• Light shone through the window to the left of Ky’s bed. She rolled over. Mr. Zaphnin would be angry with her, but she could really care less. She wanted her sleep so Mr. Zaphin would just have to deal with it.
    Ky was a 14 year-old girl with shoulder length, red hair and bright green eyes. Her skin shone with the tan evidence of outdoor exercise and, to her great delight, she had finally grown out of her freckles. Ky was just a bit taller than most teens her age; Mr. Zaphnin always told her to view her height as a gift, but Ky hated it. Ky also hated her full name, Kyrene Ursa Rose, and insisted on being called Ky. Only two people called her Kyrene: Her maid, whose real name was Mrs.Grove, but who Ky always called Ahnna, and the King.
    “Up, up, up miss Kyrene. Mr. Zaphnin has worked himself into a tizzy waiting for you. Having Mr. Zaphnin as a teacher is a privilege, you know,”said Mrs. Grove.
    “I know, Ahnna, a privilege,” mumbled Ky as she pulled the covers over her head.
    “Now you be washed up and dressed in 15 minutes, or there’s no breakfast for you.” ordered Mrs. Grove.
    “But Ahnna!” whined Ky.
    “No buts, now up, up, up!” Mrs. Grove said as she ducked down the stairs.
    Ky desperately wanted to sleep, but her stomach wanted breakfast and, as always, her stomach won out. Ky got up, walked over to the washbasin, and splashed cold water on her face. Groggily, she opened her clothes chest and grabbed a white skirt that reached a bit below the knees with built in shorts underneath, called a jaylash, and a red sleeveless top. Ky shed her night gown and pulled on her jaylash and shirt. It was going to be a hot day. She shoved on her favorite leather ankle boots and ran down the stairs into the palace kitchen.
    “Mornin’ Ky, better eat right quick. Mr. Zahpnin is mighty mad at you, bein’ late and all,” said Joe, the palace chef. Joe was a sweet man with dimples and a mustache. He was short, squat and always wore an apron. He insisted that everyone try his newest concoction; as a result, no one ever left Joe’s kitchen hungry.
    “Ok, I’ll try to eat as quickly as I can,” replied Ky in between mouthfuls of delicious strawberry waffle cakes.
    When Ky was finished, she ran out the door, down some stairs, and into the palace courtyard. Mr. Zaphnin, red-faced and grumbling, was waiting for her.
    “Where in the world were you Ky?” yelled Mr. Zaphnin.
    “I, uh, overslept sir,” replied Ky timidly.
    “You’re a whole hour late!”
    “I know, and I’m very sorry, sir”
    “I’m not so sure you’re sorry yet, but believe me you’ll be quite sorry enough by the end of the morning,” said Mr. Zaphnin.
    Ky cringed as she heard those last words, it was getting hot already and by the sound of things, Mr. Zaphnin would be making her work extra hard today. Sighing inwardly, she walked over to a box sitting in the corner of the courtyard and unlocked it with a key she wore around her neck. She smiled as she picked her staff up out of the box and caressed the carved rose wrapping around its tip. The staff was heavy and awkward, but with lots of practice - for Ky was quite the klutz- she knew she would master every aspect of this fighting style. At least, that’s what she hoped.
    “What is taking you so long, Ky? ,” yelled Mr. Zahpnin, “I want you down here now!”
    “Man, he really is angry,” thought Ky, “That’s the last time I oversleep.”
    “Coming,” she replied.
    Ky ran over to her teacher and assumed a defensive pose while Mr. Zaphnin made comments and adjusted her posture. Then he blew his whistle and Ky assumed an attacking pose. Mr. Zaphnin corrected her posture accordingly. When Ky’s stance met his standard, he blew his whistle and she resumed her defensive pose. They continued this drill until Ky could flawlessly flow from one stance to the other.
    “Good job Ky, you got the hang of it much quicker today,” commented Mr. Zaphnin.
    “ Now, to work on your endurance,” Mr. Zahpnin said and then paused for dramatic effect, but Ky only rolled her eyes. “Please run eight laps around the courtyard. If you don’t beat your time from yesterday, you will have to run all eight laps again until you do.”
    Once again, Ky reprimanded herself for oversleeping and wearily trudged over to the starting point. Mr. Zaphnin blew his whistle and Ky started to run. In her head, she kept a steady beat.
    “One, two, three, four, breathe in. One, two, three, four, breathe out.” Ky was soon lost in the beat of the run. As her body fatigued, she lost count of the laps; her mind, far, far away from the palace. Ky looked over at Mr. Zaphnin as she reached the starting mark. When he winked, she realized this was her last lap.
    “Time to show him what I’ve got,” thought Ky as she gathered up all her strength and raced around the courtyard. She had to beat her previous record. There was no way she would be able to run another eight laps. She rounded the corner; the end was near! She pushed as hard as she possibly could and leaped across the finish line. Ky crumpled to the ground, panting.
    “What, was, my, time?” asked Ky between large gasps of air
    “Twenty-four seconds,”once again Mr. Zaphnin decided to add a dramatic pause,” less than your last run.”
    Ky relaxed in the soft green grass, grateful to be finished running. Grudgingly, she forced herself to stand up and walk over to the fountain. The cold water tasted so good. She could feel it coursing through her body, bringing new strength to her limbs. Sweat poured off her face, onto the ground; she sighed and jumped up onto the low wall surrounding the fountain. The sun had climbed its way up the sky, reaching arms of light toward the second-highest palace tower. Mr. Zaphnin’s lesson would soon be over.
    “My lesson isn’t over yet Ky,”said Mr. Zaphnin. Ky shivered; she swore that man could read her mind. “Grab your staff and let’s put those fighting stances you’ve been working on to use.”
    Ky jumped off her perch on the side of the fountain and ran to Mr. Zaphnin, excitement exploding from her eyes, actual fight practice was her favorite part of Zaphnin’s class. She automatically went into a defensive stance and blocked a few of Mr. Zaphnin’s easiest attacks. She tried to attack, but her clumsiness got the better of her and Mr. Zaphnin rapped her on the left shoulder.
    “Your shoulder, what does it look like?”said Mr. Zaphnin in his best teacher voice.
    Ky sighed. “Here comes another lecture.”
    “Normal, I guess.”
    “ Ah, but it isn’t, I see some red marks on your shoulder, what are they?”
    Ky was frustrated; Mr. Zaphnin knew what her mark was, so did everyone in the whole kingdom for that matter, but she replied accordingly,” It’s a rose with three thorns and two leaves.”
    “Ah, a rose, how interesting, where did you get it?” Mr. Zaphnin asked as he fired a few attacks at Ky.
    Ky deflected them. “I was born with this mark.”
    Mr. Zaphnin twirled and attacked from the right.“Its such an odd mark, do you know what it means?”
    Ky blocked two of the hits, but the third made contact. With a new fury, Ky attacked.“ It means that I am the one chosen to vanquish evil when it rises again from the underbelly of the earth.”
    “Oh really, then you are bound to become a great mage and warrior,”Mr. Zaphnin replied with mock surprise as he easily blocked Ky’s best blows, twirled sideways and pinned her to the ground
    “Ky, greatness is not measured in strength or magic, but in wisdom and humbleness. A man’s greatest adversary is his own ego. He who wants to be first must become the servant of all.” Mr. Zaphnin helped Ky up and she put away her staff in the box in the corner of the courtyard. Just as she finished locking it, the lunch bell rang. With an empty stomach and an aching shoulder, Ky ran into the hot, stuffy dining hall.
    “Hey Joe, I think I want to eat in my room today, if that’s ok with you,” Ky shouted above the roar of the hungry crowd of servants flowing in from the door.
    “I thought you’d be wantin’ to, so I made you a plate to take upstairs. It’s sittin’ by the stairs,” Joe replied just as loudly.
    “Thanks Joe,” Ky said with a smile. Joe winked at her and Ky grabbed her plate and ran upstairs to her room. Her lunch consisted of cold cut ham wrapped in flat bread, sliced oranges, a large hunk of watermelon, and ice cold grape juice to drink. Ky opened her napkin and smiled, for inside her napkin, Joe had placed a small rose carved out of white chocolate.
    “Joe really outdid himself this time,” thought Ky as she felt the soft, thin petals and lifelike leaves. “It’s almost too beautiful eat,”
    “Almost, but not quite,” Ky thought as she devoured the delicious chocolate treat. It was absolutely heavenly. Ky wondered why Joe had given her the scrumptious desert. Normally, Ky only received chocolate for Christmas and her birthday.
    She would ask Joe later, right now she wanted to curl up in her window seat and read her book. Books were a rare and expensive luxury, but because of her high status as Mark Bearer, Ky received the best books by the best authors. Her newest was about five young men who went on a mission to slay a dragon. Unbeknownst to them, the dragon was a good dragon fighting the same evil the men were. Ky was just at the part in the book where the men had confronted the dragon. Ky couldn’t wait to find out if the men killed the dragon, or befriended it. It was a very good book.
    Personally, Ky didn’t want to go on any adventures. She dreaded the day when the prophesy known as “The Mark of The Rose” would come to pass. According to it, evil would wake up from it’s long sleep and attack the kingdom. The one bearing the Mark of the Rose would be the deciding person between the victory of good or the victory of evil. Ky desperately wanted the prophecy to be false. The characters she read about in stories always came back from their adventures as changed people. To Ky, they never seemed as happy as they were before being thrown into an adventure. Ky would much rather read about adventures than have to deal with one herself.