Princess of the Duelist Kingdom
by
Rebecca Anna Coleman

-2-
Shake her Hand

“That is more than enough.” The voice called out. The voice belonged to a young woman, who judging by her height, and her fashion choice was at least four years older than me. She was dressed in a cream colored top, and a black, pleated leather skirt, leather boots completed the outfit. Her violet colored hair reached down to her shoulders.

“Shake her hand, you both fought a good duel.” She commanded.

The boy blushed and reached up and shook my hand. I wanted to correct her saying I was not a 'She' but instead I was a 'He' but I wanted to live to duel another day. But instead of a gentle handshake, he seemed intent on crushing every bone in my hand. Once that was over he slunk away, but not before looking over his shoulder and giving me a leer that made me shiver.

“Better watch out. Dad says people like you are going to Hell. Next time we duel, I'm not going to hold back. I'm going to crush your little spellcasters with my warriors.” And with that he retreated, I mean he retreated the way he shuffled away reminded me of a scolded dog, one who firmly had his tail tucked between both butt cheeks.

“So,” the woman said, turning toward me. “This belongs to you.” She said, smiling softly as she handed me a clear plastic backage, the package held a golden medallion that was suspended from a golden chain. “And also this,” She then reached into her pocket and pulled out seven booster packs from the newest release series, 'Magician's Keeper'.

“Oh..” I said blushing.

“And if you will pardon me for a moment I gotta hand the other medal off to.. that guy.” She said pointing toward the boy who was sitting on a nearby bench, his arms crossed across his chest, he seemed to be sulking, no, brooding was a better word. Yes he was brooding. Maybe he was replaying each move he made in his head.

I nodded my head and unwrapped the package, the golden medallion was not really gold, but it was kind of nice, it kind of reminded me of the medals you get at sporting events. It was a nice touch, but what I really wanted was the seven booster packs.

“Sorry about that.” The girl said returning sooner than I expected. “I was surprised he accepted the silver medal.. anyway, my name is Tabitha.” She said, holding out her hand.

“Sunflower.” I said blushing as I reached out and took hold of her hand. My name was really Caspian, Caspian Taylor Prince was my full name. My mom, a teacher I figured thought herself being really clever when she named me Caspian, I figured one day if I ever got lost in her massive walk in closet, and stumbled into a fairly-land of talking lions, talking birds, a land where Father Christmas commanded an army of several million orcs. I could at least claim to be from royal descent.

“Oh! Cute name!” Taylor said. “Though with a name like that, I figured you would use a deck that was built around nothing but plant-like monsters. Instead of you know spellcasters.”

“I like Spellcasters,” I said, smiling a little.

“Oh! Cool! I mean yes, they can be good, you just gotta know how to use them you know. Like you gotta use them with the proper magic or trap card. It requires a lot of thinking, since they don't have the raw strength of machine and warrior types.” Taylor said.

“What type of monsters do you use?”I said blushing a little. I was shocked, I was having a honest to goodness coversation with a girl, a much older girl at that, way cooler than me too.

“Oh I play a Harpie theme deck.” She said smirking a little. “Not to brag or anything. But I'm glad I was just a judge of this little tourment. Otherwise it won't have been much of a tourment. It would have been like shooting fish in a barrel. No, scratch that, it would have been like stealing candy from a baby.”

I blinked.

“Plus, cutie.” She said turning toward me. “I would have hated to duel you. You look like the kind of girl who cried every time one of her Pokemon fainted. And I would have hated to see all that hard work you did on your make-up this morning ruined because trust me, runny mascara is not a pretty sight. It also stains your cards.”

I felt my cheeks start to glow. No wonder everybody thought I was a 'she' today. I'd totally forgotten about the fact that I'd tried on some of my mom's make-up this morning. Nothing too much, a little blush, a little mascara, a bit of lip gloss, a tiny spray of perfume, a clear coating of fingernail polish on my fingernails and toenails. Something to give them a nice, glossy sheen. Nothing really over the top. I totally expected to get clocked by mom. Instead he just ushered me out of the front door of our house this morning after I’d had my morning bowl of Captain Krunch.  She then ushered me to her car, she all but tossed me and fifteen minutes later she all but tossed me out. With a quick kiss to the cheeks of course and her saying a quick, “I love you, sweetie.” followed by “Good luck, play nice with the other kids, and have fun.” You know the standard type of stuff moms tell their children when dropping them off to these kinds of events. Totally embarrassing though considering I was not a little kid! I was twelve going on thirteen for crying out loud! 

Like I said mom as a teacher, and today she had volunteered to cover the 'Saturday Detention' shift at the school she worked at. I know she'll never come out and say it, but we needed the money and she'd been picking up a lot of those 'SaturdayDetention' shifts since she divorced dad last year. I guess she kind of felt better about dropping me off at the local card shops to play Yu-Gi-Oh instead of leaving me at home to chase my own vices. Like watching Saturday Morning Anime on Fox, or catching reruns of Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z on early morning Cartoon Network.
“We can always see.” I said blushing.

“Cutie.” Taylor said, smiling before shaking her head. “Listen, I would normally love to duel you. But right now, I gotta go get ready for a date okay? But, listen, you know the card shop on Highway 18? The one that right beside 'Gun, Pawn & Gold' like it kind of sits in the middle, 'Gun, Pawn & Gold on the right' and the 'Highway 18 Grill & Cafe' is on the left.”

“You mean 'Van's Comics'?”

“That one!”

“What about it?”
Taylor turned and smiled.

“Two weeks from today they're going to hold a tournament. Only the best of the best are allowed.We’re Collecting duelists from all over Mississippi. Vicksburg, Greenville, Greenwood, Yazoo City, Ridgeland, Madison, Flowood, Natchez, and Hattiesburg. It's going to be massive, were calling it 'Duelist Kingdom'.” Taylor said smiling.

“Just like in the anime?!” I said my jaw dropped.

“Just like in the anime cutie.” Taylor said winking. “The tournament is going to kick off on Friday afternoon, I think around four in the afternoon and is going to last till closing, which is around ten. And is going to resume first thing Saturday morning around ten when the shop opens again. And this time it going to last till only four remain duelist remain. Now, I'm going to be there, gotta defend my title after all.”

“What is your title?”

“Queen of the Duelist Kingdom.” She said, smirking.

“,,,” I went silent.

“Think you got what it takes to dethrone me and become 'Princess of Duelst Kingdom'?” She was still smirking.

“... Yes..” I said blushing.

At that Taylor tossed back her head and laughed.

“Oh girl you got spunk! And I love that,” She then turned around and offered me her hand.

Without thinking I reached down and shook her hand.

“Promise me one thing, cutie?” She said as she wrapped her fingers around mine.

“Yes?” I said, taking a deep breath.

“Bring your 'A' game to each match. I don't want to see you get eliminated in the opening round. And when we finally meet each other, we gaze at each other. You on one side of the table, met on the other. I want you to promise me you'll hold nothing back. Because I could tell you were holding back out there. You better give me everything you got okay? Because I promise you, I'm not going to be holding back. If you don't bring your 'A' game, then I'm going to smash you like an egg and fry you up with some bacon and serve you with some toast.”

I smiled.

“I promise.”

“I'll hold you to that promise.”

To be continued.