Metanoia (6 page)

“
I
suppose I’m supposed to stand up here and resume my role as your
queen, but I can’t do that. I’m not – well, I mean I don’t remember
being her. I really don’t see how my filling of this role is going
to help unite and make everything better. You’ve had a terrible
lost. It’s understandable that you’d want to have her back, but I
can’t lie. I really don’t think I’m her.” She paused, not knowing
how to continue as she bit her lip nervously. “I’m so sorry that
you’ve had to go through this, and I can clearly see that this
affects everyone – even me. I was told that I should speak about my
feelings. To be honest, I still don’t understand what I’m doing
here. Maybe I never really will… Look, I don’t want to make this
any harder on you than it already is. I appreciate your kindness,
though I think I would much rather just go home.”
I shouldn’t say that!
“But, then again, you never know. Maybe I am home,” she added
quickly. Cheers erupted as the crowd expressed their joy. Fheyrhil
looked on with a smile, as did Leyance, who was watching from the
door which was open a crack. Fheyrhil saw this and walked to the
door and whispered to Leyance.

“
The people finally have
back their queen.” But Gina didn’t see either of them nor did she
hear Fheyrhil’s remark. She only stood watching the enormous crowd
beneath her. It was unusual. She felt so much love for so many whom
she did not know.

Twenty minutes later, Gina ran into the
council room to find Fheyrhil waiting as if expecting her.

“
That was very good,
Regina. You spoke from your heart, and that is what the people
needed. Now what is it you wanted to talk to me about?” He smiled
knowingly at her. Gina was amazed at how much Fheyrhil knew without
being informed.

“
I have taken all the
information you’ve been giving me pretty well for the most part,
wouldn’t you agree?” Gina began timidly.

“
That I would,” he
responded, “as well as can be expected.”

“
Then I believe it is time
for me to know the whole truth.”

He smiled. “Yet knowledge comes with a price.
Too much to comprehend may hurt your sanity.”

“
Not knowing seems to hurt
it more.”

“
All right, what do you
want to know specifically?” he inquired.

“
How long am I going to be
here?”

“
Why ask this? You already
know the answer.”

Gina sank into a chair at this response.
Indeed, she did know it. “I had hoped I was wrong,” she
explained.

“
Is it really that bad
here?”

“
Oh, no, not at all. It’s
just that my friends – will I ever see them again?”

“
Yes, of course,” he
replied. “There is no rule that says you cannot visit. Besides,
you’ll have to from time to time. Some loved ones you’ll see all
the time, some not so often.”

“
Can I go now? – I mean I
have to tell them that I’m okay. They no doubt realized I was gone
after the attack…”

“
No, you cannot go back.
Not now. It is too dangerous, and you are not strong enough. Your
loved ones know you are well,” he explained. “The Übels got into
your world through the gate, and we cannot risk opening it again
while you are still weak. We have put up every protection on it so
that they will not be able to open it again. Though I daresay they
will not need to. You are closer to them here than in your world.
You do not remember how to fight either. As for your loved ones, we
did a spell on them so they know you are alright, yet they do not
know where you are nor do they really think about it. It buys us
time, you see, until you are strong enough to go back.”

“
Can I at least see a
written copy of the prophecy? Is there one?” she
inquired.

“
Yes.” He walked over to a
carven-wood cabinet and, opening it, produced scrolls of parchment.
These he handed to Gina. “I believe these are what you want. I will
leave you alone to look them over.”

“
Thank you,” Gina said
softly, taking the precious pieces of paper as if they were
treasures. Fheyrhil walked out, closing the heavy doors behind him.
Gina spread out the papers and started reading. The parchments
read:

The account of the Prophecy.

Entry 1: Recently, a prophecy was made
concerning our queen. The oracle has informed all that Queen
Regina’s life will end prematurely despite the unnaturally long
life that our people experience. Yet, she is to be reborn in
another life as someone else. Naturally, shock filled the city
concerning this news and rightfully so. Not only is our love for
the queen always present, but we will surely be taken over by the
evilness we feel hovering outside the gates of Nythagié should this
prophecy see truth’s light. Yet, the oracle continued on, “the
queen will return.” This is certainly joyful news, yet it was also
prophesied that she will not remember anything of this world nor
her past self. And, though her memory of her royal life would
return, it would be through some force of evil. The council has met
discussing for many late nights what this could mean. Yet no one
has figured if the evil will once again kill the queen or if she
will defeat it, nor would the oracle answer questions regarding it.
I fear for the safety of my queen.

Entry 2: Today, we learned that the Vice is
working to vastly spread evil. We had suspected something before
now, but we were not certain on the doings of this darkness or what
action should be taken. Yet, now the queen has announced that she
will lead a group of her people to the Vice to destroy him. We all
have begged her not to go even though we know she is the only one
with power enough to destroy him. The council, the people –
everyone has tried to discourage her leaving. Her soon-husband has
tried to convince her not to go, as well. We are all terrified that
this is the beginning of the prophecy, the road that will lead her
to the abandoning of our people. She has made speeches explaining
why she must go to keep her people safe, saying that if the
prophecy is true, then it cannot be stopped and must instead be
embraced. She feels that if it is to happen now, then at least the
destruction is of her, not her people. She will be noble to the
end, for I feel she is walking into that predicted doom.

Gina looked up from her
reading.
The Vice – that’s where she met
her end. Where I met my end?
She glanced
again at the page.
A soon-husband? Oh, my
God! I was engaged.

Gina made her way down the path towards a new
area of Nythagié, having received a note that lay by her bed
telling her that she would meet two trainers. A bow, arrows, and a
sword lay next to it. The sword’s silver hilt was adorned with
intricate Celtic designs and crystals. Gina couldn’t help but
marvel at its craftsmanship. She now carried all those items with
her as she made her appearance, dressed in a much more
movement-allowing outfit that she found in her closet. It
fascinated her how more clothes would appear in her closet just as
she needed something. Coming to a clearing, she found a man and
woman preparing weapons for practice. She advanced up to them, but
they had already spotted her.

“
Good morning, Your
Highness,” the woman greeted.

“
Good morning,” Gina
replied. “I believe I’m here for training, am I not?”

“
Indeed
you are,” the man said. “I am Kaleb and this is my wife, Gloria. We
need to return you to your former strong self. So let’s get
started; it’ll be a long day.” And indeed it was. Gina spent the
day sword fighting, shooting arrows, learning hand-to-hand combat,
and riding horses. She did not believe that she had worked so hard
in her entire life. Luckily, however, the fighting did come
second-nature to her.
Maybe those stories
I always read helped me more than I knew
,
Gina thought as she shot an arrow towards her target. However, she
did not hit the mark in the beginning of the day but did come
close. By the end of the first session, though, she had managed to
hit her mark quite a few times.

Sword fighting was more challenging as she
had to learn positions and certain attacks.

“
1! 2! 3!
4! 5! 5A!” Kaleb shouted out as Gina quickly placed her sword in
the correct position.
Why 5A?
She thought.
Why not
just say 6?
She didn’t have much time to
contemplate it for Kaleb was shouting out the positions at
random.

Gina worked hard to do everything exactly as
she was told. By sunset, Gina was bruised, sore, and even bleeding
a bit. The trainers healed her cuts with the leaves in their
pouches, but the bruising remained and unfortunately most of the
soreness as well. Gina dreaded waking up the next morning knowing
how stiff she’d be then. Sure enough, it was worse then she
imagined, and she barely made it out of bed to start another day of
vigorous training.

A month of everyday training quickly passed.
Gina’s skills increasingly became better and better and soon she
was able to engage in small mockery battles with her trainers and,
consequently, was able to hold her own against anyone in her new
city. It was time to be tested.

Sure enough, Gina arrived one morning to find
her trainers sitting at the edge of an obstacle course they had set
up. First was a sand pit, probably to be used for hand to hand
combat. After that, two swords were placed on opposite sides of the
course, resting on a block of hay. Finally, two white horses stood
waiting, a bow and quiver filled with arrows by each.

“
What’s going on?” Gina
asked.

Gloria explained. “We figured it was time to
put you to the test. You’ll be running this course against an
opponent. First, you will battle hand to hand. Whoever falls for
more than five seconds loses. Next is sword fighting. The swords
have been jinxed so to show a hit without causing the person any
pain. Finally, you both will jump on the horse with bows and arrows
to fight with, the sword too, if you wish. The arrows have been
jinxed the same as the swords.”

“
So which one of you do I
get to fight?” Gina inquired.

“
Neither of us,” responded
Kaleb.

“
You get to fight
me.”

Gina spun around to see Leyance standing
behind her, ready for battle. He looked quite striking in his
battle gear, she observed.

“
You?” Gina
stammered.

“
Me. Why? You think you can
win? You haven’t seen anything yet.” Leyance smiled and put down
his supplies. “I’m ready when you all are.”

“
I’m ready,” Gina stated
strongly.

Kaleb smiled. “Then may the best warrior win.
Go!” With that, both were off. Gina made the first move. She faked
one direction and then drove in her fist from another, right into
his stomach.

“
Ow! That was too low of a
blow!” Leyance howled.

“
Oh, I’m sorry!” Gina
stammered. She straightened up, and Leyance took his chance. He
swung and nailed his target.

“
A piece of advice. Never
feel sorry for your opponent, no matter who they are,” he told her
as she swung. Their fight continued for a good amount of time, but,
finally, Leyance caught Gina off guard and pinned her to the
ground. Kaleb counted out five seconds.

“
Leyance wins round one. On
to the next round!” he shouted. Leyance got to his sword first and
came towards Gina, but she was quick. She rolled over and kicked
her feet in the air, causing her body to flip up and upright. She
reached for her sword and spun away from Leyance’s blow just in
time. This fight was a little quicker then the first. Gina allowed
him to get his sword dangerously close to her and then spun out and
hooked his leg. He went down as her sword went down to him. As she
drove down, the blade disappeared and a red light shown out from
the hilt, the sign that she had won.

This time Gloria shouted out the winner.
“Regina wins round two. On to the final round!” Gina ran around the
block of hay and flung her sword into it. It stood high, hilt
sticking up. Next she grabbed the bow and quiver, ran to her horse,
and jumped on. Quickly she attached her quiver to her back as she
saw Leyance was doing as well. She grabbed the reins and was off.
She willed her horse to race past Leyance’s horse. Swiftly, she let
go of the reigns, looked behind her and fired. Leyance dodged it
easily, as he fired one towards her. She dodged as well. Gina
looped back around and raced towards a patch of trees. Leyance
followed. Gina guided her horse around the trees, but Leyance did
just as easily. Gina looked around and saw a heavy branch resting
pretty low right in her path. She ducked and missed the branch, her
opponent guiding his horse under it as well. But Gina had seen her
chance. She raced back to her sword, grabbed it with ease and
turned her horse back to the trees. Leyance burst in front of her
and fired, but she ducked in enough time to avoid it. Taking a
quick turn, she rode towards the low branch. Leyance took the bait
and followed close on her tail. Just close enough. She dodged
another arrow and then reached up and struck the branch. Her sword
sliced through it and the branch fell behind her, blocking Leyance
and catching him off-guard. She took her chance. Letting go of the
reins once more, Gina turned and shot. The arrow turned invisible
just before it would have hit him and her bow glowed red.