THE ELEMENTAL CHRONICLE

Ten |

Ten |

Sleep didn't come easy. I spent much of the night wrapping my legs with bandages, Ebby sat beside me on the bed sleeping. His little stomach rising and falling with each breath. Oberon's truth felt like an utter betrayal. My heart felt as though those thorns had cut it deeply. I could feel my mind spiraling like a magical whirlpool—there were so many secrets and lies around me and for what? Mother and Father were dead. Fionn was a traitor—I shook my head wildly. Enough that my mind ached. I had to stop torturing myself with the past. I needed to stop turning my gentle thoughts to Fionn. He was not worth such kindness.

"Oh what shall I do now Ebby?" I whispered to him.

"Mek," he grunted, rolling onto his stomach.

A smile pulled onto my lips.

I stripped down to my shift and crawled into the bed beside Ebby. It's a wonder what the mind could do. Exhaustion weighted down upon me. Just like that, my mind was freed of the constraints of itself. The warm darkness of sleep tucked me in, and I found a wonderful peace within my dreams.

"Little Black Rose."

I opened my eyes, the voice sounded strange. It was rough and soft more like a growl than anything else and yet, it felt warm. The words wrapped around me like a golden shimmer in the air, and I found myself standing beside my bed. I looked towards the window but found the sky dark but clear with no moon nor stars.

"Little Black Rose."

I looked towards the door. It swung open, the shimmer floated around me, moving towards the door and down the hall. Moving forward, my feet practically slid across the floor. The hall was empty and dark. As I followed the trail of gold dust, the torches on the wall came to light. It should have startled me—did they even have torches on these walls? It didn't matter. All that mattered was this feeling, this trail. I followed after it, every time my fingers brushed against the golden floating dust, it would swirl around my flesh before floating further away from me.

"Little Black Rose."

I looked past the trail, my feet coming to a stop. This was the hall that lead to the dungeon. I continued forward, it was strange that no one was here guarding this secret place. I swallowed the rising lump in my throat and continued forward, a warm breeze swirling around me. It was warm and comforting. I breathed slowly, the dungeon doors coming into view. At the bottom of the large doors was a puddle. My eyes squinted as the torches lit around me and I strained to see what the puddle was.

"Saor."

I let out a scream, the crimson of the puddle glistening in the torch light.

Then I awoke.

Drenched in sweat, with sunlight pouring through the window. I pressed my palm to my chest and struggled to calm my quick beating heart. It is a wonder I found sleep last night but now even more of a wonder how my dream involved those dungeon doors and not the events from last night. I exhaled briefly before sliding from the bed and looking down at my legs. It seemed a tad of blood splotched through the gauze but the bleeding had long stopped. Still, I should take extra care not to reveal my wounds. My eyes moved across the room.

At least the crystals and rose bush was long gone.

So was Ebby.

I wrapped my wrist to hide my mark before dressing. For today, I wore a sheer shift covered in floral lace. Over it a long emerald skirt, and a green stay covered in a lovely daisy pattern along with my boots. I then did my hair. Aside from my bangs, my locks were beginning to grown longer which made me smile slightly. Short hair was more ideal in a small village but now that I was in a castle, it seemed longer hair was a show of wealth. I fish-braided my hair from the roots down before pulling on a pair of white gloves.

Despite the news of my Father and the seal on Fionn, I had to continue moving one day at a time. And, it seemed my Father was not cursed by another nation but himself. Which meant if I allowed this assumption to fester, it would turn into an ugly vengeance. I rubbed my cheeks briefly before pulling a smile onto my face. I had to tell them the truth in a way that does not expose the fae. Even if Oberon betrayed me, I wouldn't allow harm come to those hiding.

As I opened the door, I come face to face with Kahuna. Surprise filled me as I took a slight step back—she did as well, no doubt also surprised. Her surprise was altered by the look of guilt, and she offered me a small smile.

"I apologize for the intrusion," she said slowly, "I was hoping we could go for a walk and perhaps talk about what happened last night?"

I nodded my head, "Of course."

We wandered aimlessly down the large halls, my eyes flickering to the large dungeon doors as we passed them. Two guards were stationed on either side, and it seemed as normal as before and yet...there was something at the door. Something the guards nor Kahuna could see. The slightest spark of golden dust hovering near the lights. My feet paused and I stared a moment longer on the doors, uncertainty filling me.

"Ara?" Kahuna asked.

I blinked, looking back to her with a smile, "Forgive me. The doors are so taboo, I cannot help but linger my gaze on them for a moment. We can continue."

She nodded and we continued on. To my surprise, Kahuna led me down a hall I hadn't remembered. It lead down a large staircase made of stone, one glowing by the gentle gems that seemed to be growing out of the sides. There was a cool breeze that blew past us and I regrated not wearing a shawl. Kahuna seemed to have no complaints with the black pants she wore, tunic and long black cloak decorated with silver hyacinths and the hood covered in lush white fur.

"I wish to apologize for not telling you everything," she said.

I glanced at her with a small smile as we went deeper down the steps, "It's alright."

"No, it's truly not," she replied sharply, "We shouldn't have left you out of such a conversation. I-it took us by surprise and because of that, we didn't react properly."

"And?" I whispered, looking up to see we've passed so many steps already and still they continued, "What of it now?"

She sighed, "I shouldn't tell you."

"But you wish to."

Finally, we'd reached the bottom step. My legs ached at such an endeavor and I looked up. The staircase was long and windy, we surely had been making the trip for many minutes if not longer. The room however, was beautiful. There was an opening which had been overgrown with crystals. Everything on this room was devoured by glowing crystals—it was wonderful to see however, if the opening had been blocked with crystals how would we move past them?

"Only those with royal Albion blood can summon crystals," she told me.

I nodded, "Why is that?"

"Uncle Jerrik once told me it was an ability reserved by the first."

This made sense. I watched as she moved her hands to the crystals and just like that, the ones blocking the entrance shattered. It was amazing—I could feel my jaw part with curiosity.

"Amazing!" I voiced.

She chuckled, "Come."

So I did, deeper into the tunnels of pure crystal.