by Brandi Bell
"Thank you," I tell her.
She smiles, bows, then scurries off. A few minutes later she returns with two other brownies, all laden down with food. Once she sets a plate in front of me I dig in. I can't believe how good it tastes. I devour it way too fast. I look up from my empty bowl to everyone having barely started. I blush.
"No need to blush, miss, you be hungry. Would you like another plate?" the brownie asks me.
"Yes, please," I answer.
She returns quickly with another plate of food. I mumble my thanks, then dig in a lot slower this time. I finish my plate as the others are finishing their first plates.
"Ruby hasn't been eating?" my dad asks.
"No, she hasn't been awake long enough to," Elias answers.
"No wonder Jade is a bottomless pit then," my dad replies.
I blush at the comparison.
"Stop picking on Jade, and let's go to the library to talk," Talia commands.
We get up and follow her to the library. I'm in heaven. There are two stories of books with roller staircases to reach them all. I forget all about our meeting and start walking around touching the books, totally oblivious to what is going on around me.
Some of these books are ancient looking. I'm in awe to be around books this old. The spines of most are in a language I can't read, I wonder if I can learn it. Suddenly Flynn is in front of me, I jump and yelp.
"Care to join us, Jade?" he asks, laughing.
"You need to wear a bell too," I mutter.
"She just tried to put a bell on you too, didn't she?" Seamus teases Flynn.
"She's the one lost, not me," Flynn says laughing.
"Quit teasing her, we did bring her to a library. That is her kryptonite," Grady says.
"Let's get down to business. The prophecy is why we're here," Talia explains. "The prophecy goes like this: two sisters born of magic not of blood, one of light and one of dark, will unite the realms and heal the tears. The sister of the light will bring her four, each fae blessed. The sister of the dark will fight the pull, but will come when no choice is given. When the sisters unite the worst is in store, when the sisters go their separate ways, the portals will open again."
"That makes no sense," Seamus says.
"It makes perfect sense, but how are you going to achieve separating them when they share a body?" Antoine replies.
"That's why I wanted to have this conversation in the library. There has to be a book in here that tells us how to complete the separation," Talia answers.
"One problem, I can't read whatever language these books are written in," I chime in.
"That's not a problem," Talia says smiling, "Open a book and see."
I walk over to a bookcase and grab a book at random, open it, and gasp. The letters start changing into English, so I can read it. This library is amazing, I want to stay here all day.
"That is so cool!" I exclaim.
"I'm glad you approve. Everyone grab some books and start looking," she commands.
I take the book in my hand and it's the history of Caestia. Not likely to contain a spell, but I want to read it. I touch the spines of the books and find if I hold my hand on it for a few seconds the titles change. This entire section is history books, I long to read all of them, but reluctantly move on to the next section. It looks more promising, history of the prophecy. I grab the first book I come across and sit down to read it. It appears that the queen's mother had the vision 700 years ago. She clearly saw what would happen in dreams. There are even pictures of us drawn in this book, I gasp.
"What did you find?" Talia asks coming over.
"There are pictures of us in this book, even you," I explain.
"I've never seen this book, I didn't even know it was here," she says concerned.
"I'll finish reading it to see if there is an answer in here. What happened to your grandma?" I ask.
"She returned to nature like my mother is doing. Only my mother had to kill her to take the throne," she replies sadly.
"I'm sorry," I say.
"It's ok, my family line waits much too long to have their heirs, it makes it hard for them to stay around for long afterwards sometimes," she explains.
"How old are you, Talia," I ask.
"Twenty five. My mother only decided to have me once she realized she was returning to nature. Although everyone else noticed it centuries before," she tells me.
"Wow, we're the same age." I reply, feeling dumb after.
She smiles at me and walks off to research. I return to the book about the prophecy. After the pictures I turn the page, but the letters refuse to translate. I groan and walk over to Flynn, who's sitting at the table next to me.
"Can you read this?" I ask him.
"Read it yourself," he grumbles.
"I can't. It won't translate," I say.
He takes the book from me and looks at it. His brow furrows, and he turns the page. He flips through a few more pages, then goes back to the beginning.
"It won't translate, because it's gibberish, or written in a code. I can't translate it. Dorian, come here," Flynn says.
"What's going on?" Dorian asks.
"Can you decode this?" Flynn asks him.
"I'll give it a shot, it might take a while though," he answers.
"My gut says it's important," I chime in.
"Why do you think that?" Dorian asks me.
"The first part of the book is the prophecy. It explains who had it, what the prophecy is, and there's pictures of all of us. Then it's gibberish," I explain.
"That's very peculiar. I'll start on this now," he says, as he walks off with the book.
Suddenly the library doors open with a bang. The queen stands there, with no plants attached to her. The fae all drop to a knee, the rest of us follow suit. I'm curious what brought her here.
"Rise, no need for pretense here. I must take a seat, then I have something important to tell you," she explains.
"Yes, Your Highness, let me bring you a chair," Beck says.
"Thank you," she replies, smiling at him kindly.
"Now, I know I've been lost to the land for a long time, but when my daughter woke me up yesterday, I remembered something important my mother told me," she explains. "There is a book that you must use a mirror to read. That book holds the answers that you seek."
"That will make this easy to decode," Dorian exclaims.
"You found the book already?" the queen asks, surprised.
"I found it. It was the second book I grabbed," I tell her.
"That makes sense. I'm glad that you will find the answers. I must return to the throne. This trip is tiring," she says, looking exhausted.
"Let me help you back, Mother," Talia offers.
"That would be lovely," the queen smiles at her.
Talia's walks the queen out of the library. Dorian takes off as well, I assume to get a mirror. I return to the book shelves to see what else there is. There are books on every kingdom in Caestia, about all different types of fae, and everything that's grown. There are spell books, works of fiction, and everything in between. Dorian returns with a mirror.
"Come here!" he exclaims.
I hurry over to where he is sitting with the mirror held up to the page. The others gather round as well. Talia comes through the library door.
"What's going on?" she asks.
"Dorian is about to show us something," Beck tells her.
"Here, sit and listen," Dorian says.
"Ok, tell us already," Seamus says impatiently.
"It says here that you need a royal from each kingdom to unlock the souls, for two bodies should bear what one body holds. Autumn and Winter can make the body double, while Spring and Summer can fill the vessel," he reads.
"So we have to convince a royal from each kingdom to come help us?" I ask.
"That's what it looks like. The Winter King would never come help though," Antoine answers me.
"Yes, but Akashka might, if she can get away," I reply.
"I can do that," I say as I reach in my pocket for my contact stone.
"I'm on it," Talia says.
"Um, how do I call out on this?" I ask, realizing I only know how to check messages.
"Oh, you just hold it and think of the person you want to talk to," Talia says.
I grab the stone in my hand, close my eyes, and concentrate on Akashka's face. The stone becomes warm, then I open my eyes and it looks like I'm standing in the same room with her.
"Is everything ok, Jade?" she asks.
"Hi, it worked," I say, then feel stupid for saying it.
"It did, how can I help you," she says smiling.
"So we were able to find more of the prophecy and I need your help. It says we need someone of royal blood from each of the kingdoms to fulfill part of it. Do you think you can come to the Summer Kingdom?" I ask.
"My father doesn't let me leave, but I'll find a way to sneak out and make it there," she says. "I'll contact you when I'm on my way."
"Thank you," I tell her.
"No, thank you. This will be good for our lands," she says, then disconnects.
Suddenly I'm back in the library. Antoine is still in a silent conversation. I can see his lips moving, but can’t hear what he is saying. That must have been what I looked like while I was talking to Akashka, I thought.
"How did it go?" Flynn asks.
"She's going to contact me when she's on her way," I answer.
"Good, we have a chance of completing this then," he says, sounding confident.
The others finish their conversations, and we wait for their answers.
"Queen Annalisa is on her way soon," Talia confirms.
"Queen Thessilia is coming as well," Antoine says.
"What do we do in the meantime?" Grady asks.
"Eat dinner?" I ask.
"Let's feed Jade before she loses her mind," my mom says laughing.
We go to the dining hall, this time we sit at the raised table with Talia again, as there are fae of all kinds at the large tables.
"We normally all eat together. Anyone that lives close enough has dinner at the castle every night," she explains.
"It's the same in Autumn," Antoine confirms.
"It's nice that your people want to be close to you," I say.
"It is. I enjoy the fact that I get to see my people on a daily basis, and they know they can come to me with any concerns. I can't always fix them, but I can usually come up with a solution that benefits everyone," she explains.
"That's awesome," I tell her.
A brownie comes out that moment with food, another one follows with wine.
"Wine tonight?" I ask.
"Sip it slowly, it can go to your head fast," she warns the table.
I go for the food first, feeling like I haven't eaten in days. I dig in and finish way faster than is proper. I take a sip of wine, it's sweet with a slight tang. I could drink this fast, so I was glad of the warning. Everything starts fading to black.
Chapter 55
Elias
I can't believe we're going to try to separate Ruby and Jade. It's really awesome, but I'm scared something will go wrong. I don't want to risk her for anything. She knows nothing about this yet either. Now I see why Grady was upset we made decisions for Jade when Ruby was around.
"Welcome back, Ruby," I say, grinning.
"What have I missed?" she asks, looking around.
"Well, we went back and saved your dad. Talia made Liam a magicless witch and Felix a born vampire," Grady says. "Now we're working on a prophecy but I think we should talk about that in private."
"That's a shit ton of stuff," Ruby says.
"Ruby, we're at dinner, please watch the language," her mom says.
"Fine. Sorry, Mom," she says, rolling her eyes.
"Don't take that tone with your mother," her dad chastises her.
"Daddy! I'm so glad your awake," she exclaims, getting up and hugging him.
"Me too, sugar," he tells her, kissing her forehead.
She sits back down, takes the wine, and chugs it back in one gulp.
Ruby
"No!" several voices yell.
"What?" I ask.
"That's fairy wine, you are going to be really messed up, kiddo," my dad says.
I hiccup, "We are vampires, alcohol doesn't affect us."
"That's in the human realm," Antoine says.
I feel it, my head starts spinning. I haven't felt like this since the rave club we partied at when we were on tour.
I giggle, everything is waving. My dad is shaking his head, trying not to laugh. I see Liam and Felix. The sun is up and Felix is here.
"You're not supposed to be awake," I tell him, wagging my finger.
"Let's go watch the sunset together?" he asks me.
"Ok, but that doesn't sound like much fun," I reply.
"It does to me," he says under his breath.
I think I've hurt his feelings, but I don't have time to think about it. I get up to follow him and almost fall down. Felix chuckles and steadies me. He keeps a hold of me and we walk out the front of the castle. He chooses a place in the grass and we sit. I lean in and study him. He looks different in the fading daylight than he does at night.
"What are you doing, Ruby?" he asks me.
"Watching you watch the sky," I say, then giggle.
"I haven't seen the sunset in years," he says sadly.
"Now we can watch it whenever we want together," I say happily.
"Only here for now," he says.
"Oh yeah, I forgot I can't watch it at home. Jade and I switch during them," I reply sadly.
"If we can separate you from Jade and you each have your own body, do you want to do it?" he asks me.
"Well fuck yeah. Nothing would be better than to have my own life," I exclaim.
"Good, because that's what the prophecy is about, and we are going to do it," he says.
I throw my arms around him, this is the best news ever. Even if I'm not around for most of it, at least there's a chance I'll have a life with just my guys and me. The sun starts to set, and the look on Felix's' face was worth sitting out here for.
"I love you, Ruby," he says, rubbing my arm.
"I love you too, Felix," I reply smiling.
"Let's go back inside, I'm sure we need to talk about stuff before Jade comes back," he says.
"Fine," I sigh.
He offers his hand, I take it, we walk back inside. My drunk has already worn off thankfully. I hear voices when we pass by a large door. Felix stops to enter it.
"They must be in the library," he says as he opens the door.
"Nice of you to join us. Do you feel better, Ruby?" Talia asks me.
"I do. So what's this about you guys separating Jade and me?" I ask directly.
"We are working on reading the entire passage, but we have people coming from each kingdom to perform the spell," the guy reading says.
"Just so you all know, I approve," I say.
"That's nice," the guy sitting next to the reader says.
"Nice to see you, Gem," Elias says with a grin.
I sit down to hear what they've found out, then everything fades to black.
Chapter 56
Antoine
I can't believe I'm part of the prophecy. Everyone is focused on getting the girls separated, but I keep going back to the fourth gold thread coming from Jade. I wonder if we'll need him to make this work. I realize most of these people don't know about him.
"Are we sure this will work without Jade's fourth mate?" I ask.
All heads whip around to stare at me. I guess we should have mentioned it sooner. Dorian flips back to the picture in the book of the prophecy.
"He's right! There is a fourth with Jade, I believe we will need him. How will we find him?" he asks.
"I guess follow the thread when she's aw
ake again," Grady answers.
"That's a good idea, but he could be anywhere, in either realm," Seamus speaks up.
"Maybe we should all look at the picture in case it's someone one of us knows?" Liam asks.
"That's a good idea," Beck says with a grin.
"Ok, line up and come look at the picture," Talia commands.
"Is anyone going to ask me how I feel about this?" Jade asks.
"Sorry, baby, this is bigger than you," Grady tells her, kissing her forehead.
"I know, but four is too many, three is too many even," she says with a sigh.
I take a turn looking at the picture, he looks similar to Elias to me, but I've never seen him.
"Do you have a brother, Elias?" I ask.
"Yeah, why?" he asks.
"Come look at this next," I reply.
"Holy fuck! That's my brother!" he exclaims.
"Well, now we know where to look," Flynn says.
"We'll go home when we return to get him," Jade's mom says.
Chapter 57
Jade
I can't believe my fourth bond is Elias's brother. I'm speechless, so incredibly speechless. Who would have thought there would be brothers bonded to each of us.
"So when are we going to go find him?" I ask.
"No better time than now, where do we find him, Elias?" Seamus asks.
"He lives in town, I'll come with you guys," he says.
"Can I stay here?" Felix asks.
"Let's pick a small team to go get the brother, the rest can stay here." Flynn says.
"Obviously Jade needs to go. Grady, Elias, and Beck, you go with her," Talia decides.
"Let's go then, Zeus you ready boy?" I ask my pooka.
He stands up, stretches, then runs up to my side, putting his head in my hand. I smile at him. We go outside, Zeus transforms without me asking. Grady walks up behind me and wraps his arms around me. He places his lips on the side of my neck, the butterflies go nuts. They're back.
