She heaved in a sigh, her shoulders rising. “Yes, your request is granted. Percifal may stay here while you go do whatever it is you think you need to do.”
“Good.” I studied my sister. Even though she shared more of our father’s features than our mother’s, she didn’t inherit his cold heart. “Until we meet again.”
“May Celestia keep you safe. Return to me before Vesirus arrives.”
I didn’t answer. I only hoped we’d escape Kailasa alive and with the scepter. One day at a time, I reminded myself.
Phyra threw her arms around Percifal and spoke into his ear.
Chel waited her turn to embrace him once the fire elemental had said her goodbye.
Sepheus shook his hand and gave him a friendly clap on the back.
We left him with Star and my father and the four other guards who’d been sworn to secrecy.
A sleigh had been prepared for us. I embraced our driver, my old friend, Boris, before climbing inside the packed sleigh with the three other elementals. The skin on the driver’s face had wrinkled more since the last time I’d seen him, but he still had a twinkle in his eye.
Our guard, Henrik, had to sit beside Boris on the driver’s seat, as there wasn’t room inside the sleigh for him. I sat beside Phyra on the bench big enough for two. I studied the other two across from us. Chel tucked herself under Sepheus’s arm. He stiffened at first, but he relaxed as the sleigh slid forward.
Phyra audibly cleared her throat when Chel ran her finger across the earth elemental’s leather-covered chest, to which she only smiled and leaned in closer.
Sepheus cleared his throat. “I guess there’s no point in keeping it a secret any longer.”
Phyra beamed. “You don’t know how glad this makes me.”
Chel nudged the fire elemental’s shin with her toe. “Don’t tell him that.”
I turned my attention to the window, at the snowy landscape lit by pearlescent moonlight.
Free at last. I could barely believe it. Though our situation could mean the end of our realm, at least I wouldn’t die an old forgotten crone in that tower.
“Are you going to tell us where we are going?” Sepheus questioned me.
“To my aunt’s.”
“Do you take me for a fool? I mean afterward.” Apparently, he didn’t have a sense of humour.
I watched him and considered his words while the others waited for my answer. I saw the wall he’d built up to protect his heart. Life had been cruel to him, I realized. In fact, as I studied the wariness on all of their faces, I reckoned life hadn’t been easy for any of us. I tried to will a bit of warmth into my eyes as I answered. “No. I don’t. I only wish I didn’t have to share this burden with all of you.” I pressed my hands into my lacy skirts as I continued. “There’s an island called Salais, north of Sarantoa.”
Chel’s hand stilled on Sepheus’s chest. Three pairs of eyes watched me eagerly.
My gaze fell on each of their faces in turn. “There’s a scepter there we must fetch. It will allow one of us to take the other three’s powers. Separate, our magic won’t be enough to defeat Vesirus, but together, we stand a chance.”
“We will be together,” Phyra said from beside me.
“It doesn’t matter. Our powers have weaknesses as they are now. The scepter will bond them together.”
“Why have I never heard of this island?” Sepheus’s voice rumbled like thunder.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Celestia must have chosen it as the scepter’s location for a reason. I’m sure Ramiel will explain more to us soon.”
“Is that who told you about this scepter?” So many questions from the earth elemental, who’d remained mostly quiet until now.
I leaned back against the velvet lined wall of the sleigh and gave him a half-lidded stare. “Yes.”
My answer seemed to satisfy him.
“Why do you get a guardian while none of us do?” Chel prodded further.
“Apparently, you do have guardians. They just haven’t shown themselves to you.”
“Why not?” She sniffed, offended.
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, suddenly feeling wary. “You’ll have to ask Ramiel.”
“You believe he’ll show himself again?”
I opened my eyes enough to see her sapphire gaze fixed on me. “Most certainly.”
“So, we wait for instructions on how to get to this island and hope it’s not too hard to find?” Phyra asked. The way she said it made our task seem nearly impossible.
“I presume so. And then we’ll have to figure out how to get the scepter from the dragon,” I said as though we were making small talk. One day at a time.
“Pardon me?” she exclaimed. “Did you just say dragon?”
Chel pulled away from Sepheus. Her nostrils flared. “You can’t be serious.”
Sepheus sniffed, shaking his head. “Of course, Celestia wants us to face a dragon.”
Phyra shot him a glowering look.
“Yes,” I replied to the fire elemental. “Celestia’s dragon, Kailasa, guards the scepter. It will take the four of us to get it from her. That’s all I know.” When no one said anything, I told them, “Now you understand why I didn’t want Percifal coming with us.”
Phyra slouched in her seat, my words adding more weight to her shoulders.
Sepheus edged away from Chel, losing himself in thought, while she smiled widely and marveled, “I’m going to meet a dragon.”
My brows twitched up at her words. At least one of us was happy about this quest.
I didn’t bother telling them one of us would have to sacrifice our life by taking the others’ powers, and that it would be me. They’d find out soon enough.
Finally, everyone stopped talking, and I drifted in and out of a light sleep until the sleigh jolted to a stop.
“We’ve arrived,” Boris announced as he pulled open the sleigh door.
I knocked on my Aunt Klara’s door and waited… nothing. I knocked again and finally heard movement from the other side.
Horror filled her puffy, round eyes as she took in my face. “Auralina, you—”
“I’ve been pardoned.” I produced the envelope Star had given me and handed it to her.
My father’s older sister peered down at it before accepting it and cracking the royal seal. Her lips moved as she read the words scratched across the page. “All right. Come in.” She handed the letter back to me and waved us inside. “You and your friends may stay here for now. Your cousins have moved out, so there’s plenty of space.”
I wouldn’t call them friends, but I didn’t tell her that. “Thank you.” Boris helped us bring in the items Star had packed for our journey. I reluctantly handed my sword to him when my aunt asked that they be stored away until our departure from her home.
We followed her inside the manor with high ceilings and worn, wooden floors.
A fire roared in the hearth at the back of the drawing room. She continued on, leading us to the kitchen and lighting a lantern.
Her pale gold hair, which hung in two long braids over her shoulders, glowed in the orange flame. “Since I’m up now, would you all like some tea?”
“It’s kind of late…” Chel started.
“We would love some,” Phyra interjected, nudging her with her elbow.
Aunt Klara watched me, as if my answer were the only one that mattered. “Yes, that would be nice. Thank you. And I’m sorry we’ve come so late.”
She tutted, but then she sized up Sepheus and clucked. “At least you’ve brought someone handsome along.”
I held my breath, worrying he might snap at my grinning aunt, but he gave her a dashing smile and said, “You’re too kind, my lady.”
I didn’t miss her blush before she turned to heat the water.
When the tea was poured and introductions were made, the five of us sat around a dark wooden, oval table.
My aunt’s hands encircled her warm cup of tea. “So, Queen Starella believes she
needs you to help her fight against Aquila’s king,” she stated darkly.
I hadn’t read the letter yet. It surprised me that my sister offered her that much information. I blew into my steaming cup and nodded. “I know she wouldn’t want me to frighten you, but I believe you should know. King Zaeden has found a way to open a gate to Mnyama. He’s already overthrown the other kingdoms and will march for Ventosa next.”
Aunt Klara jerked and some of her tea spilled out. Ouch!” She shook her hand and wiped it against her beige nightgown. “How do you know this?”
Chel opened her mouth to answer, but I beat her to it. “It doesn’t matter.” She didn’t need to know about Ramiel… or any of the other details for that matter. This was enough.
Her sky-blue eyes challenged me, but I didn’t back down, and her features softened. “All right, I suppose it doesn’t.”
After we’d finished our tea, Aunt Klara said, “Auralina, you can sleep in Bethani’s old bedchamber. Sepheus can take Morten’s, and the other two ladies can share the guest chamber.”
“I’ll stay with Seph,” Chel told her.
My aunt set a judging look on the dark-haired woman. “If you say so.”
I stripped down to my undergarments and sat on my cousin’s bed after we’d been shown to our rooms. I pulled out the letter Star had written and read it, my lips moving as my eyes moved down the page.
Loyal subject,
I hereby pardon Auralina Pavanas. I find I need her aid in the war King Zaeden of Aquila plans to bring to Ventosa. I have deemed her of sound mind. Please assist her and those with her with anything she needs.
Queen Starella Pavanas.
I folded the parchment back up and slid it underneath the thick fur blankets.
I hoped my sister would stay true to her word and announce my pardon to the kingdom. She had to if I was to fight with her.
The milky light from the moon bathed me from the wide window above the bed as I closed my eyes. I wondered what Ramiel was doing in that moment. I already missed his presence, as frustrating as our situation was. I didn’t call to him though. I knew he wouldn’t want to show himself in my aunt’s home.
I fell asleep imagining him as the mortal he would’ve been before he’d been made into a guardian.
Chapter 21
I lumbered down the stairs the next morning and found Phyra helping the maid set the table with ceramic dishes. Savoury aromas floated from the kitchen, where the cook prepared our meal. I remembered from my childhood visits that the small staff my aunt employed lived in small homes on the property with their families. Her husband, my uncle, had left her for another woman when my cousins were children. She never sought to remarry, as far as I knew. Then again, I’d been locked up for the last four springs, so what did I know?
Seph and Chel ambled downstairs together as Aunt Klara walked in from outside. The pair wore smiles, their faces flushed with colour.
Phyra’s lips twitched up, but her eyes were filled with sadness.
I noted the dark circles beneath those emerald eyes. “You’re supposed to be resting. It appears as though you haven’t slept at all,” I reprimanded her.
She licked her lips and tore her gaze away from the other two. “I’m not used to sleeping alone anymore. The dark memories Percifal usually keeps at bay haunt me.”
“Do you have a sleeping tonic you could give to her?” I asked Aunt Klara, who’d dismissed the maid after handing her rust-coloured cloak over to her.
“No,” she replied. The lines around her eyes and mouth appeared deeper in the light of day.
“Would you be able to obtain some for her?” I questioned further.
My aunt pursed her lips. “For a price.”
I sighed and stomped up to my bedchamber to fetch the pouch of coins my sister had stuffed into my sack.
I returned and pressed a silver into her hand.
She kept her hand out, waiting. “And for my time.”
I gave her another silver and stuffed the pouch into the pocket of my pale rose skirt.
She smiled. “I’ll purchase some at the market this afternoon.”
“Thank you.”
Phyra exhaled as she sat down at the table next to Chel and Seph. “Sorry to be such a bother.”
“It is no bother at all,” Aunt Klara assured her.
We ate a delicious meal of roasted pork and eggs before she left us for the market.
“Have you tried using your power?” Chel asked Phyra when we were alone. None of us felt at ease talking about magic with my aunt there.
“No. I still can’t feel it.”
“Try,” Seph urged.
Chel furrowed her brow at him but didn’t say anything.
Phyra pushed herself from the table and found a candle. She stared at the unlit wick for a long time.
Nothing happened.
Her shoulders slumped. She set the candle down. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I said. “If you hadn’t defended yourself, you’d be dead, and we’d be worse off.”
“I know, but we need to keep moving if we’re to fetch this scepter before it’s too late,” she replied.
“The sleeping tonic will help,” Chel assured her, drumming her fingers on the table. “And then we’ll go find that dragon!” She grinned.
Seph raised a brow at her, unable to keep the amusement from his eyes. “Am I to slay this dragon for you, Lady Water?”
“Pah,” she puffed. “More like I’m going to slay it for you.”
“There will be no slaying of dragons!” I slapped my hand on the table. Whether they were jesting or not, I needed to make that clear.
All amusement faded.
I lowered my voice. “Kailasa is Celestia’s dragon. We are not harming one of her creatures.”
“Do you believe the dragon will simply let us take this scepter she’s been protecting?” Sepheus challenged.
“I don’t know, but we’ll find out.” I got up off my chair. “I’m going to see if I can find some wine.”
“So early?” Phyra obviously disapproved.
“Yes. There isn’t much else to do while we wait around here.”
Shame shone in her eyes before she turned her face away. I hadn’t meant it as a personal attack. This woman needed to get over her guilt.
“Oh, I like you,” Chel beamed. She obviously approved.
Seph looked to the ceiling. “Outnumbered by three. I miss Percifal.”
Chel rolled her eyes and smacked his arm. He chuckled. So, the man could have fun. He wasn’t so intimidating when he smiled like that.
My aunt returned with the tonic before supper. I found my own sort of tonic and indulged with Chel in the deep red wine. Seph refused, proclaiming he didn’t drink wine often. Chel rolled her eyes at him and pouted, saying that he was no fun. Phyra also refused. She believed the effects of wine would be a hindrance when trying to regain her power. I agreed.
Aunt Klara had placed her hands on her hips and glared at me and Chel when she first discovered we’d gotten into her wine. But then she joined us.
Phyra spent the majority of the next three days in bed, rising only to share meals with the rest of us.
I lay in bed, reading one of my aunt’s books after supper when a squeal came from down the hall.
I hurried to the guest chamber, Seph and Chel not far behind, and found Phyra wide-eyed and holding onto a lit candle.
“I did it!” she burst out. “It’s weak, but I can feel my power again.”
“Wonderful,” Chel mused, stepping around me to squeeze her shoulder. “I knew you could do it.”
“We will leave tomorrow,” I said.
“Surely she should rest longer.” Chel turned to me. “She said it’s still weak.”
“We’ll be sure she doesn’t use her power until she has to. It’ll replenish. And we’ll bring the sleeping tonic with us. I did pay for it.”
“Will it replenish?” Seph challenged, stepping up to loom over me. “Tr
avel isn’t easy.”
I pulled my shoulders back and looked up at him, his intimidation tactics wouldn’t work on me. “I don’t know, but we can’t risk spending too much time here.”
His pulse flickered in his neck between the beats of silence. He stepped back and nodded. “Tomorrow then.”
We said our goodnights to Phyra, and I went with Chel and Seph to raid my cousin, Morten’s, wardrobe. I found us all more suitable clothing to wear on our journey. He wouldn’t miss them.
I woke at dawn and knocked on Phyra’s door.
“Come in,” she called.
I found her still in the nightgown my sister had gifted to her. I pressed Mortan’s clothing into her arms. “Put these on.”
Scowling at the leather breeches and tunic as though they were coated in poison, she tried to refuse. “I’ve worn gowns on all my travels so far. I don’t see the need to change that now.”
“I don’t care if you’re royalty,” I told her. “You’re wearing these clothes whether you like it or not. Pack whatever other attire you like.”
She shut her mouth after my order, not used to being told what to do, and I left her to prepare for the journey.
Chel had no problem with wearing the clothing I gave to her.
Aunt Klara’s face pinched sourly when she saw us in her son’s attire, Phyra included.
Ignoring her disapproval, I said, “We need to borrow three of your horses.” Boris and Henrik had returned to the palace with the sleigh, but my aunt had a stable.
“Excuse me?” She crossed her arms. “I think not. I only have four.”
“I’m leaving you with one.”
She scoffed. “They were gifts from your father.”
Did she expect that to make me reconsider taking them? She had no idea how much I hated him. “And now they will assist us in defeating King Zaeden and the Dark Lord.”
She growled in frustration. “Promise you’ll return them to me.”
“I’ll do my best,” I smiled, heading for the stairs leading down to the storage room to retrieve our weapons.
The Elemental Diaries - Complete Series Page 85