WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE (21 page)

CHAPTER
18: AN UNBREACHABLE WALL

           
Once
again Sarah found herself at the castle, though actually enjoying herself this
time.
 
No trials, no rampaging nut-jobs,
and the craters left in the wake of Raven’s release party had been smoothed
over nicely.
 

She and Raven stumbled
across Daniel, who was there for a meeting with Elspeth.
 
Raven meandered off somewhere, to cause some
sort of havoc Sarah supposed, leaving her and Daniel alone.
 
After a few moments of small talk, Daniel
asked if he could take her home after his business was complete.
 
She accepted with a broad smile, becoming
more comfortable with the striking young man every time they were together.

Since there was no
telling how long Daniel’s meeting with the Duchess would take, Sarah had some
time to kill.
 
Finding out what Raven was
up to seemed like a good idea at first, but after a few minutes of wandering
around the castle, becoming entirely lost in the process, Sarah got one of the
butlers to show her where everyone was.
 
Now she found herself following the man up a short flight of
stairs.
 
A few smoky blast patterns were
the only signs that just two days ago a crazed lunatic had bellowed through
these halls, giggling and blowing up nearly everything in sight.
 
Sarah had to appreciate the skill in which
the castle workers managed to clean up after one of Raven’s outburst.
 
Of course, she should probably be concerned
that they got enough practice to get that good, but that was another problem
for another day.

           
“What
are they doing?”
 
Sarah asked the smartly
dressed servant as they stopped in front of a heavy iron door.
 
Multiple swords and other weapons were
emblazoned on its face and a thick ring hung in the center.
 
He explained that this was the sparring room
and that the daughters of Her Grace were expected to train at least three times
a week when possible.

           
Sarah
meant to ask what training but forgot that and whatever she was going to tell
Raven when the door opened.
 
She was
standing on a veranda over looking a stone ring at least fifty feet wide where
Raven seemed to be fighting three men.
 
The balcony was cloaked in darkness which was why Sarah jumped when
Amanda called out to her.

“Hey Sarah, you
come to watch Raven get her butt kicked?”

“Come sit with
us.”
 
She heard Liz’s voice.
 
Sarah’s eyes slowly adjusted to the
gloom.
 
Liz was sitting with Mandy and
Brian and motioning for her to come join them.
 
She took a chair as a maid asked if she wanted anything to drink.
 
Sarah shook her head no and leaned forward to
watch the action.
 
Although such a sight
would have worried her when she first moved to Valentria, Sarah quickly figured
out that if the other Chandlish girls weren’t worried about Raven’s welfare she
shouldn’t be either.

Raven swayed
unsteadily in the middle of the ring, watching three members of the royal guard
approach.
 
The one on her left made the
first move and swung a heavy fist at her.
 
She leaned back slightly, feeling the wind of the miss on her chin.
 
Lazily Raven caught the man’s wrist in her
left hand and drove the butt of her right palm into his temple.
 
He started to fall but she wasn’t done with
him yet.
 
Coiling her body under his and
using momentum, she threw him into one of the other men.
 
They landed in a heap and the third guard was
on her, swinging wildly trying to use his superior strength to overwhelm the
slender redhead.
 
Raven laughed and
calmly parried the blows with delicate hand movements.
 
She exerted almost no energy while the guard
was soon gasping for breath.
 
In a final,
desperate gambit the man let go a huge haymaker that would have knocked her out
if it connected.
 
It didn’t and the man
left himself wide open.
 
Raven’s boot
lashed out quicker than a snake and caught him directly under the chin.
 
Saliva exploded out of his mouth in a
fountain as he fell backwards to sprawl unconscious on the floor.

The other two
guards managed to untangle themselves but proceeded with a bit more
caution.
 
Slowly they circled Raven until
one was standing on either side, just out of leg’s reach of the grinning
girl.
 
She knew what was coming and they
didn’t disappoint.
 
They lunged at her in
unison, thinking to catch her in indecision.
 
At the last possible second Raven somersaulted backwards out of harm’s
way.
 
The two men met with a bone
crunching thud and slid down, their heads propping each other up.

Sarah noticed
Raven looked like she was drunk, stumbling and weaving just like the night in Augusta.
 
And, just like that time, a small group of
grown men had been knocked out in less than 10 minutes.

“She’s
incredible.”
 
Sarah accidently blurted
out.

“That was just a
warm up.”
 
Liz smiled.
 
Sarah was too distracted to notice as five
more men entered the arena below.
 
“Now
you can see her have some fun.”

Sarah watched
intently.
 
The five men attacked at
once.
 
She thought at first Raven fell
but one by one the men flew backwards and as quickly as it started, the fight
was over.
 
Raven, never meeting a
situation she couldn’t use for self gratification, jogged slowly around the
ring, pumping her arms and cheering her own name.

“So that’s when
she tries?”
 
Sarah exhaled and realized
she’d been holding her breath.
 
“Can
anybody beat her?”

Liz, Mandy and
Brian exchanged knowing looks.
 
Sarah
hadn’t seen anything yet and the Chandlish clan was a family proud of their
martial arts abilities.
 
Liz leaned over
the guard rail.
 
“Raven, you want to make
a bet?”

Raven stopped in
the middle of a horribly painful looking celebration dance that involved
thrusting her hips in a most unnatural way.
 
With a grin visible all the way to the seats she crowed.
 
“Sure, wanna make it 10-to-1 now?

“Not
exactly.”
 
Brian removed his coat and leapt
over the railing, landing softly on the hard floor 15 feet below.
 
“If I win, you promise not to eat any sweets
for a week.”

“Fine, and if I
win you have to call me ‘Your Glorious Highness Super-Cool Chick Branwyen for a
week.”

Amanda hollered
out, “No magic Raven.
 
You know the
rules.”

Raven pouted,
letting the fireball hidden behind her back evaporate.
 
With a shrug her jacket fell to the
floor.
 
She grabbed her sword from the
corner as Brian drew his.

Sarah chewed her
lower lip absent mindedly.
 
Raven’s body
shimmered under the blazing lights, beads of sweat glistening on her body.
 
Long, graceful muscles tensed and relaxed
under flawless skin as the redhead idly swung her sword.
 
The under shirt Raven was wearing barely came
to her navel and Sarah noted the flat, taut stomach.
 
Firm, supple…

“They’re not
fighting to the death.”
 
Sarah jumped,
surprised that someone else was there.

“They’re using
real swords but they’ll stop before they really hurt each other.”
 
Liz soothed, completely misreading Sarah’s
intent gaze.

           
Sarah
turned her attention back to the fight.
 
It was amazing.
 
One second both
fighters were standing still, the next there were two blurs moving around the
ring.
 
There was a loud clang as their
swords met.
 
The fight was on.

           
Though
she tried to watch each strike, Sarah soon gave up.
 
The two combatants moved faster than her eye
could follow.
 
Brian and Raven twisted
and dodged each other around the ring for ten minutes.
 
Once Raven wound up on her back but rolled
just as Brian’s sword came down.
 
Sparks fell like rain with
each attack but neither was giving up.
 
Finally Brian slipped to one knee.
 
Raven, sensing victory, dove for him.
 
Sarah was sure it was over.

Raven froze; the
tip of Brian’s sword mere centimeters from her throat.
 
His blade was held beneath his arm pit, the
tip pointing behind him.
 
He had tricked
her.
 

“Can I at least
have a candy bar before I have to fast for a week?”
 
She pleaded in as pitiable a voice as she
could while they climbed the steps to the balcony.

           
Brian
patted her on the shoulder.
 
“Raven,
you’re my sister-in-law and I love you dearly.
 
So no, no you can’t.”

           
Seven
long days passed since that fight and Sarah was seriously considering beating
up Brian herself if it meant giving Raven something sweet.
 
Just yesterday she found her business partner
pressing her nose against the window of the bakery next door to their shop,
making cooing noises at the fresh pies set out for display.
 
She couldn’t be sure because of the rain but
thought Raven might have been crying.

           
“Can
I have something now, please? It’s been a week.”
 
Raven’s lower lip was trembling and tears
pooled at the corners of big green eyes.
 
The sad puppy face was her absolute best weapon when it came to getting
what she wanted.
 
It never failed her
before and it wouldn’t now.

           
 
Sarah wasn’t moved in the least.
 
“Not until after supper.
 
Brian said that it has to be a full week and
that ends at seven p.m. sharp, which is in an hour and a half.”

           
Raven
actually cried.
 
Sarah was resolute.
 
Snuffles climbed into Raven’s lap and licked
her face, which cheered her up a little.
 
There was a knock at the door and the other three Chandlish sisters,
with Brian, came strolling in as if they owned the place.

           
“What
are y’all doing here?”
 
Sarah asked as
Snuffles bounded over to Mandy begging to be petted.

           
Amanda
scratched the hyperactive prairie-thumper behind his ears, “We’ve decided that
since Raven has kept her word we’d all go eat at Ma’s Diner tonight.
 
It’s Brian’s treat and there’s a car waiting downstairs.”

           
Raven
was gone in a flash, scattering the small gathering at the door.
 
Before Sarah could say yes or no to the offer
for dinner, a car door slammed.
 
The
sound of squealing tires drew everyone over to a window.
 

Brian, Mandy, Liz
and Bekah laughed loudly.
 
When Sarah
wanted to know what was so funny, Bekah refrained from giggling long enough to
observe, “That’s not our car.”

Sitting in the
middle of the group, beside Liz, Sarah looked around at the interior of the
restaurant.
 
A man finishing a cup of
coffee at the long counter was the only other patron beside their group.
 
There was a window to the kitchen where a
cook wearing a grimy shirt sweated over a stove.
 
Ceiling fans turned slowly overhead.

There was a little
surprise when the driver pulled into the gravel covered lot.
 
Sarah thought that a small, country
restaurant wasn’t the type of place where nobility normally dined but everybody
seemed to have eaten here many times before.
 
Bekah said she and Sis ate here at least twice a month if not more, and
the other two usually joined.
 
It was
Raven who pointed out that Jimmy, the bouncer from The Equinox, was Ma’s
grandson.

After using her
roll to sop up the last of the gravy, Sarah admitted that it was good
food.
 
It wasn’t like the exquisite meals
she had at the castle but very filling and quite tasty.
 
She could see coming out here again.

 
“I can’t believe y’all made me wait.”
 
Raven burped softly after finishing off her
second boysenberry pie.
 
Not her second
slice, Sarah noted while trying to figure out how Raven stayed so thin, but the
second whole pie.

“We didn’t make
you wait; we stopped you from committing a felony.”
 
Brian pointed out.

“He didn’t seem to
mind giving me a ride.”

Liz shook her
head, “He was crying and begging you not to kill him when we pulled you
out.”
 
Sarah snorted into her coffee.