The Tourney

  The Tourney

  By Juliet Sem

  Copyright 2012 Juliet Sem

  All rights reserved

  Smashwords Edition

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite book dealer and purchase your own copy.

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Table Of Contents

  Chapter one

  Chapter two

  Chapter three

  Chapter four

  Chapter five

  Chapter six

  Chapter seven

  Chapter eight

  Chapter nine

  Chapter ten

  Chapter eleven

  Chapter twelve

  Chapter thirteen

  Chapter fourteen

  Chapter fifteen

  Chapter sixteen

  Chapter seventeen

  Chapter eighteen

  Chapter nineteen

  Chapter twenty

  Chapter twenty-one

  Chapter twenty-two

  Chapter twenty-three

  Visit my web page for more information

  JulietSem.wordpress.com

  Chapter one

  Crown Princess Keestu Ranell of Sandar stood with her feet apart, her wooden staff held out in front of her, facing her two assailants. The first was a middle-aged man, tall, with a wiry rather than muscular build. In one of his large calloused hands was a knife with a fifteen-centimeter blade. Her other attacker was a slender young woman with fine blonde hair who, like Keestu, wielded a staff.

  The man lunged at her first, his knife blade flashing. Keestu danced out of his way, thrusting her staff at him when she saw openings. The man, however, was a trained fighter, and he easily avoided her jabs.

  Hearing movement behind her, Keestu ducked the opening swing of the young woman. While the woman distracted her, the man darted in, closing the distance between them with unnerving rapidity, knife hand seeking an opening.

  Keestu came up from her crouch to find the knife closing on her. Losing her balance while avoiding the blade, she managed to turn her tumble into a roll. She got back to her feet and whirled to face the man, who was now charging at her. She brought her staff up and dealt him a quick double blow to his core, and when she saw him lose his balance, she lashed out at him with her foot, knocking him down. His head hit the floor, and he went limp.

  Keestu spared him no further looks as she faced her remaining aggressor. They stared balefully at each other while Keestu breathed heavily, looking for an opening.

  She heard footsteps behind her. A soft male voice called out hesitantly, "Princess Keestu?"

  It was loud enough to distract her, and she turned her head to see what her protocol adviser, Vahin, wanted. An instant later, Keestu found her feet swept out from under her by her attacker's staff, and she landed hard on her back, letting out a startled, "woof," as the air was driven from her lungs. She landed on the padded floor of her family's gym, but Keestu tried to keep her head from hitting the mat, as she had been taught. The effort caused her three-pronged four-tasseled headdress, which identified her as Crown Princess of Sandar, to shake loose and fall off.

  Keestu's staff lay across her chest, and the young woman was quick to jam hers down next to Keestu's head, signifying a crippling or killing blow to her throat that she would not have had time to block.

  "Very good, Rue," Keestu's first attacker said from behind her. He was Tenget Ayden, Keestu's personal defense trainer. Keestu's other attacker was Rue Soga, her handmaiden. Rue stepped back as Tenget moved to Keestu and offered a hand to help her up. She was yanked to her feet, and then stooped to pick up her headdress as Vahin timidly repeated his summons. "Princess Keestu?"

  "What is it, Vahin?" She was more irritated by her sudden unexpected defeat than by her adviser as she waved him in.

  "The delegate from the Autocracy has arrived. Prince Dinus wanted to meet you as soon as possible."

  "Can't you tell him I'm busy?" Keestu dropped her staff to the mat as she reached for her headdress again, which had slipped from her fingers and bounced out of her reach on the resilient padded flooring. As she fumbled after the headdress, hindered by the protective padding she wore, she simultaneously felt the high bun at the back of her head and found that some hairpins had fallen out. She looked around her feet, trying to find the pins as well.

  "Er, no, Your Highness, he's coming down the corridor as we speak."

  Rue was standing next to the gym's door. She turned to face it as the stranger arrived, still holding her staff.

  Keestu was standing behind Rue and Tenget and had to move so that she could get a better look at the delegate who her father accompanied into the room.

  King Ismer started to gesture to Keestu, his firstborn and heir, but Prince Dinus looked around the room, and seeing that Rue was closer to the door, assumed that she was his intended audience. He bowed deeply to her.

  "Pleased to meet you, Your Highness. I see you're well instructed in hand-to-hand combat methods." Keestu could tell by his tone that it was meant to be a compliment, though she thought it a strange one.

  She gave up trying to find her missing hairpins and straightened up, examining the visitor. He was a tall, thin, and young humanoid, probably eighteen to twenty-two years of age, judging by the smoothness of his skin and the fact that his body hadn't finished filling out. His shoulders were broad, but his chest and arms only hinted at more musculature to come. His satin outfit consisted of medium blue pants with a four centimeter wide medium purple stripe running down the center front of the left leg, while the legs of the pants themselves were cinched snugly just above the ankles with a hook and loop closure, which kept his cuffs well out of the way of his athletic-looking blue leather shoes. His torso was overlaid with a matching long-sleeved shirt in the same medium blue, which buttoned up the front and had no collar. Running vertically from left shoulder to the waist was a stripe identical to the one on the leg of his pants. Embroidered on his right breast was a large geometric design consisting of a circle surrounding a rhombus made with purple thread that matched the stripe running down his left side. She opened her mouth to correctly identify herself to the newcomer, but her father gave her a quick hand wave behind the visitor's back that meant let the matter stand. Mystified, Keestu remained behind Rue, who also saw and recognized the sign. Rue gave a dignified bow of her own and murmured back, "So pleased to meet you..."

  "Prince Dinus, House of Purvol of the planet Phaet in the Autocracy," Ismer informed her.

  Rue bowed again, "Welcome to Sandar, Prince Dinus."

  "Thank you. I look forward to talking at length later, Princess." He bowed his way out of the room and his and King Ismer's measured footsteps quickly receded down the hall. Keestu noted as he left that the purple stripe was repeated across the left back of the tunic top and center of the left pant leg, while the geometric design was not mirrored on his back. She realized that if the outfit were a single-piece jumpsuit that there would be one continuous stripe running the length of Prince Dinus's body.

  Keestu bent and picked up her staff. "I wonder what that was about? Surely he doesn't think you're King Ismer's daughter? You look nothing like him or Queen Mewa; I do!"

  Tenget chuckled as Keestu retrieved her staff. "Princess, not all royal families are as yours. Some kings have several wives at a time. Others keep various concubines with no status in the royal household purely for breeding, and some of thos
e concubines do produce heirs to thrones. There are even planets with nations ruled by queens with more than one consort serving them; remember what we know of the Chtawlikt."

  "Kee, Tenget, don't I always ask you to call me Kee?"

  "Of course, Your Highness, um, Kee," Tenget agreed, "It just doesn't feel right to one of my station to address you so casually."

  "You've been part of my staff how long, now?"

  "Almost two years, Princess, and I'm still awed by the honor of your father's trust."

  Keestu frowned at Tenget's comment. She didn't quite get all the excitement revolving around her station as Crown Princess to the planetary throne, though she was already assigned various courtly duties at the age of sixteen.

  The timer chimed, and Tenget motioned them to leave the mat, as this portion of their physical training was done.

  She and Rue put their staves and padding away in the weapons locker. Keestu looked into a mirror, gave up trying to adjust the bun that held her headdress. She removed the last of the pins and shook her hair out. She tucked the headdress and pins as neatly as she could into a cleaning bin, knowing the staff would replace it in her wardrobe. She had many headdresses and could put on another after she was finished with her PT. She brushed her hair and used several elastic bands to tie her hair back into a ponytail, securing it down its length with additional bands, as she didn't have time to braid it before leaving for her run.

  "I still don't know why I have to wear things like that when I'm sparring," she grumbled to Tenget, "Will you explain it now?"

  "You must be ready to face danger in an instant, Princess," Tenget said, "And that could come at any time, especially at a public function, one where you're required to dress to your station. You know now to secure your headdress more firmly so you may be as vigilant and prepared for trouble as a guardsman during Stemun."

  "Or avoid getting knocked down while wearing it," Keestu said, tossing a sheepish grin at Rue. "That was a good shot, Rue."

  Rue was not only her handmaiden and sparring partner, but also her best friend and confidant, and she glowed at the praise. "I saw your attention waver, and like Tenget said, it was easy to take advantage of it."

  "You both must remember that those moments don't always come during a confrontation, and you must be ready to act on them instantly if they do. Now, we have to get ready for your run."

  "Oh, do I have to?" Keestu groaned, stretching her stiffening back and neck. She was bound to have a bruise or two on her back tomorrow from her imperfect fall. She didn't dare admit to her discomfort or Tenget would probably make her practice nothing but falls for an hour every training session for a month straight.

  "Yes," Tenget said, "You know King Ismer's orders you to run five kilometers every other day. You must stay in shape, as must the rest of the able bodied royal family and servants." He thumbed open the gym's weapons locker and pulled out two heavy plasma rifles. He walked down a short hallway and knocked on the physical therapy room's door.

  Gontu Uton, Princess Keestu's personal bodyguard, opened the door. He was also an ex-military man though he was barely thirty. He was muscular man and stood two meters tall. He had a dark tan, short sun-streaked dark brown hair, and hazel eyes. He'd been discharged from the military with honors after he'd been selected to be Keestu's personal bodyguard five years prior. He'd been having a sonic massage after sustaining a nasty wrench to his shoulder while demonstrating advanced hand-to-hand combat techniques with Tenget earlier that week to Keestu's younger brother Skomer. He stretched it with a slight grimace, rubbing the still sore spot on his shoulder, but he nodded respectfully at Tenget as he took one of the rifles, tersely asking, "We ready to run?"

  Tenget nodded in reply as they all wandered outside.

  "As your personal bodyguard, I must protest your choice of running in public without a more guards accompanying you," Gontu complained as he did every time she went out.

  "As Crown Princess in no danger in her hometown, I hear your protest and gleefully ignore it," Keestu replied with great humor. Rue tried to stifle a giggle as they stretched.

  Her mirth made Keestu chortle as she led the way out of the palace grounds, breaking into a leisurely jog as the massive armored gate slid smoothly aside to allow their exit. The trick to distance running, Tenget had taught her, was a steady pace. Sure, there were times when speed was of the essence, but in a true escape or evade situation, being able to outlast your opponent was more important. Therefore, Keestu was being trained to run distances, not sprints. She checked her chrono, which was programmed to measure her pace. It showed she was currently running a seven and a half minute kilometer pace, so including her warmup walk, she should easily finish this five kilometer training jog in about the usual thirty-nine minutes.

  There was little ground traffic this close to the palace in the middle of a workday, as it was fall in the northern hemisphere and cold, so there were very few lunch time pedestrians. The air stung her lungs, but Keestu kept up her pace. Although she was tall for a young woman at one point seven meters, it was hard trying to keep her weight between seventy to seventy-two kilos with all the formal dinners she ate which tended to start later in the evening. She had no idea what it would be like trying to fit into her formal wear if she didn't have her strict exercise routine, her trainer to enforce it, or Rue to keep her company while she did her physical training.

  "Rue, have I ever mentioned how much harder this would be if I didn't have you running with me for company?" She puffed as they ran along with her guards behind them, giving them the illusion of solitude.

  "No, Kee," Rue had no problem with the informal address; they'd been good friends for several years now.

  "Well," Keestu wheezed, "I do. It's hard to do, but at least with company, it's a little easier to keep a steady pace."

  "Thanks, Kee," Rue said, also wheezing a little bit in the cold air, "I agree. I can't see passing PT in a singles trial myself."

  They jogged along on in a companionable silence, tackling short hills of varying difficulty along their course, which ran straight away from, then parallel to, then back to the palace grounds. Capital City, called CeCe for short, was located on the western continent and was laid out in a half wheel shape, with the palace located at the center of the hub. A wide empty field just outside the grounds separated the royal residence from the rest of the city. After the empty field, other roads formed the spokes of the wheel that radiated out from the palace. The palace sat at the base of a cliff at one end of a broad valley with rolling hills gently sloping away from it towards the east. Keestu liked to take one of the spoke roads out, then make her way among the several curved wheel roads, and then would take another spoke back to the palace for her five kilometer run so she could vary her route. After the security zone, the next several wheel segments consisted of the houses of nobles, and then came the Market with its various shops that were open to everyone regardless of station, while the commoners lived further away from the palace. At the far eastern end of CeCe lay the closest farm fields, though Keestu saw many houses growing fresh vegetables in gardens in addition to flowers.

  Turning down the road that would lead her back to the palace gate, Keestu nearly stopped. The palace's private pad was where the Autocracy spaceship had been allowed to land. It was located on the northeast side of the palace, and Keestu hadn't seen the visitor's ship when she left for her training run from the gym's door, which was located in the south wall. It was a large ship, though the palace dwarfed it. The palace was in turn diminutive in size compared to the solid rock cliff rising nearly three hundred meters behind it. The back wall of the palace was embedded in the cliff, and there was a heavy gun emplacement located halfway up the massive stone face.

  Known only to the royal family and a few of its extended relatives was a natural crevice close to the ceiling of the basement vault. It led into the mountain. Keestu's grandfather, who had built this palace, had disassembled some heavy robotic diggers, dragging them into the crev
ice, and then reassembled them in a larger hollow located at the end of the fault. He had used the diggers to create a maze of passages through the mountain. Only King Brei's direct descendants knew the fastest way through, which was twelve kilometers away, exiting on the other side of the mountain range. Keestu had been told in a private meeting with her father that both the city and the mountain held additional secrets from that more violent time that she would be told about when the time was right. She always felt herself bursting with the news when she looked up at the mountain on her mandatory jogs, but she was sworn to secrecy, and was not allowed to tell Rue anything about the crevice other than it "ran a little way" into the mountain and was considered too unimportant to seal. None of the palace servants were authorized to enter the vault on their own, not even to clean it. The entire royal family were the only ones keyed to enter the vault and its supply lockers, and that only happened when they were old enough to understand that it was the safe room they must reach during a crisis, as it also served as the royal safe room. It was reinforced with solid two meter thick rock walls on two sides, and had a full meter of hardsteele front wall with a hardsteele door securing the front. It was said that nothing short of a direct fusion bomb hit could penetrate that massive facade, and even that was in question.

  Puffing more heavily with effort now, Keestu waved at the gate's guards, then moved her right hand to her side, briefly holding her first two fingers out in a V, signaling that everything was fine. The gate was immediately retracted, and the princess and her companions jogged back into the grounds.

  Vahin was waiting just inside for her. He turned and started loping easily beside her, knowing she wouldn't stop until she was at the door of the gym.

  "King Ismer orders that you are to wear your red jumpsuit to dinner this evening, Your Highness. He also bids you not to wear a headdress, but loan one to Rue for the duration of the Prince's stay."