Red haired girl

Chapter 1

Will ran quickly to the central square, where the ceremony had already begun. He was late. Again. It seemed like ever since the war had ended three months ago, everything he did went wrong. When he finally arrived, he had to make his way through the crowd that had formed around of the small stage positioned in the middle of the square. He jumped over the three steps leading up and hastily stepped in line with the other boys. By that time, most of the assembled people looked at him with a combination of sadness and disappointment or amusement in their eyes. Some elbowed their neighbours and pointed at him. He could almost hear them say: ‘Look, there you’ve got the son of sir Steven, can you imagine it?’ He didn't pay them any attention. He had got used to the frustrating looks and comments long ago. He had always been a small, weak and disappointing boy, even though he was the son of sir Steven, the legendary knight who saved the king himself from burning alive in a dragons flame during the war. The one standing next to Will nudged his arm.

“Nice of you to show up, too,” he sneered. The boy had whispered, but the hospitality wouldn’t have been more obvious if he’d shouted. Will just looked the other way. Ignoring was the only way to avoid the pain that accompanied the usual treatment he got.

            From that day on, because of his father’s influence, he was going to be trained to be a knight. That was what this ceremony was all about: introducing the six boys who were selected for the training. Will peeked at the other five boys out of the corner of his eyes. They all looked quite confident. They all looked quite strong. They looked like they were genuinely fit to be here. In other words: they were built like knights. Will sighed quietly. He didn't even want to be a knight. But who would listen to him if he expressed his real thoughts? The only one who could get him out of here was his father, the one who got him in in the first place. He certainly wouldn't like Will to retreat. That would embarrass the mighty knight. Like Will hadn't embarrassed him already. No, there was no way Will could escape the training that should make him a noble knight. Even if his father would listen to him, which wasn’t very probable, he couldn’t do so. He couldn't because he wasn't there.

            Nobody knew where he was. He went away a week ago, but nobody had seen him leave or could tell where he might have gone. He couldn’t have been kidnapped, for there wasn’t any sign of a struggle inside or around the house. It was as though he’d vanished. He wasn't the only one, though. Sir Peter, Sir Steven's best friend, disappeared three days ago, along with a couple of other knights. But just because Will's father disappeared, didn't mean the ceremony was being cancelled. Everybody thought the knights would show up again. Nobody felt like treating the disappearances as a serious matter, for they didn’t want to disturb the delicate peace that had been developing ever so slightly after the war.

           Suddenly Will noticed everyone was staring at him. He looked up and saw the ceremony master looking at him with an irritated expression on his face.

“Well?” the man demanded, putting his hands on his hips.

"Uh... Sorry, what did you say?" Will asked, his ears reddening at all the expectant glances. He had never liked to be in the centre of attention, for it always made him feel exposed. Laughter echoed across the square and the boys beside Will exchanged amused glances. Will felt his heart sank. This was exactly why he hated to be in the spotlights: the public embarrassment that was destined to come with it. Only the ceremony master had the decency to keep a straight face.

"I asked you," the man said like he was talking to a little kid, "what your intentions are after you’ve finished your training?" Will opened his mouth to give an answer, but couldn't think of something that sounded acceptable, like he knew what he was going to do after finishing the training, if he even finished the training at all.

"Just... to serve the king," he finally said, but it didn't sound right. The ceremony master didn't look particularly convinced, but fortunately, he didn't ask for more either.

            After asking all the other boys what their intentions were – they all said something sounding quite brave, like hunting down the last dragons so the kingdom would be safe from them – the ceremony master gave a little speech, inducting the end of the ceremony. The crowd started to fall apart as people went back to their homes. They had met their future heroes; the square was no longer interesting.

              Will was about to leave, too, when a voice called him back. He looked over his shoulder and saw his new classmates gesturing to him to get over. Uncertainly Will walked back. According to their not so friendly expressions, he wasn’t going to get a warm welcome.

"What do you think you're doing here?" the biggest of them asked as soon as he arrived. "You don't deserve to go to the training. You're nothing but a... a..." The big boy didn't know how to describe Will, but the message was clear. The training was going to be very lonely. Will had heard enough. He turned around and headed home as quickly as he could without running. He felt tears welling up in his eyes. He angrily blinked them away. He knew he shouldn’t let them get to him; that would only make matters worse. Somehow, he couldn’t let it go, which made him feel rather lonely. Why couldn’t they accept him the way he was? They didn’t even know him, much less his worth of the training! It wasn’t like he wanted to go in the first place. Heck, if it were up to him, he would happily agree with the big boy and quit, so he wouldn’t have to fail miserably in front of everyone.

            He tucked his fists in his pockets, kicking a pebble forward. He knew he couldn’t get away from this, but that didn’t make the situations any less hard to cope with. How was he going to get through that stupid training? He didn't know the answer, but what he did know, was that his live was going to be a hell. Starting tomorrow at sunrise...