The king watched as the matches in the final leg of the trials grew more and more interesting. The ones that caught his eye were the twins and the man who went right after them. 

He had been called to face his opponent after the woman had limped out of the circle. The man held the sword that had been handed to him proudly. He was confident that he would not fail. His opponent wasted no time in charging at him with his sword poised to run clean through the man. For a few split seconds the candidate was taken by surprise at the speed of the knight, but then the man simply moved to the side and delivered a punch to his attacker, as if the knight had never been moving. The knight shook off the blow and kept his hands firmly on the sword as he tried a new approach. For a few moments the two men circled one another before the knight lunged again, twisting his body around to the other side at the split second. His sword was easily deflected and finally the candidate seen his opening. Thrusting his sword out at an almost impossible pace, he impaled the man in the abdomen before letting both the man and his sword go. The knight fell to the ground in defeat as a steady pool of blood formed underneath him. His body was taken out of the arena by a few other knights and the next two were called forth. 

The king was surprised. The candidate had come out without a single scratch and his match had ended quicker than the others. As the next two were defeated the king stood once the bodies were cleared out from the arena. 

To Triver the match of the man after the woman seemed to go by at a dizzying speed. It had almost been too hard for the prince to keep track of until the end, when the candidate came out as victorious. There was something suspicious about the man and Triver had a feeling that things would not work out so well. 

His father let out a hearty laugh before addressing the remaining three candidates, who by all means were technically already knights. [color=92278f]"I only have room for two more knights!"[/color] He bellowed (it was a lie since Triver knew that his father lazily accepted the previous knights and there had been four of them.) The mages who had participated were taken to rest by a few servants and knights. They had become exhausted, Inaris had been among them so Ser'deni had been left with no one to ignore, well up until the remaining mages pulled her into a huddle.

[color=92278f]"You,"[/color] He pointed to Daelyn, [color=92278f]"and you are my victors."[/color] He pointed to the other man, completely ignoring the bleeding woman. 

The man grinned widely; he had always known that he would be chosen. 

[color=0072bc]"Father!"[/color] Triver exclaimed, [color=0072bc]"There was something wrong with the match, the woman should be--" [/color]

[color=92278f]"Silence boy, I have chosen my victors."[/color] The king said with a dismissive wave towards his son; never before in the king's rule had there been a female knight and he wasn't about to start the custom of female knights now. [color=92278f]"Bring them wine and women!"[/color] (And the king forgot about their injuries...) 


Servant brought out wine for the victors and the man quickly hoarded one of the goblets and asked for it to be filled to the brim. It had been rumored that the king had a liking for strong but sweet and expensive wine and the man was surprised to find that it wasn't a lie. He drank the wine in large gulps; the knights around him shot the man looks of disgust. Clearly this man had no manners. When the man was already asking for a second pouring of wine, the mages spoke up. 

They were the only force that the king would listen to. Even his own advisors envied the mages. 

[color=aba000]"Your Highness."[/color] The remaining mages bowed before him. [color=aba000][color=aba000]"We sensed something was wrong with the match between that man and his opponent."[/color][/color] The greedy man had been singled out by the mages, who had no possible way of knowing that he had done something wrong.

[color=92278f]"What do you mean? His skills with a sword are fine, even better than Garrod's!"[/color] Garrod was the Head Knight, the oldest and most experienced of all the king's men. 

[color=a187be]"He cheated."[/color] Ser'deni said, as none of the other mages were going to. 

[color=f7976a]"That is a lie!"[/color] the man shouted,[color=f7976a] "I won my match fairly!"[/color] 

[color=a187be]"We sensed magic coming from you. The use of magic is forbidden to knights that serve under the king, and magic is illegal for knight candidates to use."[/color] The woman pointed out and by then the man had gone red in the face. His breathing became heavy and there was a large prominent vein that poked out from his neck. It seemed to go slowly as he reached for a sword that was strapped to the side of a nearby knight. 

[color=f7976a]"You bitch!"[/color] He yelled as the goblet crashed onto the floor. The man began to run at the mage with his sword ready. 

Triver might have been peace loving but the man would not stand for reckless violence. If someone who was blind (and had no way of knowing which man it was) pointed you out as a rat then chances are they weren't lying. Triver grabbed the man by the arm before twisting it behind his back and forcing him to the ground. They struggled for power as the man twisted his body around Triver's. The king had made a move to protect his son but the knights stopped him. Triver wrestled the sword out of the man's hand only to be met with a dagger to the arm. His eyes widened as he looked at the blood that began to trickle slowly from the wound until that trickle grew larger and larger. 

The man who had stabbed the prince was tackled to the side by Garrod. He tightened his arms around the man's neck until the man began to change colors. [color=92278f]"Let him go!"[/color] The king bellowed, Garrod obeyed and released the man. He began to greedily suck air in and rub furiously at his throat to soothe the ache that had started there. 

The king stood over the man as knights helped the prince into a lying position so a mage could heal him. [color=92278f]"Ser'deni..."[/color] the king commanded the woman to his side[color=92278f].”You said that he was cheating. Show me."[/color] 

The woman held out her hand over the man, his face had gone white and tears gathered in his eyes. [color=f7976a]"All I wanted to do was become a knight."[/color] he whimpered. He had been found out. He was going to die. The mage in his home village had lied. He was going to die. He was going to die. He was afraid to die.

[color=f7976a]“I…just wanted to become…a knight…I don’t want to die. I’m scared to die.”[/color] Tears began to roll down his cheeks.

The mage found her target and none too gently ripped through the top of his tunic to reveal a silver charm hung on a simple leather cord. 

[color=a187be]"A charm to increase his speed."[/color] she said before tugging the charm off of the man. [color=a187be]"That was how he won the match so quickly."[/color]

The king turned away before giving his orders to the mages. [color=92278f]"Kill him."[/color] 

The man desperately tried to crawl away in order to preserve his life. [color=f7976a]“I don’t want to die.”[/color] 

[color=a187be]"What about the other two; they are the only victors."[/color]

[color=92278f]"So be it then. I do not care. Give them medical treatment."[/color] The king stormed away. A few men trailed behind him before they disappeared into a dark corridor. 

[color=fff79a]"How shall we kill him?"[/color] One of the mages, a woman named Rean, asked. 

[color=aba000]"Let us burn him."[/color] 

[color=598527]"No let us torture him."[/color] A few other suggestions were made but ultimately they decided on the dogs. 

The man's scream echoed throughout the large room before dying down under the vicious snarls and growls of the dogs. The mages that had not participated in the killing of the man went to administer first aid to the wounded woman and the man beside her. 

Rean healed the man as Ser'deni healed the woman. 

[color=a187be]"You both did well today."[/color] The tattooed woman commented. When she was done healing the woman Ser'deni spoke again. [color=a187be]"We cannot heal anyone completely. Your wounds must heal a bit more until you are fully recovered. Prince Triver must be worried about you." [/color] Ser'deni knew that her half-brother must be worried as she had heard his plea for the woman that had gone ignored by his father. 

Together the two mages left the man and woman alone. Rean wanted to rest and Ser'deni wanted to check on the prince.