The Elemental Diaries - Complete Series

by Andrea Lamoureux

  My other hand roamed lower until it rested on her hip. Her breath caught, hunger flashed in her sapphire eyes, the sorrow wiped away.

  And then someone knocked on the door.

  We broke apart and sat up.

  “Yes,” Chel called, straightening her bodice.

  Zephyra and Percifal entered our chamber. “I thought we should confer,” Zephyra said, taking a seat on the dark blue lounger. Percifal leaned against the wall beside her and crossed his feet. His onyx hair had begun to grow back, but he hadn’t bothered to shave.

  “There’s nothing to confer about,” Chel replied.

  “We still need to find the air elemental,” Zephyra argued.

  “How? And what does it matter now that you’ve lost your magic?” Chel put her head in her hands.

  “Celestia said the air elemental is the key. Perhaps she’ll know what to do about my magic.”

  “Have you felt anything?” I asked the fire elemental. “A spark?”

  She looked away and said quietly. “I’m not sure.”

  “Have you tried to light a fire since we arrived here?” I pried.

  “She’s tried,” Percifal answered for her.

  The chamber went silent with hopelessness. Far be it for Celestia to place her bets on a bunch of mere mortals. We’d tried, and we’d failed. At least maybe the air elemental would never know of their failure.

  Chel placed her hand on top of mine. “We’re out of options. I’d like to remain here with Seph until it’s time to return to Celestia. When Vesirus comes for Ventosa, we’ll—”

  “Cowards,” Percifal didn’t let her finish. “You’re giving up? Taking your own lives? You don’t deserve to return to Celestia if you do.”

  “Maybe Zephyra should pray to the goddess for a miracle.” I wasn’t jesting, not really. But Percifal whirled on me.

  As he opened his mouth to defend his lover, a knock sounded.

  The four of us stared at the door.

  “Enter,” Zephyra choked out. She took a deep breath and tucked her unbound hair behind her ears.

  Time stopped as the woman of winter entered the guest chamber. She didn’t have to knock. Every chamber, every door in this palace belonged to her. “I apologize for the way you were all treated earlier,” Queen Starella started. “I shouldn’t be here. If my father knew… well, I’m here anyway, so never mind that.” She ran her fingers over her twisted rope of hair.

  Chel put her chin in her hand and studied the queen. “Yes, why are you here? What have you to say to us?”

  Zephyra shot her a look of warning, but the queen wasn’t fazed by her rudeness. Or maybe she hadn’t noticed for she kept her eyes on the burning candle. “My sister,” the queen offered. “She may be able to help you.”

  “I’d wondered what had happened to Princess Auralina.” Zephyra ducked her head, catching Queen Starella’s attention. “Please don’t take offence, but if I remember my lessons on royal ancestry correctly, your older sister should have been queen, not you.”

  Queen Starella’s fingers stilled on her hair. “Yes, she should have. But Auralina has a sickness of the mind. At least, that’s what my father tells people.”

  “And this isn’t true?” Zephyra coaxed.

  Chel leaned forward onto her elbows as we waited for the queen to answer.

  Queen Starella blinked slowly, and then she sighed. “No, I don’t believe it is. And if what you say is true—that Vesirus is coming for us—she might be our only hope. Oh, my father is going to kill me for this.”

  Chel reached forward and placed her hand on the queen’s arm. A bold move, but Queen Starella looked at her with eyes full of sadness and regret. “Are you saying your sister has magic?” Chel seemed to realize herself and pulled back her hand and added, “Your Majesty.”

  “Yes,” Queen Starella breathed as if she’d been holding the truth inside of herself her whole life.

  I rose. “Take us to her.”

  “I—I—we’ll have to be careful. There are guards watching the tower door.”

  “Aren’t they your guards to command?” I questioned.

  “They are, but half of them are loyal to my father. They may wish to alert him if they see us going into that tower.”

  “We’ll disguise ourselves,” Chel suggested. “As palace staff.”

  The queen’s forehead wrinkled. “You don’t look like you’re from here. Especially you two.” She gestured to Chel and Percifal.

  “I have a better idea,” Percifal offered. “You four go fetch Auralina. Leave the guards to me.”

  Zephyra opened her mouth to argue, but Percifal shook his head at her. She knew there’d be no talking him out of this. I understood his loyalty to our cause. He’d been raised to lead an army. He needed to be useful. I couldn’t imagine how powerless he must have felt aligning himself with four elementals.

  Queen Starella stared ahead, a distant look in her eyes, so still I began to wonder if she’d heard, but then she shook herself. “It may be the only way. I will threaten them with imprisonment if they disobey me. You can keep an eye on them while I take the others inside the tower. Fetch me at once if they try to leave their post.”

  “I’ll do more than fetch you,” Percifal mumbled lowly.

  “Please don’t hurt them. They are citizens of my kingdom.”

  Percifal’s smile didn’t meet his eyes. “I’ll do my best, Your Majesty.”

  “What about you?” Zephyra asked the queen. “You said your father will kill you.”

  Queen Starella’s eyes sparkled. “Let me worry about my father.”

  It was settled. I couldn’t believe our luck. It turned out Zephyra didn’t need to ask Celestia for a miracle. The goddess had already bestowed one upon us.

  The young queen stepped closer to the door. We all stood as custom dictated. “I need to prepare. I will come back for you when it is time,” she said.

  We bowed to the Queen of Ventosa, and she left us to wait inside the toasty chamber.

  Percifal poked at the fire while Chel paced the room. Zephyra sat quietly on a stool, probably going over what she planned to say to the air elemental.

  I lazed casually on the bed with my boots off, watching the others with amusement. I had more patience than the other three. This was nothing compared to waiting for a suspect to crack after cutting, burning and torturing their mind and body. I could’ve waited all night, but the door opened. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the queen.

  “Come with me,” Queen Starella whispered.

  I pulled my boots back on and bowed to the queen on my way out the door. My lips curled up. Our journey hadn’t been a complete failure. And soon, I could leave this frozen kingdom behind.

  Queen Starella’s silvery skirts swished as she led us down the palace corridors. I counted every corner we turned, memorizing each direction. I squinted, trying to see better in the dim light.

  We came to the end of a corridor and stepped into a wider space, where the ceiling stretched higher. Two guards stood beside a door to an inner tower, leaning against the wall with their arms crossed. I studied their faces. One kept his blond beard long like his hair. The other had a scar which stood out starkly against his unshaven cheek.

  They came to attention at the sight of their queen and bowed. “Your Majesty,” the one with the beard said. “Is something amiss?”

  Queen Starella stopped in front of him and met his eyes. “Yes, actually, something is amiss. Let me inside the tower to speak with my sister.”

  The guards both eyed us, shifting uncomfortably. “Are you sure, Your Majesty?” the bearded one questioned.

  Anger flickered in her indigo gaze. “Yes, I’m sure. Hand me the keys.”

  “Of course. Apologies.” The bearded guard fumbled for his ring of keys and surrendered them to her. His comrade watched the rest of us with keen interest. If one of them was going to betray Queen Starella to her father, I’d bet anything it’d be him.

  The door swun
g open and the queen stepped forward. “I’m leaving this man,” she indicated Percifal with a wave of her hand, “with you. If either of you try to leave or alert my father, he will fetch me and I’ll have you thrown in the dungeon.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” the bearded guard conceded. The guard with the scar simply bowed his head to her.

  We climbed up the narrow, windy staircase inside the tower. We passed one floor with another door but kept going. Up, up, up.

  We reached another door at the top. Queen Starella produced the key ring, searched for the correct key and unlocked the door.

  I followed the others inside the largest bedchamber I’d ever seen. Though clean, the chamber was crowded. Numerous paintings of winter scenes, skyscapes and different animals covered the walls. A bed draped with ivory blankets had been placed in one corner. To one side, a lounger covered in dark purple material sat with a tall oak bookshelf beside it, filled with tons of books bound with leather. On the other side of the chamber, a square table held a chess board. Beautiful pieces of ebony and ivory rested on the board, waiting to be played. A lamp burned lowly at the back wall, which contained the only window in the chamber, a tiny, circular glass covered window; big enough only to fit one’s face through.

  And at that frost covered window, a young woman with hair so pale it appeared silver peered outside as though she could see through the ice to the world beyond, her shoulders perfectly straight beneath the fine, lavender lace gown. A queen without a crown.

  As we all waited, staring at the one who’d brought us to the kingdom of ice and snow, Auralina Pavanas turned and set her clear amethyst eyes upon us and said in a crystal clear voice meant to command, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Find out how the story concludes in the final book of The Elemental Diaries.

  For Ramona,

  the most avid reader I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

  Some fear what they cannot explain. Fear can make people commit horrible acts. But sometimes, that which we are afraid of can be the very thing that saves us. I suffered for something I was born with. Others saw me as a danger. I fought for them anyways.

  Chapter 1

  A ball of cold, white powder smacked me in the chest as I bent forward to squish the glittering white snow into a ball.

  My sister, Starella, giggled and ran the other way. I took off after her, trudging through the knee-deep snow.

  I threw the icy ball at her, putting my little muscles to work, but she had a head start. My snowball was going to miss its mark. I watched it fly through the air and, as it was about to descend to the ground, I wished it would go a little farther. Somehow, as though an invisible hand had suddenly shot out and pushed the snowball back up, my wish had been answered. The packed ball of snow arched back up and hit my little sister in the back of the neck. I blinked. I must have imagined it.

  Starella dug her fingers into the space between her pale blond hair and the brown fur cloak keeping her warm. She turned around and began wailing, so dramatic.

  “Girls,” my mother, Queen Ingrid Pavanas of Ventosa, called. “That’s enough fun for today. Let’s go inside and warm up.”

  Usually, my mother’s head handmaid, Hilda, was the one to watch over us while we played outside, but today, my mother told her to take the afternoon off. She wanted to spend time with her girls.

  My father didn’t mind holding court on his own. He liked to have all of the attention on him, and my mother trusted him completely with her subjects.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt her,” I appealed to my mother.

  “Yes, you did!” Starella accused.

  “You’ve been outside long enough.” My mother put her hand on my back to usher me inside the ice covered palace that was our home. “Star, go get into dry clothing.”

  “But you gave Hilda the afternoon off.”

  “You can dress yourself once in a while. It’ll teach you to be independent.”

  Star wiped her red, tear-stained cheek and looked at me. “What about Aura? Is she in trouble?”

  She wished.

  “I need to speak with your sister. I’ll see you at supper.” On the other hand, maybe I was about to get a lecture.

  Star sniffed, but she marched across the pristine, white-tiled floor to the stairs leading to her chambers.

  A servant saw the wet tracks she’d left and hurried to clean them up. My parents were adamant their palace be kept perfectly clean at all times. Filth wasn’t welcome inside the Crystalline Palace.

  My mother adjusted her white gold crown and, with a swift wave of her hand, gestured for me to follow her to her chambers. “Tea please,” she whispered to a servant passing by before opening her door. She took my damp cloak from me and patted the padded bench beside the low burning hearth inside her inner chamber. “Sit.”

  Not long after she hung both our cloaks up and joined me on the bench, a tray of steaming hot tea and freshly baked cookies arrived. Queen Ingrid set the tray down and offered me a cup. The ornate cup of tea warmed my frozen hands as I waited for it to cool enough to drink.

  I stared into the waving flames inside the hearth. “Am I in trouble?”

  My mother sat beside me and crossed her legs beneath her indigo skirts. “No, I don’t believe you meant to hurt your sister. But…” She paused to sip her tea. “Do you know what you did?”

  I stared at her, unsure how to answer. Did she notice the way the snowball had come back up after it’d began falling to the ground? Maybe I hadn’t imagined it.

  The Queen of Ventosa sighed. “Of course you don’t. This hasn’t happened before.”

  “I don’t understand, Mother.”

  She touched my knee and smiled lightly. “I’m going to tell you a story. You let me know if you still don’t understand once I am finished, all right?”

  I nodded. “All right.”

  I reached over and grabbed a cookie as my mother started. “A long time ago, our ancestor, Pavanas, had this palace built for the people who dwelled in these mountains.”

  “But Pavanas is part of our name.”

  “Yes, we are named after her.” She brushed a piece of my white-blond hair, the same shade as her own, off my forehead and continued. “Pavanas was gifted with powerful air magic, and because of her abilities, people loved her. They believed she could protect them from danger, so they made her a queen. And, in those times, the warmer seasons melted the snow and brought green grass to Ventosa. All types of birds would visit these mountains and perch on trees to sing their songs to the world.

  “Eventually, Queen Pavanas grew tired of paying high prices for goods from lands which stayed warmer in the colder seasons. She wanted a piece of land that could grow crops in the winter like Terra had.

  “So she travelled to Terra to try to bargain with their king for some of the land he owned. The king laughed in her face and told her he’d never sell her a single piece of his land.

  “Humiliated and disappointed, she returned home empty-handed. Queen Pavanas became susceptible to the whispering temptations of Vesirus, the Dark Lord of Mnyama.”

  I gasped at the Dark Lord’s name and almost dropped my now empty cup.

  My mother took my cup from my hands and set it down. “The queen decided if Terra wouldn’t sell the land to her, she’d take it. She and her army came down from these mountains and battled for a piece of that fertile land… she lost. In her wrath, Vesirus’s whispers strengthened.

  “Queen Pavanas returned to Ventosa in a rage. Her air magic destroyed much of this kingdom and its people with unnatural tornadoes. Her anger twisted her power into something darker. She gained a new ability. She discovered she could control the cold… she could create ice. She became paranoid Terra would retaliate and encased the palace she’d built in a coat of ice, rendering it undesirable so no one would take it from her.

  “Queen Pavanas’s brother was afraid of her… afraid of what she’d become. He had her locked inside the tower reserved for prisoners of high status. Spri
ng never graced this kingdom again, once she was imprisoned.”

  I stared at my mother. I’d assumed our kingdom had always been cold and snowy. I never realized its first queen locked it in a forever winter “What happened to Queen Pavanas after her brother locked her up?” I asked.

  Queen Ingrid shrugged a slender shoulder. “She lived there until she died.”

  “Oh.”

  “Do you understand now, Aura? Do you understand how dangerous magic is and why it is banned from our kingdom?”

  I huffed. “Yes, Mother. But—are you saying I have air magic?” The snowball… the way it had moved…

  “I think you may. And if you do, you must never tell anyone, especially not your father. Anyone who uses magic will end up locked away for the rest of their life, like Queen Pavanas.”

  I hugged myself even though the fire warmed me. “I’m scared.”

  My mother put her arms around me and spoke into my hair. “Don’t be scared. Just be careful.” She held me for a few moments longer, and then she released me. “Go get cleaned up. Supper will be served soon.”

  My mother had given me a gift by warning me instead of having me locked up, but it was the beginning of the worst part of my life.

  Chapter 2

  Later that spring, Hilda helped me get ready for my first Noctis De Celestia. It was Ventosa’s turn to host the celebration of our goddess, and at the age of thirteen, I was permitted to attend.

  I hadn’t forgotten my mother’s warning. Luckily, I hadn’t had any other strange occurrences since the snowball fight. If I did have air magic, maybe it went back to sleep. I’d be happy if it stayed that way.

  I winced as Hilda tugged my hair into two braids, one on each side of my head, and placed a silver circlet with a crescent moon at its center upon my head. I already wore the pale violet gown my mother had made for me specifically for this night. Star wasn’t allowed to attend the celebration yet, as she was three springs younger than I and wouldn’t reach her first decade until later in the summer. I believe my father might have forbid her to go even if she had been born before Noctis. He wouldn’t want to risk shadowing my debut by including her in the celebration.