Royal Institute of Magic: Elizabeth's Legacy (16 page)

“It’s the same with
everything,” Charlie said, wiping his perspiring brow with a
white handkerchief. “You can tint the windows, control the hot
water and a dozen other things I haven’t read about properly
yet.”

Ben spent the time before
breakfast indulging himself in a luxurious bath. There was even fresh
underwear Ben assumed was complimentary. When he was clean and
dressed, he felt better than he had in a long time. Only his stomach
had anything to complain about.

“I wonder what breakfast in
bed will be like,” Ben mused. “Is there anything in there
about it?”

Charlie was still engrossed in
the manual searching for an answer when 8:30am arrived.

Ben looked towards the door in
anticipation, but a noise from the hearth made him turn. The fire,
which was still dancing merrily, suddenly flared. Through the flames
two young girls materialised and stepped through carrying silver
trays filled with breakfast. They had wings like a butterfly, fine
silver hair and innocent, angelic faces.

“Breakfast in bed, 8:30am
as ordered,” the faeries said in union. They placed the trays
on the low-lying table. “Is there anything else we can get for
you?”

“We’re fine, thanks,”
Ben said, recovering from the surprise first.

The faeries curtseyed and
disappeared back up the fireplace, immune to the heat.

Ben took one look at the
breakfast and promptly forgot about the manner in which it was
delivered. There were eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns, beans and
piping hot tea. He had never seen anything so delicious.

“I wonder how they knew we
weren’t vegetarians,” Charlie mused.

Before Ben really had time to
appreciate the food, he had devoured most of it and was lounging
back, cup of tea in hand, patting his stomach with great contentment.

“That was amazing,”
Ben said.

“The cook is a wizard,”
Charlie agreed.

With a full stomach and a proper
night’s sleep, Ben felt ready to take on the world. But with a
clear head, he also became alarmingly aware how risky yesterday’s
idea to find the wood elves was. There was the Institute, who had
ordered him to stay in Taecia. There was their “babysitter”,
Natalie, who was sticking to them like glue. Then there was the small
matter of finding the right group of wood elves and hoping they
didn’t kill them like the Institute’s diplomatic party.

Ben sipped his tea. He might need
to make a proper plan for once. He started brainstorming when
somebody knocked on the door.

He got up and let Natalie in.

“Good morning,” she
said brightly.

She had changed into a green
dress, which highlighted her eyes; her dark brown hair fell over one
shoulder. But it was her waist that caught Ben’s attention. She
wore a Spellshooter in a discreet leather holster.

“I have practice today,”
Natalie said, seeing Ben’s look. “Are we ready? You both
look well fed and rested.”

They left the hotel room and
headed towards the lift, but they had barely made it halfway when Ben
stopped as if he’d hit a brick wall.

At the end of the corridor was a
small group filing through the lift door. Their long silver hair,
pale faces and shining swords were unmistakable.

Ben cast Natalie a stunned look,
but she didn’t look surprised.

“The dark elves always stay
here when visiting the Institute,” she said softly. “I
didn’t want to tell you and create unnecessary tension when I
knew we’d probably never see them.”

Ben said nothing. Half of them
had already disappeared through the lift door. The leader with the
shifting cloak wasn’t there, but he may have already taken the
lift.

At the back of the group was a
younger elf. He would be the last to go through the door, which meant
that for a split second, he would be alone.

Ben’s eyes narrowed. The
dark elves were the key to all this. If he could learn the real
reason they were after his parents, he might not need to track down
the wood elves after all.

“Bad idea,” Charlie
whispered. “Terrible idea.”

From the corner of his eye, he
could see Charlie’s alarm and Natalie’s confusion.

Ben’s blue eyes locked onto
the young elf like a tractor beam. As he was about to pass through
the door, Ben gave a very loud, very obvious cough.

The dark elf stopped. His mouth
opened in surprise when he recognised their faces.

There was a moment’s
hesitation. The elf looked at the lift door and then back at them.

Ben gave the elf the sort of
impudent grin that frequently earned him detention; he coupled this
with a cheeky wave.

The elf forgot about the lift and
started walking towards them.

“What have you done?”
Natalie asked, her hand going to her mouth. She went from confusion
to shock, and then horror in the blink of an eye.

Ben was momentarily taken aback –
he had never seen such raw emotion from Natalie before; it threatened
to breach his confidence. “Don’t worry, I have a plan.
We’re just going to talk.”

“Ben, this is not what you
think,” Natalie said. Her voice was tense and she spoke
quickly, for the elf was quickly bearing down on them. “He
might look young, but he is a dark elf. A pack of hungry lions would
be less dangerous.”

Natalie’s analogy was hard
to fathom. The dark elf was smaller than his fellows, though he was
still a good head taller than Ben. His walk lacked a touch of the
usual grace and Ben could see a few subtle pimples on the elf’s
face. But Ben had no doubt the elf could still use the sword strapped
to his waist. He had an ugly, hooked nose, cruel eyes and a sneer
that seemed to be his default expression.

“Good morning, Aryan,”
Natalie said, stepping forward. Ben was amazed to see how quickly she
concealed her fear behind a gracious smile. “I hope you are
well?”

“I was well,” Aryan
said in a slimy voice. “I was heading down for breakfast
minding my own business when I spotted a human sneering at me.
Imagine my surprise when I realised it was none other than the
Greenwood boy.”

“He is new to the Unseen
Kingdoms and completely unaware of the politics, culture and respect
your people are accustomed to.”

“That is no excuse,”
Aryan sneered. “Your Institute is already in deep water thanks
to the Greenwoods and now their son shows disrespect to the very
people he should be trying to appease? I should report this to my
general. With the treaty on a knife edge, a diplomatic blunder, no
matter how small, is the last thing your Institute needs.”

This time Natalie shifted
uncomfortably under the dark elf’s onslaught.

Ben had had enough. “I
wasn’t smirking, I was smiling. I’m sorry if you can’t
tell the difference.”

Aryan looked as though he’d
been slapped and for a moment appeared at a loss for words. Ben had a
fraction of a second to decide the best approach to take. He gambled
and focused on the elf. His intense, blue-eyed stare had opened many
secrets before, but never with a volatile, sword-bearing dark elf.
“Why are you after my parents?”

Aryan turned and Ben felt the
full force of those strange purple eyes. There was anger there. Ben
wanted anger.

“Your parents are wanted
for treachery,” Aryan said, his voice dangerously soft. “For
the murder of Prince Ictid, the king’s only son.”

“Oh, I know that,”
Ben said, maintaining his intense stare. “I’m talking
about the real reason you are after my parents, not the ridiculous
cover story.”

There was a gasp from Natalie and
a groan from Charlie. Aryan heard neither; his purple eyes were
focused on Ben like daggers, his smirk transformed into a snarl.

“You do not know how close
you are to danger,” Aryan said. His hand made a subtle movement
to his sword.

Ben did know. He could see it in
Aryan’s eyes; he remembered Natalie’s warning and he
could sense the power radiating off the elf despite his youth.

Aryan was on the edge. Ben needed
him to step over it.

“You’re afraid of my
parents, aren’t you?” he said in a teasing voice,
narrowing his eyes.

Ben knew immediately he had gone
too far. Aryan’s eyes lit up and he hissed, his arm shooting
forward. Ben was ready, but Aryan was faster and stronger than he
anticipated. Aryan grabbed him by the neck, rammed him back and
pinned him against the wall.

Aryan smiled and squeezed his
hand. “It’s time you learnt some manners.”

Ben started to choke. He grabbed
the elf’s arm but couldn’t move it. Ben kicked out with
an urgency borne of panic. Several blows found their mark, but though
the elf winced, his grip didn’t yield.

A flash of colour flew across the
room. Ben’s vision was blurred, but he could have sworn it was
a large cannon ball. With a mighty crunch it smashed into Aryan and
sent them crashing onto the vanilla carpet.

Ben rolled and rose in one smooth
motion, finding himself between Natalie and Charlie, Aryan picking
himself up a little slower half a dozen steps away.

Charlie’s lip was bleeding.
He looked dazed, but there was a steely glint in his eye.

The cannon ball had been Charlie.

“The little fat boy wants a
lesson as well?” Aryan asked. He raised a hand, his palm
pointing at them. “My father told me humans have a remarkably
poor tolerance for pain. Let’s find out, shall we?”

“Aryan, please!”
Natalie begged. “These boys are under the Institute’s
protection. If you injure them, I will have to report you.”

Aryan smiled. “You can’t
get me in trouble. Now, watch as I make your friends cry.”

Aryan’s palm started to
glow purple until it was engulfed by a pulsing ball of energy. Ben
tensed himself. A streak of purple lightning shot from Aryan’s
hand. Ben never came close to dodging it; he barely had time to
thrust his arm up in a futile act of self-defence.

A shimmering crescent shield
materialised in front of Ben and deflected the lightning bolt into
the wall.

There was a moment of shock as
everyone stared at the scorch marks along the hallway.

Aryan turned to Ben as if seeing
him for the first time. “Elizabeth’s legacy,” he
whispered. “So it is true.”

“Sorry?” Ben and
Charlie said in synchrony.

Aryan drew his sword with a
flourish. “I wonder, does Elizabeth also protect you from the
lick of a blade?”

Ben raised his hands in
surrender. He didn’t like the confident manner in which the elf
held his sword. “Okay, I think we should all take a deep
breath. Surely you wouldn’t kill me just because I smiled at
you?”

“Who said anything about
killing?” Aryan said, a modicum of annoyance in his voice.
“Pain is all I want, as punishment for your insolence. A bit of
blood will suffice.”

Aryan stepped forward, sword
raised.

“What is Elizabeth’s
legacy?” Ben asked.

Aryan didn’t respond or
halt his advance. Ben cast a desperate sidelong look at Charlie and
Natalie. They were making subtle nods towards the lift door. Could
they outrun the long-limbed dark elf? Ben doubted it, but what other
options did they have? He certainly couldn’t rely on the elf’s
sword being deflected as his spell had.

Ben was still mulling over the
options when Aryan attacked.

The sword thrust at him like a
lizard flicking his tongue. Ben side-stepped and the sword grazed his
side, ripping into his shirt. Aryan seemed surprised that his sword
had not found its target, but Ben knew the next thrust would be
harder to dodge; the elf now had a measure of Ben’s reflexes.

Aryan feinted, throwing Ben off
balance and then struck again. The blade was a blur. Ben twisted as
hard and fast as he could, but he knew this time he was too slow.

A mighty crash came from Ben’s
right and a nearby door burst open. Thomas the troll was still
wearing his tuxedo, but the genteel look was gone. With speed to
match Aryan’s blade, Thomas grabbed the elf by the scruff of
the neck and held him aloft.

“What’s this?”
Thomas said, in his trombone-like voice. “A hotel guest trying
to kill another hotel guest? That’s not polite.”

“Put me down, you lumbering
oaf,” Aryan said. He tried to strike the troll with his sword,
but Thomas held him at such a distance that the sword only swished
air.

“Happily, once you remove
that murderous look and stop trying to kill your fellow guests,”
Thomas said reasonably.

“I wasn’t trying to
kill them. I was teaching them a lesson.” Aryan was starting to
sound like a spoilt child.

“Wonderful. I also enjoy
teaching, though I’m unfamiliar with the technique of running
at pupils with a sword.”

“I was provoked.”

Thomas nodded. “I’m
sure you were. If I catch you brandishing your sword in this hotel
again, regardless of the provocation, you will pack your bags. Are we
clear?”

Ben hoped he would protest so
that Thomas might bash him about a bit. Unfortunately, Aryan nodded
and was released.

“This isn’t over,”
Aryan said, pointing a finger at Ben. “Watch your back.”

Aryan disappeared through the
door to the lift.

“That was good timing,”
Ben said, turning to Thomas.

“I can smell magic. I came
as soon as I caught a whiff of the spell.”

“You saved us,”
Natalie said, giving Thomas a radiant smile.

“Always glad to be of
assistance to my guests,” Thomas said with a bow. “I
shan’t ask what happened here because I don’t
particularly want to know and I expect you would be reluctant to tell
me. Don’t worry about the damage to the wall, I’ll fix
that. And now I think I will get back to work, please excuse me.”

He bowed and left through the
door from which he had come, which Ben assumed must lead to a
staircase.

Natalie turned back to the scorch
on the wall and put a hand in front of her lips. “We just
fought a dark elf,” she said softly, speaking to the wall.