince had not been able to accept me, who would?"

Sir Albus's face was a bit sad, but he understood her reasons; she was, unluckily, right.

"But if Bella or Sir Remus want to train with me, I will gladly accept."

Sir Albus became thoughtful.

"Very well, it is a good idea my dear, I will suggest this to the King."

"Thank you, Sir."

Sir Albus left and went to the castle.

Praïn sat next to her.

"You look a lot like your mother, except for your eyes, you have Kethran's eyes."

"Thank you; I would like them to be here now."

"I am here, Lilyaris, I will always. If you need to talk, I will be here to listen, like any grandfather would do…"

"I know." she buried her head in his shoulder, and started crying.

"It was so hard to heard those words; to see he and Sir Sirius looking at me like I was not human, like I was a monster…"

Praïn stroked her hair, worried by all the sadness and hurt that he felt in her voice.

"It will be alright, I promise you it will turn out alright…"

For a moment, he comforted her. Then he noticed she had fallen asleep. He gently put her in her bed and exited the room.

He slowly walked outside, and then whistled sharply. A big Pegasus arrived immediately.

"Therim, please could you bring me to Erkanswald, I need to see Scianor."

He mounted the Pegasus and then flew towards the castle.

They landed near it, and Praïn then headed to the throne room. He found Sir Albus deep in conversation with the King.

When Sir Albus arrived at the castle, he rushed to meet the King and the Queen.

As soon as he entered in the throne room, the King looked up hopefully at him.

"Will she come back?"

"No, She has been much too hurt, even if she does not show it."

"James will have to apologize to her." Announced the Queen.

"May I say that it will be better if he is not forced to do it, but do it willingly…"

"Maybe…" thought the King.

"But Lily will continue to train herself and will be ready if you need her. She has also proposes that Lady Arabella come and train with her, if she wishes."

"It is a good suggestion. I shall summon her immediately."

A footman entered in the room and exited quietly after having heard the king's request. A few minutes later, Lady Bella entered, worry visible on her face.

"Lady Bella, we have news from Sir Albus about Lady Lilyaris."

"Your Majesty?"

"She has gone back to the place where she has been training and will not come back, although she will be ready to help the kingdom in any way. As she will keep training, she wanted to know if you would like to join her."

Lady Bella seemed to think for a while, and then she spoke.

"I will join her. If I train with someone, it will be easier, and apparently her training is very effective."

"Indeed. I must warn you, it is extremely hard for the dragon and for the rider."

"I had guessed."

"I advise you to take your horse and take Lily's horse with you, she has already been complaining that she cannot ride anymore…"

"I had planned on doing this."

"Well, when can you leave?"

"I shall be ready in an hour."

"Perfect! Meet me here in one hour then."

"Understood. May I be excused in order to take care of every thing?"

"Permission granted."

As she passed the door she stopped and turned.

"Sir Albus, could you do me the favor of warning my parents?"

"With pleasure, Lady Bella."

"Thank you."

She left.

Sir Albus looked at King Regis.

"How is the fight with Lord Voldemort doing?"

"Not very well. Since his attack on James's birthday, there were small battles, but nothing really serious. It scares me a bit; I do not like this peace. He must be preparing something big, but none of our spies have been able to bring us valuable information."

"It is disturbing… Will James join the dragon's wing?"

"Yes, in two months when he turns twenty."

"Hmm... good…" Sir Albus thought for a while.

They continued to talk about The Dark Lord until Lady Bella was ready to leave.

Bella had run to her room. Once she was in, she called her maidservant and ordered her to prepare some clothes. She chose a few dresses, but took mostly trousers, and tunics, which were useful for training. After half an hour, she was finished. She decided to warn her friends of her departure. Even if she was still mad at James and Sirius for what they had done to Lily, they deserved to know where she was, unless they would be able to search her everywhere.

She went in James rooms. She was lucky; they were all there, talking.

"Bella!" shouted Sirius.

"Nice to see you Bella." Said Remus, more calmly.

"You too Remus." She ignored James and Sirius. "Well, I'm leaving tonight. I came to warn you."

"You're leaving! Where? Why do you leave? Is there something wrong?" The three boys started talking in the same time."

"I am leaving with Sir Albus to train. Lily proposed to me the idea that I train with her, and I accept. I am leaving tonight."

"You will train with her! Why! She is not noble, you will waste your time!" James replied immediately.

"James; must I remind you that she was the winner of the tournament, and that before knowing her lineage you found her amazingly powerful and skilled?" Bella answered sharply.

"She was lucky, that is all."

"You are really pathetic, James. Remus, if you want to see us, or anything of the sort, ask Yoris to contact us. Lily wanted to thank you for your kindness and your understanding towards her situation."

"It was normal. Say to her that I wish the better for her."

"I will. Good bye…"

She left the boys, and then went to her room asked a servant to bring her packages to the hall, and headed to the throne room.

Once she arrived, she heard some voices.

"When you left, she put down her mask. They have really hurt her. This was apparently the first time she has decided to trust people, and the majority turned on her. She did not take it very well. She cried for a long time before falling asleep."

"Poor girl, she had no need of that, she is so vulnerable…"

"In fact, I was afraid that she would completely isolate herself from human contact. I do hope that Lady Bella will not betray her, or else she may result to drastic measures…"

Bella was taken aback by this. Poor Lily!

She then entered the room. There was the elf chief, Sir Albus, the King, and the Queen.

"Are you ready Lady Bella?"

"Yes Sir." She turned to face the King. "I am sorry if I sound impertinent, your Majesty, but I suggest you have a talk with the Prince and with Sir Sirius. Their prejudice towards lineage is very worrying…"

The King's face darkened.

"I shall follow your advice, Lady Bella; thank you. May I ask you a favor?"

"Anything your Majesty."

"Be very careful with Lilyaris, she is very fragile."

"I will your Majesty."

Sir Albus left after a few words, and Lady Bella followed him. They went to the shack. Sir Albus showed her the room she would be staying in, just next to Lily's, and then left her alone. She quickly dressed in her nightgown, and then fell asleep.

Next morning, Lily woke up at 6 am like she did every morning; she quickly got up and dressed. She ate a bit, and went running for an hour. When she came back, she was startled to see a brunette eating. She recognized her as Lady Bella!

Bella looked up and saw Lily.

"Good morning Lily! Would you like something to eat?"

Lily seemed surprised by her cheerfulness.

"With pleasure, but I shall wash myself before."

Twenty minutes later, hair wet, she ate her breakfast, while Bella explained to her a few things. After that, Lily looked up at Bella.

"You are sure you want to be here?"

"Sure am."

"Thanks a lot Bella." Lily hugged her friend tightly.

"It is a pleasure. So, what is your training?"

Lily grinned.

"You are sitting? Yes. So; we wake at 6 am, then we run for an hour. 7 am: breakfast. 8 am to 8.30 am: preparation of the training equipment, 8.30: work on the trap circuit until 11.30 am, 11.30 am to 12.30: lunch. 12.30 am to 1 pm: rest. 1 pm to 2 pm: swimming. 2 pm to 4.30 pm: study new curses, find counter-curses, … 4.30 pm to 6.30: fake fights, new moves, strategic, teamwork, 6.30 pm: take care of dragons. After that, dinner, then researches and magic practice with Sir Albus. Finally, sleep."

"No wonder why you are so powerful, with a training like that!" stated Bella.

"Today I will show you everything, but tomorrow we start seriously."

"Alright."

Lily and Bella mounted their horses after breakfast and spent the morning outside. The day passed in bliss. The nest morning though, Bella woke up, being shaken by a laughing Lily. She got up, sighing. This was the first day of their intensive training.

Five months passed by quickly. Little by little, Bella had almost reached Lily's level. Darais, her Dragon, had developed her abilities nearly as good as Amaris; but Lily and Amaris had the advantage of having starting younger. Indeed, Bella had become really powerful. She soon had realized that Lily possessed one of the most complete libraries. She even had a book in which she had wrote down all of her strategies. With Lily's help, she had managed to improve her magic abilities a lot. She had also become stronger thanks to their morning race and to horse training. For the last two months, Sir Albus had decided to train them in body fight, fencing, and archery. Bella was a good fighter with and without armament, but she was nearly hopeless at archery. Lily was a good fencer and archer, but body fight wasn't her favorite hobby.

Sir Albus had watched them during their training, impressed by their perseverance. One week after Lily's birthday, in the middle of summer, he decided to see someone.

He landed outside of the town where the royal army stayed. He headed towards the Dragon wing's headquarters. Once he arrived, he knocked on the door.

"Enter!"

"Sir Exer." Saluted Sir Albus.

Sir Exer was the leader of the Dragon wings. There were four wings. The first, called Arrows, was reserved to the messengers; most of the dragons there were green, and sometimes blue. Then there was the second, named Chameleons: the spies, where you would generally find the blue dragons, some greens, and quite a few browns. The third and fourth wings were reserved to the fighters, mostly bronze, brown, and golden dragons. The third was called the Eagles and the fourth's name was the Lions.

"Albus! Come in!"

They talked for minutes, and then Albus explained the reason of his visit.

"You know I take care of Lily and Lady Bella's training. I would like you to look after them for a day, so I would know that there is not a problem with their schedule."

Sir Exer looked at him intensively.

"Hmmm, I think I can do that. When do you want me to come?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Okay, when?"

"5 am."

"This early!"

"They wake up at 6 am and start their training."

"Very funny Albus."

"I am very serious, Exer."

"Alright I will be at the shack at 5 am."

"Thank you, Exer."

"It will be a pleasure."

The next morning, Sir Exer flew to the shack. He landed in a meadow and climbed off. Sir Albus was walking toward him.

"Good morning Exer. Come, I will explain you their routine…"

For an hour, Sir Albus retailed their training habits.

"It seems very good."

During all the day, Sir Exer watched the two girls. He did expect them to be good but not as good as they were. They formed a wonderful team. He was in awe.

Later, while they were studying, Sir Albus came.

"So Exer, what do you think of them?"

"Albus, how could you have hidden them from me for all this time. They are the most efficient team I have ever seen. I absolutely insist that they join my wing; they will be one of our best assets!"

Sir Albus smiled.

"I admit I had this in mind when I came to see you yesterday, but as they are silvers, and as Lily is not noble, I did not know how you would react to my suggestion so I asked you to look at them. By the way, what do you think of their training, have they elaborated a good method?"

"To be honest, I would like to ask them to let me imitate it. They had managed to double their dragon's abilities. Darais and Amaris are as strong, if even stronger than, all the goldens, bronzes or browns that I know."

"They are very powerful, though I must warn you of one fact. You know Lilyaris is part-elf?"

"Yes, she is Praïn's granddaughter."

"Due to her lineage, she can do magic without a wand."

"Without a wand!"

Sir Albus nodded.

"I warn you Albus, if they do not want to come, I will tie them up and drag them to my wing!"

"Follow me, you shall be able to explain it to them. They are practicing their magic."

They went to the study room. There were two desks covered of books and parchments… The two were writing furiously on it, and occasionally looked in a book, checking some information…

As the two men entered, they looked up and smiled.

"Good evening sirs."

"Ladies, I would like to present Sir Exer, the leader of the Dragon's wings of the royal army."

They saluted him.

"It is a pleasure to meet you sir, but may I advise you to be more careful when you spy on someone?" asked Lily.

"No offence sir, but we have been able to realize your presence in less than an hour of your arrival." Added Bella

"Really?"

The two girls smiled to each other.

"We found a very old spell in a book which will spot anyone who uses magic near the shack." Explained Bella.

"Very intelligent…" Sir Exer was very impressed by their intelligence. "I would like to know if you would do me the great honor of joining the wings."

They looked at each other, surprised by this. They did not expect something like that.

"Are you sure sir?" answered Bella. "I mean, we are silvers, and silvers are not accepted anywhere in the wings."

"You are not normal silvers, my dear ladies, and you would be a great asset for us."

"I accept." replied Bella readily.

Lily seemed to think hard, torn between her desire to accept and her fear of facing nobles again. Finally she accepted as well.

"I am your debtor," said Sir Exer. "One more question: can I copy your training for my wings?"

"Yes, it would be an honor!"

"Well, if you agree, you can come with me immediately to the wing's quarters."

They agreed, and at nightfall they arrived at the headquarters. Sir Exer showed them the different buildings, and then they went to their room to sleep.

The next morning they woke up early. It has become a habit for them to wake up around 6 am. They dressed and begun their usual race. Then they went to the common room and started to eat. They were sitting in a corner, their backs facing the door. They had nearly finished, when the riders entered the room. They immediately noticed the two unusual people in the room and that they were women.

"Hey Sirius! Look at this!"

"Oh, what are they doing there? They must have mistaken our room for the kitchen…"

"Sure, but maybe sir Exer found that we need distractions…"

They continued to laugh at them. Bella and Lily didn't react; they continued to eat quietly, ignoring their comments.

"I think they are new servants." Said Sir Severus. The riders muttered their agreement to this idea.

After a few minutes, the riders sat and waited for their breakfast. Ten minutes later, the two girls had not moved. Sir Severus stood up and approached them. He put his arm on the brunette's arm.

"We are waiting! Go bring us our breakfast, you lazy peasants!"

A few seconds later, he was lying on the floor.

"Sir Severus, if you ever dare to touch me again, you will regret it." Said Bella in a threatening tone.

She finished eating.

All the riders were starring at the women. James had now recognized them, along with the majority of his fellow riders. The brunette was Lady Bella and the redhead must be Lilyaris.

Then they got up.

"Hurry up Bella, we are late for our practice! I want to show you a move I found yesterday!"

As they passed near James, he snorted. They stopped and faced him.

"May our Prince be nice enough to explained us the reason of this sudden laugh?" asked Lily, coldly.

"As you were able to do this!"

"Sorry?"

"Silvers are too weak to be good fighters…"

"Really?" cut Bella.

"It is obvious!"

"May I remind you, my Prince, that you lost against a silver during the tournament." replied Bella.

"She was lucky!" interrupted Sirius.

"That was not what you said after the fight," stated Bella.

"Maybe, but now James would win if they made another fight!"

"Are you sure about that Sir Sirius?" asked Lily.

"Absolutely."

"Then I propose you this: a fight opposing Bella and me against four riders of your choice."

"You are serious?"

"Yes, a fly-fight. All curses or hexes you can think of will be allowed, besides dark magic and protective charms, so that the fight will be more entertaining."

"I do not want to participate in this." Said James.

"Why? Are you scared, my Prince?"

Angry whispers followed this statement.

"Scared? No, but I do not want to ridicule you in front of everyone."

"Not that you do not already," whispered Lily.

"They may be presumptuous, but I want to see this fight." interrupted a new voice.

They turned and faced Sir Exer.

"It is not every day I see two silvers challenge four of my riders." He added grinning. "Will you take the challenge up my fellow riders? Or will you admit your inferiority?"

"We accept!" shouted the boys immediately.

"Good! Now girls, when would you the fight to take place?"

"Does tomorrow morning please you?"

"Surely; I will make sure the rules you have proposed will be respected. All the riders are dismissed from practice today. Tomorrow we shall see if I was right when I asked them to join our wings."

Shouts erupted in the room.

"What!"

"You have accepted SILVERS in the wings?"

"Yes; you may notice why, tomorrow." At the tone of sir Exer's voice, the riders knew it was useless to argue.

The two girls nodded and went out.

"Now boys, you must choose your four fighters." Said Sir Exer.

After a few minutes, the riders chose James and his golden Tharis, Sirius and his bronze, Mneris, Severus and Slimis, his golden, and finally Francis and his brown Hethis. Remus had been chosen too, but he had refused to participate, saying he would prefer to watch the fight instead of join in.

The day passed quickly, and none of the riders saw the girls training. In fact, they had spent the morning studying their opponent's usual strategies, dragons, and so forth to find their weaknesses. Then during the afternoon, they had elaborated special moves to exploit their previous establishments. Finally in the evening they prepared some new spells. Unlikely, the boys had not trained a lot, as they thought this was going to be very easy.

The next morning, Lily and Bella quickly got up, and after having dressed up and had breakfast, they headed to the field where the match would take place.