Hope you like my story
Chapter 2
Ceaon gazed openly at his father. The man was as quick as lightning with a sword. Ceaon shivered, but took no notice; he couldn't believe he had never noticed his father's skill with a sword!
Ceaon was glad that those boring lessons had finally ended, but poor Dammion, for falling asleep again he wasn't allowed outside of the grounds for a week! Judean stopped his demonstration and came over to Ceaon handing him a wooden sword.
"Now I want you to stand in this position with your feet shoulder width apart and the sword attached to your belt." Ceaon copied his father's stance and tucked the wooden sword inside his belt; certainly, he was disappointed that he couldn't have a real sword, but at least he got to learn. Judean slightly pushed Ceaon to the right and Ceaon tipped over, "Ouch, father, what did you do that for?" Ceaon exclaimed.
Judean answered, "Because, number one, your feet weren't shoulder width apart and you weren't listening to me." Ceaon stood up and replied, "It's because I though I heard something over there, but it's nothing, and I really was listening." Judean nodded wisely, "Right….."
Again Judean showed Ceaon how to stand properly. When Ceaon had gotten the right position Judean spoke, "I know this sounds funny, but I think one of the hardest things in swordsmanship is to correctly take out your sword."
Ceaon burst out laughing, "no way!" Judean pretended being hurt then said, "You try it." Ceaon observed his father easily slide his sword out, and then tried.
It was disastrous; Ceaon grabbed the sword and pulled at it, but found it was quite hard and tugged at he sword, to his surprise it swung out and he dropped it. Trying to grab the slippery sword, he tripped on it and went flying. A joyful laugh made Ceaon turn around to find his father leaning on a tree trunk laughing so hard he could barely breath.
Ceaon picked up the wooden sword and poked his father with it, "Oyy, its not funny, you said it would be hard." Judean swatted the sword away and wiped his tears. Regaining his calm he said, "let's try that again, shall we?"
Grumbling about his father, Ceaon got back into ready stance and, one hour later, was able to wield a sword properly. As father and son walked to the castle, Judean said, "Ceaon, to get stronger, you need to do 50 push ups every morning and 50 sit-ups, too.
Also, you should do……." A dark figure chuckled quietly with longingness. Up on a nearby tree was Prince Edward. Edward sighed and wondered what it would be like to have a father as close as Ceaon and his father were. Edward put his head against the trunk and sighed again, feeling a small tear appearing. Furious with himself Edward rubbed the tear away and smeled the wonderful smell of redwood trees.
Edward moved further out and sat in the middle of the strong and sturdy branch, his legs on one side. Edward remembered the fall Ceaon had made while trying to use his sword. Edward had been taught all that when he was six, not by his father, but by a knight. Edward would have sighed again but at that moment a cat like figure jumped onto the branch. Edward was so surprised he swung backwards.
Remembering his lessons, Edward caught himself by his feet but then his leg grip slipped and he fell, hard. Twice in the day, he saw little stars floating in front of him. The figure that had scared him jumped off and caught herself by the branch with her hands, then gracefully landed. As Edward focused on the figure he realized it was Melissa.
"Melissa…what did you do that for? You scared me half to death!" Melissa held out her hand, but Edward pulled her down and soon, the two were wrestling on the ground. Finally Edward pinned Melissa down and named himself winner. Standing up, he brushed his hands.
Melissa stood up and yawned, "Well, after this emotional day, I'm going to bed!" "Well how about a race, my dear twin?" Edward asked. "But why not? Ready," Melissa stepped forward, "steady….." giggling, she raced off and Edward shouted after her, "Cheater!" Edward swiftly followed but arrived second at his room. Melissa stuck out her tongue at him, then she curtsied and entered her room.
Edward bowed to her and entered his room. As he closed the room he noticed Mandy, his palace cook (she came along), with a bottle of tonic. Edward groaned, but still took the medicine. Mandy gasped when she saw his bruised wrist. "Edward, really, how did you go and break your wrist?" "Well, you could blame Melissa, but I didn't think I'd broken it." Mandy applied some cream to his wrist, wrapped it, and then made him drink a dose of another healing potion.
Looking sternly at Edward, she said, "Have a good night. I'll be waiting tomorrow with your tonic." Mandy left the room. Edward swallowed as much water as he could, then climbed into bed and fell asleep…….
------ Next Day ------
Ding…ding…ding… Ceaon rubbed his tired eyes and wished that there was a snooze button, but he knew well enough that if he didn't get up now, he wouldn't have enough time to eat breakfast. Ceaon sat up like a zombie then, getting out of bed, he stumbled to the water bucket. Ceaon only fully woke up when the freezing water splashed onto him. He leaned down to start his 50 push-ups and 50 sit-ups, but found that his feet were like mush after yesterday's workout.
Nevertheless, Ceaon slowly did his stretches. A few minutes later, Ceaon stood up, rubbing his painful back. Then Ceaon drowsily pulled on his hat… (Wait…since when did he have a hat?) Ceaon looked at his "hat" and found it was actually his pants. A laugh startled him out of his thoughts, "Nice hat Ceaon!" Ceaon turned around to find his mother laughing. Red tinted his face and he quickly pulled on his pants properly. Grumbling he stated, "I was just tired, but Mother, why are you in the boy's dorms?" Ceaon tried not to awake others but some of the boys were staring at his mother in confusion. She replied, "So now I can't see my boy anymore? Well, I just wanted to see how the lessons were holding out." "They're a lot of fun, but it's quite painful!" exclaimed Ceaon.
Patricia smiled and waved her hand, then walked out of the room. Ceaon turned back to his pile of clean clothes and threw on a shirt, hoping it wasn't too late to eat breakfast. He then walked to the scroll of paper and found his name; he had horse duty again! Frowning, Ceaon thought, "We normally never get the same job two days in a row. Oh well." He didn't mind after all.
Ceaon searched for Dammion's name and grimaced. Dammion had Lady Vanessa, a picky lady who ran dancing class. Ceaon was about to walk away when he thought to check for Edward's name. Turning back, Ceaon traced his finger to the E's. After vainly searching the whole column, Ceaon could still not find Edward's name. Ceaon shrugged. Edward probably still didn't have to work. Ceaon went back to his bed and looked for Dammion, who he found splashing water on his face.
Jogging up to Dammion, he said, "You're not going to like this, but you got Lady Vanessa again." Dammion froze but then asked, "What about you?" "I got the stables again!" Ceaon exclaimed, then, on second though added, "Except you can't have a job two days in a row, it's strange." Dammion groaned with longing, "Lucky you! Although I have to agree with you, it is strange that you got it again." "Dammion, do you want to spy on the nobles, we might see our guests, then we can head to our well earned breakfast." Licking his lips Dammion answered, "Sure!"
Ceaon followed Dammion down a row of stairs then through a small door. Then finally, Ceaon pulled a flap open and he looked into the tiny window to try to find Queen Ella. Ceaon didn't need the nudge from Dammion to see the Queen, in all her splendor and beauty. Ceaon gasped. She was lovely! "Dammion, can you see Queen Ella's two sons and daughter?" Ceaon squinted looking at the two empty places next to the queen. "Well I see a guy that looks royal enough, he must be the oldest son.
He's sitting right next to King Char. Ceaon looked at the spot, and sure enough there was a guy in a red, velvet suit looking high and mighty. Ceaon nearly jumped as he felt someone poke him, but found it was only Dammion, hungry for breakfast. "Dammion, do you know were Queen Ella's other kids are? It's bad for royalty to be late." Dammion pondered the question thoughtfully then answered when they had entered the servants dining room, "They must be…..excused?"
Ceaon shrugged and grabbed a few slices of bread. He then pulled Dammion and they went to eat by the open window, where the ocean lay. Sighing, Ceaon said, "When do you think we can swim again?" Dammion followed Ceaon's gaze and said, " In a few months. Don't be impatient, Ceaon."
Ceaon turned back to his bread and muttered, "Yeah….yeah." Silently, the two friends ate. Ceaon stood up and waited for Dammion to drink his water, then said, "Well, I'll see you tonight, errr…I mean tomorrow." "Yeah… I guess." Ceaon tapped Dammion on the back; as though wishing him good luck, then headed downstairs, while Dammion headed to the third floor. Ceaon walked slowly, observing the beautiful painting of the sea, which had been set next to some armor. Ceaon could just picture himself, diving into the sea.
The cool water flowing around him, and then he would take another dive off shadow cliff. –Bash- Ceaon was startled out of his thoughts when he bashed into- Queen Ella. Ceaon's eyes opened wide, then remembering his manners he mumbled, "Sorry," and bowed as low as he could, which didn't turn out to be the best thing because he tripped and fell to the ground. Face flaming, he pulled himself up, mumbled another apology, then raced to the exit, head bowed. Even worse, he heard the Queen chuckle quietly; the shame of it all! Ceaon shoved the tall door open and stormed outside.
He walked for a while then looked up when he heard voices and paled visibly when he saw the mean, noble bully, talking with another group of nobles. Ceaon bowed his head, hoping they wouldn't see him, he moved to the left; no such luck! "Hey donkeybrain, come here," The bully yelled. Ceaon bit his lip and approached, head still bowed, hands behind his back. "Did you not know you must pay 10 coins to walk near us?"
Ceaon looked up and replied, "No, I don't have too." The bully retorted, "Well guess what! You gotta pay us. 'Cause your nothing but a lowly slave." Eyes flaming, Ceaon gritted his teeth and said, "You should stop ordering people about." The rest of the group laughed and the bully said, "Ohhhhhh…. What are you going to do about it? Throw a rag at me?" The group laughed even more, but Ceaon was trying to hold back the punch. The bully continued, "The mouse lost its tongue!"
Ceaon closed his eyes, then made to walk off. The bully threw a punch and Ceaon was not fast enough to block it, down he went. Ceaon pulled himself up and was about to yell at the bully when he commanded, "Now kiss my feet, slave." Ceaon could have yelled in frustration as his magic took control of him and he bowed down and kissed the bully's foot, but then, just to get back at him, he spat on the shoe. By now the rest of the group were lying on their backs, laughing.
Ceaon drew back his fist then punched the bully right on the nose. The bully's nose started bleeding badly, but completely ignoring it, the bully threw himself on Ceaon and started punching and kicking every spot available. Ceaon stood no chance, as the bully was stronger, bigger, and angrier. Ceaon could do only one thing, run. Despite his many bruises and twisted ankle?
Ceaon threw another punch at the bully, which pushed the bully off of him, then he raced to the stables, the nobles laughter following him the whole way. Ceaon entered the stables and used his shirt to mop up his bloody nose. Spotting a nearby mirror, Ceaon looked at it. He didn't seem to be looking at himself anymore, but a filthy rag. His whole face was covered in bruises and most of his body was starting to grow bruises, too.
Ceaon looked at the positive side and decided that at least he hadn't broken anything. Ceaon grabbed a brush and carefully made his way into Thunder's stable. He was a dangerous horse, but was a good fighter and runner, so he had been kept. Gingerly, Ceaon approached Thunder and gently brushed him. At first thunder stamped his feet, but as Ceaon continued gently, the horse calmed. As Ceaon was combing Thunder's long mane, a door slammed and footsteps approached.
Ceaon froze, hoping no one would see, he moved closer to the back of the stable, trying to make himself as tiny as possible. Thunder looked quite puzzled at Ceaon's tactics, but stayed quite still, feeling a scared emotion from Ceaon. The stall was opened and Edward warily stepped inside. Finally, he exclaimed, "Ceaon what are you doing? And…what happened to you?" Ceaon pulled himself up quickly, which startled thunder, who moved backwards, crashing into Edward. Ceaon pulled Thunder towards him and tried calming him down. It eventually worked, but thunder was still wary of the new visitor.
Ceaon ignored Edward and grabbed another brush to begin brushing a gentle mare horse. "Ceaon, look at me." Ceaon groaned, slowly turned his face towards Edward, trying to resist the dreadful magic. "Ceaon what happened to you and what were you doing before?" Ceaon mumbled, "I was brushing the horse and I ot in a tiny fight with…Dammion." Ceaon felt horrible lying about poor Dammion, but he didn't want anybody to know about the nobles.
Edward shook his head and demanded, "Tell me the truth Ceaon." Ceaon could have yelled in frustration, not again! "I…was….scared….it….was…another…..noble…..coming," Ceaon was growing red with pain, but he kept fighting the EVIL curse "and….some…..nobles…..started…a…fight. Now you know, so leave me alone!" Ceaon turned around and friskly brushed the gentle mare named Ileana. Edward was shocked, "Ok, ok, you know you didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to." Ceaon quietly grumbled, "Yes, you did," but Edward heard. "What do you mean? It's not like I made you." Ceaon kept brushing the horse, trying to think up an answer, then he answered, "yes you did, now go away. I have chores to do."
Edward shrugged his shoulders then asked, while showing his bandaged wrist, "Well…um, me and my sister wanted to help you with the horses 'cause I broke my wrist and can't do much work for a long time." Ceaon looked up then sighed, "Fine, you and your sister can help, but stay away from Thunder, he probably remembers you from yesterday." Understandment filled Edwards face, "He was the horse that was acting meanly to me!" Ceaon passed Edward and walked out to the next stable, where, to his surprise Melissa was gently brushing the horse.
Scratching his head, Ceaon greeted Melissa, "Oh, hi Melissa, I didn't hear you come in." Edward slid next to Ceaon and added, "She has feet as quiet as a cat." Melissa nodded calmly, then turned around, to gasp in shock when she saw Ceaon's bruised face.
Ceaon looked at the ceiling, hoping she wouldn't ask the same question Edward had. "What happened Ceaon?" Ceaon sighed and answered dully, not even trying to fight the annoying curse, "I got in a fight with stupid nobles, that's all, now please stop asking."
Melissa frowned at Ceaon then replied, "Well, after we finish work, just before lunch, I'll bring you to Mandy, she can cure anything." Ceaon nodded vaguely then leaned on the wall waiting for someone to say something. "How about we clean every stable, and brush all the horses as a race?" Edward enthusiastically exclaimed. Ceaon stepped in, "Today is…Wednesday, and so we have to bring the horses out for exercise after." Ceaon then grabbed a brush and went to the next stall were the trio spent the next two hours carefully cleaning every stall.
- - - Two hours later - - -
Ceaon stretched his tired muscles, then grabbed the Thunder's reins, followed by Edward and Melissa. When they arrived at the fields, Ceaon warily approached Thunder and jumped on. As expected, Thunder attempted several times to buck Ceaon off, but had no success because Ceaon was a great rider. Ceaon then turned around at Melissa and Edward, to find Edward as far as the reign would let him away from the gentle Ileana, while Melissa was crossly trying to make Edward get closer. Ceaon jumped off Thunder and tied him to the trunk of a tree then approached Melissa.
"Hey Edward, I'd like to get going now," Melissa growled. " Edward leaned even further away from the horse, " Uh... yeah give me a minute, I've never rode bareback before." Melissa formed a fist, showing how angry she was then put her hands in the air and turned towards her horse, muttering, "Prick head." Ceaon scratched his head and went to pat Edwards' horse's mane, were the quiet horse seemed lean into the touch.
Ceaon looked up and addressed Edward, "Come on Edward, horses aren't that bad." Edward nodded weakly, "Sure……okay…I can do this." Edward slowly inched towards Ileana and when he could touch her, he slowly laid a hand on her. After much persuasion on the part of Edward, Ceaon pulled and tugged him on Ileana, who stood calmly and still. Edward seemed to get over his scariness of horses when he was sitting on the horse. Still recovering, Edward weakly mumbled, "Thanks."
Ceaon turned back to Thunder, and to his horror, he found Thunder nibbling at his rope, already half chewed. "Thunder! Stop chewing, you stupid horse." Exasperated, Ceaon undid the eaten reins and climbed onto Thunder, who then burst into a gallop. Ceaon tightened his grip on the reins and mane, knowing fully well Thunders tactics. Melissa easily caught up to him, but Ileana started galloping to catch up to Thunder and Rainbow. Edward didn't seem to be used to having no saddle, because he nearly toppled off.
Ceaon nudged Thunder to a slow trot and he rounded back to Ileana, where Edward was disgustedly wiping off mud from his outfit and then painfully trying to get back onto Ileana, to show his laughing sister that he wouldn't give up. Edward then followed in silence. Ceaon trotted a few laps then repeated the exercises with several other horses.
Finally, they arrived at the jumping horses: Leila, Star, and Princess. Ceaon led Melissa and Edward to a different field, where a series of bars had been set up. "All right, all we need to do is make them trot a lap then jump those four bars," Ceaon pointed to four long bars near the middle of the field, "but, we have to do this pretty quickly because lunch brake starts in ten minutes." Melissa nodded and they jumped on the three horses. Ceaon took off, running his lap easily, then, Melissa caught up to him and Ceaon spotted Melissa's flowing hair in the wind, with her loose cloths blowing around her.
Ceaon nearly fell off the horse when Star jumped the first bar because his thoughts were clearly not on jumping at all. Ceaon shook his head and concentrated on the next bar. Closer they approached, then hop he was slightly lifted off the saddle. A few more leaps later and Ceaon had past the next four bars and was slowly walking back to the opening, where he had to rub Star's legs carefully.
Melissa joined him and together they argued about which breed of horses was the fastest, until a ruffled Edward joined them, limping slightly. Melissa broke of the conversation and exclaimed, "Really Edward, you better let Mandy check you, too," then turning back to Ceaon she added, "How much times you think he's fallen today? 20, 30, 40?" Edward rubbed his butt then pulled Princess towards the stables, ignoring Melissa. Melissa's eyes twinkled and she cheekily exclaimed, "We should do this tomorrow!"
Ceaon chuckled, "I would but you are never supposed to do two jobs in a row and even then I don't think it's very fair to Dammion." Edward slowed down and waited for Melissa and Edward to catch up, "We can easily get you…and if you want to, Dammion to do this every day." Ceaon frowned, "What….how?" Edward's eyes widened but luckily Melissa answered for him, "You know, we can ask some of the higher servants. It's easy." Ceaon let it go and shrugged. They walked quietly a little further then Edward said, "You know, it's not my fault I kept falling. It's just that I'm not used to going bareback."
Again Ceaon frowned, "How else would you ride? I know for a fact you have learned how to ride a horse." Edward replied, "Using a saddle, of course. Why?" Ceaon's frown deepened, "But only nobles can use saddles, us servants don't have a high enough rank to ride on saddles." Edward thought quickly and replied, "Well, my uncle is of the lowest noble class but our parents are servants, so my uncle let us borrow a few saddles over the summer."
Ceaon nodded and was about to ask another question when they arrived at the stables, which saved Edward from being questioned. Ceaon double-checked that all the stables were clean then joined Edward and Melissa back to the castle. When they arrived at the castle, Melissa led Edward and Ceaon to the third floor. Ceaon was quite confused now, "Why were they at the nobles and higher class floor?"
Melissa opened a door and they found themselves in a room furnished well, were a lady was sitting, knitting a sweater. "Mandy, Edward and our friend Ceaon need to be checked for their various injuries." Ceaon knew he was in front of a very high servant if she was allowed to live in the noble section so he bowed low. A sharp blow to the head made him look up and Mandy exclaimed, "No, no, lad none of that, but Edward, really you can't spend a day without getting hurt!" "Yes, yes Mandy." Edward mumbled.
Mandy pulled Edward towards her and spoke, "So where did you get hurt this time?" "Not really bad, just my foot which lovely Thunder stepped on and I'm sure I have an enormous bruise from trying to jump that log thingy." Mandy pulled off Edward's shirt and quickly applied some green cream onto the slowly ebbing bruise. Then after giving Edward his shirt back, she tutted loudly seeing his swollen foot.
After wrapping Edward's foot, she pulled Ceaon closer, grimacing slightly when she saw his bruised face. "Ay we'll be needin' lots of cream for you. What happened to your face?" Ceaon's magic twanged and Ceaon mumbled, "Some nobles got into a fight with me." Mandy nodded and dabbed a lot of cold cream on Ceaon's face. "Good, at least your normal face color is coming back, now take of your shirt." Ceaon pulled of his shirt, strangely hoping that Melissa wasn't looking.
Mandy rolled her eyes and dabbed even more cream onto Ceaon. "Anywhere else?" she asked. "Just my left ankle, Ma'am." Ceaon quickly pulled his shirt back on, shifting uneasily when the cream stuck to his shirt. When Mandy finished wrapping his ankle, the lunch bell rang loudly. Ceaon thanked Mandy kindly, then exited the room, followed by Melissa and Edward. Ceaon walked down a row of steps, then Melissa asked, "Oh, Ceaon, I promised my uncle that Edward and I would eat with him.
You don't mind do you?" "Nah, I still got Dammion to talk to, well, bye guys, seeya tomorrow." Ceaon waved goodbye and ran the rest of the way to the dining room, hoping to find Dammion quickly. He entered the room and spotted Dammion wearily sitting near a corner of the room, eating potato stew. "Dammion! It's great to see you!" Dammion looked up and tiredly waved at Ceaon.
Ceaon joined Dammion and Dammion noticed his bruises and asked, "Gee, what happened?" "Just some nobles I ran into." "Oh, that bully! Ouch, I pity you." "It was okay." Dammion yawned loudly, which started Ceaon off, "Dammion, you better not fall asleep in history again." Dammion nodded and finished his bowl of stew quickly when the horrible bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.
Dammion stood up, pulling Ceaon to his feet, were the two friends went to history class followed by etiquette class, which finally lead to the second class of swordsmanship with his father. Ceaon went to bed happy and content, while Edward, at the same time, was having a talk about a few things with his mother.
"Edward dear, please, I would like to know what's going on. First, you start wearing a servants outfit, then you want a certain Ceaon and Dammion to get horse duty every day." Edward sighed then decided to tell his mother part of the truth. "Mother, it's just that Melissa and me have made friends with some servants named Dammion and Ceaon." Ella rolled her eyes teasingly, "Well, if you really want to, then I can make a few things happen. Good night dear." Ella kissed Edward on the head and sent him off to bed.