Crystal grabbed the bag and turned her hand in the air, gesturing for Blaze to turn around. He obeyed, mumbling, and Crystal began to slip out of the wedding dress. She felt nervous with the open air hitting her body, since the only article of clothing she wore at the moment was her bottom undergarments. She never took her eyes off of Blaze for a second as she stood half naked behind him.
“The Lost Realm is only spoken of in legends.” Crystal explained as she began to slip her black underdress over her head, “Most people know of three realms in existence: the gaia realm, which is where we live, the holy realm, where Caris and her children reside, and the dark realm, where evil souls and demons reside. When people die, their souls leave the gaia realm and in normal circumstances go to the holy realm if they were good and virtuous in life, but they go to the dark realm if they were wicked.”
“Normal circumstances?” Blaze asked, slightly turning his head.
“Don’t look!” Crystal scolded.
“I wasn’t!” Blaze replied after jerking his head back quickly.
“Well, by normal circumstances, I’m referring to someone who died without a burden on their soul. When a person dies with a burden on their souls, it means that they either died before their purpose in life was fulfilled, they died with regrets or for some other reason weren’t at peace, or they took an important secret to the grave. There are other examples, but one sure thing is that if we have to go there, it means that someone is there that we have to free,” Crystal explained.
“The souls trapped in the Lost Realm can be freed?” asked Blaze.
“Yes, but it can’t be just anyone. It has to be someone affected by the burden the dead soul carries,” Crystal replied, who was now snapping her robe together.
“What does that mean?” Blaze asked, still facing the other way.
“I am not sure; we’ll have to go there and find out, but I don’t know the way. You can turn around now, by the way,” Crystal said. She was mostly covered now and had just pulled up her gray tights when Blaze turned around.
“Thaddeus said we should ask the elders. He also said that they could get rid of this,” Blaze said. He then pointed to the tracking mark and added, “Which, by the way, is how Bogdan knew about the rebels,” He then went on to explain about the spell Saitar made and finished up just as Crystal tied her belt. He then added, “Thaddeus put himself in a magic coma or something, so Saitar won’t see us from now on.”
“Again, I am so sorry . . .” she muttered.
“It’s only natural to assume I did it,” Blaze replied sullenly.
“No, it was wrong of us to assume you hadn’t changed just because of what you’ve done in the past. You aren’t that man anymore.” replied Crystal, “To be honest, even when I didn’t believe you, part of me prayed I would be able to see you again. I guess deep down, I knew you didn’t do it.”
“Actually, I have to admit that part of it is still my fault,” Blaze ruefully uttered.
“What do you mean?” Crystal asked.
“If I had kept my mouth shut in some of those situations where Saitar saw me, they wouldn’t have known who you are. If I hadn’t been reckless either, Saitar wouldn’t have been able to put the spell on me in the first place,” Blaze said, bowing his head.
“It’s all right, Blaze. Let’s just get ready to go before they discover we aren’t in the castle,” Crystal replied. She had finally managed to fix the chain on her necklace and attach it around her neck.
“You’re right. Just let me get changed out of this armor,” Blaze said, bending down and grabbing the bag with his belongings. He then imitated the way Crystal gestured for him to turn around with his hand, and said with a smirk, “If I don’t get to watch, you don’t get to watch.”
Crystal turned around and walked over to the pond and while Blaze changed, she scooped up water with her hands and washed her makeup off and wet her hair a little to get it back to its natural wavy texture. When she was done, without turning around, she asked, “Are you done?”
“Almost. You can turn around now, though,” Blaze called from behind her.
When Crystal turned, she could see Blaze sitting on a rock and pulling his boots on. He wore his trousers and his shirt, but not his jacket. As soon as he finished with his boots, he grabbed his jacket and pulled it on, and then put his belt with his sword and sheath on and buckled it.
“Well, let’s head over to the City of Magi. They should let us talk to the elders right away since they are allies of Cierith,” Crystal said.
Blaze laughed a little and said, “So you still aren’t giving up on the rebellion?”
“No. I owe it to my friends who gave up their freedom for me to keep moving forward,” Crystal replied.
Blaze then walked over to her and kissed her forehead. Crystal faintly leaned her entire body against him as the growling of her stomach made her realize that she hadn’t eaten in several days.
“Are you all right?” Blaze asked her.
“I’m . . . hungry,” she muttered.
Blaze laughed and replied, “Don’t worry; I’ve got food in the bag over there.” He then pointed to a large bag next to the horse. After leading Crystal to the horse and helping her mount onto him, Blaze then tied the bag to the saddle and grabbed a piece of bread out for her. She gratefully accepted the bread as well as the canteen of water Blaze handed her.
Just as soon as Blaze untied the horse and mounted him, sitting right behind Crystal, he kicked his legs and the horse then began to gallop east towards the City of Magi.
For three days, Blaze and Crystal rode through the plains and wooded areas of Cierith. Each night, Blaze and Crystal took turns keeping watch while the other slept, and by the end of the journey, both were so exhausted and hungry that the sight of the mountains on the third morning elated them both.
“We should be at the city gates within the hour,” Crystal said.
“It just occurred to me that I have never seen the city itself,” Blaze muttered. He steered the horse while sitting behind Crystal and allowed her to lean back onto his shoulder.
“The city is a lot nicer if you aren’t sneaking around underground,” Crystal teased.
“I just hope the elders aren’t still sore at me,” Blaze muttered.
“I will assure them you have changed. They trust me, so I will convince them you are trustworthy too,” Crystal told him.
Just as Crystal predicted, less than an hour later, the two of them arrived at the city gates. The guard above the gate, who just so happened to be the same guard from the first time Crystal was there, looked down and said, “State your business.”
“It is I, the leader of Deliverance,” Crystal called back.
“Oh, Miss Crystal! I almost didn’t recognize you!” the guard replied.
“I need to speak with the elders right away. It’s urgent!” Crystal said.
“Very well, I’ll send a message to them,” replied the guard. He then called to the other guards, “Open the gates!”
As soon as the enormous gates opened, Blaze urged the horse forward and the three of them entered the city.
“It looks like they’ve rebuilt everything already!” Crystal said, admiring the new buildings.
“That’s good . . .” Blaze muttered.
Crystal sensed the guilt in his voice, and so she leaned back a little closer to him in an effort to comfort him. It seemed to work, because he put his arm around her and pulled her closer. When they finally reached the Elder’s Hall, Crystal and Blaze were greeted by members of the council.
“Welcome Miss Crystal!” said a councilman, “The elders have already been informed of your arrival, so let us take your horse into the city stable and bring you inside.”
After dismounting from their horse, Crystal and Blaze were then led into the meeting hall and were greeted by the five remaining elders.
“Miss Crystal, we received word that you requested to speak with us immediately.” Elder Halmez said in his usual rough voic
e, “Is something wrong?”
“I’m afraid so,” Crystal ruefully replied.
“Is, that . . . ?” asked Halmez, gesturing to Blaze, “It IS him!”
“Why did you bring him back here?” Orwynn asked sternly.
Blaze leaned in behind Crystal and whispered, “I think they’re still sore.”
“Please, elders, I promise you that Blaze is a changed man!” Crystal assured.
“How are we supposed to just let him walk back in here after what he’s done?” Halmez exclaimed. He then looked at Blaze again and commanded, “Leave, now!”
Blaze turned around without a word and despite Crystal pleading for him to stay, he walked away until he heard someone say, “We can trust him.”
Blaze and Crystal both turned to see Elder Ydon stepping forward.
“You used your telepathy, Ydon?” asked Bredewig.
“What the hell is telepathy?” Blaze asked.
“It means he can read minds, Blaze,” Crystal answered.
“And generate my thoughts into other minds as well,” Ydon added. He then turned to Blaze and said, “Forgive me for intruding your thoughts, but I had to be sure if you were in fact trustworthy. I saw how you risked your life to save Miss Crystal, and now I know that you can be trusted.”
“Could you at least warn me next time you decide to hijack my mind?” Blaze retorted, walking back to Crystal’s side.
“I will not do it again. I promise,” Ydon replied. He then turned back to Crystal, “I would also like to apologize for reading your thoughts as well. When you first came to the City of Magi and gave your speech, I thought it was odd that you were so willing to help us and yet tell us nothing about yourself, so I read your mind and discovered who you really are.”
Crystal’s eyes widened, and Ydon shook his head and added in assurance, “Do not worry, your secret is safe with me.”
“What secret?” Halmez asked.
“I am sorry, my fellow elders, but I am not at liberty to say. Take my word for it: Crystal has a noble reason for her actions,” Ydon replied.
“Very well, we trust your words,” Leldor said.
“Actually . . .” Crystal began. Everyone turned to look at her curiously and she continued, “There is no point in concealing my true identity anymore, because Bogdan has discovered it. That’s actually one of the reasons we came.”
“Well then, will you begin by telling us you real name?” Orwynn asked.
Crystal looked back and forth at the elders, and then after she felt Blaze place his hand onto her shoulder, she took a deep breath and said, “It’s Amelia. To be specific, it’s Princess Amelia Atteberry of Cierith.”
The elders remained silent and all of them except for Ydon bore a surprised expression. They looked back and forth at each other and Halmez finally spoke, “I see we have a lot to discuss. Why don’t you two get washed up and we will all talk over dinner. We will have someone waiting by the stairwell on the third floor to take you to the dining room when you’re done.”
Crystal nodded, and not long after that, she and Blaze were led to separate rooms on the same floor where Crystal spent the night the first time she was there. The servant who showed Crystal to her room pointed to another room in the corner and told her a hot bath was waiting for her.
“Just leave your clothes on the bed. There is a spare outfit waiting for you in the bathroom that you can use until your clothes are clean. When you’re done with your bath, just leave the water alone and someone will clean up while you eat dinner,” the old woman said.
“Thank you very much,” Crystal replied.
As soon as the servant lady closed the door behind her, Crystal walked over to the bed next to the bathroom and stripped naked. She then walked into the bathroom and saw a full tub of steamy water and stepped in without hesitation. The water felt scorching hot against her skin, but she didn’t care. After a while of sitting in the hot water, her skin turned pink and adjusted to the heat.
Crystal bathed for nearly half an hour. She washed herself head to toe with sweet-smelling soap, which relaxed her tremendously. She was so relaxed that she nearly dozed off in the water, but somehow managed to coax herself to get out and towel off. After squeezing almost all of the water out of her hair, she walked over to the outfit that hung on the door.
It was another robe similar to her own, but it was a pale green color and instead of having bell sleeves that only reached her mid-forearm, these had longer, thinner sleeves. The robe was about the same length of Crystal’s, but it was solid down the middle so that instead of wrapping it around her and snapping in down the middle, Crystal would have to pull it over her head. The robe also came with a fabric belt and matching boots.
Crystal dressed herself in the spare clothes and even threw on her pendant purely out of habit and eyed her new look in the full body mirror. She figured she looked pleasant enough, so she decided to head over to the dining room. Her hair was still damp, so she quickly toweled it off some more and left the room.
As she emerged from her bedroom, she heard a voice call from the other side of the door, “Finally! I swear you women take forever.”
Crystal shut the door to see Blaze waiting for her. He was clean as well and was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with a deep, turquoise tunic vest, gray pants, and dark gray boots. She could tell he had bathed too, because his hair was slightly damp. He leaned against the wall with his arms folded and his legs crossed slightly, looking amused.
“You look nice,” she responded, choosing to ignore his remark.
He then smiled back at her and to her surprise, he replied, “So do you. That green is a nice color on you.”
Crystal smiled and softly replied, “Thanks. I’m sure you are as hungry as I am, so let’s go to the dining room.”
“Okay then, let’s go,” Blaze said.
****
As Halmez promised, a servant waiting by the stairwell on the third floor led Crystal and Blaze to a large dining room. A dark wooden table covered in a silvery cloth sat in the middle of the room. Dozens of trays of delicious food lined the table and seven chairs, five of which were filled by the elders, lined up six on either side of the table and one at the end.
Elder Halmez sat at the head of the table while Orwynn, Ydon, and Bredewig sat on his right and Leldor sat on his left with two empty seats beside him. Crystal figured that when Saitar and Malcolm had been around, Malcolm sat in the head seat and the others sat around him. Now that he was dead and Saitar had left, there were two empty seats for Crystal and Blaze to join them.
“Ah, there you two are!” Halmez greeted, “Come and join us.”
Crystal sat in the chair next to Leldor and Blaze sat next to her.
“Thank you for the spare clothes,” Crystal said.
“Anything to help our allies.” Halmez replied, “As the newly appointed High Elder, I will honor Malcolm’s wishes to aid your cause.”
“You are the new High Elder?” asked Crystal. She then noticed that instead of the light gray robe he used to wear, Halmez now wore a white robe like Malcolm used to wear.
“Yes. After Malcolm’s death, the people appointed Halmez because of how well he led the defense of the city during Bogdan’s invasion,” Leldor said.
“Once a High Elder either retires, dies, or is, unfortunately, removed from his or her position, another elder is chosen. An elder must serve for at least ten years before becoming the High Elder. Halmez has served for fifteen,” Orwynn explained.
“So what about the other two spots for elders?” Crystal asked.
“We have announced for the people to make nominations of worthy candidates, and once there is a small group of people to choose from, the people cast their votes and after they are tallied, the new elder will be chosen. In this case, we will be choosing two of the candidates,” explained Ydon.
“Well now,” Halmez replied, “enough talk about all that. Let us get on with why our guests need our help.”
“Oh, right
.” Crystal said, “Well, I already told you my true name, but if it’s all the same, I would rather be called ‘Crystal’ until Cierith has been freed. My true name represents the freedom of the people; I cannot take my name back until they have their freedom.”
“Very well, we will honor your wishes, Miss Crystal,” Halmez replied. The other elders nodded in agreement.
“Thank you,” Crystal replied.
For the next hour, she told them the events that took place after they had departed from the city the first time. She explained how they recruited Blaze and about the tracking mark that Thaddeus put on Blaze, and then explained all the shards they went after, even though she excluded most of the details about the incident at Valamar’s mansion.
As soon as she mentioned Valamar, however, Bredewig mentioned, “Quite . . . an eccentric fellow, that man. There were several brutish men who came here looking for you, Crystal, and they said that Valamar sent them. The guardsmen at the gates did not let them enter the city, but they passed the message along to me that Valamar wanted to speak with my granddaughter. I found that quite odd, but perhaps you could shed some light on that?”
Crystal and Blaze exchanged disgusted glances and then Crystal said, “We’ve already had the displeasure of meeting him.”
“Mainly a ‘kick to the groin’ kind of displeasure,” Blaze added.
Crystal explained to Bredewig how she used his name and claimed to be his granddaughter to gain entrance to the Valamar estate and apologized to him for the inconvenience to him, but he brushed it off as no big deal.
Crystal then told them that Blaze changed in those months and even told them how he was injured trying to protect her. The elders listened intently as Crystal told them about being captured and how she and Blaze escaped, and then she asked the elder’s about removing Blaze’s tracking mark.
“Not a problem.” Bredewig muttered, “I know the book that the counter spell is in and I can get that off after dinner.”
“Thanks,” Blaze muttered back.
Crystal went on to tell them about what Thaddeus said about the Lost Realm she then finished up her explanation by telling the elders how Gavril helped them sneak out of the castle, but went back in saying he’d make sure their friends weren’t hurt.
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