Author's note: Yeah, I know; kind of a long title.
By now, Aiden has decided it is okay for him to speak again; he needs to say something in order to help me with my planning. However his mouth is still agape in wonderment at the size of King Egan's map-room. "Aiden; are you okay?" My hand instinctively floats to his forehead, to make sure his brain is still attached to its stem. "You looked dumbfounded."
"Well, I am. Look at this place, Katie. It's huge!"
"I know, Aiden. It's only four times bigger than the house, which is still pretty big, if you look at it. So, what's our purpose of going on this journey, King Egan?" At the sound of his name, he breaks out of whatever trance had enveloped him. "Pardon- Oh, your purpose... your purpose... your purpose is to find the Quatrix, a set of four scrolls, each fitted to a specific element, and located in a specific Realm. The Quatrix, specifically the Pyrix, will help you understand yourself, young Elemental."
Aiden seems intrigued by this. "So what other scrolls are there?" King Egan is the one to answer him. "There are the Hydrix, for water; the Terrix, for earth; and the Helix, for air. You should ask the other Royals about them; I only really studied about the Pyrix for the past eleven and nine years."
I show my worry at last. "Are you alright, Your Highness? You seemed distracted."
"Yes, I am fine. I just... I can't stand being away from Amethyst for too long. I'm afraid she might... never mind... it's not important..."
Twenty minutes later, I walk over to King Ilmatar in the throne-room and ask "King Egan seemed worried about Queen Amethyst when we were in his map-room. Is something wrong?"
"About nine years ago, she caught a disease called Stelman's Syndrome. It causes a woman to feel faint and purge frequently, but a man to experience hallucinations. He's just worried that she will die of it too young, and that he won't be there for her, to hold her hand as she passes on to the Air World."
"I see. I have something else to ask you. What is the Terrix?"
"It is like the Pyrix, or the Hydrix, or the Helix. It is a scroll that will tell Marie what she will be like later in life. The Hydrix and the Helix will do the same for Violet and Ayla."
That night, I search the Internet for 'symptoms of Stelman's Syndrome' and find out that a victim of the rare disease will vomit frequently, and sometimes even cough up large amounts of blood. Another possible outcome, perhaps the severest of them all, was death. No wonder King Egan was so worried about Queen Amethyst; she can barely keep down a meal without regurgitating it afterward. Maybe Jardin knows a bit more about it.
I look over at Aiden; he has once again taken on the "worried boyfriend" façade. I look at him and say "You're really scaring me with that, you know."
"Scaring you; with what, Katie?"
"The way you look at me sometimes. You just... you just scare me sometimes, okay?!"Aiden holds me close now. He kisses my hair and, in his soothing, melodic voice, he says "Tell me what's wrong, sweetheart; you know I will listen."I hesitate for a few moments, and then speak.
"Did you hear what King Egan said earlier, about Queen Amethyst dying? King Ilmatar said she has a disease called Stelman's Syndrome. I researched it earlier, and she can barely keep down a meal. Didn't you notice how weirdly she acted at dinnertime?"
"Yes, actually, I did notice. And King Egan did seem a little too protective, if you ask me."I can hear the conversation that King Egan and Queen Amethyst are having in the bedroom next to ours. Queen Amethyst is saying "I can hear what they're talking about, Egan. They're talking about me; I know it. That Katie girl should learn to keep her nose in her own business. My health is my problem, Egan, not hers."
I can hear the way Egan responds to this. "Amethyst, my lovely, please do refrain from talking that way about my citizens. I never said anything spiteful about Ayla now, did I?" Queen Amethyst must be shaking her head right now. "I don't know how you manage to be so... so tranquil in the hardest of times... times like these, perhaps?"
A sigh betrays King Egan at this point. "We may have fallen on hard times throughout the course of the past decade, but Katie cares about you, Amethyst. That's who she is; she cares for others. Have you seen the way she looks at Aiden, her boyfriend? She cares for others because she lost her "mother", Alana, and her "father", Sam, to a house fire eight years ago; I was there to witness the horrific event, doing a check-up on my Realm. You look so like Alana, and she thinks of you as her mother, looks up to you as if you were her mother."
"I am sorry, darling. I didn't know... I just realized that they can hear us... We should go comfort her, shouldn't we?"
"That is a swell idea, Amethyst." The next thing Aiden and I know, our bedroom door is opened, and a warm, comforting, motherly hand settles on my shoulder. I look up for a moment, and then my head finds a place on Aiden's shoulder once more, tears streaming down my face. I try to stop them from coming, but they never do completely
Aiden pats me on the back; trying to calm me down, I guess. It's sort of working; I mean I don't really have much self-defense when it comes to personal matters. I speak to Queen Amethyst and King Egan now. "You both look so much like my parents; I just can't handle the pain..."
I look up at them again, and then at Aiden, who has taken on the what-rock-have-you-been-hidden-under-for-the-past-eleven-and-five-years look. "What are you all looking at me like that for?" King Egan looks at me with a loving, fatherly gaze. "Katie, my child... I was going to tell you when you were older but-"
"No! No, no, no, no, no!" I scream, interrupting him. After that I ran out of the bedroom and settled myself into his immense, pelt-adorned throne. I recognize it as the pelt of the Heater, a mysterious creature known for devouring our race long ago. Moments later, a hand finds a place on my shoulder; I shrug it off-or, I attempt to shrug it off-but to no avail; it stays where it is.
I look up; The Great King Egan is once again acting as if he's my father, but I know he's not; Sam was. He opens his mouth to say something now. "Katie" he chides "I did not find it very respectful when you ran off like that. I need to tell you something, and in order for me to say what I need to say, I need you to listen. Can you do that for me?"
I nod my consent. "Yes."
"The reason I acted so much like your father earlier is because... I am your father, Katie. Sam and Alana were proxies." Amethyst makes a couple of motions with her hands to indicate her. I sit there on the throne, tears streaming down my face. "Then who's my mother?"
Ohhhhh, okay, I get it now; I was born to parents who couldn't care less about their own child, so they hand her over to some other lucky stiffs. "Why didn't you keep me; raise me to be next in line to the throne of the Fire Realm? I would have been a good choice."
Queen Amethyst looks at me now. "Katie, please forgive us... your father and I have some explaining to do... We gave you away because Royals can't have children."
"So I was complimentary merchandise, free for the taking, is that it?" The conversation is now fully turned over to Queen Amethyst. She says "No not at all, Katie. Egan and I planned on having children as soon as we married, but instead we were told exactly what I just told you: that no Royals can have children. The trouble was that you had already been conceived. So you see? Egan and I love you as much as Ilmatar loves Brook, his wife, if not more. Now, about the question of raising you to be a Royal... I'm afraid it's not possible."
I storm out without as much as a glance behind me.
