The Contest

Chapter 19: Willow DeLaughery

"Sera, dear, could you come out here?" Grams calls politely, and my mother's humming stops abruptly. Cecily and I turn to see Mother slowly place down the old rag she's using and take a deep breath. She gives us a weak smile, and I see that she has gone slightly pale. I reach out to her but before I can say anything, she tells us, "Keep doing what you're doing, I'm sure it's nothing serious." But even as she says this, I can tell she doesn't really believe her own words. Nevertheless, we return to our herbs.

Cecily picks up on the melody Mother was humming, and I smile as I recognize it. It's a sweet, soothing song that Mother used to sing us to sleep with when we were young. Sometimes I heard her humming it if she needed to calm down, which was probably what she was doing before Grams called for her. After a few moments, Cecily stops cutting herbs and shoots me a sly smile. She nods toward the living room, and I know exactly what she means. I nod in response.

We tiptoe to the doorway of the room and I crouch down to give Cecily a bit more room, listening intently. I hear my mother ask, "May I ask a question of the young man over there?" I peek into the room to see my mother pointing at the man I made eye contact with earlier.

"You wish to address Prince Broderick?" one of the older men replies and I have to lean back and cover my mouth to silence a gasp. That's the Prince?! Cecily seems just as surprised as I am because when I look at her, her eyes are wide and her mouth is open in shock.

"You've answered my question for me, thank you," I hear Mother say in a small voice before falling silent again. Grams speaks with some authority as she inquires, "May I please know why I am being greeted by an old friend and a prince in my humble home?"

An old friend? Did she know one of these men personally? Cecily shrugs when I give her a confused glance. We go back to eavesdropping and hear the Prince himself speaking about the attack on the king today, and that they are searching for the person who hired the assassin.

I shake my head. They couldn't possibly think Grams hired an assassin. She said herself that one of the men was an old friend. Surely he knew she had a good heart and would never wish anyone anything but joy and light. Or was there something I didn't know about my beloved grandmother?

My thoughts are interrupted by Grams' harsh tone as she nearly growls, "I told you people I was done. No more." Cecily whispers a barely audible, "What the hell?" just as our mother asks Grams, "Mother, what are you talking about?" One of the men, the one who didn't answer Mother, begins to stutter something.

Grams seems to ignore this and continues on quite angrily, "I did not hire the assassin, if that's what you're implying. And I certainly have no plans to gather information for you. I'm done with this kind of work." Even as more questions begin to form in my mind, I feel myself release a breath I didn't know I was holding and hear the stuttering man say, "Adara, that's not-"

"Sylvester, dear, no," Grams says, cutting him off. "I am done with this. I refuse, even the orders of the king himself." At this point, I peer into the room enough to just barely catch a flash of light, and then we hear another voice, one different from the men in the room. "Adara, my dear, let's not be so hasty."

Cecily's eyes meet mine as I mouth, "Who the hell is that?" She holds up her hands in defense and whispers, "Don't look at me, I don't know."

"There is another Champion of Light in this room," we hear Grams say, "how do I know I can trust my own eyes?" And then the new voice says something in a different language that I can't quite pinpoint. I do, however, hear my grandmother's first name, Adara, and a surname, I believe? Ignis? But that isn't her surname.

"I haven't heard that name in quite a while," Grams all but sighs. She responds in the same language and I find myself gasping again at the name I pick up. Broderick Lumos II. Cecily smacks me gently and puts a finger to her lips and I hope to everything good that no one in that room heard me. I glare at her, however, and hold back a growl of protest.

We hear the king speak, "Broderick, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Oh, great, did he bring someone else with him when he suddenly popped into existence in our living room?

"And who might that be, Dad?" I hear the prince ask impatiently. Okay, he's pretty and polite most of the time, so he must be nearly as confused as Cecily and I.

"Prince Broderick III," King Lumos says, "I present to you Madame Adara Ignis, Lady of the Noble Line of Ignis." Cecily and I gasp in surprise once again, especially as Grams confirms what he has just said by saying with insane politeness, "Oh, I go by DeLaughery now, dear. Haven't used my father's name in decades." She pauses and continues, and when she speaks, I can practically hear the smirk in her voice, "Wouldn't want peasants swarming our house, knowing I'm a Noble, would we?"

Cecily is in more shock than I am. Her whole expression screams, "What the actual hell is going on?!" while everything begins to click in my mind. It's surprising, yes, but it gives a better explanation as to why Grams has her powers. Of course, it's not exactly comforting. I thought she was like me, a commoner with Imperium. I never would have guessed she was a descendant of a Noble Line. Was I just the only common person to ever have a power like this?

No, I think, there must be more people like me. At least one person. I thought Grams was that person. Now that I know she's not, what do I do?

I seem to have missed a brief history lesson while I spaced out. As I tune back into the conversation, I hear the king saying something about someone named Colray Ignis VII, and I immediately recognize the name. Grams had taught me about him a few years ago in hopes that I would want to learn about the history of Regnum. However, I'd be lying if I said I usually only half-listened and secretly messed around with my powers while she talked. Luckily, she never found out about this.

But despite my disinterest in history, I remember Adante Ignis. King Lumos is explaining about how Colray Ignis VII hid his son in fear of being assassinated. His son, Adante Ignis, escaped assassination and carried on hiding his line.

"His line being my line, of course!" Grams cuts in proudly. It hits me then that my mother is in the room with them because she stands and exclaims, "Mother! How could you have never told me that you're a Noble? And how do you not have the powers of an Ignis Noble?"

So Mother had no idea either. Interesting. I haven't snuck a look into the room in a while, so I take the chance to do this and watch as Grams moves her hand in a specific manner and a little ball of flames from the fireplace jumps into her open palm. "If I had told you that I could do this dear, would you have believed me?" she asks my mother, who nearly faints at the sight of Grams using Imperium.