When The Stars Align

chapter twenty two | old photographs

"That picture in your hand, that was taken hours before she drew her last breath," Alaina gestured to the photo that Atticus returned his eyes on. "Even in that short period of time, I knew she loved you from the bottom of her heart. She died knowing you were going to change our world, Atticus."

He didn't say anything, but I could tell his grandmother was waiting for some sort of response. "Att? Are you in there?" I asked, waiting for a response of my own. These past couple days, everything he knew about his family changed. Everything he knew was a lie.

"What about my father?" Atticus croaked out, finally. "What about him?"

Alaina gulped. "Your father... he was devastated after your mother died. The first thing he did, though, was drive you up here. Two days old and you already travelled so far. Your father wanted to give you to us to raise, but I knew that couldn't happen, You had to stay in Noatra."

He had to grow up there. He had to get familiar with what the world was like there. He had to find me. He had to be close to me. He had to become King of Noatra after all this. Because despite Alaina's kind words, I could taste the bitterness of it. The underlayer of all this was revenge. Not only to King Pheon and his family, but mine too.

"I insisted he go back with you and raise you himself," Alaina said. "He gave me a couple things - including that picture - and soon after he headed off. And not even twenty-four hours later, your father's death is published in the news.

Liam Rhodes was quickly known to many as a genius, to put it simply. In the year he lived in Noatra before his death, after an upbringing without technology at the tips of his fingers, he quickly was able to develop new technologies, including the creation of holograms. He began his research on teleportation but didn't come close. He never had a chance. His death rocked the scientific world.

But my ears perked up when Alaina mentioned that Liam left "a couple things". Atticus seemed to have caught that too, and though Alaina mentioned only one of the items, she had to have more.

"The amulet," Atticus says. "You have it. Where?"

The sentences are short and simple, straight to the point. The corner of Alaina's mouth twitches up. "Oh, so you're here only for the necklace, and nothing else? What about your dear old grandmother? Your cousin? Your biological family?"

Atticus gets to his feet, clenching his fists. "The amulet. Where is it? It belongs to me - hell, you can't even touch it from wherever my father must've left it. We need it, and then we're going to go."

"The only time the amulet left the borders of Auxillium was when your father took it with him to Noatra," Jazlyn said. "And you know what happened then? There was an imbalance. The kingdom can only hold one amulet at a time."

"There's literally three in Noatra at this moment," I said, getting onto my feet again too. The floor became cold, which wasn't pleasant. "Give Atticus the amulet and we'll be going now."

"Don't you get it?" Jazlyn hissed. "Your father was killed because of the amulet, because they thought he had it. He brought the amulet here so that you'd be safe. Because something in Noatra detected the extra magic your father held. Your father was murdered because of it. Do you really want the same fate?"

Ansen. It had to be him. He would've been in his mid-twenties at the time of our birth. He probably devised some sort of plan to finally put everything in action. He discovered where the white amulet was - who had it, but he was too late to get it.

"I'd rather take my chance," he said between gritted teeth. "Plus, I'm immortal. For now, at least. So, what will it be? Will you tell me where it is or no?"

Neither Jazlyn nor Alaina said anything in response, and that was when the burning in my chest returned. I had no idea what caused it or what caused it to go away, but the burning sensation filled my chest, and I hated it. I hand went to my chest, rubbing it.

And that's when Alaina said the word: "Magic. It's in the air."

Like before, there was the change in the air around me, the chill going down my spine. But this time, everything around me suddenly felt overwhelming. Lysander and Atticus - despite his mind being disconnected from his body for the last little bit - both noticed the sudden change I expressed on my face.

But it was Alaina who had her hands on my shoulders, trying to steady me from my dizziness. "You, girl, you can harness the magic. The energy is coming from you."

I shook my head, trying to wake myself up from the dizziness I was experiencing. "What? No. Magic, sure I can believe that it exists. It's kind of hard not to when you're part of my family..."

My voice falters. We may have forgotten to mention the the older woman who I was. Jazlyn, shockingly, didn't open her mouth to introduce us. The fact that Atticus knew who we were was enough for the woman to welcome us into her home. Any friend of her grandson would be welcomed, I guess.

"The Queen of Noatra stands in my house," Alaina muttered, looking me up and down. Clearly she knew exactly who I was now. "My grandson has found the Queen of Noatra. And the two of you are not betrothed?"

Jazlyn gagged at the thought to marriage, Atticus gagged at the thought of being engaged to someone who wasn't his girlfriend. I gagged at the thought of being considered as someone else's wife to be. I pushed the woman away. "No! Absolutely not! I'm still seventeen for gods sake." Lysander looked as thought he was about to put up a fight with the woman.

"Okay whatever, anyway-" I tried to change the topic. This became awkward, quickly. "I cannot control magic. I cannot harness magic-"

"Nonsense!" Alaina interjected. "Every heir can harness magic, because every heir has it in their genes. Their genetic code. It's just that the gene is dormant. And what better person to harness the magic again other than the Queen of Noatra."

I groaned. "I am not a queen," I said firmly. "I am not special. I can't harness magic. I'm just like every other ancestor in my family since the War of Power two hundred years ago-"

"A hundred and eighty three-"

"Seventeen years does not make a difference!" I was yelling. Lysander sent me a warning look, telling me to lower my voice. First it was Atticus raging about the amulet, now it was me with my blood boiling because of these stupid legends.

"Two hundred years was when the last prophecy about you emerged, starting the war. One hundred and eighty seven years ago was when the war ended."

That was something I didn't know. "The war lasted seventeen years?" I asked. That didn't add up to what I knew. Unless... Lia Alderidge couldn't have been married at fourteen, could she? It was her husband that caused the war...

"If you don't think seventeen years make a difference, look at yourself," Atticus' grandmother says. "Everything you're going through, you wouldn't have wanted that seventeen years ago, would you?"

"I would only be one year old - less than that," I said. True, everything happening right now would be a different situation if I was born later. Seventeen years makes a difference, I guess.

But enough side tracking. I realised now that I felt better, the burning stopping. "Whatever, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Where is the amulet? You don't have to give it to me, but give it to Atticus, at least."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "We know of your history, Vera Covington." That name again. Just get it right! It's Carmicheal, I said in my head, but didn't think aloud. "You're a villain." Was I really going to go through this speech again? "A murderer. Surely your childhood wasn't as sweet as it could've been. How do we know the amulet wouldn't be used for the wrong reasons?"

"Because Atticus and I know our enemies, and if you don't give it to me right now-"

"-He's going to come here on his own and take it for himself," The cold, eerie voice says from behind me. I can already feel his presence, as if he really had a heart of ice, so cold it made coldness radiate off of him.

I didn't want to turn around and face Ansen Gray, but I guess history has to repeat itself. Over and over and over again.