by Shelby Hild
When they entered the Chosen’s Wing, the women started breaking off to go to their own rooms. Serinta, though, called out to Vivilyn.
“I’m going to work on my letters with Brayleigh in her room,” Serinta said. “Don’t wait up for me.”
Vivilyn was slightly relieved. She wasn’t sure what exactly she wanted to tell her family, but she would appreciate figuring it out in solitude.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Darissa said as they approached the corner where both of their rooms were.
“Sleep well,” Vivilyn said with a wave. “Don’t stay up too late writing your letter.”
“You too,” Darissa said. They both went into their separate rooms.
Vivilyn sat on the couch after having grabbed something solid to write on and a sheet of paper. It took her a few moments to start writing, unsure of how much to say. Something about how Prince Aiden mentioned to not tell any details of the Trials gave Vivilyn a feeling that the letters were possibly going to be read before being sent. She couldn’t say anything about her visions.
Dear family, friends, and anyone else from Treelyn and beyond who happen to be in the store when my parents get this, since I’m sure they will read it to anyone and everyone who will listen,
I miss you. All of you.
I can’t decide if it feels like it has only been a few days since I’ve been gone or years, but it doesn’t matter. It feels as though an entire part of me is missing, knowing that none of you are here.
The palace, as Duncan has likely told you already, is huge. I keep getting lost, but at least there are plenty of people to help point me in the right direction.
Vivilyn shook her head with a slight laugh thinking about the eighteen times she’d gotten lost so far. Never terribly lost, but still enough to need directions.
Having cameras around all the time was weird to begin with, but either there aren’t as many around as there were to starting out, or I’m starting to get used to them. Most of the time I have the same cameraman. His name is Maxwell.
Vivilyn hoped that wasn’t too much detail about the Trials, but since it wasn’t actually any information about what was occurring, she hoped it would be fine.
I am meeting so many different people, not including the other Chosen. Malcolm and Andrea you met, along with Nell and Tia (they are here too), but there is also a sweet young lady named Fiona who helps me with all of my everyday things. There’s also a man named Grey who shows up sometimes. He helped me move in, and I’ve seen him a few times since then.
The guards all seem to be nice, although I’ve only talked to a couple of them (generally as they're helping me get back to my room).
I have made new friends, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss all of my old ones. Please send my love and affection to Maia, Ryso, and everyone else.
I’ve been having
Vivilyn froze before she wrote any more. How could she write about her visions without explaining too much for someone reading it?
Some of my bad dreams. They’ve grown worse since I’ve been here and since… the incident at the First Ceremony. Sometimes, I find myself jumping at shadows and zoning out. It’s difficult.
How has everything been there? Are the gardens and orchards still doing well? Is Iza still running around wildly? I bet she’s gotten so much bigger since I’ve been gone. And how about Verno and Lolina? Eso and Mo? Are they all well?
I know Iza and Maia will ask, so yes. The prince is very handsome. From what I can tell, he’s also very kind and considerate, but that is all I feel I can say at the moment about it.
Along with this letter, I’m going to send a few of the sketches I’ve been working on recently. Perhaps you can try selling them in the store like the others?
I don’t know when the next time they’ll allow us to write home will be, since this time has been due to special circumstances.
Never forget that I love you all so very much. I think about you each and every day. Keep me in your thoughts.
Love always,
Vivilyn
She folded her letter and set it beside her bed with various other pages that had little sketches she’d worked on since arriving, before laying down, still dressed. It was still remarkably early, and she had been allowed to sleep in enough that she wasn’t sleepy yet. She didn’t have to worry about Serinta coming in, since she’d specified don’t wait up. She grabbed the book Prince Aiden had lent her and turned to a random spot.
Despite having the book of technologies and where the ideas came from, she couldn’t concentrate as she looked at the same page without absorbing anything in it. She didn’t want to read, and she didn’t particularly want to draw or paint. She did notice the easel returned to its corner along with her paints next to it.
As she sat back up, she made a mental note to thank Fiona for bringing them back. For the first time Vivilyn could remember since Darissa moved into the room next door, Darissa was in the room, but it was silent. She imagined she could hear the scratching movement as Darissa scribbled excitedly on the paper to her father.
Her restless legs tapped impatiently in the air as Vivilyn laid on her back. She sat up and sighed. Immediately, her eyes fell on the bookcase that opened to a hidden hallway.
There was nothing from keeping her from exploring a little bit more.
Quickly, she slid on a pair of comfortable, plain white shoes and grabbed a small pack. In the pack she threw in a few unused candles and a lighter. She wasn’t sure how long she’d be gone so she felt it would be smart to not accidentally run out of light. She also put a few pieces of chalk that Nell had given her to experiment with on her sketches. For a moment she considered bringing the torchlight that Prince Aiden had left with her, but since she didn’t know how long it would last and she didn't want to risk damaging it or losing it, she decided to stick with what she knew.
Then she opened the bookcase and took a step in, holding on to a single lit candle in a golden candle holder. Carefully, she closed the bookcase behind her. If she went right, Vivilyn knew it would lead her outside. This time though, after making sure her sketch and painting remained next to the door, she went left.
Up two flights of stairs and then back down the same amount, she didn’t see much. In fact, she didn’t even see the large amount of cobwebs that hindered her first trip in the hall.
Maybe the princes have been exploring as well, Vivilyn thought as she marked a wall with the chalk and turned to her left to go underneath the stairs she had just descended.
The sound of muffled talking interrupted Vivilyn’s pondering. She went closer to the sounds and saw a small hole in the wall leaking light into the darkness. Before she approached it, she blew out her candle.
The hole in the wall reached her at shoulder height, so she leaned forward to peek through. The room she was looking into was so bright she had to blink repeatedly to help her eyes get used to the light. She recognized the mahogany desk and the gray couch of the office. On the couch, Natalie and Prince Aiden sat closely.
“But how?” Natalie asked the Prince. She sniffled slightly as though she had been crying.
“Just watch the screen,” Prince Aiden said as he gently rubbed Natalie’s shoulder. Vivilyn could only see half of the screen that was on the wall of the office. It was one of the largest screens she had ever seen.
Within a few minutes, the black screen started to flicker. Soon it shifted to a picture of a woman with a heavily wrinkled face. Age spots marked her cheeks and forehead, bringing out her blue eyes. Her hair shifted between white and silver over most of her head.
“Grandmother,” Natalie whispered. She lifted her hand up towards the screen and the woman seemed to look directly at Natalie and the prince.
“I’m sure you both wish for some privacy,” the prince said. “I’ll take my leave.”
Prince Aiden stood and bowed to Lady Natalie and the woman on the screen.
“My dear Natalie,” the old woman said, her face shifting into a smile. �
�Jameson is here as well.” Natalie’s grandmother gestured to something on the side of the screen Vivilyn couldn’t see. She did hear what seemed like a very large dog bark deeply.
“Yo- you’re okay,” Natalie said.
“Yes, dear.”
“I shall leave you two to talk,” the prince said as he disappeared from Vivilyn's view. She heard a door shut and assumed he'd exited.
She spent a few moments debating between trying to follow the prince or to continue eavesdropping on Natalie and her grandmother. Never before had she seen any technology that allowed communication back and forth with a picture like that. She wondered if it was mentioned in the book in her room.
“I was so worried,” Natalie said, wiping under her nose with the back of her hand in a most unladylike manner. “How is everything there?”
Her grandmother shook her head.
“There have been many weird things going on around here,” the old woman said. “Are we alone?”
Natalie looked around the room. As far as Vivilyn could tell, she was the only person in the room. The question made Vivilyn’s curiosity strengthen.
Her nosiness made the decision for her to stay easy.
“Yes, Grandmother.”
“Things have been happening here,” the woman said. “Things have been disappearing and moving without anyone being in the room. All the plants in the eastern side of our estate died overnight.”
“Has anything like that happened before?”
“Not in recent memories, not since…” the woman trailed off.
“Since when?”
“Since Captain Elina came through,” the old woman shook her head again and then began to whisper. “Records state that many of the darker… magics originally spread from the Darkwoods bordering Etilidus and Kriestos. The first places those darker entities would hit were here in Graystone, Eto, or Adalay to the East.”
“Have you heard anything from Adalay or Eto? Should I warn Freya and Jolene weird things might be happening in their estates? What’s gone missing?”
“We’ve not had word from either estate about anything similar, but I doubt we would hear anything from them. And it started with many of the portraits of the whole family, then my rings –”
“The rings are here.”
“What?”
“The rings. I… I’ve been receiving letters that I thought one of the girls was sending. But… but then someone left a platter in my room that made it seem like they’d… they’d cut off your fingers.” Natalie started crying again. “I was so worried.”
“I’m fine. I’m fine.” The woman reached her hand up to the screen, her own eyes watering. “We are all fine here, even with…”
“The magic? How can magic be there? It doesn’t exist anymore. The wizard Vic…”
“It doesn’t exist in our kingdom anymore,” Natalie’s grandmother corrected. “The Wizard Vic banished it from our kingdom and surrounding kingdoms, but it wasn’t banished through our whole world. There was always the prophecy…”
“Grandmother,” Natalie said before blowing her nose. “You always told me those stories were just that. Stories.”
“All stories have pieces of truth.”
It was silent for a few moments before Natalie spoke again.
“What do we do?”
“There’s nothing we can do but be on guard and hope it’s just false signs. The Graystones have withstood all trials and tribulations thrown at us since before recorded times.”
“How can we tell if it is more than just false signs?”
“Phoenix of fire rise from the sands while the chaos of magic revives in Etilidus lands. In the skies the eyes open and soar, as the world explodes in the final dragon’s roar.”
“What?”
“Those are the clues we have.”
“But who’s to say the prophecy is real?”
“It came from the spirit of Wizard Vic.”
“What?” Natalie repeated.
The woman sighed heavily as Natalie shifted positions.
“Your generation has been kept so ignorant of the past. If the queen wasn’t so afraid—” She shook her head, cutting herself off. “Wizard Vic had the sight.”
Vivilyn had to cover her mouth to keep from gasping. That’s what her father called her visions. Remnants of the sight.
“Prior to his sacrifice, he told his grandchildren and great grandchildren that his tombstone would need to remain blank. When he finished getting rid of all the magic in the kingdom, there was no body to recover. There were celebrations throughout in his honor. But come the morning after his empty grave was buried in the family cemetery, the prophecy was set to stone. Wizard Vic’s final gift to the kingdom he gave everything for.”
“How come I’ve never heard about that before?”
“Not many know of the prophecy,” the woman said. “It was written down in a few books that vanished from our borders.”
“Then how do you know about it?”
“Child, I know this because it is family history. I tell you because it’s part of your heritage.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Wizard Vic is my eight-time great grandfather. We are his direct descendants. All of his journals are hidden away in our estate. And his headstone is still in our family cemetery. The northern corner where we never allowed you children to wander. That's where it sits, eternally guarded by the grave of his wife Adelina.”
The old woman sounded frustrated as she spoke, as though this should have been something she already told Natalie, but had been forced to remain quiet.
"Our heritage, our family's job is to be keepers of the history," she continued. "Certain decrees have kept me from being able to enlighten you and your siblings to so much. With what is going on, I promise you, when you return home..." She stopped speaking as though she grew lost in thought.
Someone knocked on a door. It was apparently on the screen rather than the study. Someone spoke to Natalie’s grandmother in rushed whispering tones.
“I see. Right away,” the woman said to the person offscreen. Then she turned back to Natalie. “I must leave, my darling. Stay safe, child. And don’t worry for us here at home.”
“I love you, Grandmother.”
“And I love you.”
The screen flickered again and then went black.
Natalie blew her nose a few more times before Vivilyn slowly backed away from the light. She gradually wandered through the darkness. Initially she thought about relighting her candle, but she realized the candle had kept her from noticing the other little peepholes into each of the rooms. Every room in the Chosen’s Wing had one.
Somehow, without going up and down stairs again, Vivilyn found herself back outside her own room. She peeked in through the hole that showed into her room, which happened to be directly above the canvas she had hidden.
Her room remained exactly as she’d left it.
She still wasn’t tired, despite having been exploring for at least an hour.
Instead of going to bed, she decided to go outside. But first she went into her room and grabbed more paper along with something to write on. She left her room again before racing to the door outside.
Chapter 12
“Lady Vivilyn,” Prince Aiden’s voice startled Vivilyn as she exited the palace.
“Prince Aiden,” she said with a curtsey. “Prince Ethan.”
The brothers were walking down the lawn towards the Grand Tree on that side of the palace. Vivilyn dropped her pack near the hidden door and walked up to meet the princes. They both bowed.
“How is your letter writing going?” Prince Ethan asked.
“I finished a while ago,” Vivilyn said. “I didn’t quite know how much to say or not say, so I figured I would let it be short and sweet.”
“That makes sense,” Prince Ethan said. Prince Aiden seemed lost in his own thoughts. “Did you… handle what I asked you to do earlier?” he asked quietly. Prince Aiden perked his he
ad up.
“The painting?” Vivilyn asked. When Ethan nodded, she said, “I took care of it.”
“What painting?” Prince Aiden asked.
“Um…” Prince Ethan hesitated, and looked at his brother.
“What?” Prince Aiden asked, looking at Vivilyn instead of his brother. “Are you painting visions of me on the beach or something?”
Vivilyn stopped walking when he said visions. Prince Aiden did as well. “If you want, I’d be happy to model for one in the future, just let me know if I need a shirt or not.” Then he winked.
Eyes widening, she struggled to breathe in normally. Did he say visions? Does he know? Her mind raced.
He took her hesitation as something else, though.
“I’m only joking. I’m sorry.” He shook his head and reached out his hand to her. “It wasn’t appropriate of someone of my status to make a joke such as that. Please forgive me.”
Prince Ethan scrunched his nose and pretended to gag.
“If you’re going to continue these poor attempts at flirting,” Ethan said as he sped up, “I do not want to be in earshot.”
Vivilyn breathed in deeply. He wasn’t aware of her visions. He just meant it as an imagined scenario.
“Well, what if the real thing doesn’t live up to my imagination?” she asked, grinning up at him as she took his hand. Prince Aiden smiled back and drew her close to him. “No, he’s talking about a painting I made that incorporated most of the big parts of our group date.”
“That sounds like it would be incredible to see,” Prince Aiden looked over at his brother, who had reached the tree and was already pulling himself into the branches. “What did he ask you to do with it? Make a surprise portrait for me?” He nudged her slightly with his elbow. “That’s definitely something he would ask.”