Training center
Few days before the semifinals, Kayden and Lucy were always training and
he treated her nicely and made her feel good about herself.
The night before the competition, he was having his last training with her
and he brought up Kierra’s name.
“Training with you is actually more fun than training with Kierra. You’re
amazing Lucy”, he said to her and she grinned.
“Thank you Kayden”, she said, blushing.
“It’s good you got rid of her”, he said and she widened her eyes.
“What are you talking about?” She asked.
“Oh c’mon, I know you’re the one responsible for that and I’m really
grateful”, he said, forcing a smile.
“How did you know? I didn’t tell anyone”.
“One thing we’re taught here is to be observant”.
“Hmm. I was very careful when I did it. She was a pain in everyone’s ass
and I had to teach her a little lesson”.
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“So did you intend to kill her?”
“No. The dose was just to make her drowsy for a day to skip the test just
like I did with my previous opponent. I think something went wrong but I’m
glad it got her out from here”.
“She might die, you know?”
“Who cares?”
“Her country, her friends, her family”.
“Well, I didn’t intend to hurt her. I hope you keep my secret though”, she
said, wrapping her hands around him.
“I will. So how did you poison her? I really do want to learn an art like that”.
“I learnt how to mix harmful potions when I was little. I liked drugs a lot,
so I mastered the art of making them. I just took some plants in the field and
mixed them with some other liquids and…”
“I mean how did you actually get the poison to her and how did you cover
your tracks?” He asked her.
“Oh that was easy. When she was eating and talking, I just slipped it in her
food and then I made sure I threw everything I used away”? She said,
smiling.
“Oh nice. You’re really smart”, he said, looking at her footwear and he
observed that she had changed it.
They continued training till they were exhausted and then they went back to
their rooms.
As Kayden was walking to his room, Gabriella pulled him.
“Why are you training with that evil girl? I thought you cared about Kierra?”
She asked.
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“I do and I know what I’m doing. She admitted to it and I plan on exposing
her and humiliating her. I know after what I’m going to do, I’d be thrown
out. So this is probably a goodbye”.
“What are you going to do?”
“It’s best you don’t know”.
“I hope you don’t plan on killing her”.
“No, I don’t do things like that”.
“Then I want to be part of it. She deeply hurt me by taking Kierra away from
me”.
“All you can do for me now is to search her room for plants, liquids and
things which you think she can use to make anything liquid or solid. When
you find it, just let me know and make sure you don’t touch it. Also there’s
this pair of sandals she used to wear, check and see if there are traces of
plants and flowers in it”, he said to her.
“Okay. I will”.
“Be careful. She’s really smart”.
“I will”.
“See you tomorrow then”.
*
The little city
Mary and Maxwell received Kierra and were happy to have her back but
were sad that she was sick and unconscious.
The following morning, Warrick came with a lot of doctors to attend to her.
They all waited patiently for them to be done with their work.
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“She’ll be fine. I brought the best doctors”, Warrick said.
“We’re really grateful to you Warrick for helping her”, Mary said to him.
“No, I should be grateful to you for raising her and taking care of her. My
whole family is grateful to you for that”, he said to them and they both
smiled.
“She really looks like you. She has your eyes and your nose”, Mary said to
him.
“Really?” He asked, smiling.
“Yeah. When she’s finally awake, you’ll have a good view of her”, Mary
said.
“She actually looks more like the queen”, Maxwell said.
“Yeah, I bet she does because I look like my mum”, Warrick said, smiling.
“So tell me more about her and her stay here”, he said to them and they
narrated her story to them.
They told him her likes and dislikes, her friends, her strengths and
weaknesses.
They also told him the Darnley and Delilah’s story and that part annoyed
him.
As they all kept on talking about her, they heard her coughing and vomiting.
“She’s awake!” One of the doctors yelled and they all quickly rushed to her
room.
Kierra’s eyes were weak and she couldn’t keep it open for a long while, so
she closed it again and drifted off to sleep.
“She’s fine. She just needs more rest. All the poison is out of her system
now”, the doctor said and they nodded.
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“When she’s up, please prepare something light like soup and let her drink
a lot of water. She’ll be fine tomorrow morning”, he said to them.
“Thank you so much”, Mary said to them.
Warrick left the room with the doctors to attend to them whiles Maxwell
and his wife stayed in the room with Kierra and they also cleaned up the
mess.
*
The woods
Fredrick and Penelope were inside the tent making out, when they heard
John’s footsteps.
“He’s coming! Get dressed”, Fredrick said to her and she quickly dressed
up.
“Hurry. I don’t want him suspecting anything”, he said, also dressing up.
John walked in with a huge grin on his face.
“It’s time for you to go home”, he said, smiling.
“Why?”
“Hope is finally dead”, he said, grinning.
“How do you know that?”
“The news is everywhere”.
“I don’t believe that. Are you saying my mum had her killed??”.
“No. She was killed at training center. She got poisoned by the Janricans”,
he said, smiling.
“No, this is one of my Mum’s tricks. She’s not dead”.
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“I sent my spies to check. She was poisoned and didn’t make it. Her body
has already been sent away”.
“That’s good news!!” Penelope yelled.
“Yeah it is. But I’m not too happy. She was my sister”.
“You should be really happy. You’re the true king now”, Penelope said,
wiggling her brows.
“How do you even know if my mum really wants me back”.
“It doesn’t matter. If you’re back, you’re back and she’ll believe that you
were returned because of Hope’s death. We’ll tie you up and dump you close
to the river where the maids wash their clothes and then we’ll leave a note
letting her know that she met the end of the bargain”.
“That’s a genius plan! To make things more realistic, you have to beat me
up!” Fredrick said.
“Yeah, when do we start?” John asked, grinning.
“You really want to beat me huh?” He asked and they all laughed.
Later during the day, they beat him up, tied him up and left him at the river
side.
*
The training center
The competition began and when it was Kayden and Lucy’s turn, he put his
all into it and beat her up to a pulp.
He went against all the rules and really hurt her.
“This for stabbing Kierra”, he said, punching her in the face and she fell to
the ground.
“This is for threatening her”, he said, kicking her.
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“This is for poisoning her”, he yelled and used his feet to hit her tummy.
“And this is for taking her away from me”, he said and was about to punch
her again in the face but he was stopped and pulled away from her.
“Lock him up!” Miss Rose yelled.
“She poisoned Kierra. If you want proof, check her room. She has lots of
poisons and potions in there. Check her old sandals. It has traces of the plants
she used to poison her. Check everything! She poisoned her”, Kaydenyelled.
“Take him away now! And he’ll be sent home tomorrow”, she yelled and
Kayden was taken away.
The nurses quickly ran to help Lucy and Miss Rose sent some of the trainers
to search Lucy’s room and Kayden’s room and to also investigate
everything.
Later that evening, it was confirmed that Lucy poisoned Kierra. Both
Kayden and Lucy were expelled.
*
The river side
The maids went to the river to do their normal washing and when they found
Fredrick tied up there, they screamed.
The little city
Kierra woke up the following morning and was surprised to see that she was
in her old room.
She blinked her eyes several times to be sure that she wasn’t dreaming or
wasn’t hallucinating.
“Mum!?” She called out.
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“Dad?!” She said, getting up from her bed.
She stepped out to their living room and saw a man sleeping on the floor.
“Mum!! Dad!!” She yelled, wondering what was going on.
Warrick was the man on the floor, when he heard her yelling, he sat up and
Kierra screamed.
“Hope? Wait wait”.
“Who are you?” She asked and stepped back.
He got up and she yelled.
“Don’t you dare come closer”, she said to him.
When he was up straight, he got a closer view of her and saw that she was a
spitting image of his mum. On seeing that, he smiled.
“What are you smiling at?”
“You look just like her”.
“Who?”
“Our mum”, he said, smiling.
“My mother has another child?” she asked, referring to Mary.
“Yeah, three other sons. I thought you already knew”.
“Who are you talking about? The queen or my mum?”
“The queen, your mum, our mother”.
“Oh okay”, she said, relaxing.
“What am I doing here? And where are my parents?” She asked, walking
into their room.
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“Your parents have gone to their work place but I’m here to take care of
you?”
“What are you doing here? And how am I back here? I’m not done with my
training”.
He told her everything and she understood.
“So, these Janricans have been after my life since I was a kid and I’m not
even safe at the training center. So how am I safe here? I don’t want to risk
the life of my parents or my friends”.
“Here, no one knows who you are and everyone thinks you’re dead back
home. I’m sure the Janricans have heard it”.
“Mmm, my friends already know that I’m a crowned princess”, she said and
he widened his eyes.
“What? I didn’t expect that it’ll be a problem now and besides I trust them,
I doubt they’ve told anyone and if they do, no one would believe them”.
“I hope so for their sake”, he said and he observed her as she walked around
the house. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling.
“I can’t wait to see my parents and can’t wait to see my friends. I miss them
so much”, she said, grinning.
“Can I go and see them now?”
“No! You’re still recovering”.
“See, I’m fine”, she said, jumping and throwing punches in the air.
“Mmm, try punching yourself and we’ll see if you’re okay”, he said,
laughing and she punched herself and landed on the floor.
“Hope!!!”, he said, widening his eyes and quickly rushed to her. “I was just
kidding, you didn’t have to punch yourself”.
“I’m fine. I wasn’t having a good balance and it’s Kierra not Hope”, she
said and he helped her get up.
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“Sorry, Kierra. Everyone at home is going to call you Hope though”.
“And I won’t respond”, she said, pouting and he laughed.
“You’re a funny little girl”, he said, laughing.
“I’m not little. The fact that you’re tall with all those muscles doesn’t make
you big. This girl you call little was able to defeat people your size”.
“Wow! That’s great. I actually heard of your mighty wonders back there and
I’m proud of you”, he said to her and she smiled.
“Yeah, so don’t call me little again or you’ll be on the floor”, she said to
him and he laughed.
“I’m sorry ma’am”, he said, nodding.
“Are you hungry? There’s soup but I can cook something different for you”.
“You. Cook something for me?”
“Yeah I cook”.
“Is that how Princes are treated over there? You cook for yourselves?”
“No. I’m mostly alone, touring the world, so I learnt how to cook in order
to cook for myself”.
“Wow. That’s nice. I’ll love to tour the world too”.
“One day you will”.
“With the way everyone is after my life, I doubt”.
“You’re speaking like a little girl”, he said and she glared at him.
“I’m not a little girl”, she said, trying to punch him but he blocked it.
“That’s the Hope, I mean Kierra I want to hear”, he said and she rolled her
eyes.
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“Okay, I’m hungry”, she said holding her rumbling stomach.
“Alright, go to your room and rest and I’ll get something for you to eat”, He
said and she shook her head.
“No, I want to watch you cook”, she said and they both went to the kitchen.
*
The palace
Fredrick was in his room being treated and his mum sat by him.
“I’m so sorry for locking you up Fred. I don’t know what I would have done
if you were killed”, she said, tearing up.
“It’s okay mum. At least I’m alive and here now”, he said and she held his
hand really tight.
She sat by him and waited for him to be treated. When they were done, she
made the cooks serve him a special dish.
As he was eating, his wife and kids walked in.
“Daddy!!!” his two daughters said, rushing to him.
The little one climbed the bed and hugged him.
“Be careful”, Queen Valerie said to them.
“Dad I’m glad you’re back”, his teenage daughter said, pecking him on the
cheek.
“I missed you all so much”, he said, hugging the both of them.
“Baby, I missed you too”, he said, squeezing his wife’s hands and she
smiled.
“Daddy what happened to you?” The little one asked.
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“Sweetheart, not now. Let daddy finish eating okay?” Queen Valerie said to
her and she nodded.
“Let’s go and let your daddy eat and have some rest”, Angela said to her
daughters.
“Alright. I’ll see you later dad”, the older one said, hugging him and they
all left.
“I’m really glad you’re here Fredrick. I thank God for saving your life”.
“Yeah, we thank God. I know how devastated you must be regarding Hope’s
death”, she said and she was surprised.
“How did you hear of her death?”
“I heard my captors talking about it”, he said and she nodded.
She got a bit suspicious and wasn’t ready to tell him the truth. She also
planned to tell everyone who knew the real truth to keep it away from
Fredrick.
“I guess God wants me to rule”, he said, smiling and she just looked away.
“Where’s John?” He asked her.
“Who is John?”
“My advisor”.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him ever since you were locked up”.
“Okay, I’ll look for him when I’m fine”, he said. He was glad that John
wasn’t even noticed, so he could easily bring him and Penelope back.
He thought about Penelope and all the nice times he had with her in the
woods and couldn’t wait to have her in his arms.
*
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The little city
Warrick and Kierra spent the whole day getting to know more about each
other.
He told her more about her brothers and the Queen. She was sad when she
heard about how her dad missed her and spoke about her every day. She
wished he was still alive so she could meet him.
Warrick also told her about how Fredrick wanted the throne and she
understood him and knew how humiliating it’ll be to lose the throne to a
girl.
They both talked till it got dark. As they were getting ready for supper, her
parents walked in.
“Mum! Dad!” She exclaimed and ran to hug them.
They hugged for a while before she released her grip of them.
“I missed you both so much”, she said to them.
“We missed you too Kierra”, Maxwell said.
“Wow, it’s just been 6 months and you’re already looking so different and
more beautiful”, Mary said, checking her out and Kierra beamed.
“You both arrived at the right time. Warrick and I cooked something
different and it tastes really good, have a seat”, she said, taking her Mum’s
basket and her Dad’s tools from them. Then she pulled them towards their
dining table.
They all sat and she dished out their food. As they were eating, she told them
all about the training center and everything that happened. She also told
them about her new friends and Kayden.
They had a really long night catching up till they all went to bed except for
Warrick who slept on the floor.
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Kierra asked him to sleep in her room but he refused and insisted on sleeping
in the living room.
*
The palace
Fredrick was able to bring back John and Penelope to the palace.
The three of them met in one of the inner rooms in the palace and they
devised their next plan on getting Fredrick to claim the throne.
“Since Hope is dead, I’ll call for a meeting tomorrow and let them know
how desperately we need a king to ascend the throne and I’ll let them know
that I was captured by the Janricans and let them also know that they plan
on claiming more of our lands because we have no ruler”.
“That’s a wonderful plan”, John said.
“Long live King Fredrick James!” Penelope said and he smiled.
“We look forward to tomorrow then”, he said and he left.
