Training her had been surprisingly easy. She was intelligent and ready to learn, and was able to teach him things he had never thought of. A strong warrior, indeed, and an asset to the Negaverse. But was she worth all the trouble it was taking them to make sure that she would not turn against them when the time came? He wasn't sure.
He turned as Aragonite's footsteps entered the room. She bowed gracefully. "Yes, my Queen?"
Zoicite snickered. Only a few days ago had she given up curtsying - she must have read too many novels about palaces and imagined herself in a dress. It was a very comical sight, a girl trying to curtsy in pants. Thankfully she'd stopped all that.
The Queen's commanding voice echoed throughout the chamber as she began to speak. "Zoicite, Aragonite - I know that you have been training very hard together, teaching one another in the area of fire. But what will happen when you've both mastered it? Two generals of fire would hardly do me any good.
"But neither would killing one of you. The only way to gain from this is to make one of you stronger - and the only way to be sure of that is a duel to the death."
The air was as still as death. Several moments passed before the outburst began.
"My queen, you can't possibly throw me away for this girl! I still have so much I could do! I-!"
"You can't think that I could ever beat him! Why did you waste so much time on me if you are going to-!"
Even Kunzite stepped out of the shadow of a pillar and began protesting in his smooth voice. "Queen Beryl, please be reasonable, of course two warriors is always better than one-"
"SILENCE!" The Queen screeched. "I did not ask for your opinion, nor will you recieve answers! How dare you question my judgement! I have reasons that don't need to be explained to you!" She glanced at Kunzite. "But perhaps you should know - yes. The duel will take place tomorrow at sunrise. Kunzite, stay after and we will talk. You are all dismissed," she raised her voice slightly. "And that includes, you Jadeite, hiding behind the pillar." He stepped out sheepishly.
Zoicite held back a heated comment. He would win the duel anyhow, and none of this would matter, but he couldn't imagine what the Queen was thinking when she came up with this absurd plan. How could she even think of eliminating either of them? He stalked out of the room with a fiery look at Aragonite and headed for the training room. Perhaps he could convince Nephrite to train with him. Though he detested being around that fool.
He cleared his head. Battle, he thought. I must think about the battle...
