[A Fractured Song] - Chapter 18 - Fantasy, Isekai (Portal Fantasy), Adventure

Cover Art

Summary: 13-year old Frances was summoned with her entire class to the fantastical world of Durannon to fight the monsters invading the human kingdoms. Struggling from the trauma and self-loathing inflicted on her by her abusive parents, how will Frances survive as she is thrust into this war?

[The Beginning] [<=Chapter 17] [Chapter Index and Blurb] [Chapter 19 on May 30]

Several Days later…

Frances was in the courtyard of Salpheron, practicing with her sword when she first met Prince Sebastian.

Her mentor’s logic to her learning a weapon was logical. If she ran out of magic, she needed to be able to defend herself. There were also more practical reasons. If a mage’s wand or staff broke, or they were going into a close-quarters situation, they would need a secondary weapon.

Having always loved the heroes and heroines in the storybooks, such as Alanna the Lioness in Tamora Pierce’s book series, Frances had wanted a sword. Luckily, the Order’s armory had one that worked with her size and strength—lack thereof that is. A long narrow, two-handed thrusting sword with no edges, but a sharp tip and a reinforcing ridge that ran down like a spine. It was called an estoc.

Frances’s one was unremarkable, and still quite heavy, but she loved it, and she called hers “Alanna” though, only in her head. It sounded silly to name her sword when it wasn’t even that special.

Anyway, when Frances met the prince, she was practicing stabbing Alanna at a suspended wooden log that swung side to side. It was pockmarked and cut from the stabbing and slashing of a hundred weapons. She was aiming to keep hitting different red X’s painted on the log. She just managed to thrust and hit the red X on the top right of the log, and pull back, when she heard loud clapping.

That drew her attention to a brown-haired man with a fine ermine-lined green cloak, probably to shield against the cold winds that battered Salpheron castle. He had a sword at his side, and the jewels studded in the hilt noted that he was a noble for sure. He looked to be around her Master’s age, mid-thirties.

What Frances didn’t expect, however, and made her quickly spin and bow low, was a silver crown on his head.

“Your Majesty,” stammered Frances. She had no idea who this royal was, but she daren’t anger or displease him.

“At ease. You are Lady Frances, Edana Firehand’s student right?”

Frances nodded, keeping her gaze averted.

“I’m Prince Sebastian. I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” said the man, smiling.

It was a smile Frances wasn’t entirely comfortable with. She wasn’t sure why, but it was almost too toothy. That and Edana had not spoken in positive terms about Prince Sebastian. In fact, when he had visited Salpheron a few days before, he and Edana had gotten into a huge argument. She heard, literally hearing the screaming as the pair had gone at each other.

Her mentor had somehow taught her lesson without even batting an eye, but the argument had exhausted her. She’d staggered to her room and napped.

The next day, the War Council had demanded an in-person meeting and Edana had had to draw up an intensive lesson plan for Frances. She’d ridden off the following day in a rush, and with a hurried apology.

None of which did anything to ease Frances’s worries that her mentor was looking to replace her.

“About what, Your Highness?” Frances asked.

“Well, what has your mentor told you about my request for you to be a healer for the Grand Lapanterian Legion?” Sebastian asked.

He sounded like one of those prince charmings from a storybook. Except, Frances was acutely aware that there were monsters that could hide in human skin. Her parents had appeared ‘normal’ for years. She bet that if she succeeded in killing the demon lord and disappeared from her world, they’d play that off as well.

“She’s told me I’m not ready, Your Highness.”

For a microsecond, Sebastian rolled his dark brown eyes, but Frances, who was intently watching him caught that and her opinion of the prince sunk lower.

“And what do you think?”

“I’m only fourteen, Your Highness, and a newcomer to this world. I don’t think I would know best.”

“Perhaps, but are you not bored, Frances? Cooped up in this castle with nowhere to go?”

“Sometimes, Your Highness. It’s just… my world doesn’t have magic, Your Highness, and so every day is quite a novelty,” said Frances. Her eyes darted left and right and she realized that she was alone. None of the White Order mages were in the courtyard, probably because it was near supper and she’d stayed to practice a bit longer.

For that matter, the prince seemed taken aback by her response. He instead was studying her intently, and she averted her gaze so her eyes wouldn’t meet his.

“Hm. Frances, I’m going to be blunt with you. We need every mage we can spare on the frontlines. I’m asking-begging you to join the Grand Legion as a healer. The army itself needs all the mages we can get. A single additional mage from the healer’s tent could mean a thousand soldiers saved from mortal wounds,” Sebastian said.

But unlike earlier, there was a harder, more serious tone to the prince’s voice. Frances squirmed. She knew the prince was right, but she tried to keep calm. He wasn’t trustworthy.

Except, there was no mistaking that there was a pleading note in his voice. A twist in the cadance of his voice that could only come from someone who believed in what he was saying.

“Having an Otherworlder mage as talented as you staying behind the frontlines is a waste of your talent. Don’t you see it? You won’t even have to fight, and you’d be doing something extremely important for the war.”

It wasn’t fighting Frances was afraid of, but the idea that she was sitting in a castle, being a waste of space made her clench her fists. Still, her mentor had to know best.

“I understand, Your Highness. But why me? Why not pull my mentor, Edana, to the frontline?”

Sebastian blinked and shook his head. “Edana? Oh by Amura and Rathron, there’s no way we can pull her up to the front. You might have heard our argument a few days ago, but even I know she is critical to the war effort exactly where she is.”

Something about the prince’s tone of voice told Frances that this time, he was one hundred percent telling the truth.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

The prince’s voice took on a matter-of-fact tone, and his gaze went slightly distant. Despite the grimace, she could hear a grudging admiration.

“Your Mentor is our last line of defense, and a critical member of the War Council, Frances. She is so powerful that she can kill an army of monsters, have a day of rest, and wake up to at least halt the advance of another. That and she’s also the War Council’s expert on monsters and magic. We could send her to the front, but she’s so overworked already with strategy meetings, coordinating the different mage orders, and outlining the best ways to confront different monsters that she’d be more likely to fall asleep on the battlefield.” Sebastian winced, and to Frances’s dismay, she realized this was a genuine one.

“My point is, if your Mentor died because some lucky goblin managed to hit her with an arrow, we’d be in a lot of trouble.”

“Oh. And… that’s why you want me instead?”

“Yes.” The prince said, matter-of-factly.

Frances pursed her lips. She knew her master’s opinion, but she also couldn’t help thinking of Edana's increasingly tired smiles.

“Of course, if you want to stay safe in this castle, then feel free,” said Sebastian with a tired, resigned look.

The terrifying fear that she was sitting at the castle, being a useless student, taking up her mentor’s valuable time, returned in force. It crawled up her arms like a wave of cold spiders. Because yes, Edana still cared about her now, but what about a year later? No exhausted or stressed teacher, not even Edana, would want to keep devoting so much time to teaching a student who needed so much time, even a talented one.

Not unless said student can prove to her mentor that she wasn’t a waste of space. That she could help, be useful, and spare her mentor at least some of the headaches caused by the need to teach her.

“Your Highness, I accept.”

“You—Wait really?” The prince looked rather surprised.

“I have to do my part,” said Frances. She sheathed her sword and took a deep breath. “I just need an hour to pack. Can you explain to acting headmistress Kellyanne?”

“Of course, meet me at the stable.”

---

To say headmistress Kellyanne made a fuss was an understatement. As Frances sat in Sebastian’s carriage with a small chest of her clothing, her wand—which was one of the White Order’s standard-issue ones made out of ash, and her estoc, Kellyanne practically got into a screaming match with Sebastian.

So far as Frances could tell, the only reason the acting headmistress yielded was that the prince pulled rank.

And soon they were away, with the prince wiping his slightly red face with a handkerchief.

“I don’t mean to alarm you, Frances, but I suspect your mentor might not be very happy with your decision,” said the prince. He hesitated and sighed. “If you want to go back before we reach the camp, I won’t stop you.”

Frances blinked, looking at Sebastian in a new light.

But her mind was made up.

“Thank you, Your Highness, but I can’t sit this war out any longer.”

Because if she didn’t, then her mentor might abandon her. At least by doing it this way, she was doing it on her terms. At the very least, it would mean that Edana would finally get some much-needed rest.

---

Author's Note: Have I ever told you I really like cliffhangers? I apologize for that, but it's something I've gotten used to writing in back from when I was writing fanfiction for the My Little Pony fandom (aka the Brony fandom). I was apparently quite good at it too because I'd get a lot of people complaining in the comments, but also hitting like buttons.

But on the topic of fandoms, what are your favorite fandoms that you participate in readers? I still like to hang around in the My Little Pony fandom, but I also dabble in Star Trek.

As always, if you want to that is, remember to hit that like button or ask butler to message you every time I update.

Finally, don't forget to click on the link to my temporary Cover art, which is Frances at 15-16 ish by the extremely talented Earthsong9405.