The Cruel Queen [On Hold]

6| The Fire of Blue

Rewritten
***

The two weeks allotted to the guards to find their Champions had finally passed.

The castle bustled with fifty Champions, each filling a guest room and each nervous for the upcoming competition.

For now, they only had to worry about their training sessions.

Queen Cyra Thornis had invited all fifty Champions to the training room big enough to fit in another hundred Champions. And still have space to train.

She'd made it her mission to inform the Champions of the training room as the tour guide had proved unworthy when he'd failed the rehearsals.

He'd forgotten to mention some features of the training room and Cyra couldn't find a replacement in time.

She'd merely muttered, "Might as well do it myself," and shooed away the tour guide like a fly.

Sitting on her throne placed upon a dais, she tapped her fingers on the lion head on the end of the right armrest. "Champions," she said, sly in her tone and the way she leaned to the right side of the throne. Her right leg on top of its twin. "This is the training room. Also known as the room you will be staying in most of the time."

Cyra's brows scrunched up when there was no reaction. She had gotten used to some sort of reaction that she expected it even when she breathed.

"I will be giving you a tour of this place, and your guards will teach you how to use it during your first training session."

Her eyes scanned the room, looking for the slightest movement.

She heard a scoff from the male prisoner in chains.

"Prisoner," she announced, "is there a problem?"

He scoffed again, turning his head away making the metal collar at his neck sing a song.

His twin kicked his shin and asked him to behave.

Amara, standing in the crowd as a Champion rather than the daughter of an esteemed general, sighed.

Cyra could spot the bags under her eyes from feet away.

"Follow me."

The queen showed all fifty Champions the punching bags that pop out of the floor, both of the arsenals (one for armor and the other for weapons), and other essentials.

As she approached the fighting ring, she had to constrain her feet from jumping. The fighting ring would always be her favorite. It was the place she had won a fight against Amara for the first time.

After providing the Champions the information they needed regarding the training room, she sat back on her throne. She had one in every room of the castle where she deemed necessary. The throne room, the training room, the Grand Hall, and even the ballroom.

"Champions, one by one, I would like each of you to demonstrate your highest level enchantment according to the Royal Grimoire."

The Royal Grimoire, a book full of all the enchantments an Alchemist, Destroyer, and each of their sub-sections could use. Each state was allotted seven copies each, and only after passing a hard test could someone obtain one of the seven for a few days.

Despite the rigorous procedure to get one's hands on the originals, people had created copies of the books and sold them for money. Meaning everyone who was a Special knew what the books held.

And Cyra couldn't be bothered with hunting everyone who'd committed piracy to make sure the book's knowledge would be obtained by a handful of people.