Post by James Florian on Dec 31, 2015 0:17:32 GMT
It was no secret that at Seacombe Halpworth, those born into the roles of heroes were favored above the rest. After all they were the ones born to save the day and defend all that was good and just. These boys were expected to put their lives on the line to protect the innocents and the ones they loved. It was their job, or so they have been told, to defeat the villains. They were raised to be the torches in the darkness, bringing hope to all those who could see their light. In addition a large portion of these heroes were also of royal blood, a position which in itself held a great number of responsibilities and duties that varied from kingdom to kingdom, prince to prince. There was a lot riding on the shoulders of these lads, not to mention the fact that they were quite the investment for their families. It was up to them to be everything that the people them wanted to be and still be able to give more. So it was little surprise that when it came to classes, the princes suffered through some of the most physically daunting and mentally challenging courses they could face. After all it was only mere practice for what they would one day be expected to do.
However none of that compared to when exam season came to Seacombe Halpworth. (Yes even the royals couldn’t escape the bane of all students’ existence.) Luckily for most students these mostly consisted of written tests with a few practical exams depending on their role. The Princes however had never been so lucky as to have to report to a classroom for mid-terms. Instead they had to report to The Maze.
Every year, the General Li Memorial Field was transformed overnight from a tranquil sports pitch to an intricate thorny maze designed to test what the heroes had learned through the year. It was a nightmare to go into, with fifteen foot high walls trapping the boys in as they searched the maze for whatever prize they were sent to collect. Guarding the path to it of course would be foes and curses designed to slow them down, maybe put them through a world of hurt if it was an unlucky year. However all of the boys knew that the real challenge lay at the heart of the maze. An enchanted dragon that breathed fire. It didn’t matter what they had to retrieve whether it was some precious gem or some dummy dressed up as a princess, it always was in the center with the beast. The princes were expected to slay the beast and emerge from the maze unscathed with their prize.
Luckily though no prince who wasn’t in their final year ever went in alone. After all it wasn’t proper to send a twelve year old in on their own to face down a dragon. Oh no, never in a thousand years. The boys were too valuable for that. Instead they went into the maze in groups of two-three based on age. These groups were chosen at random with their names being drawn from a cracked leather drawstring bag with the younger teens being in and out of the maze before lunch. The rest of the Upper School students took the time between lunch and dinner, then the university students rounded out the evening after dinner facing the dragon in the darkness. Once their names were drawn, the selected princes was whisked out of the canvas tent where everyone waited and was brought to the Maze’s entrance where each boy were then made to face each other as the supervisor of their test held a smaller drawstring bag that contained two small painted stones in front of them. In absolute silence each boy was to draw a stone from the bag and when the supervisor gave the signal, present the stone that they held. This determined what would be their individual task inside of the maze. All the pomp and ceremony was to ensure that there was no way of cheating or planning before they were sent off on their quest. The school would take no chances when it came to ensuring that the future heroes were ready for their roles.
It was late in the afternoon by the time James was called forth and he was just dying to get this test over with. So far he had spent the day surrounded by other nervous boys who were trying to cram last minute curse cures and dragon weaknesses into their pretty little minds and it was starting to really get to him. Or maybe it was the fact that he didn’t have any of his friends in here with him that was causing his anxiety to flare. Grove wasn’t allowed in the tent for morale support and Eli… James didn’t even want to think about that for a moment. The girls were off taking their own practical exams which had something to do with animals… and fashion if he remembered correctly. He didn’t know exactly what their exams entailed, but he knew it was much easier than what the princes faced. Regardless though he knew he wouldn’t see any of them until later at dinner when their tests were over, but until then he was stuck here. The school didn’t want the princes knowing the layout of the maze until they were in it, that way they would be forced to make split second decisions while under a ton of pressure. After all this was the closest thing the school would have to seeing how these boys would react when they had to fulfill their own stories and they wanted it to be as close as possible to the real thing.
So James was friendless as the day slowly dragged on. It wasn’t that bad though, there was a couple of other princes who were missing their best friends since they weren’t royalty or has already gone into the maze so James had quite found a partner or two for some of the strategic board games lying around. That was an easy and fun way to get James’s brain in the zone for what was bound to come. But his partners were all younger than him, so they soon too disappeared and Jim was left to his own devices again. He tried reading and studying like some of the others, but he couldn’t focus. His mind kept wandering back to his test and what it would mean for him. He hoped during the stone draw he would be lucky enough to draw the sword stone rather than the shield. He wanted to be the one to face the dragon. He had done it last year, but he wasn’t proud of bringing the beast down. He had taken too long and it was sloppy. That wasn’t up to James’s unfairly high personal standards. He was positive he could do better this time around. He knew that this time he could take care of the dragon before his partner found the “princess.”
So when the test supervisors finally called his name, James practically lept out of his seat not even bothering to listen or see who his partner would be. Instead he left the tent with the sidekick teacher that was his escort to the maze’s entrance. Though of course he had to first stop at a smaller cloth tent to receive the set of protective clothing he would get to protect him from the curses and fire he would face inside the maze. It wasn’t anything too special. It was just a modern lightweight armor set that he could freely move around in and wasn’t anything like the armor back home. It was sleek and fit him snuggly since they were made for his measurements specifically. There was no chance he would be snagged by thorns in this. He changed out of his normal clothes to put these special ones on, pausing to admire just the quality of the fabric and marvelling over the fact that something so lightweight could be so protective. The wonders of this modern world. He then laced up his new shiny boots, and pulled on the gloves that would protect his hands. Once he was sure everything was secure and the teachers made sure he wasn’t sneaking anything in, the prince was brought to the entrance to the maze.
His partner was already there and James had to admit, whoever his parents were they certainly had good genes to give. It was the first thing he noticed about the kid in front of him, that he was really handsome of course. It seemed to be to James that everything about this prince was perfect, from his bronze colored hair to his steel grey eyes and made Jim suddenly feel very self conscious about his own looks. Not that he really needed to worry. He wasn’t so bad on the eyes himself, especially since he primarily took after the most fairest of the all, but still. He didn’t think even Snow could be on the same level of beauty as whoever this boy’s mother was.
The next thing James noticed was that he didn’t know this boy’s name. Sure the face looked sort of familiar, but try as he might he couldn’t place a name to it. He was kind of tempted to ask him what it was, but all the princes knew that once they had been partnered off, they couldn’t talk until they were in the maze. That was another thing about the no cheating rule. James didn’t see why they just trusted their heroes to do the right thing. It would be nice to know who he was trusting his safety within the maze to.
Then the moment James had been waiting for all day came. The little leatherbag came out with the two stones inside. The other boy got to draw first and as he reached into the bag, James prayed silently that the other boy would draw the one with a circle. Not the one with the cross. That was the one James wanted to pull out of the bag. Once the other boy had drawn his stone, the bag was passed to him and he reached in for the remaining one turning his fingers around it as he pulled out of the bag. When the supervisor gave the word the boys opened their palms revealing their prizes, and to James’s great disappointment he saw a small white circle painted on his while the bright red cross was in the other boy’s hand. It looked like Jim was not going to be slaying any dragon today, he would be in charge of protecting this boy and rescuing whatever the dragon was guarding.
He didn’t have much time to brood however, as they were each bid to say aloud what they drew for record keeping and a supervisor strapped a roman like shield to his arm that covered his head to his calf if he raised it just so. A sword was pressed into the other boy’s hand and another supervisor gave him a clock that would count down how much time the boy’s had in the maze. Once everything was in place, the big oak door that sealed off the maze was opened and the boys were sent into the unknown.
It was awkward moving with a shield strapped to his arm, but he didn’t really notice at first because almost right away the two of them came to a crossroads. There was a road veering off both to the left and the right. The left path was seemingly clear, but he knew that it probably meant that there was some sort of danger there, the right had an unnatural fog at the end of it which wasn’t quite as welcoming, but maybe that was the safer path. Maybe both of them were safe. Perhaps both had some sort of challenge they would have to overcome. They wouldn’t know until they picked a path.
“Which way should we go?” James asked the other boy, wanting to know what he thought on the matter. He then added as an afterthought, “I’m James by the way. Snow White’s my mother.” He held his hand for the boy to shake as he waited to hear who was this boy’s parents were. He was quite curious, but his mother had taught him better to then just outright ask.
And yes. Even in a maze with a dragon, James Henry Alexander Florian remembered his manners. His mother didn’t raise him to be a heathen after all.
However none of that compared to when exam season came to Seacombe Halpworth. (Yes even the royals couldn’t escape the bane of all students’ existence.) Luckily for most students these mostly consisted of written tests with a few practical exams depending on their role. The Princes however had never been so lucky as to have to report to a classroom for mid-terms. Instead they had to report to The Maze.
Every year, the General Li Memorial Field was transformed overnight from a tranquil sports pitch to an intricate thorny maze designed to test what the heroes had learned through the year. It was a nightmare to go into, with fifteen foot high walls trapping the boys in as they searched the maze for whatever prize they were sent to collect. Guarding the path to it of course would be foes and curses designed to slow them down, maybe put them through a world of hurt if it was an unlucky year. However all of the boys knew that the real challenge lay at the heart of the maze. An enchanted dragon that breathed fire. It didn’t matter what they had to retrieve whether it was some precious gem or some dummy dressed up as a princess, it always was in the center with the beast. The princes were expected to slay the beast and emerge from the maze unscathed with their prize.
Luckily though no prince who wasn’t in their final year ever went in alone. After all it wasn’t proper to send a twelve year old in on their own to face down a dragon. Oh no, never in a thousand years. The boys were too valuable for that. Instead they went into the maze in groups of two-three based on age. These groups were chosen at random with their names being drawn from a cracked leather drawstring bag with the younger teens being in and out of the maze before lunch. The rest of the Upper School students took the time between lunch and dinner, then the university students rounded out the evening after dinner facing the dragon in the darkness. Once their names were drawn, the selected princes was whisked out of the canvas tent where everyone waited and was brought to the Maze’s entrance where each boy were then made to face each other as the supervisor of their test held a smaller drawstring bag that contained two small painted stones in front of them. In absolute silence each boy was to draw a stone from the bag and when the supervisor gave the signal, present the stone that they held. This determined what would be their individual task inside of the maze. All the pomp and ceremony was to ensure that there was no way of cheating or planning before they were sent off on their quest. The school would take no chances when it came to ensuring that the future heroes were ready for their roles.
It was late in the afternoon by the time James was called forth and he was just dying to get this test over with. So far he had spent the day surrounded by other nervous boys who were trying to cram last minute curse cures and dragon weaknesses into their pretty little minds and it was starting to really get to him. Or maybe it was the fact that he didn’t have any of his friends in here with him that was causing his anxiety to flare. Grove wasn’t allowed in the tent for morale support and Eli… James didn’t even want to think about that for a moment. The girls were off taking their own practical exams which had something to do with animals… and fashion if he remembered correctly. He didn’t know exactly what their exams entailed, but he knew it was much easier than what the princes faced. Regardless though he knew he wouldn’t see any of them until later at dinner when their tests were over, but until then he was stuck here. The school didn’t want the princes knowing the layout of the maze until they were in it, that way they would be forced to make split second decisions while under a ton of pressure. After all this was the closest thing the school would have to seeing how these boys would react when they had to fulfill their own stories and they wanted it to be as close as possible to the real thing.
So James was friendless as the day slowly dragged on. It wasn’t that bad though, there was a couple of other princes who were missing their best friends since they weren’t royalty or has already gone into the maze so James had quite found a partner or two for some of the strategic board games lying around. That was an easy and fun way to get James’s brain in the zone for what was bound to come. But his partners were all younger than him, so they soon too disappeared and Jim was left to his own devices again. He tried reading and studying like some of the others, but he couldn’t focus. His mind kept wandering back to his test and what it would mean for him. He hoped during the stone draw he would be lucky enough to draw the sword stone rather than the shield. He wanted to be the one to face the dragon. He had done it last year, but he wasn’t proud of bringing the beast down. He had taken too long and it was sloppy. That wasn’t up to James’s unfairly high personal standards. He was positive he could do better this time around. He knew that this time he could take care of the dragon before his partner found the “princess.”
So when the test supervisors finally called his name, James practically lept out of his seat not even bothering to listen or see who his partner would be. Instead he left the tent with the sidekick teacher that was his escort to the maze’s entrance. Though of course he had to first stop at a smaller cloth tent to receive the set of protective clothing he would get to protect him from the curses and fire he would face inside the maze. It wasn’t anything too special. It was just a modern lightweight armor set that he could freely move around in and wasn’t anything like the armor back home. It was sleek and fit him snuggly since they were made for his measurements specifically. There was no chance he would be snagged by thorns in this. He changed out of his normal clothes to put these special ones on, pausing to admire just the quality of the fabric and marvelling over the fact that something so lightweight could be so protective. The wonders of this modern world. He then laced up his new shiny boots, and pulled on the gloves that would protect his hands. Once he was sure everything was secure and the teachers made sure he wasn’t sneaking anything in, the prince was brought to the entrance to the maze.
His partner was already there and James had to admit, whoever his parents were they certainly had good genes to give. It was the first thing he noticed about the kid in front of him, that he was really handsome of course. It seemed to be to James that everything about this prince was perfect, from his bronze colored hair to his steel grey eyes and made Jim suddenly feel very self conscious about his own looks. Not that he really needed to worry. He wasn’t so bad on the eyes himself, especially since he primarily took after the most fairest of the all, but still. He didn’t think even Snow could be on the same level of beauty as whoever this boy’s mother was.
The next thing James noticed was that he didn’t know this boy’s name. Sure the face looked sort of familiar, but try as he might he couldn’t place a name to it. He was kind of tempted to ask him what it was, but all the princes knew that once they had been partnered off, they couldn’t talk until they were in the maze. That was another thing about the no cheating rule. James didn’t see why they just trusted their heroes to do the right thing. It would be nice to know who he was trusting his safety within the maze to.
Then the moment James had been waiting for all day came. The little leatherbag came out with the two stones inside. The other boy got to draw first and as he reached into the bag, James prayed silently that the other boy would draw the one with a circle. Not the one with the cross. That was the one James wanted to pull out of the bag. Once the other boy had drawn his stone, the bag was passed to him and he reached in for the remaining one turning his fingers around it as he pulled out of the bag. When the supervisor gave the word the boys opened their palms revealing their prizes, and to James’s great disappointment he saw a small white circle painted on his while the bright red cross was in the other boy’s hand. It looked like Jim was not going to be slaying any dragon today, he would be in charge of protecting this boy and rescuing whatever the dragon was guarding.
He didn’t have much time to brood however, as they were each bid to say aloud what they drew for record keeping and a supervisor strapped a roman like shield to his arm that covered his head to his calf if he raised it just so. A sword was pressed into the other boy’s hand and another supervisor gave him a clock that would count down how much time the boy’s had in the maze. Once everything was in place, the big oak door that sealed off the maze was opened and the boys were sent into the unknown.
It was awkward moving with a shield strapped to his arm, but he didn’t really notice at first because almost right away the two of them came to a crossroads. There was a road veering off both to the left and the right. The left path was seemingly clear, but he knew that it probably meant that there was some sort of danger there, the right had an unnatural fog at the end of it which wasn’t quite as welcoming, but maybe that was the safer path. Maybe both of them were safe. Perhaps both had some sort of challenge they would have to overcome. They wouldn’t know until they picked a path.
“Which way should we go?” James asked the other boy, wanting to know what he thought on the matter. He then added as an afterthought, “I’m James by the way. Snow White’s my mother.” He held his hand for the boy to shake as he waited to hear who was this boy’s parents were. He was quite curious, but his mother had taught him better to then just outright ask.
And yes. Even in a maze with a dragon, James Henry Alexander Florian remembered his manners. His mother didn’t raise him to be a heathen after all.
