Prince Jerome sat in his room, watching Sammy as she drew the fourth and final pattern in the air. He glanced over at Jenna and then sat back in his chair. He knew his guardian liked the child. He did too, for that matter. He sighed to himself, knowing both guardian and child were going to be rather upset with him in the semi-near future. Well, he probably had a few years before anything really advanced on his hoped-for route.
“I did it. Yes!” Sammy said, excitement in her voice. Lsyl hung in the air, flames dancing from the glowing line shimmering in the air in front of the girl. At the bottom left corner, a small glyph of containment held mute watch over the violent magic of Lsyl.
“Very well done, Sammy,” the prince said, nodding his approval. “You really are talented with glyph magic.”
Sammy blushed and could not keep a grin from her face. “Thank you very much.”
The prince stretched his arms high over his head. “Well, I believe I am done paying rent.”
Sammy nodded. “Yep. All that’s left is paying me for saving your life.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Hey, you make it sound like you forgot,” Sammy said, glaring at him. “I made it clear, rent and saving your life are two separate accounts.”
“Yes, yes, I understood, and had not forgotten. I believe you wanted a place to live away from this city, and enough money to live comfortably for a long time.”
Sammy nodded, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Prince Jerome ignored the look. “I have been thinking it over, and I know a place that would fit your requirements quite nicely. In fact, I have already made the required arrangements to grant you the full title necessary. While there are some difficulties, I am quite certain you would enjoy living there. It’s a magnificent house on a large estate and comes with a great deal of land included. Even if you squandered the reward money itself, you could easily turn a profit on those lands.”
Sammy crossed her arms and gave the prince a smug look. “I don’t squander money. I’m not a stupid noble, stupid noble.”
“You know, I think you just like saying that,” the prince accused Sammy.
Sammy snorted. “I do indeed like saying true axioms of the universe. It’s fun.”
Prince Jerome snorted right back at her. “Whatever that means. In any case, you will have enough money to live very comfortably for many years to come, with the means to earn more. We will need to sign and seal the necessary documents to grant you the full title and rights, but once that’s done, it’s all yours.”
Sammy relented on her glare and looked away. “Fine, as long as you haven’t forgotten.”
Jenna interrupted the lull developing. “Sammy, have you considered going to school and learning how to work magic properly, not just glyph magic?”
Sammy shrugged. “The social goons have tentacles in the schools.”
“I can ensure that they can’t touch you,” Prince Jerome said. “You should definitely attend proper schooling to learn magic. What almost happened to you with Lsyl would have been tragic, but there are some glyphs that would not just kill you. They would ravage many lives, possibly even killing someone’s mother and father like happened to yours. I won’t tell you not to experiment, since that would be counterproductive, but I will make it possible for you to get proper training if you should choose to take advantage of it.”
Sammy blinked, caught off guard a little. Was the stupid noble accusing her of behaving like a stupid noble herself? “I, I’ll think about it.” She refused to look over at either Prince Jerome or Jenna.
The prince stood up. “Well, I’m done here. Ironically, I have also completed what I needed to do with the baron, so we will be leaving tomorrow morning.”
Sammy blinked, a queer feeling in her stomach. “You’re leaving?”
“We are leaving. I have no intention of staying in your debt for even one moment longer than necessary. We will go to the place I intend to grant you for your inspection and approval.” Prince Jerome opened the door to the room and looked over his shoulder at Sammy. “Incidentally, the house was built by Count Hepha Malchite Ista.”
Sammy crossed her arms. “Is that supposed to impress me?”
Jerome laughed. “It should. He lived in the same era your home was built. I understand he was quite exceptional in many ways.” The prince then swept out of the room, Jenna following him and closing the door.
Sammy blinked, staring at the closed door. She stood without moving for several long moments, but then shrugged. What good could a stupid noble do? And of course, if he built the house, he lived when it was built. What non-sense was that stupid Dista spouting? Turning away from the door, she flopped onto her bed, exhausted by controlling Lsyl. She lay on her stomach for a full minute, sleep fogging her mind.
“Wah?” she grunted, her eyes opening wide for a moment. “You don’t think he meant . . . .” Sammy shuddered, but then forced her eyes shut. She would just have to wait and see. She knew the jerk was just trying to get under her skin, not telling her specifically what he was hinting at. She had no intention of giving him the satisfaction of getting her excited and then having it be something entirely different.
Sammy entered the baron’s dining hall grumpy, dark rings under her eyes. She flopped into her assigned chair. She glowered at the prince’s empty seat. Stupid noble. She knew he had done it on purpose.
“Is everything okay?” Bellastey asked, a little concerned by Sammy’s appearance, but never really knowing for sure how to take the strange girl, even after nearly a full month.
Sammy snorted. “Yes, everything’s fine.” She straightened up and relaxed, her glare evaporating as she flashed a brilliant smile at the noble.
Prince Dista entered the room with Jenna. He accepted the guidance of the servants gracefully, making them laugh despite their obvious nervousness serving the man fourth in line to the throne. “Good morning, Sammy, Lady Bellastey,” he greeted them as he took his seat
“Good morning, My Prince,” Bellastey said, inclining her head and lowering her eyes, blushing.
“Morning, stupid prince,” Sammy said, and took a big drink of coffee.
Bellastey looked hard down at her plate. No matter how many times she heard Sammy address Prince Dista, she still could not believe the urchin’s level of disrespect. She just could not understand why the prince tolerated it. Sammy should just be thrown in the dungeons for a few weeks to learn her proper place. That’s what Bellastey thought anyway.
“Oh, did you sleep well, Sammy?” Prince Dista asked, smiling warmly at Sammy. “Your eyes appear a little darkened.”
“I slept fine,” Sammy snapped.
“Ah, very good. Very good indeed. We are going to be flying northeast today.”
“Flying?” Sammy said, her voice a little higher than normal, excitement bubbling up inside her despite her best efforts.
“Yes. The baron has graciously allowed me the use of three vishap, so the trip will not be nearly as arduous as it might otherwise be.”
Sammy shrugged indifferently. “Fine, whatever.”
The prince looked surprised for a moment, but then smoothed his expression and smiled at Sammy. “Hmm, well, they will be ready by the time breakfast is finished.”
Sammy ate a sparing breakfast, nervous excitement playing raucous games in the pit of her stomach. What was she going to do? Stupid prince should know that someone barely surviving in the city sewers would never have ridden a vishap before. The winged serpentine kangaroos were expensive and well guarded, mostly by their own ferocity.
“Sammy?”
The young girl did not even flinch, though Jenna surprised the breath out of her lungs. She turned to look at Prince Dista’s guardian with a contemplative expression, just long enough to regain the air required to speak. Her expression gave no hint to her turmoil.
“Jenna?”
“Have you ever ridden a vishap?”
Sammy glanced at Bellastey and the stupid prince, finally back to Jenna. She felt her breath regained enough for a normal conversation. “Never. To be honest, they would have been rather ill suited to my way of living.”
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Jenna laughed. “True. Well, this will be a good experience for you then. The baron’s vishap are well known for their docile nature and exceptional training. The saddles have a number of straps to keep you in place, so if you just allow the animal to do what is natural to it, you will be just fine.”
Sammy nodded. “Thank you, Jenna.” She took a deep breath and then shot a look at the prince. She then took a bite of food and patently ignored him.
“Jenna, you are taking the fun out of this,” the prince complained.
“My apologies, My Lord.”
“Your lack of sincerity is troubling.”
“My apologies, My Prince.”
Prince Jerome sighed his great distress, casting a sideways glance at Sammy. She turned a little bit further away from him, inspecting her spoon. Bellastey glanced between the three, completely confused but definitely feeling the outsider yet once again.
After breakfast, the baron’s senior officer took the three out to the stables. Three vishap stood on their four squat legs in the yard, saddled and with an attendant holding each set of reins. Long serpentine necks ended in wolf like heads possessed savage teeth full of poison. Their powerful hindquarters were designed to hurl the bulky animal many yards into the air. A pair of wings lay a bit behind where the saddle sat. A set of three, thick blades of cartilage made up a hard, flexible tail which provided high maneuverability in the air and doubled as deadly weapons in combat.
Sammy slowed some, allowing the others to go ahead of her. She did not think this was such a good idea and glanced around for an escape route.
“Lady Sammy, the white one with blue splotches is yours,” the baron’s officer said, turning to look at her. “Her name is Casmin.”
Sammy swallowed nervously and glanced around one last time for an escape route. One not materializing as she thought it should, she took a few hesitant steps forward toward the ferocious creature. It squawked and lunged a little at her, but the handler checked it.
Sammy squawked herself and stumbled backwards. Prince Jerome laughed openly at her as she threw him a distressed look.
“So, you really are scared,” he said, smirking at her.
Sammy straightened her back and glared at the prince. She spoke as calmly as she could, though she could hear her voice tremble. “Of course I’m afraid, you stupid noble prince thing. Anyone with a smidgeon of common sense would be terrified of a vishap the first time they came within a hundred feet of one.”
“Ah, well, if you cannot even approach it without it going all fussy, we may have to just take the long road.” He shrugged his shoulders, his hands palm up at shoulder level. His look seemed to say, “what can one expect?”
Sammy took a deep breath, anger flaming in her eyes. “You stupid prince. You set this up deliberately, didn’t you.” She strode up to the prince, who stood next to his own mount. Placing her hands on her hips, she snapped, “What are you trying to pull? Are you trying to get out of paying me?”
“Not at all,” the prince said, denying any such intention.
“Riiiigggght. Well, it doesn’t matter, because you aren’t getting off the hook this easily!” She shot a look at Prince Jerome’s red-brown mount. The vishap shifted a little backwards. Sammy spun around and marched up to her own mount. It growled at her with a little snarl.
Sammy stepped right up to its face and leaned forward, snarling a little herself. “Behave.” She did not speak loudly or harshly, but her word carried the weight of granite.
The vishap jerked back a little and gave a puzzle chip. It shifted its weight, its wings coming unseated for a moment, but Sammy met its gaze with an even, unflinching one of her own. After a moment, the great war beast shifted its weight again, its wings settling to its back into place. Its head lowered to Sammy’s level again and it chirped a question.
Without breaking her hold on the vishap’s eyes, Sammy reached out and scratched the beast’s ears. It arched its neck, crooning low in a musical bass.
“That’s right, you’se likes the scratches, yeppers.” Sammy did not look at the handler, but was not unaware of that one’s surprise. “So, how do I mount?”
The man glanced over at his captain, but that one just shrugged and waved the handler on. Taking a deep breath, the man explained the process for mounting. “Since you’re not used to it, I’ll hold her head down. Just put your left foot into the stirrup like this,” he demonstrated, showing how his right leg was caught between his body and the vishap’s shoulder. “Just stand up straight on the one leg and throw your other leg over the saddle, but be careful not to clip the wings. They get angry if you mess with their wings.”
Dismounting, the handler moved to the vishap’s head and used a large cloth to cover its head, pulling the head downwards and humming softly. He nodded to Sammy.
Sammy refused to show her nervousness to the prince again. Keeping her back straight and fighting the flock of humming birds swooping in her stomach, Sammy followed the handler’s instructions. Standing on her left foot in the stirrup, she raised her right knee to her chest and did a little martial side kick to clear the saddle. She did not want to swing her leg behind her for fear of accidentally hitting its wings. A vishap could tear a human into ten pieces in less than five second.
She met the handler’s eyes over the animal’s neck. “Now what?”
A couple of young boys stepped forward and began strapping Sammy into the saddle. While they worked, the handler gave her a few verbal commands for turning right and left, going up and down, taking off and landing. “Now, this particular vishap is a training beast. She’s trained to follow a leader-banner, so you should not have too much trouble. You have a nice touch.”
Sammy grinned. “Animals are our friends,” she said as the boys finished strapping her in and attached a large bundle of supplies behind her. The handler handed her the reins to the dangerous animal.
“Well, you took well to all this,” Prince Jerome said, already mounted on his own vishap. “Sammy, when the vishap takes off, you need to be scrunched up against its neck.” He waved his hand at the handler, who removed the cover from her beast’s head. The head instantly came up and looked around. It chirped quizzically.
“Like this?” Sammy asked, leaning forward over the serpentine neck. Her hands gripped the side of the neck gently.
“Exactly,” Prince Jerome said and shifted in his seat with a cluck and flick of his reins. His vishap launched into the air, Sammy’s a fraction of a second later. Jenna’s followed a moment after.
Sammy let out a screech lost to the rush of air as her vishap cleared thirty feet in a moment, its wings snapping out from its sides. Wings beating the air in powerful strokes, the animal quickly caught up to the prince’s vishap, maintaining a minimal distance to the prince’s lead-banner. Sammy clutched the soft, muscular neck for dear life. Five terror filled minutes later, the three vishap leveled out and flapped northward at a steady pace.
“Sammy,” Jenna yelled into the wind. “Sammy! Open your eyes!”
Sammy shook her head vigorously, her eyes sealed tightly shut. “No!”
Prince Jerome’s laughter somehow managed to overcome the whistling in Sammy’s ears. The street child shifted her head, cheek pressed to the vishap’s neck. She squinted. Prince Jerome rode his mount with a straight back, looking rather regal. Except for the huge grin on his face.
Sammy straightened up, her eyes flaming open. “You did this on purpose,” she screeched, pointing at him. “You jerk!”
Prince Jerome just laughed all the more, slapping his leg. Sammy could only glare at him at the moment, but would so get back at him for this. Then the panorama around about her caught her attention, stealing her breath away.
Rivers drew scraggly lines across a patchwork of square fields, circular ponds, angular lots and groves of trees. People and vehicles and beasts worked on the land or traveled roads. Greens and golds in the fields, greens and blues in the wilds. Everything spread out below her so she might just reach out and pick them up. For just a moment, she forgot to be mad at a certain stupid noble. For the next several hours, Sammy pointedly ignored said noble and enjoyed the view.
“Sammy,” Prince Jerome shouted. “We are landing. Just hold onto the neck and let Casmin do her thing.”
Sammy nodded, a look of terror crossing her face for a split moment before vanishing into a stoic expression. She harrumphed and looked away from the man. She would so not give him the satisfaction.
The vishap all descended. Wings splayed wide, they swooped down to fly over a field of golden grain, stocks blurred and indistinct. A large building rushed toward them, Sammy’s eyes wide and riveted. Dead. She was so dead.
Casmin flapped twice, rising suddenly. Her wings pumped once more and then Sammy stomach lurched into her throat as the vishap dropped to the ground, landing softly. Sammy gasped for breath.
A moment later, Prince Jerome began undoing her safety straps. “So, how was your first flight on a vishap?”
Sammy did not answer, sliding from the saddle. Taking a deep breath, she looked up into the prince’s eyes and then slammed her fist into his face, her whole body behind the blow. The prince’s head snapped back and he stumbled, his feet slipping and flying into the air. He grunted with the impact as he fell to his butt.
Sammy flicked her hair with a hand, harrumphed and turned her back on him. “Jerk.” She stepped up to Casmin and grinned at the vishap’s curiously tilted head, as if the animal was trying to figure out what the strange humans were doing.
“Don’t try to figure us out, Casmin,” Sammy advised the animal and scratched behind its ears. “Especially stupid nobles.”
Jenna stared at the shocked expression on her prince’s face. She glanced at Sammy, who had her back to both of them. She glanced back at Prince Dista. “I’m going to arrange for stabling and rooms,” she declared, moving quickly away from the little scene. Honestly, she did not know whether to laugh or be outraged. She knew what the royal guardians would have done, but she just could not bring herself to that kind of action, even if Prince Dista would have allowed it. But she did not think she should burst into laughter at his expense either.
Prince Jerome stood up, his hand touching his eye. It was already swelling shut. He glared at Sammy’s back, but then blew out through his mouth, forcing the pain-anger from his heart. After all, he had been trying to get under the girl’s skin, so he should not be too angry at his success. But damn, that had really hurt.
Once Jenna arranged for their lodging, the three sat at a table in the busy inn’s diner. Sammy stared at the table in front of her, blushing. She could not bring herself to look at Prince Dista. His eye was exceptionally disfigured, and a most fascinating color to boot.
“Sammy?” Jenna asked.
Sammy looked up at Jenna, but shifted away from the prince because she could see him from the corner of her eyes. She answered in a sweet voice. “Yes Jenna?”
Jenna sighed. “I have arranged for a single room for the three of us.”
“Huh?” Sammy turned toward Prince Jerome. She blinked and snerked a little, looking away quickly. Fighting the impulse to laugh outright, Sammy said in a strangled voice. “You mean I have to share a room with him?”
“Yes, and please don’t make a big fuss.”
Sammy’s mouth took a hard line, obviously intending to ignore the request.
“Please, Sammy, for me? Think of it like what you asked when we first met.”
Sammy paused, but then crossed her arms. “Fine. Anyway, I’m starving. I wish our food would come.”
“You don’t feel any remorse at all, do you,” Prince Jerome demanded.
Sammy looked at her fingernails. “For what?”
“This.” He pointed at his swollen-shut eye.
Sammy did not even bother to look up. “Why should I feel remorse for something you went way far out of your way to ask for? That’s absurd. Anyway, I get the bed. You can sleep on the floor.”
“You might think so, twerp.”
“Jerk.”
“Stop you two,” Jenna said, a hand to her temple. “You’re giving me a headache. You are both under an edict of silence. No words for the rest of the evening.” Sammy shrugged and shot a smirk at the prince. He rolled his eyes, but winced at the pain.