The True Enemy Read online

  I held out my hand. “Maybe with is too strong of a word but towards the same goal. To stop her mother, Kristi Quick!” The knights quieted.

  “You know you can’t trust Morgan?” Art said slowly and calmly. “She corrupts all she touches.”

  “I am aware,” I stated. “But I believe her when she says Kristi Quick is her mom and will do far more damage to this world, this realm.”

  “And you base that belief on what?” Brett asked.

  “My gut,” I said. “Not just my instincts but also looking at the facts of the situation. I’ve witnessed how Kristi could take control of the powerful Black Knight and warp him. I believe she wants to do that to this world…”

  Lance nodded. ,“Ah, the Black Knight, the only man ever to equal me in battle. He wasn’t a good guy but he has honor and lives by a code.”

  “Lived,” I said coolly. “Morgan killed him, sort of…”

  Lance lowered his head and put his hands over his heart. “Yet you want to work with Morgan?”

  “Yes, I believe Kristi may be a greater threat, for now,” I said.

  Paulie took a step forward. He lowered his head. “I trust you, Gwen.”

  Lance dropped to a knee. “My support for you is internal….”

  “Dude, you mean eternal,” Paulie corrected.

  “Right! That word too!” Lance said.

  Mika and Gail came forward. “I’ve got your back girlfriend,” Mika said.

  Gail hugged me. “You are wise, I will follow.”

  Bart and Brett exchanged looks. They shrugged, “Well like they say, die young and stay pretty,” Bart said.

  I looked at Arthur. “Art you know Morgan the best. You have dealt with her the most in the past.”

  Art stood there silently. “She is not to be trusted. But her mother is worse. Morgan does have a certain code of honor. In her heart of hearts, she does believe she is doing the right thing and the rest of us are just idiots who need to be led on leashes, tight leashes.”

  “Yeah I get that vibe from her,” I said.

  “But her mother, she only cares about herself…she wants slaves,” Art said bluntly.

  “Well guys, it looks like I will be siding with Morgan to take her down!” I stated firmly. “If there are any objects though I am willing to listen.”

  I looked at my knights. I found quiet acceptance.

  My Notes:

  I can’t believe I am saying this but I think I have to work with Morgan. Maybe not with her but beside her. Morgan is tricky, manipulative and generally bad news. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t right in this case. For now, we seemed to have a common goal. I had to admit I was confused and a little scared. If Kristi really was more powerful than Morgan she would be a tough foe. And I still had no way to get to her. Yep, this wouldn’t be easy. Of course, there was a nagging doubt that I may have made the wrong choice here. That Morgan had tricked me and Kristi was a mostly harmless pop star. It was no fun being this confused. I couldn’t let my knights sense I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t let Morgan feel my weakness. Nobody ever said being queen would be easy! And they were right!

  Chapter 4 - A Chance

  On the way to school the next morning Dad looked over to me. “You look worried, honey,” he said.

  “I am,” I said. “I have decided, and my knights are backing me up, that we are going to sort of kind of be on Morgan’s side…”

  The car slowed down. “I would be lying if I told you I understand that sentence and or your reasoning,” he said bluntly. “But I would love to learn more.”

  Looking up at the ceiling of the car I said. “My knights and I, well mostly I feel that there is a bigger threat out there than Morgan. It was a really tough and difficult decision. I mean come on, legend has it that Morgan once beat an army into submission by simply taking off her shoes on a hot day. And once she threatened to turn Arthur and the entire round-table into poop.”

  “Well, I didn’t do that! At least I didn’t keep them that way…” Morgan answered.

  Turning my head. Morgan now sat in the driver's seat smiling. “I’m an excellent driver,” she boasted.

  “Morgan, we have to stop meeting like this! What did you do with Claude?”

  “He’s a shoe insole now, one of those massaging ones,” she said. She smiled, “Nah, he’s a good guy that Claude. A bit simple, but I have nothing against him. Well, not that I would punish him like that. He’s on a beach in Costa Rica drinking out of a coconut. He’s comfy.”

  I made a fist and waved it under Morgan’s nose. “If you’ve hurt him!”

  “Dear girl, unless he’s allergic to coconut he is fine.”

  A car blared its horn at us. The driver waved an angry fist at Morgan. “Hey lady you are driving in the wrong lane.”

  “How rude,” Morgan said.

  The car and the man disappeared.

  “Morgan! The man was right!” I shouted at her. I saw other cars coming towards us.

  A blink of energy. We were back in the right lane. Morgan looked at me. “That man didn’t have to be so rude!” She smiled, “And you are no fun, Gwen.”

  I saw a siren behind us. “Oh, no, the police…” I said.

  “I can turn them into little poodles,” Morgan offered.

  “No!” I said. “They are just doing their jobs.”

  Morgan pulled the car over to the side.

  “Well Gwen, I am glad to see we are on the same side,” she smiled.

  “For now!” I said. “Only because I consider you the potential lesser of two evils!”

  “I’ll take it!” Morgan said.

  Dad replaced Morgan in the seat. He had a coconut in his hand. A policewoman knocked on the window. Dad groaned. “I take it I missed something illegal…”

  “Yep,” I said.

  Dad rolled down the window. The policewoman was a grinning Morgan. “Hey, Claude hope you enjoyed your mini-vacation!”

  Claude turned red with anger. Morgan lifted a finger to silence him. “I’ll let you off with a warning this time for driving with a coconut, but don’t let it happen again!”

  Dad looked at me. I pointed to the school. “Just drive please.”

  Dad and I drove off.

  “Are you sure you want to work with that woman?” Dad asked.

  “No of course not,” I said.

  Dad grinned. “I must admit though she does has a flair about her.

  Somehow that made me feel slightly better about my choice. Not a lot better but I would take whatever I could get.

  The second I got into the school door I was rushed by Mika and Gail. “Do you see it? Do you see it?” Gail asked, almost hyperventilating. “It’s like a miracle or sign or a miracle sign or just luck or something else or the universe…”

  Mika put a hand on Gail’s shoulder. “Gail, slow down, breath!”

  “I am breathing!” Gail gasped. “Over and over!”

  “Breath slower and move to the side so she can see the sign,” Mika said.

  Mika pulled Gail to the side. That’s when I saw it. A giant poster that read:

  GREAT NEWS CAMELOT MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOLS

  PREPARE FOR THE EVENT OF THE CENTURY

  PREPARE FOR THE ONE AND ONLY Kristi QUICK

  Kristi WILL BE HERE FOR AN EXCLUSIVE CONCERT IN ONE WEEK!

  YES, ONE WEEK UNTIL YOU GET TO SEE THE AMAZING Kq!!!!!!!

  BUT HERE’S THE AMAZING GOOD NEWS FOR ONE LUCKY TEAM OF KIDS

  THE TEAM THAT RAISES THE MOST MONEY FOR Kq’s FAV CHARITY

  HOME FOR PETS

  THAT TEAM WILL GET AN SUPER MEGA EXCLUSIVE BACKSTAGE (OR BETTER) MEET AND GREET WITH

  THE GODDESS HERSELF….

  KQ!!!!!

  LEGAL NOTES: A team may bring 7 members to the meet and greet. Kristi will take pictures but not allow pictures. Please do not touch Kristi. Please do not propose to Kristi she is too good for you.

  “Looks like we have a way to meet Kristi and size her up,” Mika said.

 
; “With our team, I don’t see how we can lose!” Gail said.

  We heard coughing behind us. We turned to see the always stunning looking Celia and Kat, the fairies turned cheerleaders. They were backed my Nina, homecoming queen, class president, all American swimmer and also the Lady of the Lake.

  “You guys really think you underclassmen can raise more money than us?” Celia said.

  Gail stormed up to the three of them. “There are three of you and like six of us. That’s twice as many!”

  Celia rolled her eyes. “Look just because we’re the only three fairies doesn’t mean we can’t add more of the normal cheerleaders. They can be persuasive without magic.”

  “And so can we,” Kat added. “But we do have magic.”

  “So do we,” Gail said pointing to me.

  “We have more magic,” Celia added.

  Nina walked forward. “It’s true. We do have magic. But no we will not use it,” she said to Celia.

  Celia looked at her Nina and stomped her foot and frowned. “But Nina what good is magic if we don’t use it to have fun and meet Kristi. Up close we can sense if she truly has the power we believe she has.”

  Nina nodded. “That is true. But Gwen’s cause is true and just also…”

  Kat walked forward. “Girlfriend I know we’re ancient but seriously you need to get with it and talk like a normal teen.”

  Nina looked Kat direction in her eyes. Kat turned away. “No offense meant,” she shivered.

  Nina walked up to me. She offered me her hand. “We do this fair and square no magic!”

  “Why is it so important that you girls meet Kristi?” I asked. “Especially you. You’re the one who guards Excalibur and makes sure it goes to one who deserves it. After all, you gave Excalibur to Morgan.”

  Nina grinned. “Nope, it doesn’t work that way, the sword chooses who it stays with and it has chosen Morgan.”

  “So then why do you have to meet Kristi?” I asked.

  “To see for myself if Excalibur is right,” she replied.

  “Isn’t Excalibur always right?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “Of course not. It’s a silly sword. A weapon of war. Swords don’t always make the best choices. They may be sharp physically but not mentally.”

  By now Art, Bart, Brett, and Sebastian had joined us and were listening in. Art stepped forward. “What do you mean Excalibur makes mistakes?” He pointed his finger at Nina. “Are you saying I was a mistake? I should have never wielded it?”

  Nina laughed. “Those are your words, not mine,” she paused. “But that doesn’t mean they aren’t true.”

  Nina walked past Art to me. “I swear this will be a fair contest.” She held out her hand and I shook it.

  “Thanks,” I told her.

  The three older girls walked away.

  My mind went off to a different place and a different time. Arthur and I sat in the room. Arthur was polishing Excalibur.

  “Arthur, don’t you have pages to do that?” I asked.

  He looked up at me and smiled. “I do but this sword is my sword it chose me for a reason. I want it to know I am worthy. I worry that without this sword all will be lost…that I will be nothing.”

  I leaned in and hugged him.

  The bell rang, bringing me back to the here and now.

  Mika pointed to our classroom. “Come on, Gwen ,let’s get to homeroom.”

  I turned and started to go to class. “We have to win that contest,” I said. “We need that private meeting with Kristi.”

  “Oh we will,” Mika said.

  “I sure hope so, she is so hot!” Brett said.

  “She may be the ultimate evil,” Paulie said.

  “Still doesn’t mean she’s not way hot,” Brett said.

  I tapped Art on the shoulder. “Art, I am sure the sword chose wisely with you,” I told him.

  Art turned towards me. “Well, that makes one of us!” He paused, “But thanks for the kind words.”

  My Notes:

  It seemed that the universe was on my side. It had given me a chance to get up close and personal with Kristi Quick. I could learn if she truly was the threat that Morgan claimed she was. Of course to do this my knights and I would have to raise more cash than the three most popular girls at school. I knew we could do it! We had to do it.

  Chapter 5 - Monkeys Aren’t Always Fun

  At the end of the school day, the Knights and I met in the cafeteria to form a plan of action. Bart looked at the competition signup sheet on his computer.

  “Of course we have a team and the cheerleaders have a team,” Bart said. “They will be our toughest competition. Even without magic, they have charm and people skills. The band has a team, computer and chess club has a team, cooking club has a team, and for some reason, the young conservatives have a team. But they only have one member: Bradley Bartley.” Bart thought about it for a second. “But he’s rich and his family is connected. The dad alone can probably give him enough of a donation so he can win this!”

  Paulie also typed away at his computer. “I’m at the website that the school and Kristi’s people have established for the competition. There is a clause in the rules that states: in order to promote fair play and equality no donation from any one donor may be over $10.” He looked up from the computer and smiled. “That should take Bradley out of play.”

  “Yeah never count out the rich,” Brett said. “He’s still connected. His family can probably do a phone tree or something or hire people to sign up people…”

  Mika showed me her phone. “I texted with Lance. He’s really catching on to texting. Though he’s still pretty bad at some of the lingo. Since he does gym class in our school I believe he can be on our team. He’s loaded with charm. That will help.”

  “Indeed,” I said.

  “You know Gwen between, you, me, my bro, Art, Mika, Sebastian, Gail, Paulie and Lance that makes more than seven,” Bart said.

  “I won’t go,” Paulie said. “I don’t like her music. Besides, it’s past my bedtime.”

  “I’m sure Lance won’t want to go either,” I said. “Not his type of thing.”

  “Yeah but if it turns out Kristi is the big bad, you will need Lance’s fighting skills,” Art said.

  “Don’t worry about that,” I told Art. “I can always teleport him to the scene if needed.”

  “Oh right, I forgot that you have magic now,” he sighed. He shook his head. “Not even sure that I’m needed here.” Another pause. “I’ll tell you what if we win, Lance can just go in my place. He’s got much better fighting skills than I do.” He pointed at me. “You have better leadership skills. I’m just an extra wheel. An extra square wheel at that…”

  Gail put a hand on Art’s shoulder. “Arthur, you are being too hard on yourself. A square wheel actually gets in the way. You never really get in the way. Sure, you can’t fight as well as Lance or I or for that matter even Sebastian who is a fine fighter. Yeah, you aren’t as tricky and as cunning as Bart and Brett. And of course, you aren’t as smart as Mika or Percy. You aren’t the leader Gwen is. But you aren’t a hindrance.” She smiled, “You are part of our team!”

  “The weakest link,” Art said.

  “Yes but still a link and if any link gets broken we are in trouble,” Gail told him.

  Art looked at me, “What are your thoughts?” He looked away, “Is the weakest link important?” He paused. “Remember I am perfectly happy living a nice normal life. I have no desire to be king here. I never wanted to be king. After all, I just pulled a stupid sword from a stone once. Not a great way to choose a king! If you want me to step aside, I will. Let Lance go in my place.” He looked down. “He’s always been the better man…even in our original time. He was the one whom you loved the most. I can’t blame you if you want me to leave….”

  Art’s words rang true. Arthur and I were together more out of obligation than love. Lance and I had a more of a natural attraction, I admit it. But I did grow to respect and love A
rthur. I knew he had leadership thrust upon him. He took the mantle of king and he did bring peace to a violent land. At least he brought peace for a time. I had to choose my words perfectly. While yes, Art may not have offered as much as the other knights, he still had wisdom, experience, and a strong arm. Just not as strong as Lance or Gail.

  I locked eyes with him. “Art for now and always, you will be a part of these knights. I value your guidance, your experience and yes your fighting skills. I don’t want you to leave my knights.” I paused. “That said I also do not wish to force upon you responsibilities you can’t handle or do not wish to handle. If you want to step away, I will honor that.”

  Art gazed up at the ceiling. Like he was searching for answers. He looked around the now empty cafeteria. We were alone there. Arthur pulled a lacrosse ball from his pocket. He flung it towards me. The ball whizzed past me and smacked a large winged flying monkey in the face. The monkey dropped to the ground. A large wooden barrel appeared in the middle of the room. Six other sword-wielding, winged monkeys popped out taking the downed monkey’s place. Each one carried a sword in each hand and one with their tail. They came at us in bowling pin formation.

  “Can I give you my decision after we fend off these flying monkeys?” he asked.

  “Sounds like a plan!” I said.

  I pointed my staff at the airborne monkeys. “We wish you no harm!” I shouted.

  The six-winged monkeys took to the air. They hissed at us with snake-like tongues.

  “Who thinks up these creatures?” Sebastian asked.

  “We are a gift from the fairies,” one of the monkeys hissed. “They wish to meet with Kristi and evaluate her. They fear you are in the way!”

  “So much for no magic,” Mika told me.

  I transformed my pencil into my staff with a thought. I had to say I impressed myself with that move.

  Bart and Bert both pulled out slingshots from their book bags.

  Gail, Mika, and Sebastian took fighting stances.