“What is this about?” I asked nervously.
“After some discussions with my family and me, Faxon believes he may have found a way to help you, but it is only a guess right now on what he thinks.”
“Thank you for being so specific,” I mumbled at him.
He smiled. “Close your eyes. Focus on your core, the center of your being. What do you see there?”
“A hole,” I replied a bit angrier than I meant to.
“Imagine that hole not as a hole, but as a ball with a shield around the ball,” he instructed.
I tried.
“Imagine the shields breaking and revealing a source of light within it, a light like fire.”
What was he trying to do?
“Visualize it,” he instructed.
I took a deep breath and visualized the ball cracking and light spilling out of those cracks, like a sun caught in a shell.
“Imagine that shell breaking apart completely exposing that light and freeing it.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Just do it,” he ordered me with a soft laugh.
“Fine.”
I sighed loudly and focused again. I pictured the shell falling away from the light source and it shining brightly, a sun within my core. Warmth filled me and I gasped as it exploded once released from the shell. My eyes flew open as I yelled in shock.
“Tilia!” Finn yelled, but Marin held him back.
I stood up and looked at my self in surprise. I was glowing. “What? How?” The warmth continued to fill me and spread to every inch of my body.
“It worked!” Faxon yelled happily from behind me.
I turned and found him with tears in his eyes. “What is this?” I asked him.
“Remember how you frightened me when you were meditating and I couldn’t see your magic?” he asked as he slowly walked towards me.
“Yes.”
“The day that the device was used and you thought you lost your magic,” he whispered. “You remember that when I touched you, there was a shock?”
I nodded.
“You didn’t lose your magic,” he said happily.
“But I haven’t been able to do anything and…”
“Somehow you sealed your magic inside of yourself using whatever method you do when meditating. You sealed it to protect yourself and it was so tightly sealed, that I could not even see it,” he explained.
“So, I have my magic?” I asked softly.
“You felt like it was missing because you shielded it so well that even you couldn’t see it. You may have even convinced yourself that it was gone when you were out of reserves and had protected it.”
“I have my magic back?” I asked softly.
“Yes,” Favian said with a nod.
“Try something,” Faxon ordered.
“What?” I asked.
“Light this on fire,” he said and set an apple on the ground between us.
I focused as hard as I could and pictured the apple stem lighting on fire and burning down until it set the entire apple on fire. Time passed and then suddenly the stem lit and the entire apple began to burn.
I screamed in shock and joy and threw my arms around Faxon’s neck. He hugged me back and I went and hugged Favian. “Thank you!”
“I didn’t do anything,” he said, but accepted my hug.
“It’s back!” I yelled and teleported from where I was to Finn. I kissed his cheek and then teleported to Faxon and then to Marin who danced with me.
“Try getting Titania,” Faxon suggested.
Titania was a giant sword, as long as I was tall, that was exceptionally light due to being made out of some weird material that was also incredibly strong. I traced the symbol in the air and spoke the words to summon the sword, “I summon thee, Titania.”
The symbol glowed in the air and then the sword’s hilt slid out of the portal I had created. I gripped it tightly as I pulled it out. Marin’s eyes were so wide I worried they might pop.
“You pulled a sword out of thin air,” she whispered.
“It’s more of a summoning spell,” I explained. “Titania is actually in a room in my Kingdom, but I can use this spell to grab her from wherever I am.”
“It’s a rather large sword,” Favian commented.
I twirled it and smiled. “She’s lighter than she looks.”
“May I?” Marin asked with outstretched hands.
I set Titania in her palms and her mouth formed a little o of shock. “It is light.” She lifted the sword, twirled it, and pretended to stab an enemy.
We were all smiling like fools when Esmeralda appeared next to Faxon. “Where’s Tilia?” she asked him urgently.
“Here,” I called to her and jogged to where she was. “What’s going on?”
She gripped my shoulders and whispered, “It’s your father.”
I gasped and my hand went to my mouth. My father? “Is he hurt? What happened?” I asked with shaking hands.
“Faxon, I’m taking her,” Esmeralda told him. “Finn, stay with Faxon,” she ordered.
They both nodded their heads and their solemn expressions were the last things I saw before we entered the swirling vortex of teleportation. It seemed to last an unbearable amount of time and when we stopped I had to drop to my hands and knees to catch my breath.
“I’m sorry,” Esmeralda told me. “The longer the travel time, the worse it feels.”
I took deep breaths and soon everything became clear again. “Okay,” I told her and stood up.
She took my hand and rushed me into my father’s office where Sedgwick immediately grabbed me and hugged me against his chest. “I’m sorry, Tilia. I did all that I could.”
“No,” I whispered. I refused to acknowledge his words. I ripped myself out of his hold and rushed to the desk where he lay. “Dad,” I whispered. “Dad I’m here.” There was blood all over him, on the desk, and pooled under it. It was too much blood for one man.
“One of the stacks had started to fall,” Bernard whispered. “He yelled for everyone to move, but Cristoff’s foot was stuck under another box that had fallen. Cap’ lifted the box up and then shoved Cristoff out of the way just as the stack fell. We rushed to help, but there was just too much damage to him.”
I shook my head vigorously and clenched my eyes shut. No! No, he couldn’t be dead! I was going to get married. I was going to have his grandchildren! He wouldn’t get to see any of that now. We had just reunited. I should have spent more time with him. I should not have gone on so many missions with Faxon. I barely got to spend any time with him.
Warm hands gripped my shoulders and turned me around. I opened them and found myself looking into Jared’s eyes which gleamed with unshed tears. “Don’t bottle this up,” he ordered me. “This was a terrible accident and there was nothing that you could have done to change this outcome.”
My legs shook and I gripped his arms tightly. “He’s gone?”
“He’s gone,” he whispered gently.
I opened my mouth again to say something, but all that came out was a sorrowful wail. My knees buckled and Jared eased me down to sit on the floor. He hugged me and I cried my despair, not caring who was there to witness it. Esmeralda dropped to the ground beside me and hugged me from the side as well. Sedgwick knelt in front of me and I threw myself into his arms, burying my head into his chest. He clutched me tightly and we cried together. I had known that any day could be his last when he was sailing on the sea and that anything could happen, a hurricane, a pirate desiring his title, a battle that he lost. I never thought about him dying on land. I don’t know how long I cried for, but when my tears were spent I pulled back from Sedgwick and asked, “Did Cristoff…”
“He’s alive. Cap’ saved him,” he whispered.
I looked around the room. “Where is he?”
“We aren’t sure,” Bernard whispered. “After Sedgwick announced it, he took off out of the town.”
I wiped my face on the sleeve of my shirt and stood
up on wobbly legs. My head was pounding from all of the crying and I stumbled a step forward. “I have to find him.”
“It might be best if you let him be,” Jared said.
I shook my head. “He’s blaming himself. I know Cristoff, he’s going to blame himself for this.” I gripped the back of the nearest chair and closed my eyes. I had my magic back, so I could locate his magic signature.
I could hear the others talking quietly, discussing his funeral, but I pushed them away as I focused on finding Cristoff. There! “I’ll be back,” I told whoever was listening and then teleported to Cristoff. When I arrived, I found myself at the edge of a cliff and started to fall forward. I screamed in fear, but Cristoff grabbed my arm and pulled me back to solid ground.
“What are you doing?” he asked me in shock.
I turned and looked at his sullen face. It was dirty, streaked with tear tracks, and his eyes were red and swollen. “I came to find you,” I whispered.
He cringed away from me. “I didn’t hear him,” he told me. “I wasn’t paying attention and…”
“He saved your life,” I told him.
“He would still be here if I hadn’t been such an airhead,” he snapped.
I shook my head. “You were like a son to him. He was protecting you just like he would have me.”
He backed away from me and whispered, “I’m sorry, Tilia. I’m so sorry. You must hate me now and I don’t blame you.”
“I don’t hate you,” I told him.
“I was wrong to think for a second that I was good enough for you,” he whispered.
He was dangerously close to the edge of the cliff now.
“Cristoff, stop,” I ordered him.
He shook his head and said, “It’s my fault he’s dead.”
I raced forward and grabbed his hand. I pulled him forward, ducked, and caused him to fall over my body and land on his back. I sat on his stomach and he stared at me with wide eyes. “What are you doing, you idiot!” I screamed at him. “Are you trying to kill yourself? You almost walked off the edge of that cliff!”
“I…”
“No!” I interrupted him. “Dad saved you because he loved you and that’s final. You will weep for his death, but you will not blame yourself. Do you understand me?”
Fresh tears fell from his eyes and he pulled me down into a bone crunching hug. “What am I going to do without him?” he cried.
We sat up and I repositioned us so that I sat on the ground and he leaned into me sideways. “We will continue on with our lives. You will become the best man you can, marry a pretty woman, and have beautifully annoying kids. I will become Queen and be just as annoying as I am now,” I assured him.
I had no idea why I was acting so calm when I felt like my heart had been shredded into tiny pieces. I knew my crying was not done, but as I held Cristoff’s head as he sobbed, I also knew that I needed to be strong. I could not let my father’s death be in vain and I could not let Cristoff believe it was his fault.
We sat together as the ocean pounded into the cliff below us until Cristoff was ready to return to the town.
“Thank you,” he whispered, “for coming to find me.”
I lightly punched his arm and said, “You would have done the same for me.”
We walked to the office and several of the crew pulled Cristoff away. As he walked away, he turned and looked at me once more. I hoped he wouldn’t continue to hold himself responsible for what happened.
I couldn’t go back into the office. I couldn’t see his body again, so I sat on the porch steps and faced the docks. The normally boisterous town was quiet now. The death of the King of Pirates was a heavy weight on us all.
“They’re going to give him an official Captain’s funeral,” Esmeralda told me.
I twisted my neck to find her sitting beside me. “How long have you been there?”
She smiled tenderly. “A few minutes.”
“When are they doing it?” I asked her softly.
“Tonight.”
“Finn should be here,” I told her.
“I can get him,” she offered.
“I need to go back to at least say goodbye to our allies,” I said as I struggled to keep the lid on my emotions. I had managed it while with Cristoff, but now they threatened to overtake me again.
“Tilia, did you teleport?” she asked me. “Out of the office when you went after Cristoff?”
I whispered, “My magic is back.”
“That’s wonderful,” she told me joyously. I nodded, but now I didn’t particularly feel like celebrating. “Your Father would be very happy for you,” she assured me.
I took a deep breath to keep the tears at bay and stood. “Let’s get Finn.”
“We’re fetching Finn,” Esmeralda called to Jared.
“Stay safe,” he called back.
“He has become worrisome in his old age,” she whispered. “He never worried about things before.”
“It’s been a bad year for us,” I reminded her.
She sighed and squeezed my hand. “It will get better.”
We teleported back to the castle grounds and ended up teleporting into the dining hall where everyone was eating. Most pulled their weapons at our sudden appearance, but thankfully none tried to attack.
“Oh,” Esmeralda said in shock. “Pardon my intrusion.”
“Tilia,” Finn called as he rushed to me. His arms wrapped around me in a warmth that I would need that night, but for now I had to stay strong so I gently pushed him back.
“Later,” I whispered and cleared my throat to rid it of the tightness. I turned to the Queen and Kings and said, “May I introduce the Queen of Crilan, my Aunt Esmeralda.”
Esmeralda curtsied low and bowed her head. In her dress, it was a beautifully executed curtsy, but in her fighting attire it was a little odd.
“Esmeralda this is King Cesar and Queen Amadis of the Elves,” I introduced.
They stood up and instead of bowing, they shook hands. “It is an honor to meet the Elven Royals,” she said.
“The honor is ours,” Queen Amadis told her.
“I see where your niece gets her beauty from,” King Cesar complimented her.
She smiled. “Thank you. I’m rather proud of my niece.”
“She’s a fighter too?” Marin asked a bit louder than she had intended to judging by the pink that tinged her cheeks after she said it.
Esmeralda turned and walked to their table. “Princess Marin and Prince Favian of the Elves. Prince Sebastian of the Elves and Princess Deana of the Humans,” I introduced.
The Princes bowed to Esmeralda while Deana curtsied. Marin seemed too stunned to move. “Your power is astonishing,” she whispered.
“Oh my, I forgot to reign that in after I teleported. How rude of me!” Esmeralda said with a gasp.
“You’re out of sorts,” Faxon whispered to her. “Are you well?”
“Emotional,” she informed him.
“I regret that we must leave earlier than we had anticipated,” I told everyone.
“What happened?” Faxon asked me with concern.
I started to answer, but I couldn’t find the words.
“The Pirate King has died,” Esmeralda whispered.
Faxon started to move towards me, but I held up a hand. “If you touch me, I will cry,” I told him a bit louder and harsher than I meant to.
He stopped and nodded. “I understand.”
“Who is the Pirate King?” the Human King asked.
I should have remembered his name, but I couldn’t. “My father,” I informed them.
“Your father was a pirate?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yes.”
“He was a great man who protected everyone that he could right up until his last breath,” the God who was Marin’s father said. He turned to me with a tear in his eye and said, “I am truly sorry for your loss.”
“You,” Esmeralda whispered, eyes wide and mouth agape. “You’re real.”
He turned and smiled at her as she stood before him with an open mouth. “Hello, Esmeralda.”
“I didn’t think you were real,” she told him softly. “I thought I hallucinated that.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked her.
“Jared was dying,” she whispered. “I didn’t have enough magic left to heal him. I prayed for help. He came. He offered me Jared’s life, but to keep Jared alive I would never be allowed children.”
“The two of you combined would make a terrifyingly powerful child,” he told her. “It was the only option.”
That’s why they never had kids! I had assumed they were never ready or that Esmeralda wasn’t capable of having kids.
“Wait, when was Jared dying?” Faxon asked angrily.
“Later,” she ordered him.
“Will you come back?” Marin asked me. I hadn’t realized that she and Deana had come to stand behind me. I had been focused on Esmeralda.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“We could still have a joint wedding,” Marin offered. “We can postpone it until you’re ready.”
“You don’t have to do that for me,” I told her happily.
“It wouldn’t feel right,” she told me.
“I agree,” Favian said as he came to stand beside Marin. “Our destinies are intertwined now and a wedding without you and Finn wouldn’t be right.”
“A joint wedding?” Esmeralda asked in shock. “What are you talking about? I’m so out of the loop.”
“How does it feel?” Faxon sneered at her.
She glared at him and his jacket caught fire. He removed it and stamped on it until the flame went out.
“Don’t start this battle again,” he warned her, “or you’ll wake up to a bed full of toads.”
“Jared will be the one to seek revenge if that happens,” she reminded him.
“Children,” I chastised them, “you are making a bad impression on our allies.”
“Sorry,” Faxon and Esmeralda muttered.
Marin lifted Titania from the table. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen the giant sword sitting there. “You probably want your sword back,” she said.
I set my hand on it and said, “Why don’t you hold on to her? I can pick her up next time I come to visit.”
“We could have the wedding at our place,” Esmeralda offered. “Completely up to you four, but the invitation is there.”
Princess Triumvirate Page 20
