Chapter 7

FREYA   Luck leaves me the same moment I get out of my igloo. As this is the exact same moment the Beauforts walk out of their tent. For a few seconds, we look at each other without saying anything.   “That’s an ugly dress!” Eliza starts talking first with a smirk on her face. Her hair is curled in a really unflattering for her face shape way, her dress just shouts how expensive it is. But to my taste, it’s a bit too busy with bows, frills, and decorative flowers and rhinestones.    “Well, I don’t have anything else,” I say, taking a mental note that if I get this kind of reaction from her, I probably look good, “It’ll have to do.”   “I see you didn’t have any problems opening the door after all,” Kai grits through his teeth.   “It melted a bit overnight and I could move it in the morning,” I lie with a smile, “I am new to magic and just learning”.   “You know, Freya, you should have talked to us first before creating this kind of monstrosity right next to us!” lady Beaufort furrows her brows.   “I am sorry, it wasn’t my plan to do it. As I have already said, I am new to all this. It got out of my control. Initially, I was just planning to make the tent you gave me stronger. The wind was constantly blowing it off, so I tried to…”   “Enough!” lady Beaufort rolls her eyes, “You don’t think this is interesting, do you? Follow us! Our family has all the seats reserved. Including yours.”   It’s a long road from tents to the arenas and Kai and Eliza start chatting. Old boring stuff about who is who and who to say hi to… Those two really care about keeping up their status and appearances. Nothing else in this world interests them.   “Have you heard that he is here?” Eliza says with her voice suddenly trembling a bit.   “The Dark Blood Dragon?” Kai says almost whispering, “Yes, so be careful what you do or say. You don’t want to anger him and you know how easy that is.”  “Oh, gods! Something had to spoil such a wonderful time for us!” the brunette rolls her eyes.   “Who is the Dark Blood Dragon?” I ask nonchalantly and they both shush me at once as if I have just said a swear word out loud in front of a King or something.   “Stupid!” Kai grits through his teeth, “Don’t you dare speak of this so loudly. If he hears us, he will behead you on the spot! And not only you, but all of us too!”   “He is a psychopathic murderer who can’t control himself and killed so many people that he has already lost count. Never cross him if you meet him! Never speak his name out loud in public! He will get all of us and I bet he’ll get to Rickie too!”   “How do I recognize him?” I ask.   “He doesn’t get out much so only a few people know how he looks like. That’s why you should be careful at all times. They say he has a huge scar on his face and a dragon ring with a ruby in it,” Eliza informs me seriously, not smirking or scoffing for the first time ever.   “Is he taking part in the tournament?” I ask and they both snort.   “That’s really unlikely!” Kai says, “He doesn’t care for things like this. God only knows why he came but he is probably here on business.”   “And what would that be?” I raise my brow.   “What do you think?” he looks at me darkly, “He does the dirty work for the King. If he is here, someone will probably die soon.”   Ok, too much information. I can’t think of it now or I will go insane!   We come to the central arena of the tournament, which is also the biggest one. Servants are running around it, preparing for whatever it is that is going to happen here next. I see knights standing not far from it, all busy with something. Most of them are surrounded by groups of girls. And I notice that each girl here holds a ribbon. They are tying them to the knights’ arms and talking to them, giggling and flirting. Some knights have many ribbons, and some have just a few. I guess this is another type of popularity contest here.   “Troy!” Kai shouts and I almost freeze everything around me at the mention of the prince’s name. He is wearing shiny armour, but no helmet yet. So it’s easy to recognize his red locks. Kai and Eliza run towards him, while I stay with lady Beaufort. The prince’s eyes fall on me and I know for sure that he is pissed with me for not showing up to warm his bed yesterday. So, I turn away pretending that I don’t see him. And if I don’t see him, he doesn’t exist. Right? Right? From the corner of my eye, I see how Eliza swiftly ties her ribbon around his arm, saying something and blushing. And I have to say he already has a lot of those.  I wonder if it’s going to be a disadvantage during the tournament? Because I can see many ways a rival can use the ribbons against him…   “Clever girl,” lady Beaufort says and I look at her in surprise, “What I like about you, Freya, is that you know your place and don’t try to jump over your head. He is not for you.”   “I completely agree with you,” I nod, biting my lip and holding back a laugh, “This is not what I came here for.”   “True,” the woman smiles softly, “And now, Freya, I want you to think about your brother and your future. Academy is just a possibility, nothing is set in stone yet. I want you to look for someone suitable for you here. In case the Academy doesn’t work out. Any of these knights will do. With the exception of Troy, of course. A prince is so out of your league.”   “I cannot agree with you more,” I nod again. It’s not a time to piss her off. A lot today will depend on what she says to the headmaster, “And if any kind of opportunity arises…”   “No, Freya, no opportunity will arise on its own here!” lady Beaufort stops me raising her hand, “Have you prepared a ribbon?”   “Not really,” I admit, “I was so overwhelmed and…”   “Not interested,” she interjects me again, “Find one and find a knight to give it to. Be realistic about it. Got it?”   “Dear aunt, I am really not sure that…”   “Freya!” she looks at me menacingly, “I have been feeding you and your brother and paying for his treatment for years! I am not sure for how long I will be able to continue to do it. Trust me, it’s in your best interest to find a husband! Imagine what will happen with Rickie if I stop paying for his treatments…”   “I understand, aunt,” I say, clenching my fists so hard that the nails will leave a mark for sure!   “Good girl!” she smiles cheerfully as if she didn’t just threaten my disabled brother. The nerve of this woman! We are standing on a small hill and the arena is situated lower. Luckily, I can see everything and everyone from here. I need to find someone to give the damn ribbon to and then try and find professor Arsene. He must be here somewhere.   I sigh and undo my braid, setting my hair loose and getting the pale blue ribbon out. Anyone will do to make lady Beaufort calm.    I notice Troy’s eyes on me again and then he looks at the ribbon in my hand, smirking. Yeah, it can’t be him. For very many reasons. The most important one – I hate his guts.   I look at all the knights in turn and have to say they are all looking good. I once read an article that all medieval knights had pimples, bad breath, and were peeing in their armour. These guys definitely do nothing of the sort!   And yet there is something off in almost each of them. One has too many ribbons, one just grabbed a girl by her butt in front of everyone, one is drinking from the flask all the time, another is looking at his shield as if it was a mirror and clearly enjoying the view. I sigh, should I just use the good old eeny, meeny, mine, moe to pick someone? It’s not like I care anyway…    That’s when my gaze falls on a knight in dark armour.  He is standing with his squire far from everyone, helmet on his head. Not a single ribbon on him. I wonder why? Is he ugly or something? Although, there is a knight who reminds me of an old shar pei dog, and he has at least five ribbons on him. So, what’s the deal with this one? Knowing this world, he might be just a poor knight with no connections or something. Probably that’s why nobody is interested in him. Which actually makes him perfect for me. He will hardly win and lady Beaufort will not insist on us spending more time together. This is just ideal! Besides, it would be nice to support an outsider. I can relate to how that feels now more than anytime prior in my life.   I start walking with firm steps. It’s harder for me than I originally thought it would be. I am about to give a sign of affection to an absolutely unfamiliar man! When I am close to the arena, I notice Troy commanding everyone to step away from him, looking at me as if I owe him something. His eyes go from my face to my unruly blonde locks, to the ribbon in my hands. And a smug smile spreads across his face.    I speed up and pass him and his whole entourage as quickly as I can. I bet that smile faded! But I don’t dare to turn back and check.    “You!” I hear his voice, “Get back here!”   Time to speed up! I start almost running.   When I am very close to the knight in black armour, I can hear his squire, who is actually a huge block himself, say, “Just hold on a bit more! It will all be over soon and…”   He stops talking when he notices me and slowly the knight, who is wearing his helmet and whose face I cannot see even from this close distance, turns to look at me.   “I am really sorry to bother you, sir,” I smile awkwardly and mumble, “I want to wish you success in the tournament and hope you accept my token of support and blessing!”   I tie my ribbon around his wrist without waiting for any kind of acknowledgment or response. Just do it as quickly as I can and smile into his helmet before running away swiftly, “Best of luck to you! Really!”