Gauntlet

An orange-haired woman rushed from the shadows of the library after the door to her brother’s study slammed shut, digging through the fallen books and splintered wood that used to make up the bookshelf.

“You’re lucky your cute, bringing that weapon here was incredibly stupid,” the Princess muttered as she pushed aside armfuls of literature ranging from advanced fortune-telling to nursery rimes a servant read to her as a child.

San’s black hair was finally poking through amongst the hard covers, like a radish ready to be pulled, but Aurora didn’t pull her hair, instead trying to carefully make a ditch in the pages to make sure San could breathe.

When her face finally surfaced, the Princes held a finger over her nose, feeling a faint breath—at least San was still alive. With that in mind, she looked across the room, the destroyed floors and walls cracked with the bloodied bodies that seemed to surface the number of books in the room just based on the carnage.

But her eyes found the witch, lying in her red blotted robes. Rushing to her side, and gingerly turning her over, Aurora was delighted to see the lightning that had pierced her body hadn’t hit her heart as well.

The witch was very short of breath and was trying her best to apply pressure to her wound. Her complexion was pale, but she flashed a smile to show she was at least happy to see her old acquaintance.

Digging through the pockets inside the witch’s robe, as in the past she had known them to hold all sorts of helpful items. The Princess was pleased to find two vials left, assuming they were regenerative, she poured one down the witch’s throat as her puckered face definitely showed the woman was still alive. “When you feel up to it, I need you to save that poor boy stuck in the floor,” Aurora asked, motioning toward Marko who had given up his efforts in escape and had looked to settle into the life of organic furniture.

Rushing back across the room to take the second vile to San’s exposed face, she parted the girl’s soft lips and poured the second potion down her throat. As her jaw clenched and her face twisted, the bitter taste of the potion worked its magic,

Opening her eyes to the beautiful Aurora digging her out as the Princess had shoveled away more books to expose more than just her face, but now her neck and even the tops of San’s exposed breasts, San’s face was rightfully flush with embarrassment, trying her best to wriggle out herself.

“Good morning,” Aurora said warmly as San tried her best to avoid her gaze, finally freeing an arm to try and cover her exposed flesh, her tattered clothing hadn’t needed to be that functional once the armor covered her torso, until now, deeply regretting leaving her stained cloak in the air vent.

“Don’t be modest, I’m a trained field medic, and you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about,” Aurora said out of her covered smirk as she knelt, clearing the books from San’s lower half, “to fill you in, my brother has the gauntlet now, him and his creepy sidekick are huddled away in his study behind that locked door.

“Why do you sound worried?” San asked, “the gauntlet is incredibly heavy and takes a full year to cover a body in its impenetrable armor,”

“But he’s dedicated the last five years to find artifacts to make this work for him, so we need to act fast.”

♮

“Quickly now, set me onto that stool, Gupo,” The Prince demanded after the satisfying click of the door locking behind him signaled his safety. With the weight of the gauntlet now testing the strength of the Prince’s stool, the demands continued. “Fetch Naru’s amulet, it’s locked in my safe. Here, catch,” Fabian demanded, throwing his keys across the room to his faithful servant.

“Yes, Gupo, our time has come, no longer shall we wallow in the shadow of my father or have his decree hang over our heads, stopping me from claiming my birthright,” the Prince said to himself as Gupo had scampered off to another room.

“Sir, are you really sure about this? The legend of Naru’s amulet is very clear, its negative effects are irreversible if the jewel ever leaves your body.”

“Yes, yes I’m sure, bring it here,” Fabian ordered as Gupo rushed the artifact over, having had his last moment of hesitation out of respect for the safety of his prince.

“You’re not even thirty yet, my liege, you understand once you put this on, you will age to be 80, is that sacrifice really worth the immeasurable strength?”

Snatching the amulet from him with his left hand, the Prince revealed his master plan. “You see, the fact that this artifact accelerates ageing is precisely why it fits so well with my plan as the gauntlet needs the body to age to cover its form in armor. Within minutes, not only will I be strong enough to wield its massive weight, but its impenetrable armor will leave me invincible, especially with that fool Quinton dead, no one will stop me, and I’ll wear a helmet so the world will never see my wrinkled gray face, problem solved.”

“But what if you can’t control the gauntlet, sire?”

“It’s not like the curse of the gauntlet is a threat to me, the Prince said with a smile,” as he fit the amulet over his blond curly hair. There was a pause as the Prince’s shifting eyes looked down through the thick air before the jewel around his neck started to glow, igniting his screams of agony to be echoed throughout the castle as his frail form ballooned. The color left his hair as a massive beard filled his face, white as the granite his muscles looked to be carved from, as his bulk expanded his silk robes, splitting down the seams.

The gauntlet’s armor soon followed to cover his pale flesh. His screams faded as his final form was revealed. The Prince had never felt better in his life, no more dizzy spells, no more jars with unopenable lids, the world was his oyster!

“Sire, how do you feel?” Gupo said excitedly from under a table, cowering as he held the wood leg.

“Powerful,” the Prince said bending down to look his servant in his eyes as a tooth filled smile cracked across his jaw. Grabbing the disfigured Gupo by the throat in his metal claw, the Prince held the small man far up as Gupo kicked his legs and tried to pry his fingers away from the Prince’s iron grip.

“Sire, please remember who you are, your, not a bad person you would never hurt me, I’m your best friend, sire,” Gupo pleaded as he could feel the Prince’s grip slowly getting tighter. Truly, if he had wanted to, he could have ended the small man’s life with much less malice, but to this day it’s unknown if the Prince’s acts were of his own.

“Oh, I remember,” Fabian snarled as he juiced his loyal servant, chunks of Gupo’s organs filtering thru the iron grip as the pressure from his squeeze forced his eyes from his sockets. The Prince tossed Gupo’s fresh-squeezed corpse aside as he made his way up the stairs and out to address what was left of the Capital.