by Casey Phelps
He was quite troubled at her youth, her relatively wide-eyed view of his world. He wasn’t quite sure what he had been hoping for but this girl wasn’t quite it.
He thought back to his days as a young man; after his mother had passed his father found it his obligation to ‘teach’ him about women. His mother had been like a wolf in sheep’s clothing she acted the courtly lady, and then her forked tongue divided and conquered those who were weaker.
The women his father presented at first were courtly ladies. They were quite dull, and meek, easily offended by his disposition. They were little lambs courting the beast. As he was not impressed by the females in this group, his father sent women who though lovely on the outside; he at once found they were shallow and offensive in their attentions. He was repulsed by the way they fawned over the acerbic princeling. They were merely vulgarity dressed in silken trappings.
The woman who raised him was a bear in a nurse’s apron; she was honestly the only woman he had respect and affection for. He simply refused to entertain his father’s enticements. He figured that fate would find a mate for his beast and he was in no hurry to add that complication to his life.
He paced his lair to attempt to reign in his beast, and when that didn’t work he began painting.
It seemed fate had an irritating sense of humor.
****
Chelle
When he appeared later, I tried to be more accommodating. I wasn’t trying to aggravate him, I felt very insecure the task of saving the world daunting. I am sure I wasn’t what he was expecting, and suspected he was more than just slightly disappointed.
I asked him about the dream, and the words in the hallway of his home. I wanted to know about why I couldn’t seem to read them, though they appeared English. He told me that it is the royal decree naming his family and it’s descendants as the ruling family for all time. It wasn’t readable since I was not of the royal line; it would be a blurred apparition of wording that would seem incomprehensible. A magic that was long forgotten, and was used to write the prophecies, but no more were prophesied, and no more were written, the Lord Sun no longer spoke to his people in the same way.
Prophecies were only given in the sky or in dreams to the humans. They were all recorded in the palace under the same spell as the decree. Due to this lack of response from the Lord Sun, the council turned from following the prophecies, calling them delusions of a race that was exterminated. They still in public serve the religious aspects of the Lord Sun, but mostly it is made up nonsense to keep the masses in check and complacent to the ruling class. They were jealous and sought after dark ways to use magic or control it. Some found it and have devoted their madness to it. No one knows where they get their magics, but they are never used for good, they only serve dark purposes. Their magics are best used to kill, maim, or incapacitate a foe. About this time, the Time of Darkness started. It was as though a shroud covered the land and shielded us from the light of the Lord Sun.
These who have devoted themselves to the magic and its sources are Ladisians they were immediately given seats among the council and given status as religious leaders.
“Like a monk, whose divine purpose is to control or destroy?” I said ominously.
This surprised the prince, but he agreed. Then he stared at me, and his eyes glowed, luminous like a wolf’s. “Your face, what it is on your face?”
Thinking the worst, I thought it was a spider, did I mention my extreme fear of spiders, and I started jumping up and down swiping at my face trying to get whatever was there off. The speed with which he crossed the room was astonishing, and he held my face in his hand. I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to in his iron fisted grip, yet it was gentle as he traced a pattern on my cheek towards my ear, and across my temple. I realized I had stopped breathing, and sucked down my breath. He seemed to realize he was tracing a finger on my face and this was the closest in proximity he had been to me other than me running into to him when I first came here. He smelled like a fresh spring, crisp and clean as though water clung to him and he had just stepped from a chilly mountain stream.
This made me even more self-conscious, as I remembered I was still dirty from climbing in the tunnels around his cave. I thought, he had a bath, and why hadn’t I been given that chance I smelled like dirt, and a little bit if body odor though it wasn’t too unpleasant.
I thought of my quick dip of my feet in the stream with Elaine and longed for the cool water and the familiarity of home.
He briskly removed his hand and backed away. “Curious, I would have thought your gift was mainly the dream walking and prophecy, but this is truly remarkable.”
I was trying to follow along, but I couldn’t fathom what was on my face that he would trace and wonder about it… until he showed me a mirror.
On my face was a sunburst; in a royal blue color…the rays of the sun curled this way and that giving a tribal look. It was pretty cool! But I had never gotten a tattoo I was terrified of needles… yes I am afraid of many things, but hey they all make sense to me.
“What does this mean?” a timid voice asked, and then I recognized it as my voice.
“It means that you are very special, and you have a special kind of magic, it is the mark of the Lord Sun, and it is a blessing from Him to show His favor.”
He then lifted his shoulder length black mane and showed a similar marking to my own on his neck. I timidly reached my fingers to graze the mark; he quickly dropped his hair and straightened.
“If it shows I have magic, what kind, and what kind do you have?” I assumed it meant the same human and non-human. I was partly correct.
“My kind is not known to have this blessing, I was given it because of my help and friendship of the slave that was killed, and my magic was given at the time of my imprisonment. I had in my youth studied the prophecy and things of that nature. In addition to the kind of powers my kind possesses, I have control over water. I can pull it from the air, I can…demonstrate” he said.
“Demonstrate?” and that was all I was able to say before I felt a warm drizzle on my skin as if I was standing in the rain. I looked to see the drops of water taking the dirt from my skin, and forming a puddle at my feet. Then it all evaporated and I felt as if I’d taken a luxurious shower, and my hands immediately went to my hair, the moisture was sure to have left its mark. No surprise when I found it floating about my head like a halo gone wrong. I guess magic can’t be perfect, as I tried to slick it back down, it felt amazing to be clean.
“Thank you,” I murmured appreciatively.
“You’re more than welcome, I would have been demanding a bath if I was as dirty as you.” He stated. I pursed my lips to keep from saying something back, which would not have helped this easily angered fiend keep his cool, and would’ve lead to another disappearing act I was sure.
“On another subject, I was thinking back to what you said and I too agree that a plan is in order. First, I must tell you about the release ceremony.”
“Oh, the one for which they are waiting for my debut and sacrifice,” I responded.
He grinned, “I am glad you can keep your humor when you are looking at a rapidly approaching death, but your wit will be better put to use if you know what we must do to ensure that you survive.”
“Sounds good to me, I’m listening.” I told him.
He went on to tell me that the council will lift the magic they placed on this place, allowing us to leave this prison, they will first send a council member, most likely his brother, to inform me that my sentence has been lifted and escort me to the ceremony. Well, escort both of us, I suppose.
“As you have no doubt noticed, we travel differently than humans from your world. We call our means of travel sifting, as we are sifting our bodies through time and space to appear elsewhere. It is also the magic that you may or may not have seen that also changes us into our alternate form. Each family, or bloodline has a type of animal, some better than others, mine is a white lion.” He explai
ned.
I must have made an impressed face, for he beamed at this revelation of his character. He continued saying that they would travel, and I could too as long I was I touching him, and we would end up at the same place. Our escort would then present us to the council, and the ceremony. He would be introduced first, and I would be discussed later. I would very likely be caged like an animal. There was an outburst that was easily quelled by one of the prince’s famous glares. Then at this ceremony, they would cut the prince’s hand, to collect his blood. Mixed with the elixir made and blessed by the Ladisians would show his ability or not to maintain his title and inheritance. If not, he would be stripped of his title, and be forced to live out his existence as an outcast. After the verdict is proclaimed, they will reinstate his name or remove it, and he must prove his future actions will speak true as his blood. There would have to be a sacrifice, atonement for the betrayal. I would have been made a sacrifice either way, but this is where my sacrifice would take place. As such I would have a mini trial, the mark on my face, and my apparent humanity, as well as the ability to carry a child would be testimony against me, and I would be sentenced to death. I would also face the blood trial, and it would no doubt show that I am human and therefore must die. The Prince decided that we should take what we know and brainstorm what course of action we should take to get me away from the ceremony when the time came.
We toiled and talked for what seemed like hours, and I must’ve just dropped off into sleep as we were discussing things, because I was dreaming, and it was the same one from before, but this time, I could clearly read the writing on the walls. It was mainly like the prince said the declaration of the family as the rulers of the country, as I read I noticed there was a part about the prophecy so I honed in on that part, as it must surely be important.
****
Chapter 8
The writing on the walls, spooky…
…In the days of the last king, we will find the most precious of us all. Our Mahon will serve as Queen, protecting all future races, and completing the beast and man of this family. She will stand before her people as seer, Queen and beloved. The prophecy has spoken and thus it remains, she will pull down the Lady, and her minions will be put to dust.
The Queen’s line will be the beginning and the end of the kings.
“The Declaration” written in the year of the king MIV
I woke up and immediately looked for Artileon, he was obviously watching me sleep, which is a little unnerving but I had pressing matters to discuss with him.
I told him of my dream. The clear words noticeably distressed him, as only his family was allowed to read the lines. They were magicked to keep others from knowing those lines which belied the import of the prophecy. It was treason against the family to relay these words to any creature. I reminded him of the part about the part with my name in it, and he was sure it must be a mistake; he didn’t remember that part being there. He said it may be important so we will not discount this new vision, but we will check it against the actual writings when we are able to spirit you away from these caves and the eyes of the council.
There were other questions I had, but more importantly we had to finalize our plans.
The time passed and I could not tell day from night in these times, only by our times of hunger and my need for sleep did I count the time we passed, it was about three days in this inaccurate timing I’d taken to using, that the council sent Artileon’s brother to fetch us. Aremi was disgusted at the mark on my face; he reached to briskly grasp my face and acted as though it burned his hand. The force sent me stumbling into Artileon.
The trip was terrifying, and I consciously patted myself down praying that I got all my parts back after the trip, the other two didn’t look disheveled at all. I adopted their stance, and schooled my face into the one I’d practiced on my parents for so many years, a look that said I’m innocent, and also bored and I hoped it conveyed the air of ‘I am so not concerned about what is happening right now.’
It must have worked because Aremi turned and looked at me saying I’d cleaned up nicely, but I should be afraid very afraid, that nothing could save me now.
The Ceremony was apparently their courtroom such as it was, not just an event. It was an open aired arena, like the coliseum but smaller, holding the council of about one hundred members, and then the Ladisians whose masks hid their faces sat in gilded chairs on a platform in front of a huge stone alter. The picture was quite imposing. We stood at the base of about twenty steps that led to the platform. Everything, even those chairs I realized now, were made of stone. They obviously weren’t thinking of comfort as we stood in the sun, beating down on the heated stone at our feet. My clothes definitely stood out, as I was wearing my favorite white (well dirt colored now) converse with the silver swirls, and skinny jeans, and a linen shirt that loosely covered a tank covered in sparkly sequins. My hair was glinting like flames in the sunlight; it hung down my back and framed my face.
Everyone else was in, leather, coarse fabric robes, and metal, all in various amounts covering only their torsos, and legs just past their knees, arms were bare, and feet were in very uncomfortable looking shoes. It was a good Greco-Roman look they were going for. It worked for the prince and his brother as they stood facing the council and their magicians.
I had to keep from making my face betray our plan, but I had it running through my mind as the proceeding wore on. I winced as the prince was cut, and was in awe as the blue smoke arose. Blue smoke that was a good thing, it was the royal color. They poured the cup into a small dish and an oracle from the Ladisians cult was brought forward to read the blood. I am not sure what he saw, but he proclaimed that this was indeed the heir to the royal throne, and he would not be stripped this day of his title and home. The council was in an uproar, apparently they were all hoping for a negative outcome. The Ladisians silenced the crowd when the leader of the group threw off his cowl to expose a horrid face, marked with lines and reddened around his eyes. His eyes looked like molten lava, staring into nothingness.
“Do you question the Ladisians?” He roared, and his roar out did Artileon’s by far, because the crowd seemed to cow to his presence, all but Artileon and I were cringing in fear, we were fearful, but it was almost like the magician’s words were tangible and oppressive to the group assembled.
“We find the prince the rightful heir and ruler, and he will proceed to show his faith, and luckily for him he has procured us a sacrifice fitting of his crimes and reinstatement of his faith.”
All eyes swiveled to me, I was glad earlier to not be of much notice before, and not to be placed into a cage. However, a cage to hide me from this multitude would have been welcome in that moment. The prince tensed, but otherwise didn’t move or betray any emotion for my predicament. His brother grabbed my shoulder and said “such a pretty sacrifice.” As we three advanced to the stage, the altar loomed in front of me. I saw the anathema; the Ladisians had used to cut the prince and began to wonder about this plan. I spared a glance at the Prince’s hand and was shocked to find it was already healed just a puckered pink line to show that he was recently wounded. The knife was a sort of stone as well, a crystal blade, honed as thin and sharp as a piece of glass, the hilt ended in a multi-faceted cut to resemble a diamond. A new cup was brought forth, and I whimpered as they drew the edge across my palm, I didn’t register the pain until the blood welled and my hand was tipped to pour it out into the waiting cup.
The Ladisian priest pulled a vial from his robe identical to the one that held the elixir that was poured into the prince’s blood, and it was poured in to mine, if everything then had gone according to the plan, we would have sifted from the ceremony at this point. But of course, it didn’t go according to plan; it blew up in blue smoke.
****
Chapter 9
The blood of the ruling family, when mixed with the elixir will show their ability to rein with an expressed blue smoke. Should the heir be tested for his ability to
rule, this is the test. An anathema of pure crystal will try the blood and the blood will be read in the elixir. Thus will any be tried, and found with the blue smoke to be the ruler of this people.
The book of the Ladisians, adopted by the Council
Blue smoke, but it wasn’t supposed to do that, everyone stared in shock. Only the ruling family, the heir would pass this test. The council was in an uproar, and the prince and I were seized.
Earlier in the same day…
Aremi pushed the limits of his time, procuring a potion for the untimely demise of his father king. He rose up from the apothecary, and went to his father’s side taking the tray of food and refreshment from the servant as he did. Pouring the ghastly potion in the glass of mead he swept into the royal chamber and sat at meat with his father. A man he despised and a position he wanted, he was angered at the weak willed man that ceded his rule so easily to the council, and to his undeserving brother. All this would be remedied soon enough. The potion would do its work as he attended the proceeding today. The Ladisians promised the throne to him, as long as he could imprison his brother and that he would not pass the test of royalty, because of his lack of loyalty to the faith.
At the ceremony he was so overconfident, waiting for the shock and dismay of his brother’s demise. To be awarded freedom and lose everything he possessed.
It all went right along with the promised affair, but when the blue smoke arose from the chalice, and the priest deemed him fit to rule, instead of charging him unworthy and striking his title, he joined in the uproar. Duly chastised by the Magister, head of the order of the Ladisians, he realized they must have a plan and he would wait, they would not go back on their promises.
