AN: Here is the next chapter of Shunned One, sorry for the wait. With Wilhelmina Vandom off line at the moment, I have decided to go solo until her computer is fixed.
I would like thank the following people fore reviewing last chapter: fergnerd, shocklance, Torquemada Coteaz, Philip Gipson, lost prince, Starwin, yellow 14, Darev, The Crazy Talk Kid, Taeniaea, Dada Wars, BlackRoseFire, GuyverZero, Kitsune6, RyousRayne, JanessaVR.
Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D
000
Arc 2: Return of the Exiled Prince
Chapter 1: The Two Parties
It was two days later when Sade had cleared Will and Susan to have visitors; the first ones in, were Will's friends. They had not been told all the details, since Sade wanted to leave that up to the newly discovered mother and daughter to tell them about what had happened.
This made it a rather surprising to see Will with out with out the circlet on, but it was a welcome sight. It may have given Will a certain level protection, but they all believed the redhead did not deserve to be in forced service.
The only one among Will's friends not surprised to see the circlet gone was Caleb, but that was because he had been present for when Susan had confessed she saw Will as a daughter. Though, the young Warmage was shocked to find out the truth of the redhead's connection to the Royal Knight.
If it had not been for Susan warning the girls to stop, the still recovering redhead would have been in a dog pile of hugs from the other girls from finding out Will was really Susan's daughter. They were all very glad for the pair.
They all knew of how the elvin warrior longed to find her biological daughter, though she often did not speak of it and they knew Will looked up to the dark haired woman, even before finding out the truth. The two deserved one another and the group hoped they would finally the happiness they had both longed for.
"Bet this is going to make you mom sweat, Taranee. She messed with a flesh and blood daughter of a Royal Knight after all, so that means Theresa Cook is in trouble," Irma commented to the dark skinned Wizard, who looked a little bitter about hearing of her mother.
"She deserves what ever she has got coming to her. First she makes it impossible for me to see Nigel as much as we could, then she pretty much rewards attempted murder to Uriah. Good thing dad and Peter back me up and kept me from getting grounded from what happened at the dual and the cafeteria." Taranee replied, which quickly got the others trying to signal her to be quiet about in front of Will.
"From what happened in the cafeteria? I was the one to attack Uriah, so how come you guys got in trouble?" Will asked, while the others shot Taranee death glares, while Susan silently laughed at the group's predicament.
"I think someone better tell Will the story of how a certain group of four got suspended or I will." An amused Susan told Caleb, Taranee, Cornelia and Elyon. Susan thought it was funny story and it gave a little more proof of how much Will's friends cared, so to help drive away any doubts Will might still have.
While Elyon and Cornelia continued to glare at Taranee for opening her big mouth, Caleb told Will what had happened the next day after her spell dual with Uriah.
000
Flashback:
The whole school was talking about Will and Uriah's battle the previous day and most of it was angering Will's friends.
Most of the school had sided with Uriah; saying Will got what she deserved. Some students only said this so not want to get target for being a half-elf or Warlock supporter.
The school was roughly one-third were true haters of half-elves and Warlocks and another third just follow what others said, so to 'fit in'. The last third of school was mix of both supports and neutrals towards Will's kind.
It was at lunchtime in the cafeteria when the talk of the dual finally made the group snap. A group of kids approached the table where Caleb and the others were eating and one of them said, "Have you finally learned your lesson Russell? Half-Breeds and Warlocks are nothing but trouble!"
Caleb glared at the boy, while Elyon spoke up in Will's defense. "I would sooner trust that half-breed warlock over a member of the Dunn family. Incase you have forgotten, Uriah cheated and the only reason he won was because of a judge with impaired judgment!" Elyon stated in the royal tone of authority that normally had people begging for her forgiveness. It sadly did not work this time though.
"I'm sorry your highness, but we all must disagree. That…thing, is an abomination and must be dealt with before it becomes a threat to the kingdom. The only thing Uriah Dunn did wrong was fail to kill it when he had the chance," the boy contradicted and made Caleb stand up and grab the loud mouth by the throat.
"One more word out of you and I'll…" Caleb started to say, when Taranee grabbed his wrist.
"Caleb, let him go. There are better ways to deal with this debate then through physical means." Taranee stated in a reasonable manner, much to Caleb's surprise and annoyance. He was about to yell at the dark skinned girl, when he noticed a look her eyes, one that said, 'Trust me'.
Caleb let his soon to be victim go as Taranee asked and jerk just grinned evilly at the dark skinned girl. "And what are you going to do? Baffle us with intellect and list out reasons why we should betray our own kind to support that freak?" The boy mocked Taranee, not knowing he and his group were in for a nasty surprise.
"No, nothing as overly complex as that, besides you and your kind are too close-minded to be reasoned with." Taranee said casually and raised her hand up, pointing it right at the boy and his friends.
They were all confused by both the Wizard's words and gesture, but before anyone could say anything about it, Taranee unleashed a Burning Hands spell. She made sure to pull so it did not kill the boy or his friends, but it still hurt like heck.
Taranee then moved to sit down and eat again, when one of the boys, a bigger one then the first, grabbed Taranee and spun her around. "That hurt you little..." The large boy said as he raised his fist to punch Taranee.
The others stood up to go and save their friend, but some else managed to step in first. Just as the large boy was about to swing his fist, someone grabbed his wrist and started to crush it with incredible strength.
"Bad idea pal." A voice growled out and Taranee looked to see it was Nigel of all people.
What made Taranee a bit worried at her unofficial boyfriend's rescue, was the fact that he was only this strong and mad looking when he was using his Barbarian Rage, which meant this boy was in going to need a darn good Cleric when this was all over.
"Let me…go…you monster!" The large boy managed to squeak in pain, before using his free hand to punch Nigel, but the young barbarian caught it with his other hand like it was nothing.
"Fighting me is like is like fighting quicksand…it gets worse the more you resist!" Nigel growled out and gave the large boy a head butt, then released his hold on the large boy's arms. This was so he could proceed to pummel the living snot out of the fool who tried to hit Taranee.
The rest of the group who was with the large boy, were not going to stand for this though and neither were some of the other students in the cafeteria. Those who could cast spells, were getting ready to barrage Nigel, but the rest of his and Taranee's friend let loose their own volley of attacks first.
Elyon and Taranee fired off Scorching Rays, while Cornelia did the same with her Produce Flame spell. Caleb jumped in to help Nigel with the other attackers, who were resorting to physical means to take the raging warrior down.
Matt's helped as well, but in a subtle way. While avoiding getting shot at by stray spells, Matt got close to several senior students who could cast the rare third level spells like Fireball and Lighting Bolt.
The reason why third level spell were rare in the school, was because such highly skilled students were quickly offered enrollment into mage guilds and such, so Matt knew getting this small group on his and his friends' side was a critical in handling the quickly growing number of opponents.
Once Matt was in range, he started playing his lute, so to cast his Charm spell, to make himself a very close 'friend' to these students. Once he was sure his spell had worked he asked, "Mind helping me and my friends out a bit? We are getting kind of outnumbered."
It probably helped that most of these student were girls and thus, had to also had to deal with Matt's natural charm when he spoke. This combined with he spell got him six very powerful casters, who were eager to oblige his request.
That was when the fight got ugly. With Fireballs and other wide area of effect spells being thrown around the room; along with Matt sneaking around and brainwashing more students, the cafeteria was getting demolished.
The teachers tried to stop the small-scale war, but were too scared of getting caught in the crossfire to really do anything, even if the spells were being pulled. This meant they were forced to watch until all the students finally ran out of steam and could be dealt with safely.
When the fighting finally stopped after a good half hour of non-stop spells and brawls, the whole area looked like a fire and hurricane had hit it. The walls and floors were scorched; tables and chairs smashed or broken and many students were feeling very sore. Somewhere even out cold! Thought it was hard to say if this because of getting hit too hard or from a Sleep spell, no one really knew.
As the teachers rounded up the students, Knickerbocker screeched out in a furry, "WHO STARTED THIS?!"
000
Will eyes widened more and more with each passing second as she heard the retelling of the 'Great Cafeteria War' as it had been called. She could not believe the entire cafeteria got trashed because of her and Uriah's dual.
"…so once Knickerbocker found out the details of the fight, we all got kicked out of a month. Fortunately, we won the fight and Nigel managed to sneak out and that know one knew who he was. Not surprising, since that was the first time he ever came to Sheffield, so know one had ever scene his face before." Caleb said as he finished wrapping the story.
"Wish Hay Lin and I had been there! It must have been a blast, plus we would have gotten to give those jerks a pummeling for what they said about Will!" Irma stated, while Hay Lin nodded her head in agreement.
"You guys shouldn't have done that though. I don't want you guys getting punished just to defend me from…" Will started to say, but her mother cut her off.
"As I see it sweet heart, it's no different then how you defended Caleb from Uriah. They just had a mini war instead a formal dual. Probably faster that way though, way too many to deal with in that way, better to just wipe out the whole student body in one go!" Susan said to her daughter, in hopes of keeping her from blaming herself for her friends' actions. She also threw a bit teasing in at the end to help lighten the mood as well.
"We did not wipe out the student body! We just…made them have a need to get a checkup from a Cleric." Elyon stated in their defense, which everyone laughed at.
After everyone settled down from their laughing fit, they heard a knock at the door. Susan gave who ever it was permission to enter and fount out it was Julian, Abele and Sade.
"Hope we are not interrupting anything, but we need to speak with Susan and Will alone for a moment." Sade told the group. Will's friends could tell it was nothing serious, but was something they wanted to get out of the way as soon as possible, so the group left.
As the door closed, Sade said, "First of all, I would like to inform you both, mainly Will, is that your both well enough to leave tomorrow. You're body and mystic energy should have recovered enough to no longer need me checking in on you, as long as you DON'T use magic for a few more days."
Will looked a little sad at this news, but knew why if was unsafe to use her powers for a while. Her mother had explained that Will's mystic energy was unstable from using the Eldritch Lighting Blade with both the wrong tattoo and before she was ready to handle the attack.
"And now on to the reason why you are all here." Susan said to the group, knowing it does not take a group of three to give a medical report. What ever it was, Susan had feeling it was of at least a mild concern.
"Well, since you daughter's birthday is only a month away, we want to know your plans. Are you keeping it small or are we going to rub you're daughter's newly found status in her haters' faces?" Abele asked, as she made the three adults intentions clear, but confusing Will to what they meant.
Susan knew what they were asking though and was unsure of which was the best choice. If she kept it small, Will would be around only those who she knew and was comfortable with. If Susan made it a big celebration, then many nobles would be invited to the occasion. This would be small bit of revenge on those who made Will's life hard.
To be invited by a Royal Knight to any sort of gathering was a great honor, so many would frown on those who turned it down or not showed up, even if the gathering was to celebrate a half-elf Warlock's birthday. That fact that said half-elf was Susan's daughter and the one who dealt the killing blow to Tony Vandom, would only those who did not appear look even worse.
After all, it made Will a hero for taking down one Meridian's most hated criminals, so to attend the celebration was also a chance to show respect and thank Will for her deed.
The down sides to all of this though were what worried Susan though. The first of which was the fact Will was completely unprepared for such an occasion. The young redhead had many talents and skills, but having the needed knowledge if manners, etiquette and other such things were not among them.
By commoner standards, Will had perfect manners and could conduct herself perfectly. But among the higher crust, Will might as well paint a bull's eye on her head. They would eat the poor girl alive if given the chance. That was something Susan did not want to happen.
"I don't think it's a good idea to put Will in that position yet. With only a month to teach all she needs to know, the other nobles would take advantage of even the slightest of flaws and make the evening a living nightmare for Will." Susan told the three other adults, while just making her daughter more and more confused and annoyed.
"Can we talk like I am in the room please?!" Will demanded in an annoyed tone, which drew everyone's attention. They were surprised by the firmness of her tone, since she tended to be a bit quite at times.
"It seems have an official mother in her life has given our young friend some inner fire." Abele commented in a casual tone, making Will blush and the others present chuckle at her expense.
"Sorry about that sweetie." Susan told her daughter and gave the redhead a gentle hug to apologize to and comfort the girl.
While Susan was doing this, Sade said, "Well, its understandable you don't want to put Will in that kind of situation yet Susan. Though, shouldn't we let the person who is most effected by this topic decide?"
The four adults looked at Will who was still trying to figure out what was going on. All she could figure out it was something to do with her birthday and how they were going to celebrate it.
Seeing Will's confusion, Susan simplified the two choices as best she could. "It's pretty much a choice between having a huge and fancy party, where I show you off to the other nobles or we have a small private party for just family and friends." Susan explained, hoping the remnants of the girl's shy and timid nature would make Will choose the small party idea.
Will seemed to think about it for a moment, clearly trying to decide which was better. Do the big formal thing where she had no idea what to do, but at the same time get to show the nobles who hated her that she was not dirt or go with the small party idea and just have a fun time with her friends.
"I…don't know." Will finally said, clearly torn between the two choices. She wanted things to be simple, but at the same time, she wanted let the whole kingdom know who she was. The redhead was not naïve enough to believe having such an important woman as her mother would really change what people thought, but Will did hope she might find other nice people among the nobles.
'Matt and Caleb are nobles after all, so shouldn't there be other like them as well? The bigger party might let me meet them, but I don't want to embarrass mom if I mess up,' Will thought in her mind, while the others present tried to think of what to do to help the redhead make a decision.
The main reason for Sade, Julian and Abele wanted to push for a grand celebration, was for three simple reasons. The first of which was to show the majority of the half-elf and warlock haters who they had been attacking all this time and that she was now able to fight back on equal terms.
Many had openly showed they despised Will, but many would be practically kissing Will's feet when they heard whom her mother was. Many nobles did not want to be on a mother's bad side, when she had a Royal Knight's level of authority.
The second reason was to get back at two specific nobles, The Dunn Family and Lord McDohl. They were some of the few who would not grovel at Will and Susan's feet, but they would be highly annoyed to see many of their former supporters being chummy with the two Vandoms, even if it was only to avoid the older of the pair's wrath.
The third and most important reason was because Will was a hero and deserved to be recognized for it. She fought her own father, a man far more powerful then herself, yet managed to kill him. With his own technique no less!
Tony Vandom was one of one of Meridian's most feared and wanted criminals and Will was the one to finally bring him down. Many with greater power then the redhead had tried to do the same and failed, so Will had the right be given the credit she deserved and allow the kingdom to know a major threat had be eliminated.
Susan knew these reasons as well, but did not want to put Will in an uncomfortable situation. It clearly was going to need to be Will's decision in the end, since neither choice was better then the other.
As everyone tried to way the choices between getting a few more nobles on Will's side or just let her enjoy her first birthday with a family, Abele spoke up. "Perhaps we should use you're people method of deal with this Susan." Abele suggested, hoping to reach a happy medium.
Will looked confused at this, since she was unaware of the costumes of her mother's people, but the others knew what Abele was implying.
"I don't know Abele. Will would still get stuck in a formal celebration to start off with, thought the private party between…family would probably make Will feel better the next day." Susan replied before looking at Will and explained further, since Susan knew the redhead would ask what was going on soon enough.
"In an elvin community, those who are important with in that community have two celebrations on their birthday. The first one is the formal one, which is for mingling for other of equal or higher status. Basically it's the party that many noble families have to invite both close friends and those who they causally, so maintain old friendships and hopefully forge new ones." Susan told Will, then move onto the second half of the explanation.
"The seconded part is held the day after is the considered the family celebration. It's the casual party where the birthday girl can just enjoy herself." Susan said as she wrapped up her explanation. Will still seemed a little unsure, but the idea of not having to choose one idea over the other was tempting.
After a moment Will said, "I guess it would be alright…would the other girls be at the first party at least? So I'm not completely alone."
"Of course they will be there sweetie. It's only right to have your friends there to celebrate with you. Besides, you might want the extra people looking out for you during the party. Some nobles…like the Dunn family, might try to make the night living nightmare, so a few friends would a be welcome thing for both of us." Susan answered her daughter, who looked glad to hear that.
"Then leave the preparations to us. Should I have few books brought to you later? So you can help Will start her lessons for the party." Sade asked, knowing no time better the present to start preparing Will to handle a social gathering of this type.
"That's a good idea. Also…what do think of pink with lots of frills?" Susan asked as a hug grin came onto her face and other three adults quickly caught on.
"That would be perfect for her!" Sade exclaimed so to add fuel to the fire, while Will was starting to look scared.
"What are you talking about?" Will asked in hope they were not talking about what she thought they were.
"Your dress for the party." Abele answered for the group, which instantly made Will go pale. This only lasted a short time though, because Will quickly recovered and screamed out, "Not a chance in all Nine Layers of…"
"Wilhelmina Vandom, watch your language!" Susan scolded lightly, knowing Will was going to get this aggravated so she let the curse in the making slide.
"No dress! Especially the pink frilly kind!" Was the redhead's comeback to her mother's scolding, which made everyone chuckle lightly. The girl had her priorities, even though most would have been worried about the scolding they just received.
"But then I don't get have any fun! One of the best parts of a mother is to dress up their child on special occasions!" Susan teased; making Will get even more annoyed.
"Not happening!" Will stated, while Sade, Julian and Abele left the room. As entertaining as the sight was, they had other things to do. They knew Susan was going to win in the end anyway. No one ever out argued Susan Vandom, though they knew the redhead would not go down with out a fight.
"One hundred gold pieces say Will only succeeds in avoiding the frills." Julian says as the exit the room and closed the door behind them.
"Raise you fifty and say Will manages to avoid wearing pink along with the frills." Sade counters, while Abele roles her eyes at the betting contest. She would have thrown a wager in, but since it was Julian's money to begin with it did not really matter if won any way. Besides, Sade took her guess.
'There is no way Susan would ever succeed in getting Will into something pink and frilly and she would never be that cruel anyway. She's just teasing Will after all.' An amused Abele thought as the Queen and Royal Knight finished agreeing on their wager.
000
Mean while, Will's friends had over heard the plans for Will birthday and had snuck off before they were caught. They were all trying to figure out two things. The first of which was what to get her for her birthday. The second was if there was anything they could do to help her prepare for the party or keep those who would ruin the night away from Will.
"Well, not much we can do for making the night bearable except stick with her so any trouble makers won't be able to pester her." Cornelia said, which got a reluctant agreement from those who were not used to the way nobles worked. (Irma and Hay Lin)
"Guess that just leaves what gifts we get her then. What do we get Will anyway? She is not exactly a normal young noble after all…no offensive to those present." Irma said, but quickly added the last part incase the majority of the group got offended.
"Don't worry, we know what you meant Irma." Caleb replied casually and then got the group back to brainstorming ideas for birthday presents. Will never really showed much interest in anything besides training, so there was not much to work with in terms of hobbies or other such things.
Most things girls Will's age normally wanted did not seems to fit too well with the redhead either. She did not have heavy interest in clothing, make-up or jewelry so those were mostly out. True, Will never had much reason to want those things up until now, so perhaps simple jewelry might be alright.
'I have month so that might be enough time if I can convince mom to lay off on the grounding for that long.' Caleb pondered while Matt asked, "Irma, what stuff do you normally ask for? Since Will is a tomboy, maybe we should try that approach."
Matt's suggestion made sense, but even that did not help much in the ideas for gifts. With out knowing exact interests to fall back on, it made think of possible presents hard to do. Caleb of course had his secret idea, but so far, he was the only one who had a plan on what he wanted to get Will.
As they continued to try and figure out this issue about Will's birthday, Abele and Julian entered and said, "Caleb, time to head home." Caleb nodded his head and left with his parents, while other continued to brainstorm ideas.
As Caleb and his parents left the palace, he asked, "Mom, could as you a favor?"
000
Over the course of the month, it had been a bust time for Will. Long gone were the days where life simply revolved around training and helping Susan around the castle. Now Will had lessons in place of her old schedule, which were a bit difficult for the redhead at first.
Learning all the little details about how to act among the nobility and what to do at special occasions with very complex, but Will had her mother helping her every step of the way.
There was also another knew addition to Will lessons, though of a more enjoyable kind. Learning more about her to elvin heritage. This was mainly about the history of the elves, how to read and speak the elvin language and also about their customs.
Will had also learned more about the main god of worship for the elves, which was their creator, Corellon Larethian. This was the god that Susan of course, worshiped over all others. Will, not have any set religion in past, also opted to worship him as well, which Susan happy to hear. She but also encouraged her daughter keep and open mind, since Will might choose a different god when she was older and perhaps saw a different deity represented her better the creator of the elvin people.
Right now though, Will was praying to her newly gained deity, as she said in elvin language, "Corellon, may your grace grant me the ability to avoid making a fool out of myself tonight."
Will was making this payer in front of a full-length mirror, in her new room. She rarely slept in it though, often sneaking back into the tiny room/study that she used sleep in during her time of being in her mother's employment.
Right now, she wished she were able to go back in time and tell herself to just go with only the small private party because right now, the nobles were arriving while she stared at herself in the mirror.
She was wearing a red medieval style dress with gold trimming, which took surprisingly little effort to get her into after her mother finally convinced Will to wear something special for the occasion.
"You don't need a god to help you sweetie. Your more then ready for this." Will heard her mother's voice say and the redheaded half-elf spun around to see her mother standing in the doorway.
Susan was dressed in a blue and silver version of her daughter's dress and was smiling affectionately at her daughter. "If you say so mom." Will replied in a doubtful tone as she walked over to her mother, who pulled the Will into a gentle hug.
"I know so. Just stick close to your friends or myself and I'm sure we won't have any trouble tonight." Susan assured her daughter and led her towards castle ballroom.
When they arrived at the destination, soft music was being played in the background by a group of musicians and the guests were talking amongst themselves, waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.
As they entered the doorway, man next to it announced their arrival. "Presenting, Lady Susan Vandom and her daughter, Lady Wilhelmina Vandom." The man called out, making Will silent growl at the use of her full name. The redhead was just not able to get used to being call Wilhelmina, after being called Will for almost thirteen years.
As the reached the bottom of the stairway that led to the ballroom floor, Will and Susan were greeted by her closest friends, each dressed for the occasion, or as best they could given that some were of a different status then others.
Sade and Elyon were dressed in regal looking gowns and Cornelia was wearing an emerald colored medieval dress.
Caleb and Matt wore a military style black dress uniform, since noble families usually had connections to the military. The only way to tell if a noble was wearing for just formal occasion or actually was actively apart of the military, was if the noble had a medal or two on the right side the shirt. (Matt had none while Caleb had one)
Yan Lin and Hay Lin wore elaborate robes that were in style of the old woman's homeland to the Far East, past the wasteland on the other side of the great mountains.
Taranee wore a bright orange, red and gold formal wizard robe, while Irma wore a blue dress. The country girl's family was simple one after all, so Irma did not have anything super fancy to wear, not Irma really cared. She liked standing out among the nobles as way to 'rub the salt into the wound' so to speak. Most never liked commoner being present after all.
A bit further off from the group was standing around her; Will could see most of her friends' families. The Hales, Russells, Olsens were present, but one reason or another the Cooks, Lairs and Lins were not.
The Lairs and Lins could not make it, but Cooks or be precise Theresa, refused to come. Taranee's father and brother wanted to see if they could talk some sense into the Palladian so they stayed behind as well.
"Looks like I win the bet." Sade commented in an absented minded manner. Everyone looked at the Queen in confusion as she smiled a explained, "Julian bet Will would only avoid the frill. I bet she would avoid both the frill and the pink color."
This made Will shudder at the memory of that image, though she later realized her mother had been joking about the pink frilly dress. The others laughed at this and then quickly took Will to fully introduce her to the other's families.
000
On the far side of the room, Uriah glared hatefully at the ones who were trying to make his life living nightmare. His family had been invited and they knew the exact reason why. No one could touch him for what happened in the Spell Dual, so they going for an indirect revenge, by making Dunn family come to this ridicules party.
'It should be dead right now, not having the weak willed nobles kissing up to the freak so to avoid the mother's wrath,' Uriah thought bitterly, but drew comfort from one little thing. He was not the only one who did not want to be here and would have help making this the worse night of Will's life.
000
The night was an interesting one for Will to say the least. Meeting the Hales awkward to say the least. Will could tell Elizabeth Hale was trying to be kind courteous, but Will knew the woman was still trying to deicide how she felt about Warlocks.
Will knew of the Druid's old group, who opposed Warlock existence, but also knew the woman no longer followed that path. Elizabeth was just trying to shed an old habit, but was not having much luck since she had been apart of that Druid group up until she met her husband.
Matt's family made any usual feeling from meeting Cornelia mom subside though, since they were much like the Russells when it came to treating half-elves. Will especially liked Matt's grandfather, Ted Olsen, who was kind old man.
Ted was also a bit of an veterinarian, though not a professional one because of his noble status giving him other duties to perform. As he got older and his son could take over though, Ted took up a small practice as a sort of hobby, mainly focusing on rare, magical or exotic creatures.
The lands the Olsen family watched over had a fair share of such creatures so Ted's services most valuable. Will enjoyed talking about all the different creature he had treated and would have done so all night, if Matt or Caleb had not dragged her out onto the dance floor.
It started with Caleb asking Will for the first dance, then once the next song began, Matt stepped in. This pattern continued for most of the night, until a few other boys started cutting in as well.
While Will danced with another unknown boy, she tried to figure out why Caleb and Matt seemed to be trying be Will's next dance, the two boys with giving each other fake grins and were mumbling to each other.
"Why don't you go take break Matt? I can keep an eye on Will by myself." Caleb said quietly, but the Matt gave his friend a glance before responding, "Wouldn't it be better if you rested? You might give Cornelia the wrong idea."
Caleb rolled his eyes at this comment and said, "Since when was I courting Cornelia? Besides, I'll looking after a friend, not trying to have relationship with her." This was not entirely true, but it was what Caleb was telling himself. What he really wanted to do was beat Matt to the next dance.
Both boys were setting the foundation that would be one of the greatest rivalries the kingdom would ever know, but it was also giving Uriah his chance to act. With his two newest partners in crime, Courtney and Bess Grumper. Kurt and Clubber were unable to attend the celebration, but that was good thing, since this little job required subtlety, something his normal partners lacked.
When Will finally broke away from her current dance partner so to take a break and get a drink, Uriah and the Grumper Sisters made their move. Will friends were to far away to save the redhead, so she was completely as the trio's mercy.
Since Will knew Uriah already, he had to stay back and the Grumpers work their magic, both figuratively and literally. The two mischief-makers made their way towards Will and Courtney said while she and Bess gave Will a small curtsy, "Good evening Lady Wilhelmina."
Will was bit confused when heard her full first name used, but managed to avoid making look like she was too unfamiliar with for it. The Grumper Sisters were practiced observers though and filed that information away to use at a later date.
"H-hello…" Will replied to the Grumpers was clearly showing she was novice at talking in such a formal setting because of her stalled sentence. This was another bit of information the two sisters would try to use later if they got a chance.
"I'm Courtney and this my sister Bess. We are of the Grumper Family and we thought it was best we introduce our selves. After all, you are the guest of honor and if what we hear is correct, a future Royal Knight." Courtney said as she started laying the trap for Will, who did not expect a thing.
The plan was more Uriah's style near the end, but the first part was defiantly to the Grumper Sisters' liking, which was to play with their targets head. They would make the redhead think they were her friends and leave wide open to get humiliated.
'The part where we humiliate the freak is a bit more childish then our usual methods, but Uriah right. The girl is too stupid to waste real energy on. So we will got with Uriah's plan on how we end this.' Courtney concluded in her mind, while Will blushed a bit at the words Courtney had said.
"I…I doubt that. Royal Knights are chosen very carefully, I don't think…" Will started to say shyly, but Bess cut her off.
"How could you not be chosen eventually? You are the one who killed Tony Vandom, one of the most hated men in all the kingdom. The fact it was you who did it makes the feat all the more important. His own daughter made sure he paid for his crimes." Bess said as she helped her sister further butter Will up, while Uriah got into position.
000
On the opposite side of the room, Will's friends and family were trying to see where Will had gone. They had lost track of her after the last dance ended, but then Irma saw Will standing over by the food table.
"There she is and she is with…oh no! The Grumpers! And Uriah seems to sneaking towards them!" Irma hissed out, whole everyone else got very worried. They knew those three were going to pull something that would be childish and very embarrassing for Will.
Will's friends then tried to as discreetly as possible to make their way over to Will's location, but they would get their in time to help the young half-elf.
000
As Courtney and Bess continued their charade and kept Will distracted, Uriah stood behind the three some on the other side of the table. He hand a want in his hand that had the telekinesis spell infused into it.
The plan Uriah had come up with was crude, but it would ruin Will's night unfortunately. The Grumper sisters would distract Will and make her feel like they were being friendly, thus lowering will guard for when the they would trip her and given Uriah time to act.
When Will was on the ground, Uriah would make it looking Will pulled the table cloth on the table behind down as she fell and cover the poor girl in food and punch. A few quickly and sharp comments at the humiliated girl's expense would make the majority of the people present laugh at her and drive the redhead to tears.
Uriah signaled he was ready and the Grumpers started the next and final step of the plan. Bess discretely cast a spell called Mage Hand to grab the hem of Will's dress, while Courtney suddenly pushed Will backwards.
Will feet stepped on the hem that was pulled underneath them and Will fell over, while Uriah went about with his end of the plan. The food trays, punch bowl and the cloth fell onto Will, causing such commotion that it attracted the whole room's attention.
As Will slowly climbed out form underneath the tablecloth that draped over as it fell, Bess spoke loudly, "My my, Lady Wilhelmina! Such a large appetite you have!"
"You do know that was for everyone own right?" Courtney added, and Will heard a large number of snickering fill the room. Will's eyes swelled up with tears as she realized she had been set up and tried to get up and runaway, but Courtney stuck her foot out and trip Will when she was finally able to stand.
"Such a klutz as well!" Bess called out, adding fuel to the fire and making the braver nobles laugh at Will's expense. Uriah was one of the said nobles and Will easily made his voice among the laughter making Will feeling even worse.
"Will!" The redhead heard her mother call out as the half got back to her feet and ran out of the ballroom, pieces of food falling off her as she did.
Susan looked torn between killing the three fools who dared to target her baby girl at her own birthday celebration or going after Will, but Sade helped guide her friend to a decision. Sade pointed out Will's friends had already closed in on the trio of troublemakers.
Caleb had jumped onto the table and then tried dive at Uriah, who was smart enough to run before Caleb got his hands on him. Matt was trying to cut the orange haired boy off, since he could not lay a hand on the Grumpers.
Cornelia, Taranee and Elyon were too well raised to resort to physically harm the two sisters, but Irma had no such difficulty. The only thing stopping her was the fact Hay Lin holding the Arcane Hunter back, but she looked clearly as mad as everyone else.
The first three girls surrounded the Grumpers, so they could not run and were clearly scared of the group, so they did not dare try to escape the soon to come retribution, what ever that was.
"I think her friends have those three dealt with. You go check on Will, while I deal with the rest." Sade told Susan, making it clear she would insure that those dared to spoil this night for Will, paid dearly.
Susan nodded her head in acceptance and ran after daughter, following the pieces of food and drops of punch that the poor girl had left behind. The one good thing horrible prank did was at least leave Susan a good trail to follow.
000
Susan followed the trail to the one place she should know Will would run to. Her old room from her time of forced service. It was the place Will felt most comfortable and was place that offered sanctuary during a simpler time of her life, even had not been such a long time ago since those days.
Susan went up the door and found Will in the tiny study the young girl once slept in. Susan found Will curled up in the corner of the room where her old bed used to be and was sobbing loudly.
By the time Will knew her mother was in the room, the elvin woman kneeling in front of Will and stroke the redhead's hair lightly.
Will tried to crawl away, not wanting her mother to see her like this, but Susan was too quick. The dark haired woman pulled Will close and rocked her gently back and fourth. "M-M-Mom…you can't touch me. I'm covered in…" Will started to protest, but Susan cut her daughter off.
"I don't care." Was all the older woman said and continued to comfort her child.
After about ten minutes, Susan looked down at her daughter and asked, "Why don't we get you changed into something clean and we go to bed? You can sleep with me tonight."
Will protested that the party was still going on down in the ballroom, but Susan assured Will that Sade would take care of things. The most important thing to the elvin woman was looking after Will, nothing else.
Once Susan helped Will change into a clean nightgown and had lightly washed the food and punch in Will's hair, the two climb into Susan bed. Susan hummed an elvin lullaby to her daughter until Will in a peaceful slumber, before entering her four-hour trance.
Susan was glad they were leaving for the lakeside estate tomorrow. The private party was supposed be time of unwinding for the one who's birthday it was. But for Will, it was chance to get away from the cruelty and stupidity of certain people.
'I'm glad I arranged for several days away from the city, Will needs time to feel better.' Susan thought. as she entered her trance, glad she had surprise for Will for when the reached their destination.
000
The next morning, Susan had woken Will up early, so to leave before the nobles who stayed the night (though Sade expelled many of the more cruel ones from the castle the night before) and was getting Susan friend and Familiar, Serenity, ready to fly.
It would take three days by horse to reach the lakeside escape Susan had, but by flight, they would reach it by earlier afternoon.
Will was surprised at how different her mother treated riding a dragon then her father did. The saddle was bigger and though a bit of a squeeze, could still hold the two of them. Susan also had Will in front of her, instead of hanging on from behind, like Tony did.
Susan had done everything to insure Will was safe and secure, while Tony would have left Will to fend for herself.
"Are you ready Mistress Will?" The golden dragon asked, having a good idea Back Wing and Tony had not made Will's past flight very comfortable, something Serenity planed on correcting today.
"Mistress? I thought Mom would your mistress, since you're her familiar." Will asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable to be riding a dragon again, even if steps to insure her safety had been done.
"I'm at your mother's service, that is true. But you are her child, and so to a lesser extent, you have my service as well." Serenity explained. Normally familiars served only one master or mistress, but Dragons were sentient creatures with out becoming familiars. They knew who a person cared about and would protect those people as well.
Will was unsure what to think of that, since Black Wing certainly never thought like that. Will did draw some comfort from the gold dragon's words, but was still a little scared because of past experiences.
Eventually, Will said she was ready and they took to the air. Will had curled up against her mother upon take off, but that was to be expected. Susan knew that once Will got used to the idea that not all dragons were like Black Wing, the redhead would feel much more comfortable riding Serenity.
After Susan gave Will an hour to get used to being in the air, she put a plan into action that might make Will feel more comfortable with flying.
"Would you like to try taking the reins Will?" Susan asked, making stridden a bit.
Since Will could not turn around while in the saddle, she just looked straight up as said in a bit of a scared tone, "But I don't know the way." Susan could tell Will was just sacred and was looking for an excuse to not try to fly, but the elvin woman was not going to be deterred so easily.
"Don't worry, either Serenity or myself will let you know of we are going far off coarse. So go ahead Will, give it a try." Susan assured her daughter and gently placed the reins in Will's hands. Susan did not need them really, since she and Serenity had the familiar link, but Susan had been planning to do this for a few days.
Serenity was all for the idea as well, so it they added reins to the harness so to give Will something to use.
After Susan gave Will a quick run through on how maneuver a flying creature, Susan wrapped her arms around Will's waste and let the redhead have control. It took a while for the two to encourage Will to have some fun with her being in control, which ended by Serenity going into a slow dive.
"Up! Up!" Will squeaked out but Serenity did not pull up. Serenity wanted to get Will to use the reins, not her voice to get what she wanted.
"Will, remember you have to pull up in the reins." Susan wisped into Will's ear and the girl then suddenly pulled hard on the reins. It was bit rougher the gold dragon would have liked, but she responded and went higher up into the air.
"Now that was not so hard, now was it?" Susan asked with kind smile on her face, while Will was trying calm down a bit.
"You…planned that…didn't you?" Will said with a hint of accusation in her voice, which got a mall chuckle from both mother and dragon.
"Had to get you flying some how Will. Now go on and have some fun. We still have ways to go and it's a boring flight if we just go straight!" Susan told the young girl, who seemed to be more at ease with flying now, though did seem a bit grouchy with the two. They had been manipulating her after all.
Will at least got a bit more adventuress now though, and did a few slow dives every so often. Will was still bit too scared to do things like loops and barrel rolls, but at least she was not as scared as before.
When they finally arrived at their destination, Will saw they come to lakeside cabin. It was very large two story one and was surrounded by a forest; it was a perfect place to get away to someplace quiet for a while.
"Lets get ins side Will and get everything put away. After we rest for a bit, we can go for a swim and give our legs go stretch after being in the air all day." Susan suggested she handed Will her bag and they headed for the cabin.
The young half-elf did not see the small smile on her mother face as they headed for the cabin door. As the door swung open, Will was greeted by a loud, "SURPRISE!"
In the cabin were all of Will's friends and their families (with the exception of Theresa and Hay Lin's parents) and the room was decorated in the style of simple birthday party. Streamers and balloons were all over the place and a large Happy Birthday Will banner hung on the wall.
As Will looked back between the people in the cabin and her mother as if trying to ask a question, Susan said, "In elvin society, close friends are family." Susan knew Will was shocked to see people that were not family by blood here, since the elvin woman knew Will though by family party, it meant only direct family. She did not know it was for all those who were very close to the person.
As Susan led Will into the cabin, everyone started singing happy birthday. As Will was sat down in front of a coffee table, a large chocolate cake with thirteen candles in was brought out.
'This is the best day of my life.' Will thought as blew out the candles, making a wish that she to be ready for next year. She would not let the nobles get the better of her; she would show them they would not ruin her life anymore. Not when she had people like these in her life.
000
After the song and cake were done, they moved onto presents. Will had never gotten presents before, so it was strange, but enjoyable experiences for her. The first present was from Cornelia's family, which were books of some kind.
"I thought that since my plans for a Warlock academy have yet to gain any ground, I thought you might be able to make use of those." Cornelia's father explained and made Will take a closer look at the books. They were about Warlock powers!
"I'm sure the ones your mother can provide from her own library are far better in quality, those might have information not covered in the others." Lord Harold Hale continued to explain, which led Will to becoming confused and look to her mother for further explanation.
"Your father had written many of his own books, Will. Back when he was good and wanted to protect Meridian, he wrote them for our own children that we planned on having and the ones they had. I guess you could say, the man who was your TRUE father, wanted you to benefit from his experiences." Susan told Will, who was now wishing she had met that man and not the one who betrayed both her and her mother.
To change the darkening mood that was coming, Sade and Elyon offered their gift. It a jewelry box, though they knew at the moment, Will did not have any of that to put in it. They knew that would change sooner or later though, so it made good gift for the young half-elf.
Taranee, Lionel and Peter's gift was the improvement of her mithral chain shirt. They had 'barrowed' it, while Will was recovering form her battle with her father and had enchanted to be a bit stronger then before.
It now could better resist being penetrated by weapons, though Will knew it was still better to dodge or block attacks then allow her armor to take the hit for her.
Hay Lin and Yan Lin's was something Yan Lin had been working for years on, a spell from Yan Lin's homeland to the east. It was called Lighting Sword or that was what Yan Lin renamed it when she modified it to be able to be used the Wizards and Sorcerers of Meridian.
Back in the east, it was called Lighting Blade, but since Susan's personal spell had that name already and Yan had to alter the original spell, so it made sense to rename it.
"You'll probably use your real sword more then this probably, but always good have a back Will. All you do is cast the spell and a bolt of lighting will appear in your hand, which you can wield like a sword." Yan Lin explained, while Will handled the scroll that contained the spell with great care.
Though no one mentioned it, this was very special gift. Yan Lin was very choosy on who got any of her remade spells. Susan was one of these few, but she could have never taught it to Will, out of respect for the old women's wishes.
The gift Irma and her family gave Will was simple one, a bow and a hunting knife. Though Will had a bow already, Tom himself crafted this one for Will, with Irma's help. Anna had made the dagger and the family knew a good set of hunting weapons would be useful for Will.
The next gift was from Matt. He knew most members of elvin race valued music and the arts, so he made an orcarina for her. Matt knew Will had not shown any interest in music, but he though she might like it nonetheless for at least an ornamental object.
The next gift was form Caleb, which was going to be a surprising one for Will. He handed her a small box and Will unwrapped it to find a necklace inside. It was a small pink stone in mithral frame and was held on chain made of the same metal. The crystal had a faint glow about it and seemed to be warm to the touch as well.
"Caleb…it's beautiful, thank you." Will said as looked at the necklace. Caleb smiled and explained of few special features the necklace had.
"It's a magic necklace actually, Will. Whenever you want it to, it will create a strong source of light and once a day, can cast Cure Serious Wounds spell. It also can fire a Bolt of Glory spell once a day. Its very effective against evil creatures, so the next time Uriah bothers you, use that on him." Caleb told Will, while most of those present were shocked at the extravagant gift Caleb had given her.
Of course, Susan, Julian and Abele were not surprised. Susan knew Caleb was getting ready to try and compete for Will's heart, even though he had yet to realize this. Caleb's parents were not surprised, because they had helped Caleb make the necklace, a little fact Abele was going to make sure Will knew.
"I'm not sure who is more tired from its creation, me for putting the magic into it or you for making it, Caleb. You seemed to have been trying to make sure everything was perfect. Can't argue with the results though, it almost looks exactly like the original Heart of Candracar." Abele said casually, while everyone stared at Caleb in shock, while Caleb's face turned a deep crimson.
Matt and Cornelia were starting to feel a bit jealous. Matt because Caleb was showing him up in front of Will. Cornelia on the other hand felt it for a different reason; she had been trying to get Caleb's attention for years, but only got subtle rejection from the boy. But Will on the other hand, got present that Caleb clearly put his heart into.
Though Cornelia jealousy was not strong yet, it had planted a seed that would sprout into a rivalry equal to the one that Matt and Caleb were beginning to have.
The three parents could see this, but knew they could do nothing about it. Love often started such events and the best way to deal with was to just let the rival go at it and hope they were all still friends in the end.
"Well Caleb, looks like you topped my gift. I was hoping to give my daughter the biggest present, but I'll settle for second best." Susan teased and handed Will a long box, while Caleb got a deeper blush (if that was possible)
Will opened it to find…her sword, but it was different now from what could tell. There was elvin writing engraved on both sides of the blade, but in a form Will had yet to learn and it felt more powerful somehow when she held it in her hand.
"I had it enchanted like Taranee's family did for your armor, Will. It's much sharper now and the words engraved on the blade are in an ancient dialect that even most elves don't know anymore. I can't tell you what it says though; you have to find out on your own. A…family tradition you could say." Susan told her daughter, who was feeling over whelmed by all the wonderful things she had been given.
"Looks like your ready for the Youth Games with all the improved gear and new abilities to learn, huh Will?" Irma commented, which drew Will confusion and made Susan flinch a bit.
"Youth Games?" Will asked, which made everyone one stare at Susan. All the looks on their faces pretty much said, 'You did not tell her?' And Susan feel a bit intimated, so quickly explained the games to Will.
"The Youth Games is special event for those between the ages of thirteen to eighteen, Will. It's where the young members of all families compete to show off their skills in various events, ending with contest in the Labyrinth. It used to be the way nobles determined who was the strongest, but now both commoners and nobles alike take part in the games." Susan told her daughter, who was looking bit excited and nervous at the same time.
"Looks like I get another shot at Uriah…if I can get beat all the other opponents as well." Will said in a way all knew she was just trying to put on a bold front for those present. Will wanted a chance to show she was not push over the nobles seemed to think she was, but was also scared at the idea competing front of who knows how many people.
"What events will you join before the Labyrinth, Will? You are good with your sword and with magic, so the regular dual and spell dual torments are right up your ally." Cornelia asked, secretly wanting to know so she could join the same one and try to impress Caleb by beating Will.
Before Will could answer though, Susan interjected. "I think Will should only take part of the Labyrinth, so she can save her tricks for that event. Don't forget, the reason the Labyrinth is there is because it's where all of you go at it in a free for all and the other contest are just for warming up and showing off."
Susan then noticed Will staring at her in horror and quickly explained further. "The Labyrinth has ancient and powerful magic that will prevent anyone's death Will. So there will be no one pulling stunt like Uriah. Plus the Labyrinth had been the only event at one point, the other stuff was added later. Most people only care about that one event in the end anyway, so training for just it will give the advantage you'll need…if you want to compete that is."
"I get to choose?" Will asked, which made everyone laugh lightly at, before Sade said, "Of course you can choose Will. You don't have to compete, it just that most young people do, so the can test their skills."
Will breathed sigh of relief that it was that it was not mandatory, but that made it even more tempting to join. Will then looked at her mother and asked, "When are the games? Do I have time to get ready?"
Susan was bit worried at this, since she wanted Will to wait a year before going for her first time, but at the same time was proud of Will. She was glad to see her little girl was willing to go up against the ones who mocked up until this point.
"We got two months, Will. It begin at the starts at the end of the summer so we can get you more then ready to compete. Your training is going to have to be increased a bit though. Between everyone else going to be training to win and getting you back into shape from your recovery from the fight with your father, its going to be tough." Susan warned, but Will still determined.
'Looks like she going for it Susan, no matter what anyone says. I feel sorry for those nobles who under estimate her' Yan Lin thought as Susan said Will's training would begin after their little vacation, then had they all went back to celebrating Will birthday. I would be the last few rests many of them would have until after the games, because everyone wanted do to do well.
This year's games were going to be intense, of that everyone was sure of.
000
AN: And there you go. Please let me know what you all thought. Also, in case any one wants to know, both if the Grumper sisters are level 3 Rouges and level 3 Wizards