It wasn't too long into the session before I started to doubt my own skill. Could I really do this? My mind was jumbled and I could feel my frustration rising. All my life, I had trained for this session and now I couldn't perform under pressure. I could feel the weight of a lifetimes worth of pressure slowly increasing against my heart. The small gathering of knights watching me were losing interest. Here I was, facing the head of the royal guard and I could not perform even a basic rune.
'Well, what are you waiting for?!' I heard my opponent say, the expectation evident in his tone. It was too much for me.
'I can't do this today. We shall reconvene tomorrow at the same time.'
'But your highness...'
'That is an order!' I snapped back at my challenger as I turned around and began to walk away. I could not face Artemus today, it was too much. The pressure was slipping away, but was being replaced by a fear of dread as I heard a clanking sound behind me.
'Your majesty...' I heard the Knights fall to their knees one by one as their King, my father, walked past them towards me.
'Elodie, face me.' His voice rattled in my head, making me feel afraid of what he was about to say.
'Your... your highness' I trembled whilst attempting a curtsey. My legs were like jelly and I was flailing all over the place.
'You are walking away from your session. You have turned your back on this?' The king queried. I didn't indulge him with an answer and instead remained silent. That was a mistake.
'You will face Artemus now, Elodie. And you had better get your head straight and conjure something! All these years of work and you think you can just walk away?!' His anger was mounting. 'Get back to your spot, IMMEDIATELY!'
'Yes your majesty' I responded somewhat feebly. I shuffled to my spot.
'Artemus! Resume your spot. Elodie is not done today. She must conjure at least one rune, is that clear? I shall be supervising.'
'Yes your majesty' Artemus said. Unafraid, he resumed his position.
The king made his way to the royal box before taking a seat. A flurry of servants came to offer him food and wine, but he waved them all away. Instead, he watched, and he waited.
'Elodie.' I looked up at Artemus, his face unflinching. 'Just one rune. It's no different to training. Hit me with a fire rune, it shall impress the King and it is easy for me to parry. We can worry about the rest later.' Artemus was looking at me, with a sense of disappointment in his gaze. He thought I was useless.
I felt the frustration and anger build within me. A fire rune, huh? Sounded as though he wanted to get away with an easy one. Well, not today! The anger was building and coarsing through my veins, his disappointment in me driving my power. I felt myself losing control but I didn't intervene. My hands began to move, drawing the shape of the rune in front of me. My opponent saw what I was about to do, but he couldn't stop me. His fear was mounting and he became restless in his spot, lifting his shield ready to defend himself.
The rune was cast. Thunderbolt.