Weldon's Arc

Chapter 7 of 9

Weldon came back from Avalon with a treaty in his pack and a knot in his chest. The Queen met him at the palace gate the next morning. She did not speak of the field she had healed or the senshi she had erased. She said, "Six hours a day. Starting now." She walked him to a dome of metal ribs and crystal panels at the edge of the training grounds. Inside, the light bent through colored facets onto a clean stone floor. "Your power is new," she said. "Someone in my house wanted your kingdom dead. Until we find them, you will be ready." The drills were brutal. The Queen made him transform, hold the form, drop it, transform again until his knees shook. She struck at him with light and made him block. She named limits he had not known he had. On the third day she brought Sailor Pluto to test his speed, and Pluto moved through him like wind through a curtain. "You carry too much," Pluto said when he was on the floor. "A witch-made senshi cannot hold what a born one holds. Learn the weight you can keep." She offered her hand. He took it. The debt between them did not move, but she did not name it. On the sixth day the Queen brought two others. Luna Starcrest stood at the wall with her arms crossed, ring catching the dome light. Beside her stood Noelle Silva, a thick book open against her hip. "They will spar with you," the Queen said. "I want to see who in my court still flinches when you raise your hand." Luna stepped onto the floor first. She did not bow. Luna fought like someone working a problem. She closed the distance, broke it, closed it again. Weldon held the form longer than he had the day before. He blocked her third strike and felt something give in her stance — not weakness, hesitation. She stepped back with her hand half-raised, eyes wide, as if she had heard a voice behind her own. "Stop," she said. She turned to the Queen. "My lady. I need to speak with you. Alone." Her voice was flat and very quiet. "There is an orb. I have been carrying it since before the prince came." The Queen did not move for a long breath. Then she said, "Show me." Luna pulled a small dark stone from inside her glove and set it on the floor. It rolled once and stopped. Noelle closed her book. Pluto stepped to the door without being told. The Queen knelt and touched the orb with one finger. Her face did not change, but the dome light dimmed for a moment, as if the panels had drawn breath. "This is the knife," the Queen said. She looked at Weldon. "You found it by standing in the room. That is enough for today." She lifted the orb into her sleeve and stood. "Tomorrow we follow it to the hand that gave it."