2 Deja Blue (23 page)

The King con
tinued, “Who is the next of kin
that will compete for you in the
Grá
mo
Chroí
Dúshlán
?”

Bexin
gestured to
Grobel
, an
d wrapped his arm over the ston
y
Troll
’s shoulder, “My brother,
Grobel
.”

The King nodded, and then looked around at all of us before turning to
Grobel
, “I address the
Troll
Grobel
.
You have been chosen to compete in the
Grá
mo
Chroí
Dúshlán
. Do you accept the
Challenge
to compete?”

Grobel
nervously looked at Brennan
,
who stood across from him, staring him down with his steely ice-blue eyes. It was as if he
was shooting dagg
e
rs at
Grobel
.
The
Troll
cleared his thro
at
,
and in his gravelly voice he answered, “I do not.”

The King’s expression changed slightly, as if he was mildly surprised
, “Who do you choose as your Challenger?”

Again,
Grobel
nervously cleared his throat, looking down at the sand and then looking up at the King, almost afraid to meet his eyes, he answered, “I choose Lady Ruby Blue.”

The King
’s
and Queen’s looks of puzzlement were evident on their faces. The Queen spoke up now, “But surely, you cannot believe that we would permit a
human
to compete on behalf of the Earthen Court?”

Grobel
didn’t
speak, but merely looked slightly shaken and unsure of what to say, “It is she that I choose.” He answered again,
keeping his face stony and severe,
with no further explanation.

The King spoke to Brennan now, “Prince Brennan, you cannot think that I would allow such a Challenger. She is not of Fey. More importantly,
she has not proclaimed her allegiance to any Court.
And, I will surely have repercussions to face with your Court if it is deemed that the
Challenge
was unfair. I must proceed with caution and careful consideration. I cannot accept that your King would approve of such an unworthy competitor.
”
I was a little annoyed at that last comment.
Unworthy?
Who the hell was he calling unworthy? Excuse me for being just a lowly
human
.

Brennan bowed slightly
and spoke fi
rmly and confidently, “Majesty,
Lady Ruby is unique. She is connected to the
E
arth and gifted with
Fairy
Sight and
Fairy
Telepathy. She
is
connected to Fey. She has pledged her fealty to my Court.
And, if I may remind you Majesty, there are no rules that strictly forbid a human from participating.
” I stood there, silently twisting my hands and noticed that Brennan left out the part about me having
received
some of those gifts (as well as the swimming one, which he also didn’t mention)
from a dragon,
thereby tying me to the Water Court as well.

The King
considered
this
and then answered, “You
realize,
that the competitor for the Water Court is a
Mermaid
, and therefore has a much greater chance of
prevailing over your representative, who is not of
either
Court?
You understand
your chosen Challenger will most likely be defeated?
”

Brennan nodded
solemnly
in understanding, “I do.”

The King continued, “And
yet
you still endorse her as
the
Challenger for the
Troll
Grobel
, to compete on behalf of the
Troll
Bexin
?”

Again, Brennan nodded, “I do.”

The King nodded once firmly,
with a slight smile as if he knew
the Water Court
Challenger
, Freya, would surely prevail. Then he turned
and spoke to me, “I address
the
Lady Ruby Blue.
I
ask you:
d
o you pledge fealty to the Earth
en Royal Court and represent their
King and Queen, so say you?”

I blinked,
unable to find my voice and
I nodded my head. Everyone at the beach seemed to be staring at me to continue. I cleared my throat and managed to squeak out, “Um. Yeah. Yes. I do.” Then I gave a
n
awkward curtsey.
I should really pay more attention when the Royal Family of England
i
s in the news…I’m sure I could learn how to curtsey properly if I watched Princess
Katherine or Queen Elizabeth.
I made a mental note to s
earch the internet for some
you
tube
videos of the Royals.

The King nodded and went on, “As Challenger
for
the Earthen Court,
y
ou have been chosen to compete in the
Grá
mo
Chroí
Dúshlán
. Do you accept the
Challenge
to compete?”

I swallowed down the lump in my throat, and squeaked out, “I do.” I felt a tingle of magic, like energy radiating around the entire circle we stood in. It was
as if
the words I spoke sealed the deal.
Holy crap.
This was it. What the hell did I just do?

Chapter 23

Jeremy echoed my shudder while he stood silently next to me. I guess we both felt the tingling magic.
He had been a virtual statue up until this point. I think we were both so engrossed in what was going on, we were almost too afraid to breathe.
Just then, I noticed a few dragonflies begin to buzz nearby on the beach. I glanced over at the beautiful bugs and remembered som
ething Brennan had told me once. H
e said, “…
T
he dragonfly is the essence of true magical transformation. It is a descendent directly from our world that lives in your world. That is very pow
erful stuff Ruby. To harness it
s power takes a very special talent…Strong magic
..
.
They can bring you luck and balance…”
I hoped they would bring me a little luck tonight. I heard Anya’s
Fairy
-speak voice in my head, “
Yes, Ruby. I’m sure
t
hey will bring you luck. You are connected to them. They sense your fear and your strength of spirit.
” I looked over at her, and she stood smiling, looking ever-so-graceful as she gave her attention to the King and Queen. 

The Queen spoke now, “As Challengers to the
Grá
mo
Chroí
Dúshlán
, you both shall compete in three rounds. Whoever shall win two of the three shall be declared the Champion. If the Earthen Court prevails, Celestine is free to marry the
Troll
Bexin
, subject of the Earthen Court. If the Water Court prevails, Celestine must end her ties to
Bexin
, or be forever banished and exiled. So say we.”

Then, everyone on the beach answered in unison, echoing the Queen
’s last words, with Jeremy and me
chiming
in
a bit late,
“
So say we.” A
gain, I felt the tingling energy of the magic swirl around our circle, as if
bonding
our agreement even further.
Nervous energy started zinging around my insides
,
and I felt a tad queasy again. Oh God, please don’t let me barf right here on the beach in front of everyone. I shifted my weight uncomfortably, as sweat started beading on my brow.

The Queen
(thankfully oblivious to my
uneasiness)
nodded, smiled and continued, “The Champion of the
Grá
mo
Chroí
Dúshlán
shall be honored at the next festival and all present here shall celebrate with exuberance in their achievement. So say we.”

Again, we all echoed her sentiment, “So say we.”
I didn’t really know what the hell I was saying or agreeing to at this point, but I figured everyone else was agreeing, so I better just follow suit.

The
Queen spoke again, “The
Grá
mo
Chroí
Dúshlán
is the Love of My Heart Challenge.  Each of the three rounds represent
s
how love should exist in our lives.
The first round is a simple
Love’s S
peed
C
hallenge. The competitors will swim out to the marked di
stance and back. This distance C
hallenge represents
our desire to
travel any distance
,
with
as
much swiftness
as possible
,
to be with the one we love, but
,
in the
chance
that we are sepa
rated from our true
mate,
our love shall reach across that distance, keeping us forever bound.

The
second
round is the Challenge of the Rings.
The ring is a circle that never ends, just
as a Forever Love between two
shall never end.
Truth, honor
,
and l
ove are of the greatest value to our Court. Hidden among the marked area shall be three golden rings, one for each of those values.
Just
as we strive to find and keep these
values
in our lives, so you must find the three rings
.

The third and final
Challenge
is the
Obstacle Challenge
.
This
represents
the challenge
s
we face every day. We
attempt to achieve
harmony, look for peace and forgiveness
,
and
work
on compromise.
We
strive towards these with our Forever Love
every day. S
ometimes we find it, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes, it’s challenging and there a
re many obstacles to go through;
but
,
in the end, what mat
ters is the growth in our lives, and the strength of our love.
In the obstacle course
, the competitors wi
ll
pass through each obstacle and race to the marked finish.
A winner for each of the three rounds will be declared and the
Challenge
r winning at least two of the three rounds shall be declared the Champion. 

Challengers of the
Grá
mo
Chroí
Dúshlán
, i
t is the beginning of
Forever
, s
o say we.”

I glanced over at Freya who was watching the Queen intently
,
and
I
tried to relax the muscles in my stomach that had been clenched in a tight knot since we joined the circle on the beach. W
e both replied, “So say we.”

I suppose there was
just
one thing
left to do…
it was time to
sink or swim.

Chapter 24

The King and Queen directed us over to a point on the beach where we
were
to begin the first
Challenge
.
The first round
was, as the Queen said, “a
simple Love’s Speed Challenge.
” Ha.
Simple my ass.
  I looked out to the buoy where we were
supposed
to swim to, circle around
,
and come back to the
shore…It must have been a half-
mile out into the water. I could barely see it, except the
Merpeople
had marked it with a bright beacon light, flashing on the top.
We were required to start on the beach, running into the surf to begin our swim. At least I might be able to gain a few steps on Freya, who probably didn’t often use her legs. Well, I hoped she didn’t often use her legs. The knot in my stomach grew bigger and tighter
,
and my mouth felt like it was full of cotton. I tried to swallow, but it didn’t help. Too bad my tongue wasn’t long enough to lick the sweat that was dripping off my forehead…my mouth could use the moisture right about now. I shook out my hands and legs, sucking in a few deep breaths, trying to calm my nerves and get some air before I had to take off running. Jeremy clapped his hands twice,
and began
cheering me on
with a little made-up chant.
“Pork chop, pork chop, greasy, greasy, Ruby’s
gonna
swim this, easy, EASY!
Come on Ruby!
S
wim girl, SWIM!”
He pumped
his
fist in the air
,
and I cringed in embarrassment. I hoped he wouldn’t shout out
a “
Woot
Woot
!” while he was in c
heerleader mode, but
you never knew with Jeremy. The other people on the beach just
stared wide-eyed
at Jeremy and silently chuckled. It was all very reserved and quiet….except for my
overly-
enthusiastic friend. Just then, Anya s
tepped up to me.  L
eaning
close to
my ear, she quietly wished me her words of encouragement, “Just like in the drills, Ruby. Swim like a fish
.” I nervously smiled and nodded
my head as I silently
sent her a
Fairy
though
t
, “
I hate fish. No
w
I’ve
gotta
b
e one…
”  She rubbed my shoulder,
gave me a quick hug
,
and then stepped back to join the others
lined up
on the beach.