Kingdom of Light: Tale of Two

Of Fire & Of Ice

Heidi was taken aback by how much the statue of Vesta reminded her of Liv. Their facial features were very similar, but obviously there were some major differences, for starters, Vesta looked like she was in her early twenties, and her dark brown hair fell is loose waves past her shoulder blades. Her skin was much darker, an olive shade, and her eyes were reddish yellow, looking as though they were glowing, even though it was a statue. An elaborate crown sat atop her head, gold with orange, red, yellow and white jewels. She was wearing a dress rather similar to Liv's.

🔥❄

Liv was shocked to see that Heidi was so alike to the statue of Marzanna. Heidi looked like Marzanna's younger sister, with the face facial features, blue eyes and blonde hair. The obvious differences off Marzanna's paper white skin, long, almost white, blonde hair and ice blue eyes. Her dress was exactly the same as Heidi's, and atop the statue was a silver crown, inlaid with white, blue and silver jewels and precious metals. The two girls continued to walk in the procession, each holding tightly onto their items. As they approached the thrones, Heidi and Elaine veered off to the right, and Liv and Gwendoline veered off to the left, each standing in front of their statues, respectively.
"Kneel," Gwendoline whispered to Liv, as Elaine said the same to Heidi.
Liv kneeled in front of the statue, finding herself facing the candle with many other candles surrounding the base of the statue. Heidi did the same, the silver bowl at her feet. Liv held out the flint and steel, lighting the candle with immense concentration, as Heidi opened the bottle, putting exactly two drops in the centre of the bowl. As the candle lit up, so did the surrounding candles, roaring into a huge fire. The two blue drops began to spread, freezing over the entire bowl, until two forearm length icicles erupted up. The two girls followed the instruction of their mothers, not moving, even when the air around them got extremely hot or cold.
"Now up," Elaine whispered, and Gwendoline did the same.
Heidi stood up, turning towards the throne, as did Liv. Both girls strolled to the throne, expecting their mothers tto sit down.
"Sit," Both mother's hissed.
They both found themselves sitting down, not wanting to ask why, in case someone saw. Both girls smiled out into the cheering crowd.
Both mothers whispered, "Stand up and curtsy,"
So the girls did. The entire hall of people bowed and curtseyed in response.

🔥❄

"What just happened?" Heidi asked her mother, as soon as they exited the hall.

Elaine sighed, "Because you two have powers, you two are the current rulers,"
"Rulers?" Liv squeaked.
Gwendoline rested her hand of her daughter's shoulder, "Don't worry, Elaine and I will rule until you're both old enough,"
"How do you know we have powers anyway?" Heidi questioned.
Elaine smiled, "The liquid you put in the bottle was only supposed to freeze the water, the icicle's were a reaction to your magic. You proved to the people that you should be a true ruler
"The candles were enchanted, only one would light if you didn't have any powers, but since you clearly do, they all lit up," Gwendoline told Liv, "The people recognise you as their true ruler, and since you're my child, they won't rebel if I rule until you're of age,"
"They won't rebel if we rule until they're of age," Elaine said, emphasizing the we.
Gwendoline nodded, "Right,"

🔥❄

The girls were taken away quickly for some mother daughter time, they had both craved their entire lives. Heidi was led by Elaine through the streets of Urbe Lux, the capital of De Lumine, and city in which the palace resided.
"Tell me about my father," Heidi said.
Elaine smiled, "Ahh, Yates Foster. He was the love of my life. My family was quite a wealthy Northern family, so I grew up with the Fosters. He thought I was an idiot for most of our lives, but when I was twelve, I was taken away to get to know the Southern princess, who had become betrothed to our prince. I only came back when I was fifteen, and I had grown up a lot, being around the court lords and ladies. He began courting me and we fell in love."
"That's so sweet," Heidi smiled.
Elaine sighed, "Your father and I loved each other very deeply, and there wasn't anything he wouldn't do, you were his pride and joy, it killed him when we had to send you away, but he was willing to if it meant you were safe, and that one day we could bring you back home,"
Heidi felt her heart ache, "I wish I got to know him,"
"He was the best father in the world with you, no matter how limited the time he had with you was," Elaine said, wiping her eyes, "Here we are."
They were standing in front of a huge temple. It was on the edge of a cliff, overlooked the the vast expanse of water that the mountain, where the huge city resided, was in the dead center of. The temple was beautiful. It was made entirely of marble, with huge pillars out the front, inlaid with silver patterns of snowflakes and icicles. There was not door, only a huge silver doorway, opening into one wide room. It was empty of furniture, with only two statues of Marzanna, similar to the one in the palace, either side of a huge altar, which was completely made out of ice and marble. It had somehow not melted, despite the sun outside. The temperature of the city was fairly neutral, a balance of cool winds and hot sun, trying to equalize between both the high temperatures of the South and the cold of the North, but the altar should not have been able to stay frozen solid. Then Heidi notice her mother, shivering.
"Are you cold?" Heidi frowned, not feeling a thing.
"The Temple of Marzanna mimics the icy weather of the South, or rather the temperature. You appear to be immune to it, like most descendants are, but your mother is not," A woman spoke.
She looked like she was in her late twenties, and was wearing a long white gown, with a heavy fur cape around her. The golden chain around her neck was inlaid with a spiral, the symbol of Marzanna, as Heidi had been told.
"Heidi, this is Luella, high priestess of Marzanna," Elaine said, as she was handed a fur cape similar to Luella's, and swung it around her shoulders.
Heidi nodded a thank you to another one of the priestesses as she was handed a cape as well.
"Luella is going to help you access your powers, we figured this would be the best place to start," Elaine said.
Heidi suddenly realised why her mother had told her to change. The grey hunting boots, loose black pants, white fingerless gloves and pale blue tunic would be much easier to practice in than the dress I had been previously wearing. And so we began.

🔥❄

"While the temple of Marzanna is high on the mountain, the temple of Vesta is deep within the mountain, given it is actually a volcano, perfectly balancing the weather of the North and South," Gwendoline told Liv, as they walked down, deep into a rocky tunnel. Liv had changed from her dress into a simple, plain red thin and loose fitting dress, similar to a toga. Gwendoline had chosen to remain in her normal state of dress, but was wearing a much more summery strapless garb. Gwendoline was visibly sweating as they went down further, but Liv couldn't feel the heat at all.
"Would you like to know about your father?" Gwendoline asked, making small talk on the long journey.
Liv nodded, "Yeah, I would,"

"His name was Haelan Shultz, I only met him at the King and Queens wedding, but it was love at first sight, and we were married that same year. He loved you the moment he laid eyes on you. Everytime you cried, he could hear you from a mile away. You were his pride and joy, which is why I think it was so hard for him to leave you to those terrible people at the orphanage. It broke his heart, but as long as you were safe, he could deal with it. The night he died," She faltered, "He told me to remind you that he loved you, that it wasn't your fault and that you needed to always listen to your mother, because he wanted both of us to be happy together,"
Liv felt silent tears streaming down her face as she heard the story, "He really loved me, didn't he..."
"More than anything else," Gwendoline sniffed, "We're here,"
The temple was grand. The entrance was lit by torches, with carvings of flames around the archway opening that served as an entrance instead of a door. The carvings extended onto the tunnel walls and roof. As they walked inside, the room lit up. The floor was glass, with molten lava flowing underneath it. In the center of the room, at the back was a stone altar, made completely of obsidian.
"Welcome," A girl approached us.
She was about twenty-four, with dark brown eyes, dark skin and a shock of fiery red hair. She was wearing a long red gown, with long sleeves and a gold belt with the symbol of Vesta inlaid in the centre. Unlike Gwendoline, she appeared unaffected by the extreme heat, just like Liv.
"This is Zenith, high priestess of Vesta," Gwendoline said, taking a small bottle off one of the priestesses, downing the red liquid quickly. She stopped sweating immediately.
Zenith smiled, "Are you ready to harness the gift of Vesta?"
Liv nodded.