"Lady Riley Delton!" Oh gosh, here I go.
"Are you ready Milady?" Asked Bard who was holding my Crystalline sword under a satin cloth. I nodded at him even though I was suddenly feeling really nervous.
Together we walked up to the judges table and I placed my grimoire down on the oak wood just in front of Prince Geoffrey's hands and then stepped back a few paces as I had seen the others do.
I watched as the judges began to look through my grimoire. The looks of astonishment and skepticism on their faces was pretty clear, however I couldn't manage to read Prince Geoffrey's expression, I felt like he always had his guard up, constantly making a barrier between himself and other people.
"This spell of yours is extremely complicated Lady Delton," came the croaky thin voice of Saint Corvinia Isleen, the head of the church of Magic, dressed in black, "were you able to execute the spell, or are you just presenting a concept to us today?" She asked regarding me with aged but sharp eyes.
"I was able to complete it, so I will be presenting you with the finished product today." I replied promptly and clearly. This Saint Corvinia was a woman who demanded respect through her manor and her voice and I found myself so intimidated by her that I wanted to give her what she demanded.
She looked me over with her sharp eyes but said nothing else.
"Here it says that you acknowledge three people for helping you in the creation of this artifact." Stated Mr Mannon Brunhild, Arcadia's uncle. "Lord Gawain Smithson for giving you the idea, Lord Cornelius Marcellus because you modeled your spell after his spell, and lastly Mr Bazthornia for molding the artifact for you."
I nodded, "Yes, that is correct."
He nodded back at me, seemingly satisfied with my answer. There was a long pause where no one said anything while the judges were scribbling notes down on their papers.
"Begin." Commanded the prince. He then leaned back in his chair and seemed to relax against the carved wood. He stared at me behind his golden lashes, a cool yet mischevious glow to his face.
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Finally the moment had arrived for Geoffrey, finally. The only reason he wanted to be a judge for the tournament was so that he could experience Lady Riley's performance first hand. He wanted to see her from close up, not like the Mage tournament where he had to remain with his family and watch her from a distance. That day he had wanted to go meet her and become aquainted with her, but he had had to do the princely thing and remain indifferent.
From the moment he had read Kristopher's letter informing him of the mysterious raven-haired maiden with enormous power, Prince Geoffrey had been captivated by her. He had never been so intrigued by a woman in his life.Even though he had been with many a beautiful and mysterious women, none seemed to affect him quite like Lady Riley did. None seemed to be able to capture his attention as she was able to. She was able to stir something up in him that he was unfamiliar with yet welcomed greedily. A kind of pasion...? lust maybe...? He wasn't sure.
He wanted to know her, he wanted to approach her. Now that he was certain that she would bring no harm to the kingdom, he could afford to get to know her a better. He wasn't sure if his attraction to her was purely sexual or not, but it was an attraction that he planned to unravel.
Riley unfolded the cloth from over the sword and revealed its beauty. She held the sword high up in the air and let the light flooding in from the windows at the top of the hall, shimmer and reflect off the Crystalline blade. Riley admired her work for a few moments as she held it up in the air.
The room of contestants gasped at the brilliant crystal blade. Everyone admired how beautiful it was and eagerly anticipated what it could do.
At that moment, Lavinia was being escorted back into the Great Mage Hall by the butlers, since she had woken up from he fainting spell. Lavinia was still a bit fragile and weary, seeing as she had never had things go this badly for her in her life. She had always gotten what she wanted. Things had always gone her way. So she was still finding it incomprehensible that she had been disqualified from the exam.
Lavinia was distracted from her thoughts when she saw a beautiful shimmering blade being held up on the air. The blade was translucent and yet it shimmered and reflected different fantastic bright colors around the room. It was truly breathtaking and Lavinia couldn't help but stare at it. Then Lavinia looked down to see who was holding it. In an instant the smile vanished from her face as she realized that this was Lady Riley's artifact, Lavinia suddenly started to feel queasy again...
Riley then turned to the judges, "May I ask for some volunteers to help me demonstrate its ability?" Riley would need a person of each different magic style to show that the artifact was capable of amplifying magic of each type.
"You may use me." Geoffrey said as he got up from his seat and walked towards her. Riley gulped nervously, not expecting the prince's sudden gesture.
The other contestants whispered at the unusual turn of events. It was almost unheard of for a judge to be used as a volunteer for a an exam...
"Uh okay..." she said dumbly.
Riley then handed the prince the sword. Prince Geoffrey swung the sword through the air and was pleasantly surprised at how light it was. He could tell that it was a blade of high quality, but then again any blade made of Crystalline would have to be considered high quality.
"What now?" He asked Riley with an amused smile on his face.
"Umm, now just cast one of you weaker magical spells with the sword, keeping in mind what type of power your spell would usually produce, and comapre it to how much the sword amplifies it" Riley directed.
The prince obeyed and casted a wind spell. "Falling breeze." He chanted calmly.
Suddenly the air pressure in the room went wild and a sickeningly large gust of wind hurtled around the room as if a giant storm was about to erupt inside the Great Hall. The magnificent bout of wind stormed through the hall and whipped hats and wigs off of peoples heads, it even managed to knock a few people right off their feet before completely shattering the large stained glass windows of the hall.
The other contestants stood dead still, their mouths hanging wide open with complete shock and awe. They had never seen anything like this ever, such incredible magical prowess.
The prince stood completely still for a moment before letting out a wicked and mischievous laugh, a greedy grin spread onto his lips and his golden eyes flowed with power.
Without being told what to do next, the prince used a different kind of magic for his next spell.
"Lightning spear!" A great bolt of lighting split from the end of the sword and crashed out of the hall, through the same window that had been shattered by the previous spell, into a large oak tree outside, completely disintegrating it. The path that the bolt of lightning traveled was marked by pitch black scorch marks across the marble floor.
The other contestants shrieked and gasped, completely dumbfounded, not knowing what to do, how to act, or what to think.
"Dragons breath!" Called out the prince. A great furnace of read hot flames exploded from the end of the sword and engulfed half of the room with searing hot flames. A few of the butlers had to dive out of the way to avoided the heat wave burning them. A few of the other participants screamed in terror at the sight of it. Riley was kind of worried that the prince was going a bit overboard and that he might end up hurting someone if he didn't stop.
"Incredible..." declared the prince as he held the sword up in the air, admiring its power and beauty. He then turned towards Riley and did the same to her. Riley felt a bit uncomfortable under his strong gaze, not creeped out by it, but she just felt exposed to him.
Riley's and Geoffrey's eyes broke away from each other when Alucard and Gawain approached them.
"We should see if it is capable of amplifying merge magic as well." Suggested Alucard as he reached out for the sword, desperately wanting to try out his ice magic. Prince Geoffrey on the other hand had no intention of letting someone else handle the sword.
"Yes, let's see if it can." Geoffrey grinned. "Liquid flames of the house of Ambrose!" He chanted loudly. Riley perked up at hearing this chant since it was a new type of merge magic she had not heard of before. Liquid flames?
A whole lake of lava burst forth from the sword and pooled onto the floor. The thick viscous liquid slowly panned out over the room sizzling as it did so. The intense heat of the lava made the marble floors burn and the other contestants ran to the other side of the room in fear.
Alucard looked angry that he was not able to try out his ice magic, but said nothing.
Prince Geoffrey then promptly returned to the judging table and took his seat, still holding the sword in his hand.
The other judges were completely shaken. Mr Bazthornia's eyebrows were crooked and his old wrinkled face was frozen in an expression of complete shock.
Lord Umfrey's eyes were as wide as saucers and he had accidentally dropped the last piece of heart fruit cake that he had been secretly eating under the table from the sheer shock of seeing the power of Riley's artifact.
Saint Corvinia Isleen's mouth was hanging wide open, yet she was unable to speak. She couldn't find the words to express her astonishment. She had already had high hopes for Lady Delton after seeing her perform at the Mage tournament, but what she had witnessed today was unreal. It was insanity that one person should have such magical capabilities. Impossible even, and yet she had seen it with her own two eyes. Corvinia was determined to get her admitted to the church of Magic as soon as possible.
Lord Mannon Brunhild and his underling Cressa Theorden were also speechless, their mouths gaping like guppies, and their hands shaking. They were imagining the brilliant story they could write about this in the Gismeadian.
Prince Geoffrey on the other hand, was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Once again Lady Riley had managed to captivate him by exceeding his expectations.
Alice, Cornelius and Sinjin were clapping profusely at the other end of the hall. Gawain and Alucard also clapped but felt a bit bitter that they didn't get a chance to test out sword.
Lavinia had entered the hall through an unfortunate door. The door that was directly opposite to where Riley and Prince Geoffrey were standing, and due to the ginormous dress she was wearing she hadn't been able to dodge all of the magical attacks fast enough. The wind spell had blown right against the top of her head and had completely undone her pale blond hair, which now frizzed about her head like a giant birds nest, with shards of the stained glass window sticking out of it.
She had run to try and escape the giant lightning ball that came hurtling at her but she wasn't quite fast enough so the lightning ball burned through the back of her dress completely searing off the back of her skirt, leaving her stockinged backside completely exposed.
She hadn't had the sense to retreat from that area entirely and had been dosed in a layer of black soot when the prince had performed the fire magic.
So there she stood, the once graceful and noble Lady, now resorted to a crazy looking scare crow with a bare bum.
Lavinia's last thought before she collapsed in a heap on the floor, was that she would join the church of Magic and become one of the ministry girls. She would vow her life to the God's of magic and live a humble and chaste life, because there really was no point in challenging Lady Riley.
The lords and Ladies tried hard not to stare at her exposed but cheeks by turning away and coughing awkwardly. Prince Geoffrey realized and called for some butlers to carry her away, again.
The butlers awkwardly maneuvered her out of the hall, trying not to touch any of her bits and/or bring any shame to her.
The Great Magic hall looked an absolute mess: the pillars were covered in black scorch marks, the marble floor was cracked open and burnt beyond repair and the huge stained glass window was shattered to pieces. Nevertheless, the show must go on.
"Uh-hum!" The prince cleared his throat and got everyone's attention.
"Lady Delton's grade is..."
In between the pause, one of the women muttered in the background, "Well she better bloody get an S or I've lost a perfectly good wig for nothing..."
Riley heard her and giggled.
"S."
The room broke out into cheers and clapping.
"Lady Delton is truly amazing!"
"Heavens above! The artifact she created must be at the level of a national treasure!"
"Thank goodness I have good instincts, otherwise that fire attack really could have scorched me!"
"I wonder if Lady Delton is engaged?"
"I wonder if Lady Delton will be taking on any students next year..."
"They should give her her own office! A seat on the board even!"
"Did you hear the rumor about her? That she is the Lady who opened up Sophie's cafe."
"Silence for the Prince's announcement!" Boomed the voice of the announcer, the sudden noise startled the room.
Prince Geoffrey then got up from his seat and began his announcement.
"Fellow citizens of Girannon, I wish to thank all the participants for working hard and honing their practice in order to prepare for these exams.
In particular I give high praise to Lord Dimitri Vassaltross and Lord Edgar Heathson for their very masterful and unique innovative creations. I give the highest praise to Lady Delton, who has shown her magical prowess and mastery yet again. She is the epitome of what a Girannonian noble should be.
With that, I conclude today's Mage exam. May the blessings of the gods be with you."
The whole room gave a deep bow or curtsey to the prince, before exiting the damaged hall through the side doors. Riley waved goodbye to the others as they left. She then walked up to the up to the judges table to retrieve her sword, but Prince Geoffrey stopped her.
"Your Highness..." she remarked as the prince kept a firm hold of the sword.
"Lady Delton, due to the nature of this sword, I think it would be best for it to remain in my possesion." He gazed cooly down at her.
"But I..."
"I hope you would trust your Prince to take good care of it." Geoffrey interrupted, he cocked his head to the side and gave her a more serious look.
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I couldn't belive it! The prince was trying to steal my sword! It's not like I could refuse to give it to him, he was the First prince after all.
"Of course I trust your highness to take care of it." I answered back in a way that was considered polite in Gismead, but with an obviously fake smile so that he could see that I was not happy about it.
"Don't worry Lady Delton, you will be compensated for your sword." He smiled down at me.
"Compensated?" I frowned. "How long are you planning on confiscating it from me?" The question just burst out before I had any time to think.
"Lady Delton, It's seems like you don't understand the magnitude of the situation." The prince's manner became more serious and the smirk dropped from his face. "A weapon like this cannot just be displayed in your parlor or on your mantle. This weapon is so powerful that it needs to be locked up, as a prince I cannot allow a weapon like this to fall into enemy hands. Hence this blade must remain within the palace walls." He was so serious now that it was a bit intimidating.
"Okay. I understand." I replied, and I really meant it.
The prince nodded when he saw that I was serious. "Moreover, I plan to present this sword as one of Girannon's national treasures at the Four Great Kingdom Summit."
"What's the Four Great Kingdom summit?" I asked curiously.
"It is a Gala of sorts." He sighed as he looked off into the distance. "It's been twenty six years since the end of the Last Great War, However the kingdoms are still very distrustful of each other, so in order to promote working together, the Summit was created. Each year one of the Four Great Kingdoms hosts the summit within their Kingdom and are tasked with introducing their culture to the other kingdoms and creating a positive atmosphere for new bonds between nation to form and grow." I smiled because it sounded quite lovely.
"However it usually turns into each of the kingdoms trying to show off their military might and show the other kingdoms how powerful they are, an intimidation game to make the point that their kingdom is not to be messed with." He grimaced slightly, as if bad memories were flooding in.
"As bad as it sounds it is necessary. This year it is Girannon's turn to host the other kingdoms, and I plan to display your weapon there." He informed me.
I realized that every time I talked to him, I got a deeper understanding of how this world really worked. Where I had seen everything through rose colored glasses, he showed me the truth of it, mostly an ugly truth.
"Through this exam, I have come to realize the extent of your powers, and I will have to call on you at times to assist me in my work. You must always come when I call." He commanded looking straight into my eyes. I didn't know if I was hallucinating or not but the golden specks in his eyes seemed to swirl in his irises and I felt a strange magic come off of them.
I nodded. That was really all I could do.
"Lady Riley. You will soon receive an important letter. I think you will be pleased with its contents." A light grin returned to his face and I hated that it made me blush.
"Yes your Highness."
"Lastly, do you keep the silver whistle that I gave you with you at all times?"
"Yes I do." I said pulling on the dainty golden chain around my neck and showing him the tiny silver whistle.
"Good. You are dismissed." The prince swiftly turned on his heel leaving me standing there as her exited in a regal fashion with his ruby red cloak flowing powerfully as he exited. The crystalline blade in his hand. A number of his guards exited with him.
"What a day..." I sighed.
"Indeed Milady!" Came Bard's cheerful voice from behind me. "Let's head home Milady." I nodded eagerly, and I suddenly felt exhausted.
I slept through the entire ride home and was woken up by Agnes stroking my head softly.
"Welcome back Milady!" I heard Mellie's loud and excited voice a few feet away.
"How did the exam go Milady?" I heard Auberon ask excitedly.
"Very well." I yawned as I sat up in the carriage.
"Cover your mouth when you yawn Milady." Reprimanded Agnes strictly, even though she was still stroking my hair gently.
"I got an S grade." I told him.
There was a long pause of silence, until they all erupted in a mighty loud,
"WWHAAAAAAT?!?!?" I laughed at their reaction.
"It was one hell of a day..."