Sammy followed Queen Linda and Princess Maryl into the reception hall with not a little trepidation. She was nervous because, you know, the curse. She greeted the royals, all of whom were still there. Sammy’s eyed them with the cynical thought, Great, I’m entertainment for these guys now.
As soon as she sat down, Sir Tane entered through the main entrance and spoke with the herald. Said herald then turned to face the throne dais. King Morstan inclined his head to the man, granting permission for him to begin.
“Announcing unaffiliated daring of County Iona, Raster and Nom Ramkin. Unaffiliated daring of the Archdom of Micaels, the Minstoat Family, Carmen, Metka, Jasper, Horace, Fannon and Carston. And presenting the uncontracted minor of the Minstoat Family, Rappa.” An old man and woman entered to stand next to Sir Tane, three men, a woman and a younger boy and girl of around Sammy’ age, and a young girl of about eight all moved to stand behind the elderly couple.
Sammy stared at the group as they moved down the hall to stand at the orange line. Suddenly she surged to her feet and pointed, “It’s the crazy dangerous old bitty!” She then ran behind her chair to put something between her and the crazy group she met first after running away.
The old woman cackled. “You’re that feisty child who likes to run away. Shoulda known a weird one like you would be that old bat’s successor.”
“She certainly is filled with the spunk, Grandma,” the old man chortled.
“It most certainly seems so, Grandpa,” the old woman agreed, her eyes gleaming.
Sammy glanced around, but not for help. She totally knew that wasn’t happening. She just wanted to confirm something. Sure enough, the eyes of those stupid royals were definitely rolling on the floor laughing as their bodies sat all picturesque prim and proper.
“En, anyway,” Sammy stammered. Then she cleared her throat and continued, “What the heck do you all want? I did not have anything to do with your Flames going out. That was all General Fleming.”
“May I explain,” Sir Tane said, bowing slightly to the old couple. They both agreed, so the powerful daring turned to Sammy. “Sammy, Nom and Raster were both daring sworn to the past Count Iona. They were but raw recruits at the time of the cursing, having just sworn allegiance to the good Count. Their children and grandchildren, save young Rappa, are all Contracted daring, but unaffiliated. I have spoken with them concerning you.” He gave a sardonic, somewhat lopsided smile then. “They totally knew about you already, as it happens, even actively monitoring your activities since you ran from their land.”
“What?!” Sammy squawked. “They’ve been stalking me? How distressing.” She then looked toward the ceiling and yelled out, “Stalker warning. Stalker warning.”
The old woman poked her husband and said in a stage whisper, “Told ya she was an interesting personality, Grandpa.”
The old man responded in like manner, “I never doubted it for a second, Grandma.”
Grandma raised her voice to carry to the arch duchess. “Arch Duchess Sammy Micaels, under the recommendation of daring Grande Knight-Marshall Taneth Nira and our own evaluation of you, I daring Knight Nom Ramkin offer oath to you and your house.”
Sammy glared suspiciously at the old woman. The old bitty was super dangerous, but Sammy still had a good impression of her, just like she had before even as she ran for her life back then. But she was super dangerous still, right? Running was what you did from people that radiated crazy scary vibes like the scary elder. She did not bother looking around though, because there was absolutely nowhere she could run at the moment.
She shifted her glare to Sir Tane. “What the heck are you doing, springing this kind of thing on an innocent little girl like me?”
Countess Dorimor, Princess Maryl, as well as the Queens Elym and Li, all failed to suppress laughter, though to varying degrees. Sammy glanced at them with pursed lips. She was not trying to be funny here. They needed to calm down.
Sir Tane just gave her an even look. “You need some people you can trust to aid and protect you. Grandma and her family are solid daring who know honor. I recommend them highly to you, but you must look into your own heart and Contract.”
Sammy crossed her arms and looked away from the jerk. He was totally being a jerk. It was not fair that she felt like she could not actually tell him so for some reason. She angled a look at the old couple and then at the younger family behind them. She spotted the love letter boy and his teasing sister. She idly wondered if the boy’s letter would ever get delivered.
Refocusing on the old woman, she let out a big sigh and put her hands on the back of her chair. “You sure, you old bitty? I doubt I’ll be the easiest person to be oathbound to.”
“Whoa,” a familiar voice from off to the side sounded out. “She’s becoming self-aware. She truly is growing up fast.”
Sammy snapped her head around and speared Dista with a glare. “You’ve been hiding, you stupid royal thing. Stop making crazy statements like that out of nowhere.” Her eyes scanned the area around the prince. “Where Jenna? She should at least be trying to keep you in line.”
Jenna stepped out from behind the pillar Dista stood near. She gave a little wave. Sammy’s eyes looked at the woman with relief, an intense level of stress easing in her expression.
Jenna said, “Sammy, if Sir Tane is recommending them, you probably won’t find any daring more qualified and loyal than them.”
“Ah,” Sammy said, turning back to the old couple. “If Jenna’s in agreement.” She hesitated a moment then because the expected information from the Count’s information spell did not come to mind properly for a daring oath ritual. Well, it was sort of there, but she only vaguely knew what was needed, not what she actually needed to do. She had to forcefully bury the sadness that one of the last connections to Dad-Iona really was ending.
Still, she knew the general process since she had already lit those few common flames. “Daring Nom Ramkin, I will accept your oath, but it must contain a promise to be my friend.” She had started that with the five children and continued with Gypsa. She saw no reason not to continue her own little tradition.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Nom cackled again. “I really like ya, girl. Very well, I pledge my sword, loyalty, aid and friendship to you, Arch Duchess Sammy Micaels, and to your house that shall rise up from your loins, till I pass to the shores of the divine.”
Sammy’s eyes widened and her face went bright red. What the heck was that old bitty spouting now? That was stupid embarrassing. Still, she needed to respond properly.
Striding from behind her chair and down to stand in front of the orange line, she began creating the ritual pattern as she said, “I, Sammy Micaels, accept your oath, Nom Ramkin. I return oath of loyalty and friendship, and shall provide you your needs as is appropriate.” She had started to draw the same pattern in the air as she had for a common flame, but then she changed it as another hand appeared in her mind’s eye. A kind, gentle ghostly hand ever so ephemeral that guided her to a new form that was more appropriate. Then on inspiration of her own, she stuck out her hand offering a handshake.
Nom Ramkin looked at the hand bemused, but then grinned and reached out her own with a firm grip. A shimmering Flame of crystal-clear fire blazed over the clasped hands, the Flame reflecting in the old woman’s eyes as ripples of power. When they released hands, the Flame stayed over Nom’s hand as she pulled it back to her chest. The Flame then jumped from the old woman’s hand and entered her chest. Fifty years seemed to melt from her wrinkled face in an instant, her silvered hair gaining thick strands of red.
“Whoa,” Sammy smirked. “You’re looking good there, Grandma.”
“Good ain’t doing it justice,” Nom’s husband said, his eyes wide in open appreciation.
Sammy then accepted each of the oaths offered to her, each sealed with a handshake and a new Contract Flame. Finally, she accepted an oath from the only member of the family without a daring Contract, young eight-year-old Rappa Minstoat.
Rappa stepped forward to the orange line brimming with excited pride at doing something all the grownups were doing, though she technically should have been at the next line back for the uncontracted. since she was not a daring. Of course that never even crossed Sammy’s mind. Rappa worded her oath almost exactly like her grandma’s, though she spoke with a slight lisp and had a few points of strange emphasis.
“ I pwedge my sord, loyalty, aid and friendship to you, Miss, er, I mean, Arch Duchess Sammy Mic, um, Sammy, and to your house that shall rise up from your lions, till I pass to the shores of the divine.” She really stressed the last phrase, clearly relieved at having gotten through the ordeal.
As Sammy accepted the eight-year old’s cute oath, her full Contract blazed brighter than any other time thus far in the reception hall. Rappa’s eyes grew to the size of galaxies and she froze up for a moment as Sammy held out her hand for the handshake. But then she jerked as she overcame the momentary paralysis and clasped hands with the blazing arch duchess. At the moment their hands touched, the power of Sammy’s Contract enveloped the girl, spreading from the contact in a fraction of a moment. Lines of power engraved into the child’s body, the power billowing her red hair and raising her a whole foot off the ground where she hovered for many long seconds.
And then the power faded and the girl gently lowered to the ground with wide eyes locked onto the bright green flame hovering over her hand. She glanced up at Sammy and then turned her enormous eyes toward her mother and then grandmother. The old bitty gave her a thumbs up and said, “Ya did good there, Daring Rappa.” Sammy let go of the girl’s hand and the child raced over to her mother and enveloped her in a hug for comfort.
Sir Tane broke into the moment though. “Daring of Arch Duchess Micaels, I shall show you were to stand. Daring Nom, Daring Raster, you may stand behind your oathbound to the right and left. Keep her safe.”
“Yes sir,” the two newly youngish elders said, moving past the orange line to stand beside Sammy. Nom bowed and said with a bit of professional pride, “Arch Duchess, we shall escort you to your seat of authority.”
Sammy grimaced as she moved back to her seat. She felt like she had not raised nearly enough objections recently to them constantly using the horrifying title. There was like this pressure preventing her from doing it, and she did not know what to do about it. To make matters worse, she truly did feel safer now. It was nice having these two old coots standing next to her with the promise of aiding her against the world that was always out to get her.
In a better mood now, Sammy braced for the coming confrontations, er, she meant, the coming petitions for assistance. And it was a good thing too, because the first one turned out to be another royal Contract, King Kaor and Queen Kymnos Ubin. The king was a bit arrogant, while the queen was a bit obnoxious. Interesting to Sammy, they both had individual royal Contracts to the same land, the commoner Kymnos receiving not a spousal addendum like Queen Linda possessed, but a full Contract of her own that overlapped husband’s down to the small measurement. It was supposed to be quite the rare occurrence, and apparently it had gone straight to the woman’s head and she developed quite the attitude. It was not arrogance like her husband per se, but it was certainly obnoxious. Still, they somehow managed to stay perfectly on the razer’s edge of “this will be more annoying to take umbrage with than to just let it slide” and Sammy relit their Flames despite how annoying they were.
However, after that rough first petition, the rest of those seeking assistance maintained a respectful, non-confrontational facade. Sammy knew in her heart of heart that it was in fact just a facade, but man was she ever grateful for it.
About a week after she gained her daring guardians, Queen Linda presented her first tutor, a professor of history and political inter-relations named Regal Noster. The man was mostly the stereo typical crazy-haired professor who was obsessed with his area of expertise that Sammy completely connected with him, no problem. An event, incidentally, that shocked pretty much everyone who knew her. The area that set him apart from the stereo type was that he actually possessed common sense. He easily made real life connections between the histories he knew with the here-and-now problems of the political scene. Sammy had a most pleasant argument-debate with the man the very first day.
With Professor Noster’s assistance, as well as King Morstan’s own advisors, Sammy began to face the reality of her status and responsibilities to her land and people. As she finally faced the puzzles of this or that problem, the needs of infrastructure and the ins and outs of helping bolster people’s lives, she began to get excited about it. She found it kind of fun.
Then stupid Dista was teaching her more glyph magic, so that was also good. His mother was still looking for a good tutor in that area, but Dista really was pretty accomplished so made an adequate temporary substitute. Sammy was almost ready to admit she liked the stupid royal.
And finally, Sammy began to actually enjoy the flood of petitioners for some super weird reason. She began to find all the different types, even the annoying ones, as interesting individuals. She really was starting to think the noble diseased curse was not all powerful. It really could be mitigated if you made full effort to do so.
Sammy lay on her bed in Morstan’s castle one night a few months after first starting the grand project of assisting to relight every Contract-Flame on the continent. As she thought through all that had happened, the thought crossed her mind that being an arch duchess was actually pretty nice. She lay there with a small smile of contentment on her face for nearly five minutes.
“Arghhhhhh!” Sammy screamed, sitting bolt upright. It was the curse. The curse had sunk its sneaky little cursed claws into her very soul! She just knew it. She had succumbed. It was actually happening just like she had always feared. She had told Dad-Iona. She had so told him! As her door burst open and Daring Nom appeared with sword drawn ready for combat, Sammy declared with trembling voice.
“I am so doomed.”
Fin