Memories

Chapter 3

Azula's POV

The next morning after eating we went back to the temple. I ignored the bodies and focused on why we were here. "It's clear it's here," Yulen said as we looked around. "So why are we trying to find it?" "Because I would like to know its location to ensure it's never taken from here and it can be checked on periodically," Balthazar explained to him. "But isn't it better that no one knows where it is," he asked next. "I know information can't be gotten from us, no matter how gruesome the torture is but there are other ways of getting the information from our minds without resorting to torture."

"Yulen has a point. Deckland could be using us to try and find it for him then take it when we least expect it," Lui said to us.

"I would like to know the Ice Fae royalty's role with the Heart," I said to them. "And why is that," Laceria asked curiously. "Because Azula is the last of the royal blood line of the Ice Fae," Balthazar explained. "In the book it had the family tree before it began talking about the Heart. Besides knowing about it, we think it's possible the royal Fae had some kind of role with it."

I felt my children stare at me as I moved along the wall, feeling for any signs of a secret door. When I got back to my starting point I turned and looked back around. "This doesn't make any sense," I said. "The Priests lived in the temple, yet the only door way I can find is the one that leads in and out. Where did they sleep, bathe, and eat?"  The room we were in was obviously meant for worship, but no other signs of other rooms.

Lui began to look at the floor, but it was a smooth slab of stone, no signs of underground entrances either. "Is it possible you're remembering wrong," Yulen asked me. I shook my head, "It was against the practice to step foot from the holy temple. They had to have everything brought to them." I looked at the two Priests and went over to them. I truly didn't want to disturb their corpses. I went to move part of his robe but Balthazar caught my hand. "Let me," he said. I nodded and pulled my hand away.

He pulled back part of the robe and revealed a key hanging around his neck. Balthazar removed the key and fixed his robe. "Any idea what this goes too," he asked me, holding it up. "This one has one too," Lui said while holding up the key from the other Priest.

I looked around and my eyes went to the statue of the Goddess. I went over to it and looked at her base. Between her feet was a keyhole. Balthazar put the key in and turned it. The sound of a lock echoed throughout the temple. The statue of the Goddess then rose up to tower over us, until the dias she was on opened, revealing a spiral staircase under her.

It was narrow though, Lui and Balthazar unable to fit because of their wings. "If there is any trouble, get out there,"Balthazar instructed us. We nodded and I took the spare key from Lui. Yulen went in first, then Laceria, and I went last. Once we stepped off the bottom step, magic runes lit up, telling the statue it can close once more.

Are you okay, Balthazar asked me.

We're fine, I assured him.

Laceria made a ball of magic light appear to light the way for us. We were in a room much similar to a lounge. There were no Priests in the lounge. We found two different halls, one leading to the mess hall, kitchens, and laundry room while the other lead to the wing of bedrooms. We didn't find a single Priest or sign that there had been any down here when the attack happened. 

"Where are all the Priests," Laceria asked out loud. "That is a very good question," I said to her. We looked through the things the Priests had left behind, but none of it was useful. 

"What's this," Yulen said, holding up an old newspaper. Laceria moved the light to shine over it. The picture was of me as a child, standing before my people. "Is that you mom," Yulen asked me. "Yeah," I whispered. I was about four or five in the photo. "You look miserable," Laceria stated. "I was," I said softly. 

They looked at me, but I didn't say anything else about it, continuing looking around the their rooms. Finding nothing, I moved on to the kitchen. Their food was completely gone. "It feels colder in here," Laceria pointed out and Yulen agreed. I walked near the back wall, and I could hear the sound of the wind. 

I ran my hands over the wall and found a thin outline of a door. "There's a door here. Help me find the latch," I told them. When we found the latch, the door swung open revealing a pathway in the mountain, hidden by the peaks on either side. "We at least know how they got out of the temple," Yulen said. Laceria and I nodded before we began to walk down the path. The wind was wicked as it blew past us, threatening to knock us off balance. We came to tower that had the door kicked in. When we entered, we were greeted with the remains of a massacre. 

"Oh gods," Laceria whispered. Yulen stood in front of me, "You don't need to see this." "I have too Yulen," I said. "I'll be fine." I stepped around him and took a deep breath, thankful the cold prevents any smell. I hated that the frigid temperatures have preserved their faces so well. The look of horror was captured in all of their eyes and it made me feel sick. 

I walked through the tower and found the back entrance. It lead to a trail that lead down the side of the mountain, the ice coating it, turning it into a slide or sorts. I turned back around to face into the tower. Laceria was beside me, looking at a shelf near by. "I thought it was too cold for spider," Yulen said from where he was in the tower. "It is," Laceria said. "Then why the hell are there spider webs on the ceiling," Yulen asked. Laceria and I snapped our eyes to the ceiling. 

"Those aren't spider webs," Laceria said as she studied them. "It has magic residue coating it. One of the Priests probably specialized in trap magic, and it backfired, hitting the ceiling instead." "A Ice Fae who knew trap magic," Yulen questioned. "That's highly unlikely. Fae magic revolves around the elements. The only element traps are part of, is the element of surprise." 

"Mom, did any of the Priests have the ability to use trap magic," Laceria asked me. "The Priests couldn't, but the Prophet could. She was a woman who was half ice fae, half witch," I answered. "But I don't see her among the dead." "Most trap spells are set up before an attack occurs, so she probably had set the trap up long before an attack ever happened," Laceria said as she went back to looking around the shelves. 

When the sun began to set, we went back to the temple. Balthazar had informed me through our mind link that he and Lui had gone off to do their own investigating so we would meet them back at the castle. 

"What did you find," Balthazar asked from the couch by the fire he had moved. "The rest of the Priests," Yulen said with a sigh. "The kitchen had an emergency exit and they went to a tower of sorts where they had all been captured. On the other side of the tower is a steep slope that maybe a couple used to escape, but they probably met their end after they got to the bottom." Yulen then held up the old newspaper. "We also found this." Balthazar took it and Lui looked over his shoulder. 

"Woah. Mom is this you," Lui asked me. I nodded, "Yeah." "But the things in this paper being said," Lui trailed off. "It's in the past," I said with a wave of my hand. "You were being blamed for the on coming war," Lui said with a shake of his head. "All because some prophet gave you a name that meant beautiful and deadly winter? You were a child." "They saw me as a bad omen," I said with a shrug. "In a way, I guess you could say it came to be. After all, I'm one of the few survivors while everyone else was killed." 

"But what did your parents say about this," Lui asked me. "They disagreed with the accusations," I told them. "They did their best to show me they loved me and that our people were wrong. Claimed I would be the greatest Queen to ever take to the throne." 

I looked at the time, "I'm gonna go feed the dragons." I left the library and Balthazar followed me. I stopped and turned to face him. He pulled me to him, "I agree with your parents. You are the best queen our people have ever had." He then gave me a kiss that had some of my bad thoughts retreat for the time being. If only my parents could see me now. A loving mate, and three wonderful children. Would they be proud of me? Would they be happy with how my life turned out? Coming here has brought so many questions to my mind and I wasn't sure I liked it.