The Knights Of Edinboh

Part One - Chapter Four

Githa and Hodiem had the students switch partners two more times before releasing them for their other classes. The entire time, Eldon could only think about what Githa had said to him. Had he done something wrong? He was a little late but that wouldn't mean Githa would get that angry. Right? Myla was just as late as Eldon was; maybe Myla was in trouble, too. He decided to talk to her about it later.
Eldon went back to his room, bathed, and dressed in regular clothes for his school classes. He looked at the scroll that held his schedule. His first period was history in room 94 at 9:00. Eldon glanced out the window at the big clock tower. It read 8:56. Oh no. He only had four minutes to get to class on time. This better not become a habit. He grabbed his bag, filled with bottles of ink, a quill, and some paper for notes. Eldon dashed down the hall into the courtyard and sprinted into the hallway that leads to the main part of the castle. Room 23. 42. 58. 89. 94! Eldon opened the door, ran into the classroom, and sat down at the only available desk right as the clock chimed, signaling the beginning of class.
As Eldon pulled out note-taking supplies from his bag, he glanced to the side and found the blond prince, Jay, sitting there. He was glaring at Eldon with such a fierce look that Eldon was surprised. All Eldon had done was beat him in a sparring match. In front of his friends. Who then laughed at him. Maybe there was a reason why Jay would be mad at Eldon.
The professor then walked in from an adjoining room. The man was short, bald, and chunky. His only distinguishing feature was his big ears. A brown monk's robe covered his potbelly. A golden rope was tied around his middle, not helping him look any better. He dropped a briefcase on his desk. The classroom was a typical one with rows of student desks in front of a teacher's desk. The wall behind the desk had a chalkboard, but besides that, and a few windows covering the left wall, the walls were blank stone. The professor wrote his name on the board then turned to the rest of the class.
"My name is Brother Belmis. I will be teaching you lot about the history of Edinboh. I'm telling you right now that there will be no slacking off in my class. If I catch you making trouble, that's an immediate detention. Now, you may be wondering about why you have to learn history if you're becoming a knight. 'Doesn't being a knight mean that we fight things?'" He said that last sentence in a nasally, high-pitched voice. "Well, here's the thing. This class will tell you all about why we are fighting those beasts and why they are attacking in the first place. . ." And on he droned.
The rest of class was Belmis talking about what he expected from the students and what they would need. Typical first day of school stuff. Eldon wrote down the things he figured would be important to remember on a sheet of paper. After an hour of Belmis talking, the tower clock chimed, signaling the end of class. Eldon put everything back in his bag and stood up from the desk. Looking around, he saw that Alex was in the class, too. Eldon walked over to him. Alex was wearing loose, black pants tied around his waist with a rope and an open red shirt that Eldon was pretty sure he wouldn't wear in a thousand years.
"That was a really smooth entrance you made." Alex was trying not to laugh and failing.
"Yeah," Eldon said sheepishly. "I didn't think that I would make it."
"What were you doing, anyway?" The two started to walk out of the classroom. They had thirty minutes until their next class. Eldon was planning to use the time to get ahead with the textbook that Belmis had passed out.
"I don't know. I thought I had plenty of time but suddenly it was past time to go." They passed Jay in the hallway, who was still staring daggers at Eldon. "Is Jay really that upset with me?"
"Well, you did make him look like a fool in front of his friends, which I congratulate you on. It was pretty funny to watch, even if you made a new enemy."
Eldon sighed, "I didn't come here to make enemies."
"Tough luck." Alex patted Eldon's shoulder in mock sympathy.
"You don't feel bad for me at all do you?"
"Not at all. Although I can't wait to see how you're rivalry will play out." Alex had a smirk on his face.
Eldon rolled his eyes. "Anyway, want to study together for the break?"
"How about you study and I'll watch you study."
"Fine with me. Let's find a shady tree outside."
"First, let's get a snack."
"No."
"Oh, come on. I usually don't get caught."
"Usually. Usually is just too much of a chance for me to take."
"Fine. On second thought, you're probably a bad luck charm. I wouldn't want to go with you anyway. Also, you're a terrible lookout."
"To be fair, I didn't want to be a look out in the first place."
They stepped outside into the courtyard and started toward a cluster of trees on the other side of the field where they had been that morning. On the way, they passed through the stables and Eldon waved and said hi to Liam. Eldon found a tree bearing fruit near the middle of the grove that had low enough branches that Eldon could easily hop onto one. Eldon leaned back against the trunk, got out his history book, and started reading it. Alex climbed to one of the higher branches and began eating the fruit. Eldon paused from his reading to look up at Alex.
"See? You got your snack and you didn't even have to steal it."
"You know, at the moment I'm too wrapped up in this delicious fruit to retaliate."
"It can't be that good."
"Haven't you ever tried a parep before?"
"A what?"
"I can't believe you've never had one of these before! They're the best."
"I grew up in the country. I'd never been in a city before a few days ago. What makes you think I've ever had a. . . what did you call it?"
"A parep. Here, try one."
Alex threw the fruit down at Eldon. Eldon caught it and took a closer look at it. The parep was round, fuzzy, and a light shade of purple. "Are you sure this is edible?"
"Just take a bite." Alex said.
Eldon took a bite. Juice from the fruit exploded into his mouth as soon as his teeth bit through the outer skin. The taste reminded Eldon of an apple except it was a lot sweeter and easier to bite into. The inside was a deep purple with white seeds. It was the most delectable fruit Eldon had ever eaten. "Wow. It's actually really good."
"What is?" Myla just walked up, followed by Fira. Each carrying a bag, Myla's was slung over one shoulder while Fira's was a leather backpack. Myla was wearing another skirt, this one was a light blue and reached to just above her knees, along with a flowing white shirt that didn't quite go all the way down to her waist and the same jeweled string across her forehead. Eldon couldn't help focusing on the little part of her stomach that was showing then could feel his face heat up as he looked away.
"A parep. Eldon here's never had one before." Alex called down from the top of the tree, which is where he was now.
"Never?" Fira raised an eyebrow. "Have you been living under a rock? How could you never have had a parep?" Fira was wearing a long sleeved black shirt and shorts to match. Her messy orange hair was pulled back in a loose braid.
"Again, I grew up on the border of Edinboh. There was barely a town near our farm and it's not like we could ship in fruits from other places. We're barely even capable of keepIng the Shadows out."
The other three froze and Alex dropped to a lower branch, closer to the one Eldon was on.
"What did you say, Eldon?" Myla asked slowly.
"What? The thing about the Shadows?"
"Do you mean that you've seen them?"
"I've fought them. Haven't you guys ever seen one before?"
"Never. Only the Ridel Knights are allowed to go to the border to fight with those beasts."
"Who are the Ridel Knights?"
"The best trained Knights hand picked by the King and Queen to keep the Shadows from pushing back our borders. But it's a very secretive group, only the royal family knows everyone involved. The only way the members can pick each other apart is a code word and a crest that they always keep on them, not that they would ever be allowed to wear it, though."
"I've always wanted to be a Ridel." Surprisingly, it was Alex who spoke.
"Is that the reason you joined the school?" Eldon looked over at Alex, who was staring off into the sky.
"That and there was nowhere else for me to go." Alex started blinking furiously. All of a sudden he jumped up to his feet and began climbing to the top of the tree again. "I want another parep." He almost kept his voice from shaking. Almost.
After a moment of the three staring up at Alex, Eldon tried to break the silence. "So. . . What does the Ridel Knights crest look like? Do you know?"
"It's a majestic wolf in front of a swirling tree. I think I have a picture of it somewhere." Fira swung her bag off and started searching through it. "It's in one of these books. . . Oh! This is it." She pulled out a thick tome that looked really old and started flipping through the pages.
"Where did you get that book? It looks like it's a hundred years old."
"The library has a really extensive collection of topics. You'd be surprised at everything that's in there. Um. . . Here it is. Take a look." Fira had the book open to a page near the middle. Fira held the book up so Eldon could see the picture. Just like Fira said, it was a wolf's head with curving tree branches surrounding it. Eldon Recognized it immediately.
"I've seen that before!" Eldon started digging through his bag.
"If you've seen a picture of it before then why did you ask to see it now?"
Eldon began sifting through his pockets until he found it. The pin from his father. He pulled it out. "Because I haven't seen it in a picture before." He showed the pin to Fira and Myla. It looked almost exactly like the picture in the book.
"Where did you get that?!" Fira's voice was so shrill that it brought Alex down, probably to see why Fira was upset. He was composed again, until he saw the pin. Then, his face matched the surprised expressions of Myla and Fira.
"From my dad. He used to come back from his trips with gifts for my little sister and I. One time he came back with this for me. It was the last thing I got from him before. . . My sister has another one just like this that we got in a box along with the rest of his stuff."
"Eldon. Do you know what this means?" Myla didn't give Eldon the chance to answer. "Your father was a Ridel Knight!"
"Now I finally know why this was so important to him. To think that my dad was chosen by the Throne to be one."
The four of them sat there like that for a while until Myla realized that they only five minutes before their next class. While Eldon was packing up, he remembered what Githa had said to him that morning and how he was going to ask Myla about it. He ran to catch up with her.
"Myla!"
She was already at the stables with Fira. She waved Fira to go on ahead as Eldon reached her.
"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" Myla asked.
"Yeah, actually. Did you get in trouble with Githa this morning for being late?" They started walking to class together. Eldon had math but wasn't sure if anyone else had it with him.
"Besides the extra push-ups? Not really. Githa barely even paid me any attention. Although, I hear she knocked you flat on your butt." Myla tried to suppress a laugh while Eldon felt his face redden.
"Uh. . . yeah."
"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"
"Not really. I should probably get to class. I'll see you around." Before Eldon walked away, he thought he saw a look of disappointment flash across Myla's face, although Eldon had no idea why. Did he say something wrong? He didn't think so. Eldon jogged the rest of the way to class, the whole time his dad's pin and Githa's words on his mind.