Sapphire

by Erica Myers

The sun beat down on the hard-packed dirt. Along the edges of three sides of the practice field stood men in varying clothes and cloaks. Soldiers from the king’s army stood shoulder to shoulder in gleaming armor down the fourth side.

Nestled between two rather large men was a slight figure, hood drawn up over the face. Sapphire’s smile went unnoticed, as all eyes were on the pavilion directly across from her. Though she was small, she saw other young boys — clearly younger than her — who were just as slim; some even smaller. She wore her thin cloak with the hood low on her forehead and tied tight at her neck in pretense of warding off the sun. But really, she was covering her long hair, which had, that morning, been bound in a string at the nape of her neck and trailed halfway down her back.

Without turning her head, Sapphire looked around the field, wondering where her brother had ended up. She briefly thought back to the morning when her brother had found out about her plan to come here.

***

“You can’t do this,” Damien had said firmly.

“How am I ever going to prove my worth doing only household magic?” Sapphire countered, looking up at her older brother. “That’s not me, you know that.”

“I know that. But the captain of the King’s Elites won’t feel that way. You know how he feels about women. He’ll never let you compete.”

“He’ll never know I’m a woman.”

“That cloak won’t hide you for long. It could come off during a battle.”

“It will hide me long enough.”

“Sapphire,” he shook his head. Then a sudden thought made his eyes open wide. “What if I’m matched against you?”

“Then you’ll finally get your childhood dream of knocking me flat,” she smirked. At his stern look, she said, “If we’re put in a battle against each other, we’ll fight how we would against any other competitor. If I was scared of getting hurt, do you think I would be doing this?”

Damien’s sternness became lost as he smiled at her. “You’re not scared of anything.”

“Especially not some woman-hater captain,” she replied.

When he folded his arms and considered her, she said, “I’m not asking for permission.”

“I know.” He huffed out a breath. “Well, I guess we’d better get going.” He tossed her a cloak hanging on a hook by the door.

She smiled and swung the cloak around her shoulders.

Damien grabbed the door handle, but turned around and pointed a finger in her face. “If Mother ever finds out, I know nothing.”

“Of course,” she smiled, a mischievous glint in her eyes. His eyes widened in mock terror and he hurriedly started opening the door. Before he could barely get it open a few inches, Sapphire had swooped her arm up, palm forward, and playfully slapped his shoulder. A red-tinged light blew out from under her hand and he stumbled into the door, slamming it shut.

With a quick backward swing of his own, Sapphire was pushed back by his blue light, and he was out the door and running. Laughter floated back to her as she joined him in the sprint down the dirt road leading to the city.

***

Now, standing amongst all the other men, Sapphire’s heart beat rapidly. This is what she wanted. What she had spent years training for. She would be a dance soldier in the King’s Elite army. How could they deny her if she proved how skilled she was?

A palpable feeling of anticipation and expectation caused the men to shuffle their feet, anxious for something to happen. Then the king appeared in the pavilion, and the men on either side of Sapphire dropped to their knees, heads bowed. Sapphire knelt with them on one knee, bowing her head and putting her left fist on her other knee.

“Welcome,” the deep voice of King Lanare filled the practice field, “all who have chosen to prove that you deserve a place in my Elite army. I’m honored to see so many. Today, your skills will be tested, and some of you will find you don’t measure up to the task. For those who don’t, you may still stand a chance of being in the body force of my army. For those who do, you will become an Elite. The top position in my army. The ones who lead in battle, who will be called upon when normal dance soldiers lack the skill.” The king let his eyes roam around the men. “Let us see who of you deserve that place.”

Once the king sat down on a wooden chair, a man stepped out from the line of soldiers where a few of them bore the clothing of a captain. Sapphire recognized him from the times she’d snuck over the practice-field wall to watch him and the other captains practicing magic with their soldiers. His name was Captain Drystan, the youngest man to be made a captain over the king’s army.

“All right, listen up!” His voice was deep and edged with hardness. “You will be placed in one of ten groups. You will go through a series of battles supervised by one of the captains. The last twenty of each group will split in half and join with another group. The remaining ten of that new group will then spend some time battling each other, but no one will be cut. Then you will battle against me or one of my captains. Do not expect to win against us. This is to feel out your skill and power. Let’s begin.”

He nodded at the nine captains behind him. They broke off from the rest of the soldiers and started sectioning off the men, Captain Drystan going to his right where the men started on that side.

With Sapphire placed in a group with the men nearest her — led by an older captain who was tall and broad-shouldered — the dance battles began. The men in each group created circles around small areas in the dirt where they would watch two men battle at a time.

Sapphire’s first battle was against a small, young man wearing a cloak like hers. His hood was up, but judging from his pale skin, it was more likely to keep him from burning than to find a little relief from the heat. He seemed nervous, and he was shaky in his beginning position. Sapphire fell quickly into position, hands up before her, palms outward, knees bent. When the captain called for them to begin, Sapphire circled her hand back toward her chest, then pushed out in a quick thrust. A stream of her red light shot out from her palm, propelling forward. The boy, slow in his advance, stumbled as he tried to deflect the light. It hit him across his arms and he flew backward, landing on his back in a puff of dirt.

As they were merely competing, the competitors were just supposed to knock their opponent on his back. If they were in real battle, they would push their magic harder and faster, which could kill on impact if done skillfully enough.

The captain nodded at her and ordered the boy on the ground out of the circle. Sapphire stepped back into the circle of men and watched as the battles continued. When there were twenty men remaining, Sapphire and nine other men left the group and went to the next one over, waiting for that group to finish. As Sapphire looked over the men in this group, she noticed her brother as one of the men fighting in the circle.

With a slight twinge of regret that Damien’s worry of fighting against her might come true, she watched as her brother circled both hands to his side and slammed his palms forward, knocking the other man flat. She smiled in wonder at him. Damien’s skilled movements and quick force made him perhaps one of the deadliest people here.

Finished with his battle, Damien joined the men in the circle. When half of his group left and Sapphire’s group joined them, Damien’s eyes widened when he saw her, then he glared at her, shaking his head. She lifted a shoulder apologetically.

In this group, Sapphire was placed against a large man. They each sent a few hits at each other, the man’s green light clashing with her red. His movements were directed with precision, but were slow when he thrust his hands out. Sapphire easily shot his streams of light down with her own quicker movements. Bringing her hand in a semi-slow arc to her side, she pushed with her palm, at the same time deflecting his shot with her other hand. Her arc of light — made thicker by the slowed movement of her arc — hit him forcefully on his side, and he lost his balance, falling hard on his elbow before ending up on his back.

The captain over this group — a middle-aged man — nodded with surprised acknowledgment at Sapphire. She glanced at her brother who looked pleased, despite his earlier show of anger.

After each man fought and ten remained, each was paired with someone and all five pairs sparred at the same time, the captain walking in between them.

When the captain pointed at Damien, then Sapphire, Damien stood rooted to the ground, and shot another glare at Sapphire once the captain turned away. Sapphire shrugged and walked up to him, falling into position.

“I knew it! I knew this would happen.” He said in a harsh whisper when she was close.

“Well, what did you expect?” she said in a low voice so no one around them would hear. “Of course you would get this far, because your skills are amazing. And it makes sense that I’d make it because I’m a natural.” She grinned at him and lifted her head so he could see the smugness in her eyes better.

“Yes, you’re just amazing,” he rolled his eyes. He shot a glance over her shoulder, and immediately fell into position and shot a thin wave of blue-tinged light at her. She didn’t have to turn to see what prompted him to act. The captain passed by and stopped to watch. Damien was purposefully slow in his push so that Sapphire could easily deflect it, but still shot with precision to show his skill. Even as she stopped his light with a push of her left hand, her right was circling around and then she pushed with both hands, sending two streams at Damien, which he, too, easily shielded.

When the captain went to look at another pair, Damien said, “And what am I supposed to do? Let you win?”

“Let me win?” her whisper came out in huff as she pushed again at him. “Do you doubt my skills that much that you think I can’t beat you?”

“Sapphire, I’ve trained with some of the best masters. You’ve practiced alone, with just a few pointers from me.” As if to prove his point, he brought his hands together then circled outward and quickly pushed his arms toward her in curves directed at both sides of her, leaning slightly into it. Light exploded from his palms, and two thick streams flew toward her. Seeing her brother do this move before, she knew she had one of two choices. She could throw herself back out of the way, escaping the light, but putting herself in a vulnerable position as he would already be throwing a new shot at her; or she could shoot at him. She would still get hit but, if done right, so would he.

Sapphire wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, so she opted for the second choice. In a flash, Sapphire circled her hand twice close to her chest, and threw her palm out, fingers pointing down. Her thin beam shot upward, and, just before his light hit her on both sides, she watched with satisfaction as hers hit him in his face.

As the light spun Sapphire around and tossed her rolling to the ground in a burst of energy and heat, Damien’s head shot back and he landed face-up on the ground. A couple of men around them turned to look, including the captain who looked down with a raised eyebrow, impressed.

Sapphire leaned up on her elbows, looking over at Damien who was doing the same. He laughed and got to his feet. Walking over to her, he reached his hand down. She grabbed it and he lifted her up as she rubbed her right arm where the light had hit particularly hard.

With people watching them, Damien settled for a pat on Sapphire’s back. “Nicely done, lad. And,” he looked apologetic, “I didn’t mean to throw that so hard.” He looked at her arm.

“Well, I kind of asked for it.” She punched his shoulder.

Her hood had slipped a little on her head when she’d been flung down, revealing a little of her blond hair. As she straightened her hood, Sapphire noticed Captain Drystan, whose group was next to hers, watching them.

***

A couple hours had passed since the battles first started. From the roughly four hundred who had come to battle, fifty remained. They stood in a line as Captain Drystan walked the length of them, sizing each man up. When he passed Sapphire near the middle of the row, he raised his eyebrow at her cloak still covering her head. All the other men who had been wearing cloaks had shed them as the heat of the sun and the battles warmed them too much. She lowered her head to keep him from scrutinizing her face too closely.

When he got to the end, he started putting the men in groups of five and assigning captains to them. He placed Sapphire and the few men around her in his group.

“All right, follow me.” He motioned them away from the rest of the groups, leading them closer to where the pavilion was. As she followed him, Sapphire noticed her brother was with the older captain she had first been grouped with.

When Captain Drystan stopped and turned around, he appraised his group. He pointed at one man and beckoned him forward.

Sapphire watched the captain closely as he battled the men before her, leaving her the last one. He sent each man crashing to his back with his light, but not without a good battle from each one. Though none of them got a hit on him, they kept the captain always on his guard with their skilled shots.

He didn’t seem to tire at all. His chest moved evenly, his movements always strong and fast. She couldn’t pinpoint a certain move he did often or a technique that he fell back on. But there were, at times, moments when his left side was briefly left open, usually when he sent the final move that ended the battle with his opponents on their backs.

Captain Drystan rolled his shoulders after the fourth man fell and waved Sapphire forward. He started out a with quick succession of hits to test her shielding. His hands circled one after the other, palms jutting out at each circular crest. Wave after wave of his dark-red light — a deeper shade than Sapphire’s own red — flew at her. Refusing to be forced to back up, Sapphire stood her ground and streamed sheets of light in front of her. The sheet lasted enough to stop several shots of his light before it faded and she was ready with another one.

When he started to shove larger, more controlled — and less frequent — waves at her, she retaliated with her own shots. At one point, he was shielding more than he was firing. She circled her arms continuously, pushing with her palms at each completed circle her hands made.

In defense, Captain Drystan slammed each of her shots down with ease, palms alternating from facing down to facing in as he brought his arms around. After a particularly hard push from Sapphire that caused her to step forward, the captain dodged her hit, rolling out of the way. Halfway through his roll, he sent a thin, dense beam of light at Sapphire’s head.

She had to leap backward to avoid his hit, but the edge of it caught the tip of her hood and pushed it back. She landed on her hands with one knee bent on the dirt, her other leg straight out. Her hair, free from its loosened tie and thrown-back hood, fell forward before her face and splayed onto the dirt, the bright yellow mixing with the dull brown.

A shocked silence seemed to permeate the air the second her hair was free, punctuated by a loud swear from what sounded very much like her brother. She stayed there, body still for several breaths. Then, bringing her feet together, she stood slowly, hair still covering her face until she rolled her head up. Once regaining her sight, she smiled mischievously at the man gaping before her. Grabbing her cloak from her left shoulder, she whipped it off, letting it flutter to the dirt. All the men in the field stopped their battles as murmuring swept through them.

Sapphire still breathed deeply from the exertion of the dance. Her rising chest was accentuated by her leather vest hugging her breasts and slim waist, previously hidden by the cloak.

Captain Drystan hadn’t moved, arms held lifelessly at his sides. She tilted her head in challenge. “We’re not done yet, are we? I believe the goal was to land the other on their back?”

When the captain came back to his senses, he called out angrily to the king, keeping his eyes on her. “Sire, I can’t fight a woman.”

“And yet you just have,” glee colored Sapphire’s voice.

“A woman,” he spat, ignoring her and looking toward the king, “would never be allowed in the king’s army, let alone the Elites.”

Sapphire lifted her head in defiance.

“Miss,” the deep voice of the king rang out, “your name.”

Sapphire faced the king, bowing at the waist. “Sapphire, Your Majesty.”

“Your skill is exceptional. Were you a man, I would say the same.”

Sapphire inclined her head in thanks.

“I see no reason to not let you continue. Nor do I see a reason that a woman shouldn’t be in my army.”

“Sire,” Captain Drystan said respectfully, yet still showing his disagreement, “she deceived us.”

“It is no more deceptive than hiding strengths or weaknesses from an enemy. She’s proven her worth thus far. Perhaps by being part of my army she would prove it even more. Let’s see the battle to its end.”

Captain Drystan bowed and faced Sapphire, his eyes narrowed with a dangerous tint in them. Once they began fighting again, Drystan threw his shots of light harder and faster than before. Sapphire swore she could feel the anger and resentment behind them. After a couple more minutes of fierce fighting, Sapphire using everything she had to stay upright, Drystan finally found a hole in her defense. He spiraled an unpredictable stream at her. Right before it hit her, she circled her hands quickly and shoved them both out and diagonally where she noticed Drystan had stepped out of his throw. His light caught her painfully in the chest, and she landed on her back.

After her brother ran over and helped her up, she looked at Drystan and saw him rubbing his left shoulder, a look seeming on the verge of surprise flitting across his face.

***

With the battles done, and after the shock of a woman competing wore off a little, the last competitors lined up once more. Her brother stood next to her. After he’d literally picked her up off the ground and stood her on her feet, he’d hugged her and said loudly, not caring now that people knew she was a woman, “Nicely done, little sister.”

There were fifty men standing anxiously, tired from a day of battling, yet eager to know the outcome. Twenty would be chosen. The ten captains, along with the king, had left for a while to discuss who they would choose. Now, the king stood before them with his captains behind him. He began naming the men that would start a new life in the King’s Elite army. When Damien’s name was called, he gave Sapphire a brief hug and whispered, “Don’t worry, you’ll make it,” before he jogged over to join the other men who had been chosen.

“And finally,” the king paused for a breath before the last name, “Sapphire.”

Sapphire felt like her heart would burst as she heard her name. She walked forward, and as she passed Captain Drystan, he inclined his head at her. Then, as if seeing her secretive, knowing smile, he flexed his shoulder.