Ep. 57- A Mentor is a Mountain

What’s that? I’m late?

Oh, I guess it’s already Tuesday. So I am.

Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to keep folks waiting this week, but life happens- not to say I have no freetime, just that it tends to slip away to other things and before I know it, Alice is late yet again.

It happens to the best of us. How many times have you put things off because you were supposed to pack for a trip or a move and then…just not done it?

(always be suspicious of anyone who cancels plans to “pack”, it’s assuredly a lie)

Anyway, on with the show.

ext. training yard evening -flashback cont

With Strength having taken her leave the Young Queen is left alone. She takes little time to dwell on the enigmatic words of her once-teacher, instead turning abruptly to approach the Young Knight of Swords who stares dejectedly at the upturned sword sticking from the ground several feet from her. As the Young Queen approaches, the Knight casts her gaze downward. The Queen hesitates for a moment- perhaps it is the downcast light of the waning day, but she is surprised to find her squire as seemingly older- if not stronger- than she last recalled. As she ponders this seemingly sudden growth, the Knight uncomfortably shifts under the gaze and speaks.

YOUNG KNIGHT
Successor.

The Young Queen heaves the sword from the ground with an effortless pull.

YOUNG QUEEN
If my old instructor saw you cast your blade in such a way you’d be running laps and I’d be getting an earful for sponsoring such a careless squire.

She offers the blade to the Young Knight, who hesitates before taking it, as one receives an unwanted gift- politely.

YOUNG KNIGHT
I can’t wield this blade with confidence.

YOUNG QUEEN
Anyone can have confidence. It’s an abstract. It takes little skill to build. Strength is what you lack- strength takes something else entirely to build- time and discipline.

YOUNG KNIGHT
I wonder if I even have it…

The Young Queen steps back, outstretches her arms.

YOUNG QUEEN
Then let us test your strength- I will judge if it is there.

YOUNG KNIGHT
You have no blade.

The Young Queen shrugs at this.

The Young Knight sighs, grumbling.

YOUNG KNIGHT
I guess we both know you don’t need one. It wouldn’t be fair.

YOUNG QUEEN
If you truly believe that, then don’t even bother to come at me. Never lift your blade against something you don’t intend to defeat.

YOUNG KNIGHT
(lifts her blade)
Then don’t go easy on me.

The Young Queen stretches her arms upwards, crackers her neck. Her eyes flicker red for a brief moment before flashing to a green aura. Green air arcane energy flickers around her silhouette.

YOUNG QUEEN
You asked for this.

The Young Knight does not wait- she charges the Queen, swinging her longsword from the ground up toward the flank of the Queen. The Queen grabs the hilt of ths word with her left hand, halting the strike, and brings her right fist down onto the young Knight, green air aura speeding her strike, the impact knocking the knight back several feet, her body barrel rolling in the air several times over before striking the dirt, dust and grass kicking up around her body. The Knight rises, a bit of blood tricking from her lip. She throws her longsword down in disgust.

YOUNG QUEEN
(shrugging)
Done already?

The Young Queen breathes deeply, her arcane energy receding within her.

YOUNG KNIGHT
There’s no point. You’re too strong. No matter how long I train, no matter how hard, you’ll always be stronger, because you’re a de-

YOUNG QUEEN
(cutting her off)
A demon.

YOUNG KNIGHT
(breathes deeply, thinking better of this)
Because you’re stronger. That’s all there is to it. Everyone hits their wall in training- the plateau where they just cant go any further- I’ve just met mine earlier than most, I guess- it’s you.

The Young Knight picks up the longsword, casts it over her shoulder and begins to walk away toward the keep. The Young Queen shakes her head with a bit of disgust.

YOUNG QUEEN
So that’s it then? That’s a quire of the House of the Swords? You meet someone of greater strength and you just give up? A few magic powers and you decide that’s the whole game? Disappointing.

The Young Knight turns around- small tears have formed in her eyes.

YOUNG KNIGHT
It isn’t just a little magic. You are a freak. You shouldn’t even exist. No one knows what you are, even YOU don’t know- you don’t WANT to know. No one fights like you, no one even LOOKS like you. And you’re supposed to lead us? You’re nothing LIKE us, like ANY of us. Why should I bother fighting you? I’ll never face anything else like you- not within the House of Swords- maybe not even in all of Arcana.

YOUNG QUEEN
You have no idea what lies beyond these walls, what you’ll face when someday you are forced to go beyond them and fight on our house’s behalf-

YOUNG KNIGHT
Where do you think I came from? Was I not a refugee? What is out there that you think I haven’t seen?

YOUNG QUEEN
I…you’re right. I’m sorry.

YOUNG KNIGHT
How could you be sorry? You have no idea what you’re even sorry for. You sponsored me because I seemed useful- you didn’t care about my plight, what I’ve seen. You never once even asked about my family.

YOUNG QUEEN
(quietly)
I…assumed you didn’t wish to discuss it.

YOUNG KNIGHT
Of course I would have. You just had to ask. But you never did. You just spent your time talking about swords and battle and training as if they were the only things that existed. You assume that because you do everything in your power to avoid discussing your past, your origins, that everyone else must be the same. But we’re not- we’re not the same as you at all- we’re human.

There is a heavy silence that hangs in the training yard. The Young Queen cannot help but pass a hand to her cheek, her thumb brushing past one of her protruding fangs.

YOUNG KNIGHT
If you’re waiting for an apology, you won’t hear it. I stand by what I said. And I stand by my decision to quit this ridiculous duel. Having the wisdom to stand down in the face of defeat isn’t a disappointment- it is just good sense.

YOUNG QUEEN
Time and discipline in all things, child-

YOUNG KNIGHT
I am not your child. I am your squire. For now.

The Young Knight again abruptly turns to leave for the keep. The Young Queen, stunned at this outburst, calls after her-

YOUNG QUEEN
A teacher ought to be a a mountain to surpass. Time and discipline. That’s all it takes. No one is invincible. Not even a Major Arcana.

YOUNG KNIGHT
(not looking back)
It isn’t normal to spend your life wanting to kill your mentors. Something to think about next time she comes back.

YOUNG QUEEN
(lost patience)
You have NO RIGHT, you dog-

YOUNG KNIGHT
(turns, still walking backwards as she barks back)
Strike a dog, don’t be surprised when it starts barking back at you, Successor. I have no interest in surpassing you- but someday, you might be surprised to see the gap between us is closer than you think. I’ll find my own way to close it. You’ll see. This dog’s bite may yet match its bark.

With this, the Young Knight leaves the scene. The Young Queen is left alone on the training yard. She watches after the Knight for a moment, her face contorted with hurt which then twists into a a strange smile. In her own way, the Knight took the Queen’s lesson to heart, even if it were not in such a way. Even so, as dusk gives way to night in the training yard the Young Queen cannot help but feel impossibly alone in the scabbed terra of the field.