Castle of Glass

Eurydice

My father pulled a log from the furnace and held it by its tip as I watched on in curiosity. He had already bundled up some of his best weapons, all gathered up in a sack on the wooden table. I had no idea what is going on, but my father is in some sort of panic.

“Eurydice, you must go!” My father looked at me wearily.

I did not like the look he was giving me. My father had always been a brave man, so certain of everything in life. He looked to be in fear of something and my father had never been afraid of anything. I was inspired to be brave like him, and I believe I am. But my father is showing a sign of weakness; I have no idea why.

“Father, I’m scared!”

My father looked over his shoulder at some sort of commotion going on outside before turning to look back at me. He smiled at me in reassurance but I was not having it. Something was going on.

“Eurydice, listen to me, my child, very bad monsters are outside the village. They are closing in on our village. It won’t take long until they find us, you need to take the weapons and slip out while you can.”

I opened my mouth to speak as tears started forming in my eyes. My father is surrendering to the enemy. I refuse to believe that.

“Come with me, father.” I whispered, trying to keep myself together.

“I cannot, my sweet child. The monsters are hurting people and I need to protect my village. I need to put up a fight, to be brave.” He pulled out an iron-made sword from his sheath.

I refused to leave my father. He was going to fight and I want to fight with him. Before I could come up with more excuses to stay, a loud thumping sound reverberated from outside.

“Take the weapons and leave NOW! There is a man; he is on the east side of the village. He is a missionary and an old friend of mine—find him, give him the weapons, they are for the king. Go, Eurydice!”

My father gestured toward the back entrance with his eyes and I shook my head in refusal.

“Father…”

Angry, my father stuck the log inside the burning furnace and dropped the burning log on the ground. A gasp escaped my lips as the fire started traveling down our wooden hut. I snatched the sack of weapons from the table and stared up at him.

“Come with me, please.” I pleaded as I had never before in my life.

Shaking his head, he shoved me toward the back entrance and I had no choice but to stumble to the location. I opened the door, discreetly glancing outside. The whole village was pillaged, items and surplus scattered everywhere on the ground. I watched in horror as the screams of women and children echoed through.

“Eurydice, the missionary will take great care of you.” My father said from behind me.

“I can take care of myself.” I replied stubbornly.

“He has a young daughter your age, I think. Her name is Sayer, and she is a kind girl.”

He pushed me out of the hut as I hear the wooden door of our front entrance collapse. I left the hut but stayed long enough to observe my father’s final actions inside our burning hut, our home—the only home I had ever known.

I remember watching in horror as the monsters entered our collapsing hut and killed my father. It was a moment of weakness for me. I screamed and yelled, on the verge of storming inside to avenge the death of my father. I was close, but a young girl pulled me away from the place I once called home.

We ran and ran until we found the king’s guard.

My eyes shot open quickly and my entire body shot up from the bed. I blinked at my surroundings several times, noticing that I am no longer outside my destroyed village. The red velvet curtains covered the view to outside. My mirror and table are on the other side of the large chambers.

I am no longer Eurydice, the daughter of the village blacksmith. I am now Princess Eurydice, the adopted daughter of King Jakobi.

“FLORA!” I yelled loudly toward the smaller chambers alongside mine.

As expected, my handmaid appeared from the chambers and attended to me immediately.

“Morning, princess.” She said respectfully as she pulled the curtains aside.

The lights blinded my eyes and my mind flashed back to the day of the massacre again. The events of that day ran through my mind, forcing me to accept the fact that my father did not die because he was trying to protect the village. He told me that because he wanted me to be brave. But he died because he had to stall the damned orcs before they got to me. He was killed protecting me.

“Get a bath running and I want my sparring clothes ready before I finish my bath. Find Chester, tell him I summoned him for a rematch.” I instructed my maid, shaking the thoughts of my biological father from my head.

Flora curtsied at me and turned to leave my chambers.

“Flora?”

“Princess?”

“See to it that no one interrupts my bath. I will bathe myself.” I said.

The maid made a sound of acknowledgement and left my bedchambers.



I entered the battle stadium with my steel armor and helmet on, clutching onto a long, steel metal-made sword and shield. As I walked onto the hard paved ground, I noticed my opponent standing in the center of the field. He was ready before me as usual, but I did not mind. Being ready to fight first is not the same as winning the match.

Chester drew his bronze sword out at me when I approached. It is nothing out of the ordinary for him to wield bronze made materials. Although it is a lot more brittle than iron, steel, or most other metals, the edges are harder and sharper. The sharper edges are kept longer.

Aside from studying and practicing weaponry arts, I practiced forging weapons and learning about the metals used to make them. Because my father was a blacksmith, it is inevitable that I possess this type of knowledge.

Without missing a beat, I took a diagonal swipe at him when I confronted him. I was met with his shield instead of his armor, but it was expected. The next best thing to winning is fighting a worthy opponent. I hate facing defeat, because it is not in my nature to do so. But if I win, it sure as hell better be a well-earned win.

Chester swiped at me from the left side and I took the time to take several steps to the right as I drew my sword to parry the attack. I believe that I can win this fight, because I have been training so persistently. Not only that, but I studied everything I could about weaponry arts. I have reason to think that I am one of the best fighters in this kingdom.

I pulled out my shield when he tried a horizontal slash at me, and I counter attacked quickly with my sword. Just as the edge of my steel blade brushed against his upper left arm, his own weapon arrived to meet mine just in time. I smirked at him and we continued to clash swords. As we parried each other’s attacks, I tried to study him underneath his helmet. I can’t see his face completely through my own helmet and his, but I know his sword play so well that I can predict his moves sometimes.

Unfortunately, it is the same case for him. We’ve been sparring periodically since we were brought to this castle. I’ve known him since I was a child, and the best way of knowing a person is learning their techniques in a fight.

That is exactly what I did with him and him to me.

I know at this point that he would be looking for an opening. He liked to make his opponent think that he is desperate to seek out an opening window of attack during a series of clashing swords, but inside that head of his, he is setting a trap. He is three steps ahead of just finding an opening.

My tricks usually involve allowing him to think he is having the upper hand of this fight. I let him think that he is trapping me, when in actuality, I have other tricks up in my sleeves. But I want to play it differently this time.

I allowed myself to give him an opening for just a mere second, knowing he will take it. As predicted, he held out his sword arm and I see his shield arm twitch slightly. His left food shifted slightly, which meant that he planned to knock me over with his shield as I took the bait of his attack.

Instead of falling for this trick, I slammed my sword against his and ducked as his shield arm went flying at my shoulder. My original plan was to tackle him with the shield as I was a few inches lower than usual, but he already sensed my planned movement as I had sensed his.

As I pushed my body for the tackle with my two iron clad feet, he already lounged away from my window of attack. It was too late for me as I leaped forward at where his figure once was. My back is pressed against the floor as I faced my opponent standing above me. He brought down his sword, but I drew my sword out faster and tilted the weapon at a particular angle.

When my sword collided with his, the front half of his bronze weapon was sliced off as I predicted. I knew that bronze weapons are brittle and a bit more fragile than the rest. If approached at the proper angle, it can be taken off—especially with my steel sword. He stared after his broken weapon and tossed it behind him in defeat.

I smirked proudly, believing that the loss of his weapon meant my victory. I’ve always believed I had it in me to defeat him, and assume my reputation of power. My knowledge of the makings of a weapon brought me to my win.

Chester moved his feet and it brushed against mine roughly. Before I could even blink, he landed right above me, knocking my sword and shield out of my hands. I breathed heavily as I looked up at his dark brown eyes through the helmet. He stared back at me with those eyes, and immediately I knew that he had planned to distract me with his fall. I cursed aloud when he pointed my own sword against my neck.

I nodded in defeat and watched as Chester pulled his helmet off from his head. He smirked at me, removing himself from his position above me. I continued to glare at him, even after my helmet went off. It is beyond disappointing that I would fall for his last resort trick. I thought I had him, and I wanted to win this match. It would prove to King Jakobi that I had what it takes to be part of the king’s guard.

Chester and the other guys had the privilege to be trained as knights, and I wanted more than anything to have the same amount of training as they had. Even though I have the intention of succeeding Jakobi as the queen of this kingdom, I wanted the opportunity to avenge my father’s death.

“Eurydice.” Chester held out a hand for me to take.

Shaking my head at him, I got up without his help. I tossed my helmet onto the floor and stormed passed my opponent in my heavy armor. Every angry step I took reverberated throughout the entire stadium. I feel myself grow more irritated by the second.

“Don’t be angry with me, princess. Why are you angry with me?” I sense his presence after me.

Sighing loudly, I stopped and turned, nearly resulting in him running into me.

“Chester, if I can’t even win a fight against some knight in this castle, then how the hell am I going to slay the bastards who murdered my father? Tell me, Chester!” I slammed my gauntlet-covered hand against the breast of his metal plate.

His expression softened for just a slight second before his usual façade reappeared again. I can smell the air of his arrogance.

“Princess Eurydice, I’m not just some knight. I was trained to protect this kingdom, and I am the best at it.” He beamed at me in satisfaction.

Rolling my eyes at him, I turned from him and approached Flora, who was waiting for me at the front of the gates. She bowed to me slightly when I approached.

“Princess…”

“Flora, get another bath running, and summon Sayer to my chambers. I want her at my dining table by noon. We have very important matters to attend to,” I ordered.

Flora nodded in obedience and glanced over my shoulder to look at Chester. She greeted him subtly before escorting me back to the castle. I tried to forget about the defeat that happened at the battle stadium and think about my upcoming meeting with my adopted sister.

But I cannot let Chester get away with his victory. The smug expression on his face angered me too much to let it go.