Shattered Ice and Fury

Chapter 8

Now that she had gotten some solid answers, Celeste felt calmer. It was as though the storm had passed, and now Celeste remained in the calm that followed. She had her truths and felt she could face the future now. She knew she was probably too calm, but whether it was because of denial or shock, she was still for now. But she remained worried about her friends. That had been the case even before Alice had her outburst, and now she and Jack stared at each other in utter shock.
Celeste couldn't recall a time that Alice had been so openly upset with her. As was to be expected, she had been irritated with her and Jack in the past, but that vicious anger had never been directed towards either of them. Celeste began to fidget with the black string around her wrist and the silver circle attached to it, biting the inside of her lip.
"Will that girl be alright? Should we send someone after her?" Asked the archivist. The seemingly stoic woman actually looked frazzled by Alice's display.
Jack shook his head. "She's just freaking out," he explained. "Let her freak out." Always the reassuring big brother figure.
Jack knew just as well as she did that Alice was better off left alone when she got this angry. Alice needed to go through the motions on her own. She had always been better off that way, and they doubted the change in environment would change that about their friend.
Celeste swallowed but nodded with the archivist. She would have asked Anahita how to get home, but she honestly hadn't had the time throughout their rushed conversation. Alice had to know that.
She sat, stroking a child's hair with her other arm wrapped around another clingy, pointy-eared faerie. If they were as old as the prince claimed, they had to know more than they let on. They must have.
Had the little faeries known what her marks meant? Had they sensed the goddess inside Celeste, and was that why they liked her so much? She concluded that in all the chaos, it really didn't matter now. She wouldn't worry about it.
The archivist shook her head in astonishment before turning to her notebook and flipping through the pages. When she was done, she scanned Celeste.
The archivist's dark grey hair was pulled back in a tight bun that seemed to stretch her skin back, and her face had returned to its usual blank slate. If the woman was feeling or thinking anything at all, Celeste couldn't tell.
"You do understand what this means, don't you?" She asked softly. Although the archivist's expression remained unfeeling, she was the one to put her hand on Celeste's now. She held on tight. "You-"
The archivist was interrupted by a quick knock on the door, and then Sphen walked into the room without waiting for any words of invitation.
"Oh, good," he sighed. "You're awake. And alive." He said the last part with less enthusiasm than Celeste would have liked. Jack scowled, but Sphen stepped closer, ignoring Jack. "If you feel up to it, King Vaktear would like to see you. He wants you to explain yourself."
Celeste studied the bald young man momentarily and found herself wondering about him. Whether or not he, too, knew more than he let on. Sphen worked for the king. Perhaps he often heard things he shouldn't whispered within the court. Whispered behind closed doors. The boy looked away uncomfortably and shifted his weight before Celeste realized she had been staring.
She looked to Jack for input, but he was too busy pulling one of the shorter children, struggling to get onto the bed, off the ground, and onto his lap. The little girl beamed up at him.
Celeste blinked and nodded, and then Sphen walked out of the room but quickly returned with the king and the prince at his heels.
The archivist rose abruptly and bowed.
"No need for formalities behind closed doors. You know this, Madame Archivist."
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty."
King Vaktear nodded. "May we sit, Celeste?" He spoke her name with such care as though he feared scaring her off. He indeed seemed like the kindest man. Up front, he was so compassionate and patient, but Celeste didn't let herself get sucked in by his perfected act. And she had no doubt it was an act because no man or woman, otherworldly or otherwise, was that pure on the inside.
Some would say she was pessimistic or that she had trust issues, but she simply considered herself realistic. She saw the hunger in that observing gaze. The thirst for answers.
She stayed alert.
"This is your kingdom. You don't have to ask to sit," Celeste said, shrugging. She may have been wary of the scarred king, but he didn't have to know that. 
King Vaktear's lips twitched towards a smile, and he thanked her before having Sphen move one of the chairs near the fireplace closer to the bed.
Prince Vaktear had joined his father in sitting near the bed on a comfortable chair of his own. Anticipation lay thick in the air as heavy silence filled the room. Jack shifted slightly, the child in his lap now fast asleep.
"Would you like to read this morning's events, or would you like the girl to explain?" The archivist stepped forward, book in hand.
"I'd like to hear it from Celeste, but I'll keep the archive and then return it to you once I have no more use for it. Does that sound acceptable to you, Madame Archivist?" She nodded and sat back down. "Then please, Celeste, go ahead." King Vaktear leaned forward and rested his crowned head on his intertwined fingers. 
Then, Celeste told them everything. Or almost everything. She omitted some details, cutting to the chase and leaving it to the point. He could read the rest in the archive if he wanted to.
When she finished telling her tale, the king spoke uncharacteristically quietly and watched her intently. "Anahita didn't give you more information. No explanation for why or how this has happened to you?"
"More importantly, father, this makes her sacred," the prince cut in. "She is more than just a mere human being. She is on equal footing with Anahita's spirit." Prince Vaktear stood, and Celeste had to catch herself before she let her jaw drop open. She hadn't thought of that. "She is also human. Would that not make her eligible for the Antanian throne?" The prince spoke the last part a little too easily, as though they were simply discussing the weather.
The archivists sucked in a breath, and Jack's mouth did fall open. Celeste didn't want to know how ridiculous the look on her face might have been at that point.
"You are correct. Mostly." The king's face hardened before he stood and glared at his son without hesitation. Celeste felt for the crown prince. The vicious look seemed too harsh to be directed at one's son. 
The prince met his father's icy gaze, and they seemed to have a silent conversation. One that ended with Prince Vaktear breaking eye contact first, his eyes darkening.
The king then turned his attention back to Celeste and approached her bed. "You are eligible to be queen if it is what you wish. Your current state makes you highly valuable and important to our kingdom. Not only do you possess a part of what keeps our world in balance, but you possess what I assume are abilities stronger than my own. Abilities that we should investigate. Perhaps put to use." He came closer, and Celeste's heart nearly stopped when he touched her cheek with his long, pale finger. Jack and the prince visibly tensed.
Abilities? Powers? She remembered her fast healing, and her heart thundered.
"You are half human, half deity. A... demi-goddess. If you decide to stand by my side on the throne, you will rule, but do not expect to be my bride. You are... far too young." His piercing blue eyes fell to her collarbone, where her pulse was undoubtedly visible.
Despite the surprising lack of fear she felt after hearing the truth from Anahita, the moment the king said she was part of what kept their world balanced and that she was a demi-goddess, the amount of pressure weighing her down was suddenly crushing. Then he implied marriage, and she was ready to bury herself in the sheets and remain there forever out of embarrassment.
She felt the shivers begin to rattle her very bones, but her scars warmed again as though the new part of herself sensed her unease. It didn't hurt; the sensation only comforted her. She welcomed the warmth as she wrapped her arms around herself.
Considering the child sleeping in his lap, Jack spoke quietly but firmly. "I don't think you get to decide what she does with anything she might have gained from her connection to Anahita. And when we find a way home, I'm sure we'll be leaving."
Celeste gripped Jack's hand. "I agree that I should have a say in what I do with my life. And I don't want to rule. I want to go home."
The king glanced at them with the first spark of annoyance she had seen directed towards them before speaking. "I don't expect you to rule if that is not what you want. No one will force you to. And, of course, you want to go home, but I don't know of anyone with the ability to send you home. I know of no records that speak of anyone passing in and out of realms." King Vaktear looked to the archivist in confirmation, and the woman nodded once.
Celeste's heart sank less for herself than for Alice and Jack. She had spoken true. She wanted to go home, but it was clear now that Alice and Jack had nothing to do with this. They had been dragged into this mess. 
Guilt ripped through her guts and squeezed her heart as she held the king's gaze. He broke their connection and held his hand out to the archivist, and she quickly placed the new archive in his large hands. He smiled at Celeste, his searching blue eyes reaching her whiskey-coloured ones.
"Until we can figure out a way to get you home, you will continue to be welcome guests of Antania. If you truly plan on returning to your realm, I suggest you keep as few people as possible informed. Otherwise, the people of this kingdom will no doubt grow to love you only to have their hearts broken. Also, learn as much as possible about this world, as it will help you adapt to your new environment. My son will help you navigate these new waters." Prince Vaktear's darkened gaze turned icy as he snapped his attention to his father, his fists clenching. "Until next time."
King Vaktear turned and calmly made his way for the door, avoiding his son's gaze before exiting the room.
With less color in his cheeks, Sphen gawked at Celeste with a mix of admiration and wariness. Her brow rose in question; then he hesitated before awkwardly bowing and scurrying after his king.
Celeste visibly cringed and decided then and there that she would request no one ever bow to her again. Demi-goddess or not.
No one said a thing as they struggled to grasp the magnitude of the situation. The children were suddenly scrambling, preparing teas in glass mugs, and fussing with Celeste's hair, but she hardly noticed. The smallest still clung to Jack, fast asleep. He sat there, not a single sound coming from him, which only succeeded in unnerving Celeste to her core.
She swallowed and turned to the archivists, "If I carry your goddess inside me, will I even be allowed to leave?"
The archivist glanced at her quiet prince and then met Celeste's worried gaze. "This is all new to us. I honestly... don't know." The archivist said it as though she wasn't used to not having the answers.
Jack squeezed her hand before Celeste could let herself spiral. "We'll figure it out. Even if we have to rip the goddess out of you, we'll figure it out, Cel. Okay?" Celeste felt a tug at her heart at the thought of never seeing her home again, but she didn't feel an intense longing for it as she knew she should. Guilt followed the strange sensation. "And this isn't your fault," Jack whispered, shaking his head as though he could read her mind. She just nodded slowly. Then, he asked a question that was usually saved for him. "What are we going to do?" 
Jack was always the one with the answers. He was the brains of their trio. The problem solver.
Celeste could only shake her head as she wrapped her hands tightly around the warm mug she was handed, smelling several herbs and sweet honey.
Jack nodded and looked down at the child in his lap again, but the archivist never stopped studying Celeste and her artfully carved scars.
Celeste felt awkward and looked away but met the crown prince's stare instead. He remained seated, but now it was his turn to stare at her with his head in his palm, his elbow propped against the armrest.
He was the one to answer Jack's question in a grumpy tone. "Until we find you a way home, we do as my father suggested. I'm sure we'll run into some answers along the way," he grumbled. Was he pouting?
Clearly, none of them knew where to find the answers they needed, so perhaps listening to the king really was their best bet for now. Despite the slight discomfort and mistrust Celeste had reserved for King Vaktear, she would go along with this plan for now.
Jack remained silent while Celeste smiled at Lillian, who had begun tracing the markings on Celeste's shoulder blade with her tiny fingers.
"I think we should eat," the prince stated suddenly. "I'm sure you're all starving. None of you have eaten yet, and it's already afternoon." The prince stood and put his tanned hand on the hilt of his glistening sword. "Where is the blond one?" He asked, running his fingers along his front, smoothing the fabric out.
Jack and Celeste shared a concerned glance before shrugging.