Emmanuel led us through a hidden path in a nearby garden. It was almost too magical and whimsical, even for the Sun Empire, with the bushes forming an arc over our heads. The same ones filled with white flowers that smelled of spring. And a ground that was nothing more than fresh greenery. At the end of the path, there was a clearing where a statue of the Goddess stood, surrounded by wildflowers and high trees.
Upon a closer inspection, I noticed a small pond that circled her feet. I looked with interest at her face, much friendlier than the one at the Temple. There was no shield and no sword, just a kind smile and a crown of flowers in each hand.
Jenni and Fanny had followed behind and were about to reach us when Emmanuel turned to them and, with a hand stretched out, stopped their movements. "I need you, girls, to stay some steps away. If not, your energy could influence her practice."
He knelt on a patch of dirt in front of the Goddess, murmuring some prayers. Jenni, undeterred by his words, crossed her arms and eyed him with wariness. "What is my sister going to practice, exactly, Lord Emmanuel?" while not stepping closer, she circled the pond and had her eyes glued on him, waiting.
His body stirred and he let out a massive sigh, taking my hand and making me kneel while he got up to face Jenni. "Your sister accomplished to go forward with her desires. She has outdone herself. Alchemy is no joke... And while I am next to her, that won't be a problem. When she leaves for the capital, however, her connection with the goddess may be compromised and cause damages."
That kept Jenni and Fanny quiet, both giving worried glances at each other. With a slow breath, Emmanuel returned his eyes to mine. I noticed how tormented they were, just like his voice. "You must promise me, Lady Lucreatia, that you will do what I am about to teach you every time you have used alchemy. Promise me under the goddess and this will be the only thing I ask of you for the troubles I will get for allowing to study a dark art."
I didn't waiver under his scrutiny, but I did defy it. "I will when I know what I am supposed to do. Hard to promise something when I don't understand what it is."
Emmanuel smiled as if he had expected my reaction. "It is a protection. I will teach you now. First, close your eyes and concentrate on the light around you and in you." he waited for me to begin his instructions before he continued. "The goddess image will help you on your first tries, so you can localize your light much easier. However, after several attempts, you will be able to do it without it."
I groaned. To think that for a meagre alchemy success I would have to be buried into more things to do... Yet I did as he told me. It was better than going crazy. Or at least I tried, since concentrating on an unseen light was hard.
"Imagine the goddess' undying light surrounding you, coming from her extended hands to you. A light so bright it could blind you." he said soothingly. "Imagine her comforting heat. You feel no cold, no worries, no fear. Only harmony between your soul and your body." His speech grew ephemeral, inhumane. Yet nice and familiar.
I felt myself relax as I heard his steps circling me with a soft rhythm. A tangling feeling engulfed me as I imagined a golden light forming at my fingers. Then a humming sound buzzed in my ears, startling me, until a distant chuckle interrupted. "Don't worry, this is to help you. Relax and let the light lead you, surround you and protect you."
I grumbled further. I was doing very well until you intervened; you fool.
Another chuckle boomed in my head. I pretended it was just some annoying fly and went back to my relaxing state. The light increased in intensity, golden as the eyes that filled my worst nightmares and yet too warm to cause anything but bliss. It was all over. Overflowing, outside and inside me. I felt warm, and I felt... powerful.
And then everything went black and cold. I woke to scarlet eyes, filled with hatred, sorrow and terror. A voice called, older and spiteful, way too different for the usual excited and charming one. "Those eyes... you are all the same... The Sun Empire is full of hateful people..." Tears tainted the red as the voice ripped my soul apart.
But, I faced them. Because I didn't run from troublemakers who needed help, and because there was something there way too darker than my heart could settle for. A vigorous shake released me from my stubbornness, and I roused into a pair of worried lilac eyes. I heard the muffled voices of Jenni and Fanny crying my name while my sense of self returned slowly.
Confused and shaken by something that crushed my spirit, I saw Emmanuel ripping from my neck the necklace Cedric gave me as a gift. The moment he did, those unsettling feelings decreased in strength and my breathing, I noticed, became heavier.
"Ah. This is the problem." said Emmanuel, peering into the red moon that was more alive than ever.
"What is the meaning of this?!" demanded Jenni, hugging me tightly. I felt Fanny on my other side, though silent and frightened.
Emmanuel raised himself, unaffected by the bitter anger displayed by my sister. We saw him grip the pendant and a veil of smoke coming out of his clutched hand. And with it a tinge of burned skin smell. "I was teaching your sister a blessed protection. Nothing elaborate or difficult. All priests do it. However, if one is not very used to performing this task, any outside influence should be kept at bay, to not interfere with the goddess's connection. I can control mine, however, you girls cannot..." he explained as a teacher would to students interested in learning the technique.
But Jenni wasn't. "That still doesn't explain what happened. We were away from her." she sputtered, raising her voice and herself as well. "Unless..."
"You are right. It doesn't." the smoke coming from his hand dissipated. The smell, though, continued to linger in the air. He showed the necklace again, which had a less jarring colour than before. Through this movement, we saw the serious wound that affected his hand, but not his mood. "This did, and with dark power."
Fanny's powerful gasp made my ear twitch. "Was Prince Cedric's necklace that dangerous?!" her disbelief in such accusations showed me how much she had grown. Miles away from the girl who had fainted at seeing the prince (and his aide) in the undies section of a boutique shop.
Emmanuel shook his healthy hand, and like me, watched the red moon. "Not dangerous per se, only different. It is a blood necklace and, as the name implies, it has the moon prince's blood. So when Lucreatia did the protection, she did it with his energy around her."
Waiiiiiiiiiit.... what again? Blood? His blood?! EWWWWWW.
The word "blood" had most likely blurted out of my mouth since Emmanuel drifted his head from the necklace to me. He said nothing, but by then my speech had recovered from my utter shock. "WHY IN HELL WOULD HE SEND ME THAT?"
"Lulu language!" accosted Jenni, giving me a sharp eye before interrogating Emmanuel further. "Lulu is right... Why did he send such a present? Was it some kind of magic? Curse?!" her expression was ominous when she faced the priest.
The man, however, laughed, and I saw the fireflies gather around, flying at the flow of his tone. His joyful laugh continued for a long minute, as if Jenni had said something hilarious. This, as expected, received a scowl from her. Again, he pretended he hadn't heard it, concentrating instead on the fireflies that danced over his injured hand. "No. No. Nothing of those. It is only an unusual present. His idea was to have Lady Lucreatia carry a part of him, so she could sense him everywhere she went. Even when he was away. An effort almost sweet, if not a little disturbing in its execution." He smiled as he raised the necklace to me.
By then, the injury had disappeared from his hand, together with the fireflies. Studying it, I could swear they had eaten his wound away.
"I preferred he gave me a normal present." I said, taking the necklace by its silver, and hopefully, less bloody part.
"He meant nothing bad. I am positive it was not even his idea. Must have been his mother, the Empress, who came with such suggestions." added Emmanuel with a pitying expression.
We looked at him in silence. Empress?! The Moon Empress, the lady of the dark court and the only wife of Emperor Salazar (though, according to customs, he was allowed at least twelve more)? People knew her for her ballsy approach and stubbornness. Yet even then, I had not expected this present to be her idea.
Our disbelief triggered Emmanuel, and he explained his words rather sheepishly. "The Moon Empress, when young and still very much single, used to send those types of presents to prince Salazar when he was staying at the Sun Empire. His, however, were bigger, number-wise, and a whiff more outlandish." he shrugged as if the memory filled him with an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
I glanced at my necklace again and pondered, at such a strange (and I may add, very alarming) gift. Indeed, the empress was not what one would consider a normal person. Cedric, with his innocent, albeit a little cheeky, face, almost made me forget he was the son of the most feared couple in the land. And he, too, would become a synonym of dread and awe when he turned into an adult.
The remembrance of an adult Cedric brought me back to those hateful eyes and horrid speech. Without realizing it, my hand clasped the necklace tightly. Something I only caught on when Emmanuel's curious voice echoed in my ears. "What did you see?"
"Nothing." I said.
He nodded, and Jenni nodded. They knew I lied. Not that I attempted to hide it very well. I was just not ready to share yet, and they realized that.
I needed to think and understand why. Why those words, those eyes, that face? Why, things I had never seen or heard before were so oddly familiar.
In the end, we all pretend I spoke the truth (except for pure Fanny, who had believed me) and I went on with my training. Jenni took it upon herself to keep the necklace secured in her hands, for the remaining of the time. And I tried all my best on this protection stuff, but whenever I closed my eyes, that vengeful scarlet always ended up haunting me.
Hope you liked this chapter!! And the surprise (and short visit) of Cedric XD
Did you guess his necklace was special?! Not sure you guessed the blood stuff, but I thought it was appropriate XD
And now you have seen a glimpse of his mother, the Moon Empress. From this what do you think?!
Anyway see you in the next chapters (and something big is going to happen XD)