The Magestone

Chapter Three: Violetta

Violetta peered at the dismantled condition of the once grand palace of Aranthea with disdain. As though an entire army had savaged its insides, furniture, tapestries, and paintings laid overturned and discarded. Curtains ripped to shreds, now allowing the darkness of the night to fully encompass the hall in black. As she stepped, something damp and sticky clung to her shoe and she frowned.

Surely if she had expected to remain innocent of Eleazar's crimes or ties to the darkness, she was not so now. As the dutiful daughter of the king, she must submit to her role as princess and obey her father. Then again, obedience was always a trait she found herself lacking. A brief smirk crossed her lips at the thought and she tiptoed around a broken painting of wildflowers serenely bathing beneath the sun's heavenly rays. How ironic that such innocence had also been removed in the name of Eleazar and the black mist he carried.

She exhaled and pushed a bothersome strand of hair away from her ear. The past several cities had also been purged in similar fashion with no significant findings on the Magestone. The pure reason behind all this madness.

Avoiding the broken shards of pottery and other debris, she found her way down the dimly-lit corridor. Momentarily escaping from Eleazar's all-seeing gaze had proved difficult, but not impossible. Besides, without his greedy breaths blowing against her neck, this would give her ample time to explore the ruins of her new home. As she rounded the corner, the lack of candles burning strained her eyes to see in the dark and she sighed, tapping her fingers against her thigh.

Something warm flashed behind her eyes as her irises shifted from their natural dark color to a rich, vibrant violet as was customary whenever she used her magic. Pockets of magic sprouted from her fingertips, erupting into a sphere of light, allowing her vision to her surroundings. An ache spread down her arm into her hand and fingertips and she splayed her fingers out, slightly shaking them.

She continued through the tattered corridor, passing by bedrooms and parlors now pilfered and ramshackled by the offending force as though a great whirlwind had come and beaten away at everything in its path. As she came to the end of the hall, the floor curved into a white stone staircase. Lifting her head to ensure no one had followed, silently she crept up the steps, the violet glow illuminating the passageway.

Her fingers brushed against the coolness of the banister, continuing higher and higher until a massive window of glittering stars greeted her. She stood in awe then slowly took in the hurried theme of toppled over books and scrolls, scattered in misshapen piles on the floor. To her right presented a grand telescope, one obviously used in research of the celestial beings above her head, cases of books lining the wall directly behind it. Breathless, her fingers slipped to the ruby pendant around her neck, staring towards the sky again and reminded of her own fate.

The necklace she bore, its enchanting jewel stung against her skin as though knowing her thoughts. In Eleazar's attempts to rein control over his stubborn child, he had crafted the piece of jewelry precisely to keep an eye on her. Though never spoken aloud, Violetta always assumed that to be the case at least, for Eleazar and his son Jayden both held rings the same shade as her pendant which flickered and glowed whenever she was around.

As she took a step forward, her foot nudged something hard. A book. By the sudden state of it, someone must have been reading it when Eleazar's dark forces interrupted. The volume was cumbersome and weighty in her hands, a likely reason why it had not been hauled out with other various supplies given the vacancies in the bookshelves.

Her fingers brushed against the gold-plaited script on the velvety cover, mouthing the words as she read: "The Anthology of Stars and Their Constellations." Her brows lifted and she turned the book over to divulge its contents.

As she flipped through the pages, her eyes skimmed through the contents, deciding if there was anything worthwhile inside. Whoever had been examining it before must have been preoccupied, searching for something. There. She thumbed back a page and found it. The section on the legendary Magestone.

Ever since her mother had regaled the tale to her, her hope had been set, locked into the reality of the Light. "It is able to assist those pure in heart and grant their heart's innermost desires," she could hear her mother informing her. Violetta could not think of a greater desire than the one she held for herself.

Years of tireless searching had been wasted on seeking the Magestone or anything possibly related to it. How she yearned to finally set her eyes upon it, to stare into its glorious presence and drink deeply of its life-giving power. Only finding it would be more hazardous than it already was, for Eleazar was also on the hunt for the stone.

Excitement expanded her chest and she tightened her hold on the binding, anxious to find whatever more information she could on the subject. Light twisted around her fingers until a dull throb settled the power. She set the book to the side to peek into the telescope, crouching slightly to better see. Above her vision a vast expanse of crystal specks winked back at her.

Longing filled the innermost crevices of her soul and she reached towards the window as if to touch one. The constellations filled her vision and for the briefest moment, she smiled, murmuring their names to herself.

Adjusting the knob, she focused on a cluster beyond Orion's belt and to the right of Monoceros, a swirl of stars sparkled unlike anything she had ever seen. Her breath heightened and she peered down at the page again. It was an exact match. "Aurelia...?"

"Princess."

Startled, she spun around, but quickly regained her cool composure. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she took in the guard. "He requests my presence?"