by Shelby Hild
“How do you know that?” Darissa asked, with a half laugh.
“It’s my job to know things,” he said, before shifting his posture to reflect that of a guard on duty.
“Yes,” Darissa said, turning back to face Vivilyn. “That Ziglo. He’s the only designer who actually travels around anymore, but that was a few years ago.”
Vivilyn smiled and held back a laugh. Ziglo Tailor’s daughter wasn’t particularly good at designing. She was much better at selling things than creating them.
“Speaking as someone who knows both Ziglo and his daughter,” Vivilyn said, “if this jacket is any indication of your abilities, then you are worlds better at designing than Cleo is.”
Darissa smiled and her cheeks turned a deep red.
“Thank you,” she said.
Prince Ethan cleared his throat.
“As nice as this moment is,” he said, “we have places to be. Are you going to join us?”
“Ethan,” Prince Aiden said. His voice was sharp as he spoke to his brother. “We never even asked them.”
He turned to address the women. “Would the two of you like to join us for a stroll around the grounds?”
Darissa and Vivilyn looked at each other before nodding.
“We would be delighted to join you,” Darissa said.
Aiden smiled happily as he walked toward the door with everyone following closely behind, Maxwell and Ori included.
“Do we have any specific destination?” Darissa asked, as they started down a set of stairs.
“Not really,” Aiden said. “I was thinking maybe the fountains out front?”
“They get turned off at night as the weather grows colder,” she replied. “So they won’t be as magnificent as they are during the day. Sometimes it seems eerie out there when they’re off, like something or someone is watching.”
The mention of the fountain reminded Vivilyn of what she had seen while she was searching for Tia.
“What does the handle on the fountain go to?” she asked.
“Handle?” Darissa looked over at her and nearly missed a step. “What handle?”
“The one that’s between the feet of the figures. I was outside when the fountains went off earlier and noticed it.”
Darissa remained quiet for a moment. Both princes shrugged to indicate they didn’t have any idea.
“It can’t be,” Darissa said quietly. She lowered her eyebrows, causing creases to form between them.
“What can’t it be?” Vivilyn asked.
Darissa turned her gaze to the princes and shook her head when they finally reached the ground floor.
Aiden tilted his head slightly, almost like he suspected Darissa was thinking of something specific.
“You don’t think she found it, do you?” she asked, looking more at Aiden than his brother since he seemed to be the only one remotely acting like he knew what she was talking about.
“I mean, it definitely is worth checking out,” he responded.
“Are you going to enlighten those of us who don’t know what you’re talking about,” Prince Ethan asked, “or are you going to leave us in suspense until we get there?”
“If you had ever actually read the books Grandmother told us to, then maybe you’d know,” Aiden said.
The younger prince just shrugged and looked at Darissa.
“This used to be the royal estate,” she explained. “Generations ago, way before the darkness that used to threaten our kingdom had ever been heard of. When the darkness attacked here early on in its reign of terror, it destroyed so much, including most of the original manor. Somehow it seemed to know all the ins and outs of the castle and so the royal family at that time decided to abandon it. They had the palace at Ettravil built and ran away.
“Since then, Crysteal Manor was rebuilt. The old throne room, with everything that had been in it, including the stone throne that had been sat on by every king in Etilidus’ history up to that point, were buried and hidden away, lost to time.
“It is allegedly what my family is supposed to be guarding here. At least that’s what my father says. It was the task Queen Frederica placed on my grandfather when she regranted my family our title and Rank. But I’ve never been able to find it and my parents have always told me to leave it be. When I need to know about it, I will find it or learn of its location.”
“If the handle does lead to the old throne room,” Aiden’s eyes seemed to sparkle in his excitement, “I could touch a piece of our history. I could sit on the throne of my forefathers. No one has seen it in… in way too long.”
The sound of someone running echoed down the hall and was followed by a slamming door.
“What was that?” Prince Ethan stepped in front of his brother to guard him.
Ori took off after the footsteps and a few moments after he turned out of sight, they heard the door slam again. They all stood there, waiting to hear something, anything for a few moments before anyone spoke.
“Let’s go,” Aiden said, gesturing the opposite direction which led outside.
“We should wait for Ori to return,” Ethan said.
“Most definitely,” Darissa agreed, hiding slightly behind Aiden’s shoulder. “What if that was a spy or something equally dangerous?”
“It wasn’t,” Ori said, reappearing as if from out of nowhere, causing all four of them to jump. “Nothing to worry about. We can continue.”
They did.
“Who was it?” Aiden asked, as they approached the door that led outside.
Before he could answer, Brayleigh, Natalie, Freya, and Entra all appeared from a side hallway.
“Oh,” Brayleigh exclaimed, looking shocked to see the small group. “Where are you all going at this late of an hour?”
“We’re just going for a walk,” Darissa said. “Care to join us?”
Her smile seemed so inviting, but Vivilyn secretly hoped Brayleigh would say no.
Unfortunately, she knew she’d have no such luck.
“Of course we will join you,” Brayleigh said. “Freya, Entra, would one of you please grab my jacket when you get yours?”
“Don’t worry, Brayleigh,” Natalie called, as she ran back to the rooms they were staying in. “I’ll grab yours!”
“Oh, Prince Aiden,” Brayleigh said as she forced herself into the front of the group to stand beside him. “You look so dashing in that.”
She looked back for a split second and froze on Vivilyn. Then she said, “Why did you turn your hair into a rat’s nest? It looks ridiculous.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Entra said, as she and the other two women returned. They all shrugged into their jackets.
Entra’s dark, curly hair stood out against the brightness of the light blue walls. “It looks really nice. Different, but nice.”
“Yeah,” Freya added. “It hides those ears of yours really well.”
“I agree with Brayleigh,” Natalie said.
Freya laughed harshly.
“You’re only saying that because you think agreeing with everything Bray says and does will get you that ring back.” Then she rolled her eyes.
“That is not true, and I am offended by those false accusations.”
“Mm-hmm,” Freya sounded before she sped up to stand on the opposite side of Prince Aiden from where Brayleigh was.
Vivilyn looked over at Prince Ethan right as he rolled his eyes.
It didn’t take long for them to walk from the top of the entrance out to the fountains.
“Why are we out here?” Entra asked, through clenched teeth, holding her arms close even with her jacket. “The fountain isn’t even on.”
“We were thinking of trying to get to the statues,” Prince Aiden said.
“Why would you want to do that?” Freya asked. She removed her jacket and handed it to Entra as though the cold wasn’t even bothering her. As Vivilyn watched her, she saw the woman wasn’t even shivering.
Does the cold not affect her? It took Vivilyn a moment to r
emember that Freya was from Adalay. It was the northernmost estate and it was in a much higher altitude than Crysteal was. It must practically be arctic in the winter.
“That’s half the fun, isn’t it?” Prince Ethan asked. “The not knowing for sure why we’re doing something?”
“It’s cold and if we go there, then we will likely get wet,” Brayleigh said, her eyes had a mischievous twinkle to them. “Natalie, I thought you said they were going on a romantic walk we needed to interrupt?”
“I said,” Natalie replied looking quickly over to the princes, “that it looked like that, not that it was that, and it wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t get that opportunity as well.”
Prince Aiden’s face turned so red it was clearly noticeable in the dark. His nostrils flared and he tilted his head up while crossing his arms in front of him.
“Were you spying on me?” Prince Aiden asked.
“No,” Natalie said firmly. “I just happened to hear Darissa as you were coming down the stairs. It was obviously not an official date. I mean your brother is here. I was not spying on you.”
“So, you decided to go and tell everybody that I was going for a walk?” Prince Aiden said, shifting his posture into something stiffer than Vivilyn had ever seen. Brayleigh, Darissa, and Ethan all stepped slightly away from him.
“Not everybody…” Natalie lowered her head. When she did, Vivilyn saw a shadow completely cover Natalie’s face, neck, and hands before it dissipated back into her skin.
“No, not everybody,” Prince Aiden said. “Would you say that is because you weren’t going to or because you ran out of time?”
His teeth clenched so hard Vivilyn almost felt like she could hear them.
“I… I… Prince Aiden…”
“Return to your room,” Prince Aiden said. His voice held such command there was no arguing or disobeying. “I will decide how to proceed about this breach of trust tomorrow.”
“Prince Aiden…” Natalie said again, her eyes were wide as tears began to form in them.
“Now.”
“I’ll go with you, Nats,” Entra said, putting her arm around Natalie. “It’s too cold for me in this. I’m not going to risk getting wet and getting a cold. Farewell everyone.”
“Good evening, Lady Entra,” Aiden said.
“Prince Aiden,” Natalie whined once more.
The prince turned to the fountain and both of the other women took their leave. Vivilyn could hear Natalie sniffling and Entra quietly trying to comfort her as they walked away.
“Now,” Prince Aiden said after taking a few calming breaths, “how do we get over there?”
“That’s simple,” Freya said. “We swim.” She slipped into the water with a small splash. “It’s not even very chilly. River Aima is much colder than this.” She swam over to the platform in the center of the water before anyone else even took a single step closer to the fountain.
“Hey! There’s an old, rusty handle over here,” she shouted as she reached the platform in the middle.
The water swirled around as Freya moved through it causing it to appear like it had an alternate current. Something seemed to block the waves halfway down the pool. The movement continued for a few moments after she pulled herself out.
Brayleigh moved quickly to the area where it looked like there was a breaker for the waves to hit.
“And there’s a pathway right here,” she called as she took a step onto it. Her feet went in up to her ankles as she began to walk across.
“Show off,” Freya laughed as she shook her hair in front of her, letting water drip from it.
Brayleigh, Darissa, and Prince Ethan quickly walked over to the platform with the statues.
When Prince Ethan reached Freya, he handed her his jacket to dry off with despite immediately starting to shiver himself. She just waved it away.
“Are you okay?” Vivilyn asked, as she and Prince Aiden walked over to the pathway to follow the others across.
“I just—” he said, before sighing and pausing. “Sometimes I get tired of always being watched.”
He shook his head as she put an arm comfortingly around his waist.
“Isn’t that part of not only the Enchanted Trials, but also being a prince? Being the future king?” She asked.
Warmth radiated from the prince through her jacket.
“You’re correct,” he said as he wrapped his own arm around Vivilyn’s back. “I expect it from most people, but it is frustrating when it comes from women I’m supposed to be learning to trust.”
“She’s trying to get a ring back from Brayleigh,” Vivilyn said, looking back toward the entrance of Crysteal Manor, remembering what Freya had said before they left.
“That stupid ring,” the prince said as he took off his shoes and socks. Vivilyn followed suit. “I’m about to just demand that Brayleigh to return it.”
“Don’t do that,” she said quickly.
“Why not? It would solve this whole Natalie acting ridiculous thing.”
She didn’t know why she felt so strongly, but something in her gut told her the ring needed to stay with the woman. Natalie didn’t seem to really care about where the ring was, otherwise she’d still have it. At least when Brayleigh had it, Vivilyn would know where it was.
“I was there,” Vivilyn said, trying to give reason to her feelings. “Brayleigh won it fair and square. If Natalie felt so strongly about keeping the ring, then she shouldn’t have bet it. Plus, if you order it to be returned to Natalie, then wouldn’t that look like you favor her over Brayleigh?”
With a quick step, they both started walking across the path. It felt like knives stabbing into Vivilyn’s feet. Only Prince Aiden’s presence beside her kept her from running across the path.
“I definitely don’t want the people to think I’m favoring anyone.” Prince Aiden shook his head again as they stepped up onto the statues’ platform where everyone else was collected in the center. “That would skew the voter’s opinions for the ceremonies.”
“Did I hear correctly that the people are voting for this Choosing Ceremony?” Freya said from where she was leaning against the cold stone of the statue.
“How did you find that out?” Prince Ethan asked. “I thought we were doing well at keeping that secret!”
“The people are voting already?” Vivilyn said, pulling herself away from Prince Aiden to look directly at him as he responded.
“It was my mother’s suggestion,” Prince Aiden said with an apologetic shrug. “Since we are narrowing the amount of women down to a more manageable number so much quicker than normal, she thought the people would feel more secure and valuable in the process if we start letting them have a say now.”
“Don’t worry, though,” Prince Ethan said. “The sponsors have saves. If you are concerned, Lady Freya, prove to the sponsors you’re most compatible for the kingdom and who knows?”
“I’m not the one here who should be worried,” Freya said as her glare raked over Vivilyn.
“I figured it out,” Darissa said, yanking the handle to silently open a trapdoor, seemingly oblivious to the entire conversation around her. “The code was ‘Etilidus.’ Can you believe it? That’s such an easily guessable word.” She giggled as she stepped aside.
“It needed a code?” Vivilyn said as she drew closer to it. A musty scent drifted out of the dark cavern below.
“Yeah, the handle wouldn’t even move before I plugged it in with that wire over there,” Darissa said before Prince Aiden handed her a torchlight. Vivilyn had no idea where it came from since she hadn’t noticed it beforehand. Then she spotted Ori had a bag and was handing the lights out to each person.
“He is always prepared for anything,” Ethan said when he saw where she was looking. “Sometimes I think he knows what’s going to happen before it happens.”
Vivilyn’s breathing hitched for a moment. Could he have an ability too? Could he see things like me? She looked over to the guard trying to see if she could sense anythin
g special about him.
As they all gathered closer to the entrance, a loud noise came from the forest in the distance. Ori’s head popped up and he stared over toward it.
“Keep an eye on things here,” he commanded Maxwell. “Keep them safe. Something is off over there.”
Maxwell nodded and Ori ran back over the water-covered path and off to where the noise had come from.
As Prince Ethan moved to start climbing into the trapdoor, Brayleigh reached a hand forward to stop him.
“We need to be sure we can get back out once we get in,” she said. Then she reached for the handle on the inside of the door and turned it.
Vivilyn watched as the handle twisted similarly as it had earlier that evening when she initially noticed the movement at the fountain.
Has someone else discovered this place?
She pulled herself out of her thoughts when she noticed everyone else had approached the trapdoor. Her mind flashed to a wave of darkness and her gut fell. It was similar to the same feeling she had gotten in the vision with the dark mass and the dragon, except it was stronger. Everything negative she’d ever felt, all the guilt, all the insecurities filled her mind.
Suddenly, she didn’t want to continue this adventure.
“Let’s go,” Prince Aiden exclaimed.
Prince Ethan was the first person to make his way down the ancient ladder. It squeaked and shuddered under his weight, but it held. He hollered up at the rest of them when he reached the ground. One by one, the women and Prince Aiden followed and made their way down.
Vivilyn was shocked that the ladder held as she descended it. It creaked and groaned each time she shifted her weight. With each rung she lowered herself, the feeling that she was entering a trap built stronger in the pit of her stomach. She shouldn’t be in there.
None of us should be.
Chapter 7
“What is this place?” Brayleigh asked in a whisper.
She dropped down from the final two rungs onto the ground right behind Vivilyn. The torchlight she’d been handed was already on by the time she landed with a soft thump. Dirt and dust seemed to cloud up near her feet when she landed.