• Chapter 3

    For however long I was passed out I didn’t know. All I heard was the sounds of gravel and hooves and all I saw was a decorated cramped space with people squished in. I eyed each one carefully and wondered what in the world was happening. Luckily, my teacher was here.

    “Mmmmmgrrrrlaboob.” He mumbled.

    Make that half here. I looked towards the others to find answers that my sleeping teacher couldn’t give me at the moment.

    “Um…….excuse me but..um…where am I and what am I doing here?” I asked politely. I noticed they were they judges from the contest.

    “You won of course. You’re in a couch headed for the nation’s capitol: Lillian.”

    “Ah,” I said intelligently. There was one more thing that had too be asked. “How long was I out?”

    “I beg your pardon.”

    Oh, right, these are proper English people. “Um how long was I passed out?” I spoke again.

    “Oh” He said understanding, “Well your teacher said that you passed out right as you left the stage. I was about ready to pass out myself.”

    “How long please?” I asked quickly knowing that if I let him go he’d continue talking about the lethal environment created by the contest.

    “Ah about eight hours”

    I gawked at him.

    “Do not complain. We three had to stay there for over two hours. Surprisingly, not many of the citizens participated in the contest. For that I am grateful,” I turned my head to the right seeing the man in the middle spoke his stand. I breathed. I didn’t care much for it anymore. It was over and I was glad it was over.

    “I feel sorry for the judges at the capitol. There will be thrice as many people then in Fyle,” The last of the judges spoke. “I’m glad all I have left is to see you safely to the capitol.”

    “Um….how long will it take to reach the capitol?” I asked.

    “About 2 days, with lodgings and all.”

    My eyes stared directly at him. He only gave me a shrug.

    “The expenses are coming from the taxes that are paid.”

    My head tilted in this new found information. “Do you happen to know why this contest is being held?”

    “Her majesty never gave our superiors any answer. They just did as they told. We believe that it’s just the princess being selfish.”

    “But no one would allow such a thing to happen, especially if it involved the taxes of the people.” It didn’t make sense, using the taxes of the people to find a talent. “It has to be something other then the selfishness of the princess.”

    “Well I also heard a rumor that has been going around about this contest.” He gave pause before he started up again. “They say that a prophecy was told a long time ago, I believe a few years after the great war. The prophecy spoke of a chosen one that will be born onto this world. That being will lead this world to destruction or harmony with the planet. That maybe what her majesty is looking for. I greatly doubt it. The prophecy has been spoken for just under a century and so far no chosen one.”

    I’ve heard of that tale before and I heard about the details of both the destruction and the peace. Whatever the case may be, the princess would have the answers.

    The couch slowed to a stop and a small thump was heard. The man driving the couch spoke saying that this was where they would be staying the night. Well a lot of time did pass while talking…….and being unconscious. My teacher woke to his sound and everyone got out of the couch orderly. The place was an inn in a very small town. It was about half the size of Fyle. There was another small town about a quarter of a days travel but nightfall would be upon us. I knew that we would reach the Lillian tomorrow night. I’ve been to the capitol once or twice from Fyle.

    I took in a deep breathe of the fresh air. Smaller towns tend to have more of the all-natural air. After I took my breathe, I released it back with an array of coughs. I said tend to.

    “Well I might as well enjoy it here. Is the entire expense being covered?” I emphasized entire.

    “Yes.” One of them answered quickly.”

    “Great, let’s get dinner.”

    “Please be mindful of the expenses.”

    “I will” I called back. I was already stepping into the inn. My teacher followed closely behind me.

    “Um, Mr. Hillet?”

    “Yes?”

    “How come you didn’t wake me up during the announcement of the winner?”

    “Oh that. Well I tried but you just wouldn’t budge so I left you alone.”

    “Ah ok.”

    “Or rather I dragged you on stage to accept the winners circle.”

    I eyed him with a vengeful look but my teacher wasn’t paying attention to me so he never noticed.

    “Room for two?” The lady behind the counter addressed the both of us.

    “No there’s……” I stopped a moment. I should probably let the judges decide on the arrangements. “Um could you wait for our friends to come in? They’re just outside.”

    “Certainly,” She smiled. I returned the smile. I could tell a bit that the inn establishment didn’t want to lose this girl. She had a presence around her that was very warm and comforting but also strong. It was certainly interesting. I, myself, never really dealt with the opposite gender. Heck, the only woman I’ve ever talked to was at one of the shops I go to for groceries. So, yes, I could just say that she was pretty.

    The three men walked in through the doorway, caught in a conversation. I waved to them to come over here but they didn’t seem to notice.

    “Hey!” I called out to them. Their heads turned from one another in the direction of the sound that was intruding them. Once they saw me they hurried over to see what was the matter.

    “What? Are all the rooms taken?”

    “Um no, I just didn’t know how you wanted the room arrangements.”

    “Oh simple, two rooms, one for two and the other for three.” He held up fingers for the first two.

    “Ok, I just wanted to make sure. You said to be mindful of expenses.”

    He smiled at me and walked over to the lady behind the counter. After a few seconds, the rooms were signed up for and so was our food for the night and morning.

    “Well, that should do it. Dinner will be served in about an hour. Until then you may visit the town but do not cause any trouble. This will be your only warning. If you do such a thing you will be disqualified and the expenses will be take from your pockets.”

    I nodded. I had no thought of wanting to cause trouble. I turned towards my teacher and began to ask a question.

    “Where’s our luggage?”

    “I was told to pack lightly. So I only brought a weeks set of clothes for the both of us.”

    I nodded and headed out to retrieve my luggage. I wasn’t disappointed in what he brought because that’s actually all I had to bring. I was betting he brought some pieces so that I didn’t have to practice all from memory, especially for parts I didn’t remember all to well or needed practice on.

    “Oh yes” One of the judges came to my side. Apparently, he was here to take his belongings inside as well. “There is a piano that can be used here if you ask the owner. That’s the main reason we stopped here. We thought that you might want at least a bit of practice whether today or tomorrow morning.”

    I made a face of approval. Once I took my belongings inside to the assigned room, I headed out using the directions that the judge gave me to the piano. I just wanted to see the condition of it. There was a small chance I had in actually playing.

    “Um, I think he said it was to the right of the oak tree………or was it to the left………….hmmm I think was suppose to make a right turn two houses back,” I wasn’t all to sure since I had forgotten the instructions to where the piano is.

    “Um…” the sound came from behind me. The sound belonged to an incredibly shy girl. She looked about my age: sixteen. I was a couple inches taller then her but her outfit looked like she was a lot richer then me. She wore a nice white dress that hung a few inches below her knees and had velvet colored ribbon around her waist. The ribbon tied up in the back into a nice bow. She also wore a matching hat the stood lightly on her long black hair. She seemed to keep her head tilted down and had her hands at the end of her dress. Her knees were a bit inward facing and bent slightly. In basics, everything that she presented just said that she was shy and innocent.

    “Um hi” That was all I could think of at that moment.

    Her head rose so that she could look at me with her eyes. Once our eyes met, her head shot down. I think I heard a slightly squeak noise coming from her.

    “Are you lost?”

    She didn’t answer.

    “Do you know where you’re going?”

    She nodded slowly and very slightly. I almost had to concentrate hard just to make it out.

    I started to wonder why she stopped me. Then I realize the difference of knowing where you’re going and knowing how you’re getting there.

    “Do you know how to get there?”

    She shook her headed the same way she nodded.

    “Well tell me where you’re going, I might be able to help.”

    There was an extremely long pause. But, for some reason, I didn’t grow impatient. Maybe it was cause of this girl’s innocence or something. Eventually, she spoke.

    “Tirna”

    I was caught up in the sound of her voice that I almost missed what she said. Just let me say that her voice very melodic. Not many people had that kind of voice and trust me I’ve been trained by a musician so I can tell.

    Now there was a problem, with that. Tirna, the center nation, was actually just a single city. The problem was that I couldn’t take her there myself. It would take a week travel from the capitol of Siln. I may be headed for Lillian but I certainly wasn’t headed for Tirna. Well, until after Lillian….that is if I was able to make it.

    “I’m sorry. I can’t….” My voice stopped. She had taken my hands in both of her hands and raised them to the middle of my chest. She gave me a good view of her face, but my eyes were caught into hers. There were tears ready to be shed from the corner of her eyes.

    “Please, I want to go home.” Her voice sounded shaky. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t do much to help but the desperation from her made me feel that I should.

    “Please,” She begged again and held onto my hands firmer. She moved closer then I thought her shy soul would ever do. Her eyes seem to lock into mine. My heart began to pound in its own desperation for an answer.

    “I’ve been waiting in this town for someone with a kind heart. Someone who wouldn’t take advantage of me,” Her head lowered and our eyes contact broke releasing a bit of strain from my pounding heart. “Its been a week and,” hers eyes were back onto mine in a flash “You’ve been the only one I could find with such a heart. I promise I won’t be a burden, so, please.”

    I could tell from her voice that she was just about to cry. She had been alone for a week. I had been alone for eight months. Even with the large difference, I could still remember how hard it was the first week, missing my family, missing my home, missing a meal, missing everything. I had to decide. Leave her to be alone again or be the one for her to lean on. I closed my eyes for a short second which seemed like an eternity. Thoughts raced to my head trying to grasp a sense of direction I was suppose to take.

    “Ok” I spoke a bit louder and forceful then I wanted to but she didn’t seem to mind. She looked as though that was the greatest two-letter word that anyone had ever said to her. “I’ll take you home.”

    She smiled with every happy muscle she could find, especially her arms. For such a small girl, she could squeeze your guts out.

    “Thank you! Thank you!” After she regained herself, she immediately resumed her shy girl act. I think she was blushing. I couldn’t tell. Her head was tilted down and her hat was doing a good job in keeping her face safe from view.

    Now, the next problem: explaining this to everyone else.