by J. D. Wright
Rowan slowly lowered the parchment and looked over at Bree. Finn left the courtyard, in search of Sidonie.
“Kidnapped? The wizard kidnapped them?” Bree started pacing. Her voice rose as the panic took control of every part of her body. “I can’t believe this. I thought Sarita and Gabby were just playing a game, trying to prove how disappointed they were in Rhea’s plan to leave. I never once thought that someone took them!”
“None of us did,” Reeve said, looking up at the sky as he cursed to himself.
Sidonie, Rhea, and Finn entered the courtyard. Rowan handed Sidonie the note, which she read to herself. Rhea leaned over her shoulder and read it, as well.
“I can’t believe this!” Bree continued, still pacing and starting to feel queasy. “Why are people constantly being kidnapped from my kingdom? And it isn’t a grown woman this time. They are only girls! Sarita is just eight years old. Gabby is, what, fourteen?”
“Just turned it, actually…” Reeve said, quietly, looking at the ground. He wanted to scream. Or cry. Neither of those would help them to find the girls, but the feeling of helplessness was intense and terrifying.
He had tried to find Gabby after she stormed out the day before but hadn’t thought to check the stables until after it was too late. Both of the girls were already gone. And the stable boy didn’t bother telling anyone that the princess left on her own until questioned about it. Searching throughout the evening, night, and morning had turned up nothing. Until now.
“Eight and fourteen years old!” Bree shouted. “I can’t imagine how scared those poor girls must have been. Must still be! Oh, my heavens. What if he hurts them?”
“He needs them, to trade,” Rowan said. “If nothing else, at least, he probably won’t kill them.”
“Ugh!” Bree wailed. Just hearing Rowan mention the word “kill” was enough to make Bree want to scream. “What are we going to do?”
“Decipher this message, for starters,” Sidonie said. “What in the hell is a Blood Moon Crystal and why does he think your father has it?” she asked, looking at Dagan.
“Because, I think he does,” Dagan said, running a hand through his hair. “I was going over and over the reasons Edmund would have for taking his amulet now that he has magic, again. All I could figure is that the amulet must do something else. He took it from Dahlia which kept Mereck from finding it in the dungeons of Sire. That much I am sure of.”
“So Mereck must have been searching for it, in Sire, while he was there,” Sidonie said. “Dahlia said he was angry when he didn’t find it on her. And during the wildfire, Mereck attacked Edmund, instead of me. I couldn’t understand why.”
“I guess, now we know,” Rowan said.
“That still doesn’t explain how he knew Edmund had it or why he wants it,” Dagan said. “Without magic, he can’t use the blasted thing.”
“Is it valuable?” Rowan asked. “Maybe he plans to sell it.”
“I honestly don’t know. I’ve never heard of a Blood Moon Crystal,” Dagan replied.
“I don’t care if it’s worth more than my kingdom,” Bree said. “Let him have it! Anything to bring the girls home.”
“I would give it to him. Gladly,” Dagan said, “if I had it. Edmund has it and I have no idea where he has disappeared to.”
“Can we track him? Do we have anything that belonged to him, to track him with?” Sidonie was trying to think of a way to help. The message was addressed to her and it was her fault that the wizard no longer had his magic, though, she was still glad to have taken it. Who knows how much more damage he would have caused if he had been allowed to keep it. Only, now she wished she had just killed him, instead.
“What if we offer to give his magic back?” Finn asked. “Maybe that would satisfy him enough to forego the moon crystal.”
Sidonie and Dagan both cringed at the question.
“I can’t,” Sidonie said, shaking her head. A tear started to fall, followed by another. “I can’t give him his magic back. I didn’t keep the magic when I siphoned it from him. I put it back into the ground, where it belongs. I can’t give it back to him.”
Sidonie felt absolutely terrible and completely responsible for what was happening. She tried to stop the tears, to look strong in front of everyone, but it was no use. Rhea rubbed Sidonie’s back, sending a gentle wave of magic to help calm Sidonie’s stress, but it barely made a difference.
“I’m sorry,” Sidonie said, just before she fled the courtyard, sobbing.
Rhea was torn between Reeve and Sidonie. She wanted to chase after her friend, who she knew was feeling a great amount of guilt. But she also wanted to stay and comfort Reeve, who looked ready to jump off a cliff, if given the opportunity. She stayed where she was for the moment.
“I can try to use the message to track Mereck,” Dagan said. “If we find him, maybe we can find the girls.”
“No,” Bree said, regaining focus. “You need to find Edmund and get that crystal back.”
“I will go with him,” Rowan said. “He can track with magic, and if that doesn’t work, I can track him the traditional way.”
For once, Bree didn’t argue. She just closed her eyes and nodded.
“I will go, as well,” Reeve said, stepping forward.
“No,” Rowan said, putting an arm on Reeve’s shoulder. “You need to stay here and help our father continue searching. With any luck, you’ll find the girls before we find Edmund. When Gabby returns, she’ll need you to be here.”
Reeve started to argue, but Nick interrupted him.
“I will have someone ready your horses,” Nick said, looking at Rowan. “Then Reeve and I will initiate a kingdom-wide search for the princess and Gabrielle.”
Nick left the courtyard with Finn.
“I will go and pack a few things for the journey,” Dagan said. He started to leave but paused beside Rhea. “Look after Sid while I’m gone. Use anything in my tower, if you need to.”
“I will,” Rhea replied, nodding as Dagan left the courtyard.
“We will find them,” Rowan said, turning to Reeve. He wanted to assure his brother, but he also needed to hear the words, himself. After a quick embrace with Reeve, Rowan took Bree’s hand and walked back into the castle, leaving Rhea and Reeve alone.
“Reeve, I’m so sorry--” Rhea started, but stopped talking when a stable boy came forward to lead the two horses away.
“Don’t bother,” Reeve said. “This is my fault.”
“That isn’t true. It’s just as much my fault, if not more.”
“I’m the one who let my sister care for you. I never should have asked the queen to let you share our suite and I should have ended the marriage from the beginning. I never should have put any stock into some foolish belief that we were somehow meant to come together. It’s my fault that Gabby ran off.”
Rhea wanted to argue, to tell him how wrong he was, but she was too stunned to speak. So it was actually Reeve’s idea that she share Gabby’s chambers? All along, she had thought that it was the queen who was trying to push the two of them together. And it surprised her to hear that Reeve had once thought that their accidental marriage was somehow part of fate’s plan for them. She felt just as much confusion as she did shame.
She reached out to touch him. She wanted to comfort him. To help relieve his stress. His pain. But the moment her hand touched his arm he pulled it away.
“Let me help you,” she said, trying to touch him, again. “I can help you.”
“I don’t want your help, Rhea,” Reeve said. He turned and left her standing there, still holding her arm out.
Watching him walk away hurt almost as much as hearing the way he spoke to her. His tone was cold and indifferent. Even in the hallway during the Winter Ball, Reeve hadn’t sounded as dispassionate. Or as mean. Rhea was sure that any chance of her being able to stay and live in Junacave once the marriage was over was now gone.
~*~
Bree sat alone in the library, holding a book in her
hand. The book had been on the same page for most of the day, ever since Rowan and Dagan left to find Edmund. She had read the page at least a dozen times and still had no idea what it said. Her mother thought reading would help distract her from worrying about Sarita, but that was obviously wrong. Nothing could.
Bree looked up when she heard a knock on the door.
“Go away,” she said, but the door opened, anyway.
“I know you wish to be alone, Your Majesty,” Sir Ainsley said. “However, there is a visitor who is very adamant about speaking with you. She said it is extremely important.” Sensing that his queen was about to refuse the visitor, he added, “The lady in question is a… Sabra… Your Majesty.”
“A Sabra? Is it Adelphie?”
“No, Your Majesty. It is a different Sabra.”
“I will speak with her. Bring her to me,” Bree said. She closed her book without bothering to mark the page. She hadn’t read a single word of it, anyhow. So why bother? The door opened and Dyna stepped inside.
“Dyna? This is a surprise! I wasn’t expecting you,” Bree said.
“I apologize, Your Majesty,” Dyna said, attempting to speak correctly. She wasn’t familiar with the proper titles or dialogue used when speaking to royalty, so she paid close attention to how the knight who escorted her had behaved.
“No apology necessary,” Bree said. “How can I help you?” She could tell that something was wrong, but Dyna was incredibly hard to read. Her expression was just as blank now as it usually was.
“I have come to bring unfortunate news regarding Adelphie. We’ve just discovered that she’s missing,” Dyna said.
A voice spoke from behind her, “What do you mean by, “she’s missing”?”
Dyna turned around to see Finn standing in the doorway. “What I mean is, we can’t find her. Until we received your message, we thought she was here, with you.”
“Why would you think Adelphie would be here? Didn’t she return home after the ball?”
“Yes, but shortly after, she left again. To come back to Junacave.”
“But that was toward the end of winter. It’s already close to the middle of spring.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Are you telling me that Adelphie left to come here before winter’s end? And you haven’t seen her since?”
“Yes.”
Finn’s heart almost stopped beating. He could actually feel the cold sweat spreading over him. Adelphie had decided to return, after all. But where was she?
“You’ve looked, everywhere? Are you sure?” He couldn’t hide the panic in his voice, even if he tried.
Suddenly, Sidonie burst into the room.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” she asked, flying to Dyna’s side.
“How do you already know something is wrong?”
“I know you, Dyna. You wouldn’t come here unless something was wrong. You hated the castle, remember?”
Dyna frowned but didn’t argue. She really did hate coming back here, but she had no choice. If something really has happened to Adelphie, then she thought her sister should know.
“You’re right. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important. You might want to sit down.”
Sidonie glanced over at Bree as she sat, slowly. Bree’s face showed concern, more than Sidonie already expected, but she couldn’t really tell what Bree was thinking. Finn was pacing on the other side of the library. Sidonie could tell that something terrible must have happened.
“What happened, Dyna?” Sidonie said. “Out with it, before I lose my patience.”
It wasn’t a threat, really. Sidonie’s magic was linked to her emotions. With how upset she already was about the girls being taken, she couldn’t guarantee that her magic wouldn’t react to the dread that she was already starting to feel about whatever brought Dyna to Junacave.
“It’s your sister, Sid,” Dyna replied, then took a deep breath before continuing. “We can’t find her. She left to return to Junacave and, apparently, she never made it.”
“How do you know she didn’t just take a longer route? You know how much she likes exploring the forest.”
“We’re sure she would have made it by now. Or at least sent word to one of us if she decided to take a month-long detour.”
“Month? Why are you just now telling me if she’s been gone for an entire month?”
“Actually,” Finn said, still pacing, “it’s been longer than that.”
“Because we thought she was here. It wasn’t until we received your message, about the tournament,” Dyna said, pulling the piece of parchment from her leather pouch and holding it up to Sidonie, “that we realized she must not have made it here. Why else would you have addressed the message to your sister, if she were in Junacave?”
Sidonie slowly took the parchment and opened it. Indeed, it was the same message that she had sent to Adelphie, inviting her to Junacave’s annual tournament, which would be happening soon.
“But… Surely, you don’t believe anything serious could have happened to her? Do you? I mean, this is Adelphie we’re talking about. She can easily survive in the wilderness. Even for months.”
“We don’t doubt it,” Dyna said, forcing a smile. “Your sister is by far the most capable, of all of us. But we do find it curious as to why she wouldn’t send word to you, or us, by messenger or a fox, even. I’m sure you agree, it isn’t like her to just disappear.”
“No, you’re right.” Sidonie sunk into the chair she was sitting in.
“Actually, I was hoping you might be able to track her? Using your… magic.”
Sidonie could tell that Dyna was uncomfortable asking her to use magic and she understood why. The Sabras had been able to accept that Sidonie now had magic because she was one of them. One of their family, who they trusted. But the Sabras still hated the idea of using magic and ever since the wildfires destroyed their homes just over a year ago, they had become even more against it.
“I would love to,” Sidonie replied, then sighed. “But I can’t. Dagan took his scrying mirror with him. I don’t know how to do a tracking spell without it.”
“Then you should come with us,” Dyna said. “We can try to find her on our own.”
“If you want to go, Sid, I completely understand,” Bree said, softly. “You don’t need my permission. Dagan is sworn to protect my kingdom. You’ve made no such vow.”
Sidonie reached over and took Bree’s hand. “I want to search for my sister, and I will, once we locate Sarita and Gabby. My sister is grown and I know she can survive on her own. The girls are young. They need to be found.”
“We can’t just leave Adelphie out there!” Finn said. “Someone has to go look for her!”
“My sisters are searching around our home,” Dyna said. “If she hurt herself, perhaps she’s been taking shelter, somewhere. Until she heals.”
“For this long?” he asked. “What if she’s…”
He didn’t have to finish the sentence. The silence told him that he wasn’t the only one who thought Adelphie was probably dead. He knew his wasn’t the only heart in the room that was aching, but it was the one he heard the loudest. The air around him was heavy and he needed to breathe. Without saying another word, he left the room.
“Will he be alright?” Dyna asked after Finn stormed out. “I’m not familiar with the feeling, but I’m told that first loves can be intense.”
“I’m sure he will be fine. And actually, Adelphie isn’t Finn’s first love. But, she is still special, in a different way,” Bree said, forcing a small smile. She wanted to remain hopeful that Adelphie was safe, but her mind kept going back to a vision of Sarita, scared and imprisoned somewhere in the realm. Bree closed her eyes and silently begged fate to have mercy on all three of the missing people that they loved.
Chapter Eight
Gabby woke with a throbbing headache. The stone floor below her was smooth and cold. She had no clue just how many hours she had been asleep, but her sore back was a sign that she h
ad been lying there for quite a while. She rubbed her eyes, trying to bring them better into focus. The room was mostly darkened, except for a few tiny streams of light shining down from above. The air around her was thick and smelled of dust, similar to the old books her mother used to own. Her legs felt strange so she wiggled her toes, trying to wake them up.
“Achoo!”
“Ah!” Gabby yelped, sitting up so quickly that it made her dizzy.
“Sorry,” Sarita said. “This place is so… achoo! So dusty.”
Gabby turned her head around and could barely make out the form of Sarita’s little body in the corner of the room. If not for Sarita’s gown being such a light shade of yellow, she might not be visible, at all.
“How long was I asleep?” Gabby asked, rubbing her sore head.
“I don’t know, but I’ve been awake for a while. You must have gotten a larger dose of the potion,” Sarita said, pulling herself up onto all fours. She crawled over to where Gabby was sitting.
“Potion?”
“You probably don’t remember yet. It took me a while to regain my memory, as well.”
“Why would I have gotten a larger dose?”
“Probably because you wouldn’t stop arguing with the wizard,” Sarita said, chuckling.
“Wizard… Wizard!” Gabby shouted and jumped up, almost falling over. She had to use Sarita’s head to steady herself. “I remember now. That crusty old wizard kidnapped us!”
“Yes, and locked us in here. I don’t remember that part. I remember the forest. You were fighting him so he tossed some sort of liquid on us.”
“It was a potion?”
“I assume,” Sarita said, standing. “It made us fall asleep, so it must have been. I’m just glad we woke with all of our senses. At least, I think we still have them. I can’t really see anything.”
“I think it’s just dark in here,” Gabby said, feeling around in front of her. “I found a wall. There might be a window or something.” She rubbed her hands over the cold stone wall.