Whispers of darkness: Secrets

14. Castle of Cetey

"Why is the teleporting rock flashing?" Mirya asked as Soleil as he pulled one out of his pocked.

"I don't know," Soleil held it up to the sun, searching it for any signs of something wrong. "I guess I'll ask King Czar when we get there." He smashed the crystal on the ground, and he, Caressa, and Mirya stepped into the swirling tunnel.

---

"It's about time you get here!" A huge guard grumbled, greeting them.

"Sorry," Soleil apologized. "We lost track of time. And the crystal was... strange."

"I've heard that sort of excuse before. C'mon," he pulled open the gates, and walked in, not even waiting to see if they had followed. 

The castle was huge.

Mirya had expected it to be big, but not this big.

The whole thing was made of gold. And the windows were crystal, and there was a garden around the whole thing, inside the gates.

"Welcome to the Castle of Cetey," the guard gestured around. "You won't have time for a tour," he added when Soleil opened his mouth.

"I wasn't going to ask for one. I used to come here often, when me and King Czar where friends," Soleil glanced up at the tallest towers. "We were so young... But anyways, I was going to ask if we were going to hurry. We're already late."

"Yes." The guard nodded. "Let's hurry."

---

"You took your time," another, smaller guard greeted them when the first guard left. They were in a big hallway, probably the one that leads to the throne room. "I hope the king isn't mad. He's been waiting, and another Ith just showed up, saying he needs to see the king right away. He's still waiting- very impatiently."

"Sorry," Carissa dipped her head. "We lost track of time."

"It's fine. I'm sure the king can't blame you."

She was right. The king was still sitting on his throne, and he smiled when they walked in and Carissa curtsied and Soleil bowed, and Mirya.... tripped?

"Hello, Soleil, Carissa, and Mirya," he said. "Soleil and Carissa, you two come with me. Mirya, you can stay here for a bit while we make this official. Brioc is here if you get bored and want to talk," he gestured to the boy that was about Mirya's age, who was siting 

"Okay," Mirya nodded and watched King Czar stand and lead her soon-to-be adoptive parents out of the room.

The two teenagers stood in the room in an awkward silence for a while before Brioc cleared his throat.

"So.... You're new to this Kingdom, aren't you?"

"Yes," Mirya stared at the ground.

"Do you know how everything works already?"

"No..."

"Well... I don't either," he admitted. "When you live in a castle your whole life, you don't get to do much. Especially when the other kingdom would use me to... take over our kingdom if they captured me."

"Oh."

"But I do know a lot about life in the castles," he stated. "Every. Single. Thing. In. This. Dumb. Place!"

"Okay..." this was getting awkward-er.

"Change of subject- that's a cute Emestrei!" He pointed her pocked, where the baby Emestrei was poking his head out.

"Yeah, he's a cutey," Mirya agreed, rubbing the animal's ears and listened to him purr.

"What's his name?"

"I... don't know yet."

"You should. What name feels right?"

"Umm..." she trailed off, thinking. "Maybe Oliver? Or... " Oliver was the only one she could think of.

"Oliver... that sounds-"

He broke off as an older boy burst into the room- or at least, what almost looked like a boy, but had deer legs and hooves, and small horns.

"I must see the king right away!" He gasped.

"What the problem?" Brioc ran over to him, steadying him when he almost collapsed on his shaky legs.

"I- I must see the king! It's... it's an emergency- I must... now." His voice was broken and crackly, like he'd just run for hours.

"Why?"

"I have to tell the king, not some boy!"

"I'm the prince, and the heir to the throne!" Brioc exclaimed. "You can tell me. My father is busy."

"Forgive me," he managed a slight bow. "My name is Saren, and I come from Cloud. The King of Cloud is has an important message for the King of Cetey. He said to tell King Czar that the Sapphire Tree's Stone of Secrets has been... stolen."

"What?!" Brioc gasped.

Mirya had no idea what was happening. "Wait, what's the Sapphire Tree, and why's it dead? And what are you going to do about it?"

"Who's that?" Saren asked, looking at Mirya.

"That's Mirya. She's new here," Brioc answered. "So she hasn't learned about all that stuff yet. So then, quick explanation: the Sapphire Tree protects the source of all cetey- the Stone of Secrets. So now that the Stone of Secrets has been stolen, teleporting wont work, the plants will slowly die, the animals will go wild, and the elves magic will fade, and Ith's elements will be the only thing left- but they'll be very weak. And the only thing that can restore it after it's been brought back is all six elements. Water, earth, air, shadow, light, and fire. But there're no fire Iths around, and there haven't been any since-"

"Wait," Mirya interrupted. "Look." She held up her hand, snapping her fingers, and a small flame appeared.

"Y- you're..." Saren took a step back. "Can you actually control that?"

"Yes." She shaped the flame into an Emestrei to prove it.

"Then... the Stone of Secrets can be restored," Brioc looked around, then headed for the door. "Gather your friends. We're going on a journey."

"But what about our parents?"

"They won't know until it's to late. We'll be gone before they're out of the room."