Chapter 7
Noon finally arrived and Ororo found herself at the beginning of a corridor leading from the palace gardens to the Elden amphitheatre. She breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself. She knew victory was most likely hers- she had been complimented on her swordsmanship since she picked up a blade. However, fear plagued her mind as she considered how foolish she was to place her city's fate on a spar. How did she get carried away sometimes? "Because you are still a mere child playing make believe as a queen." She shook the thought from her head and pulled a stray lock of hair behind one of her pointed ears, wondering how it got missed from the hair tie that kept her hair in a ponytail.
The shrill voice of Siryn traveled to her ears as the girl shouted the crowd to calm, and let the affair begin. "Today is a most unusual match, as requested and arranged by the Queen. It is a task Ayden has agreed to undertake, to show what skill they can offer us in an alliance against the coming war. The queen wishes for it to be public, so that all Eldinians could approve or disapprove of the final outcome. Let's show our support of both sparring partners, as this should prove a difficult match to win for either city." The crowd cheered. Ororo stood behind her gate, still doing breathing exercises to calm her excitement. She was anxious to get out and show Dayspring what she had molded Elden into. She was not going to go easy on his 'champion' either.
"Let's bring out the best there is to offer! I present to you," Ororo struggled to hear what Siryn was saying but it was drowned out by the crowd's wild cheers, "and the very Queen of Elden!" The gate opened and the sun fell on her face, and reflected off of her polished armor. Her people cheered loud for her and she smiled graciously, strolling onto the dirt floor. Her eyes made contact with that of her foe and she hid her surprise.
"Good afternoon, my lord." She nodded her head in hello to the king, and he bowed to her.
"Fancy seeing you here, my lady." Neither of them hid the sarcasm behind their 'reverence' for each other.
Siryn calmed the crowd once more and continued. "Withdraw weapons." Ororo withdrew her sword and Dayspring his own. "A shield has been provided to prevent any outside interference or magic by anyone from the crowd. No magic permitted by the participants or it is an automatic forfeit of the match."
"A pity. I've heard much of your abilities, Ororo. I was hoping for a show."
"You haven't seen anything yet." She countered.
"Otherwise, anything goes! Touch swords… and… BEGIN!"
The crowd roared as steel struck steel, swords clashing and occasionally hitting armor. Nathan's blows occasionally knocked Ororo back from the incredible force of strength behind them when she caught them wrong, but she was quickly sliding into a rhythm with it. She learned his body language, and was soon able to avoid his sharp blows all together. She found a weakness in his form and exploited it immediately, making a small cut on his face.
He looked shocked, "Are you sure you want to continue, sire?"
Regaining his composure, he actually grinned at her wolfishly. "Absolutely."
This was the kind of match Nathan could have only hoped for. As long as it wasn't mortal, the wound didn't matter. Ororo dodged one of his blows but didn't realize it was a feint and ended up getting smacked with the flat of his sword on her rear end, leaving a painful sting. Laughter erupted from the crowd and whistles traveled down.
Her face reddened and she angered, more at herself for her vulnerability. "That shall not happen again!"
Nathan beckoned her to him, taunting her. She swallowed her anger, forcing herself to focus and kept him on the defense, striking blow after blow, not allowing him to get one chance to strike back. Her hair fell in her eyes and she blew it away with a quick breath. It was then that Nathan took the advantage, or so he thought and she sidestepped him and knocked him in the back with her sword handle so that he fell to the ground. The crowd sat tensely. "It appears I have the victory." She stood over him, feet at his head, sword drawn to the back of his head. "What do you say to that?"
"I say you owe me an alliance,"
"WHa-!" His hand snaked out fast as lightning and grabbed her ankle, knocking her to the ground- her sword clattered several feet away and he practically sat on her, straddling her stomach, sword pressed to her throat. Her eyes were wide as saucers. He panted heavily, his face streaked with dirt. "You need to admit defeat before it's declared over. And it's not your form that's flawed, it's your attitude."
She boiled with anger. How dare he criticize her! She squirmed to discover if escape was possible but he held her fast, a look of amusement on his face. "Victory is Ayden's." she murmured.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! King Dayspring emerges victorious!" The crowd cheered, even if their queen had lost, it was a great fight nonetheless. No one had lasted longer than 5 minutes against her, yet for her to be felled in less than ten was impressive.
He rose off of her and offered her a hand up, which she took reluctantly and was actually launched an extra foot off the ground when he pulled her up. "Don't beat yourself up over the loss, Ororo. It was a game too you, but life or death for me and mine."
She dusted herself off, at a loss of words- at least to him. She turned to address her people who had finally quieted down. "Elden, you have seen Ayden perform before you very eyes, and they have proven to me their worthiness. With your approval, I would like to form an alliance with their king, to stop En Sabah Nur from not only devastating the Outworld, but turning on Elden as well. Any doubts must be cast forward now." The crowd murmured among itself for a few minutes, obviously very used to providing input in the Queen's decisions. Ororo scanned them, as if trying to read or influence their thoughts, doubting they would agree.
"Hardly a complete monarchy," thought Nathan. Finally, a hush fell over the crowd.
One blonde elf stood up, a man with wings like an angels. "My liege, a waging war is a hefty decision with dire consequences. We are already powerful. What of this will benefit Elden?"
Ororo smiled, "Elden is powerful, yes, in magic and skill. However, the only thing protecting us from the impending war is the forest. Through offering our skills to Ayden, we are gaining not just one powerful ally, but their ally's as well. This will allow for future trade and progress. Most importantly, although tragic and difficult, the outcome will guarantee a future safe from tyranny- a benefit that is priceless."
"Is Nur really so powerful as to conquer all of the Outlands?" cried out a voice from the crowd.
The queen's eyes fell, "Yes. It has been brought to my attention, not only by Ayden but my own sources that En Sabah Nur has been amassing an army for the past decade. An army comprised of trolls, demons, mages, dragons…"
The mention of dragons immediately caused whispers and murmurs to spread through the crowd. "Dragons? My lady, there is no magic that can fell a dragon." Siryn interjected.
"It has been brought to my attention that magic cannot fell a dragon? Rubbish. Dragons, like all creatures, are subject to the mortalities of any life and the sands of time. Once, a great dragon guarded this very city yet the only remembrance of him is the memorial statue in the royal gardens. I find it hard to believe nothing can fell a dragon if so noble a creature as that succumbed to fate."
Nathan watched her, amazed as over the next twenty minutes she parried each question tossed at her, even if she was sugar coating the answers, she was never at a loss for words.
Suddenly the questions were directed his way. The voice was from the same blonde man from before. "My king, I do not wish to offend but what of your people? Here in Elden, we are still left with the memories of the centuries past war between Elves and Humans. Some of us who survived it stand in your presence now. What say you on our concern there will be no animosity or betrayal from your kingdom and subjects?" Many nods and murmurs again drifted from the crowd.
Nathan had anticipated this question since he sent Samuel with the proposal for alliance weeks ago. "I understand your concern and know the scars that run deep from the travesty. The war was generations ago for humans, but that does not permit me to discount your fears. I hold no anger or grudge against Elden but it was difficult gathering the courage to face your queen with that scar in my heritage.
"Our kingdom's histories should not be forgotten but they should not be allowed as a roadblock to progress. I am not here to ask Elves to sacrifice themselves needlessly, I would pray that any that have misgivings be able to bring them to our attention because a fight without spirit is a fool's endeavor.
"Know this: if I did not care for the fate of your kingdom, I would not have come. I admit, we will be hard pressed to defeat Nur without the skills of Elden, but what king, or man for that matter, would I be to ask you of a situation I would not put myself in? I will be out there on the frontlines, risking myself for Elden as well. My people are willing to do the same for you.
"Times have changed, Ayden has changed, I am not my ancestor's but I will do my damndest to rectify their wrongs against Elden even beyond this war."
Ororo gave Nathan an appraising look, endeared by his words and impressed with his grip on the now silent elves.
"My people, it appears your questions have been anwered. Now, I ask for your approval of an alliance with King Nathan Dayspring and Ayden. And your answer?"
Almost unanimously, the crowd rose and applauded. Few were left in their seats.
"Then it is agreed- the Elden military force should be ready to go within 3 weeks. Until then, I shall leave on a brief journey with King Dayspring to reclaim allies of old and acquire new. Victory is ours- Nur will be stopped." Her people cheered her and Dayspring off of the field.
"You certainly have a way with your subjects."
"They are my people and it is their fate, I choose not to let them remain ignorant, or helpless." The rest of the stroll through the corridor was marked with silence. People bowed to them as they entered the grand hall of the palace, she seemed oblivious. Her thoughts were focused on what Elden's involvement in the war meant. Contact with Remy was unavoidable. Nathan grabbed her arm just as she started to branch off to the west wing.
"Ororo, is there something you have against me? Because if there is, we need to resolve it. We're going to be seeing a lot of each other in the future."
She stared into his eyes and pulled her arm away. "I am going to take a bath. I'll see you in the war room in 3 hours." She turned on her heel and almost fled up the stairs, leaving him puzzled and wondering if it had been tears that made her eyes shimmer like they did.
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A/N: this chapter's update dedicated to eightcrayondon who called me out on lack of content- thanks good buddy! 4-8-06