Rosaline shifted from one foot to the other. She had been standing outside the temple for half an hour now. Her patience wore thin. She was not allowed to see the head priest until the Blessing was finished. The Blessing was a simple ritual. The family gathered round while a new-born baby was bathed in holy water by five Deacons. Once a baby was blessed, they could not become possessed. This was the temple Rosaline herself was blessed. She obviously didn't remember it but she had been in temple many times after it.
The head priest finally pushed the door open and told her she could come in. She recognised him as Sir Tarihan. His hair had whitened since the last time she had seen him and he had grown thinner.
"You may come in, young worshipper" Sir Tarihan said in S'ian.
"Thank you, but I am not here to worship. I would like to know more about ancient magic" Rosaline replied in S'ian.
She wasn't as fluent in S'ian as she was Concordian, but it was still her native tongue.
"This is because of your mission to kill Erebus, yes?" Sir Tarihan asked.
"Yes, I would like to know if there is some way to track Erebus?"
Sir Tarihan's eyebrows rose.
"That would involve magic with infernal alliances. The kind we frown upon in Concordia".
"Sir, we are desperate. If we do not find Erebus soon, I don't know what it will mean for Concordia, for all the Peaceland kingdoms" Rosaline said.
"Very well Rosaline, but you didn't hear it from me. There is an Enchantress who lives in the forest in Amiticia. She knows many spells, many ancient forgotten ones. But beware this woman is amoral. She's lived part from society for years, who knows what she's like now".
"What do you mean, she's amoral? Is she a Conjuror?" Rosaline asked.
Sir Tarihan just tapped his nose.
"You didn't hear it from me".
"Thank you, sir"
Rosaline sprinted to the landing deck where The Falcons were waiting for her. Most of them had already boarded the ship. Victoria stood at the bottom of the stairs with her arms crossed, tapping her foot.
"You're late. The airship is about to leave" Victoria said.
"It's fixed already?" Rosaline asked.
"We were top priority, given the mission we're on" Victoria said, making her way up the stairs onto the airship.
"Good news. I spoke to one of the Enchanters in the temple and he said that tracking magic exists" Rosaline beamed.
"Everyone knows it exists, Rosaline. Not many people know how to use it" Victoria said.
"But there is a Conjuror in the Amitician woods who knows how to use it" Rosaline replied.
"You remember what happened the last time we made a deal with a Conjuror" Victoria snapped.
"It paid off?" Rosaline said.
"Forget it. We're going to Concordia and that's it" Victoria said, as they took their seats and prepared for take-off.
Rosaline waited until Victoria left the seating area and bolted into the control room.
"Are we flying to Concordia? Didn't you hear about the change of plans?" Rosaline asked the Prince.
"Change of plans? No, I didn't hear about that" Casper said, raising his eyebrows.
"Apparently, we're flying to the forest in Amiticia. There's a Conjuror there that will help us. Something about tracking spells. I can't remember exactly what Vicky said" Rosaline said trying to keep her gaze steady. People always looked at the ground when they were lying, didn't they?
"A Conjuror. That sound illegal. But desperate times call for desperate measures" Casper shrugged. "Why wasn't Victoria the one to tell me this?"
"Vicky has enough on her plate. Right now she's discussing tactics with the rest of the group".
Casper narrowed his eyes. "I can't see any reason why you'd sabotage your own mission. So why are you lying?"
Rosaline sighed. "Victoria wants to go to Concordia. That's where Erebus was seen last. But by the time we get there, Erebus will have moved on. The only way to find him is to perform a tracking spell".
Casper looked conflicted. "When I changed the course of the airship, I was under the impression that it was a direct order from Victoria".
Rosaline was stunned. She never thought Prince Casper would go along with her plans. Perhaps he knew how important finding Erebus was and was willing to take the risk. Perhaps the royals weren't so bad after all.
After an hour or so, Victoria was growing impatient. Her constant tapping her fingers on the arm rest was starting to sound like a drum beat.
"What's taking so long? We should've been there by now" She said marching over to the control room.
A few minutes ticked by. Rosaline growing more anxious by the second. Victoria bolted out of the control room. Her face was alight with fury.
"Rosaline" She said. "You asked Casper to change the course. I can't believe you directly disobeyed me"
"It was the only thing I could do to make you see sense" Rosaline squeaked.
"Sense?" Victoria said, exasperated.
She flung herself on a chair and put her head in her hands, as if the whole ordeal had given her a headache.
"The airship hasn't turned around. We're still moving toward Amiticia" Nicholas observed.
"It's too late to turn back now" Victoria snapped. Her voice was like ice - cold and unyielding.
High trees crept into view as the airship sailed over Amiticia. Rosaline was the first to see spot the forest as she was in the control room, looking through a telescope.
"Land here. Land here" Rosaline squeaked.
"I can't land just anywhere. I could kill people" Casper said.
"Fine, just let us down here" Rosaline said.
Rosaline ran through to the sitting area and announced they were getting off here, not landing. She was met with an unenthusiastic response.
"You want us to jump off the airship?" Nicholas said, bewildered by the thought.
"Well, not exactly. We have to shimmy down a ladder to be exact" Rosaline said.
"I hope you're kidding" Maxwell said.
"Nope" Rosaline said, holding up a long piece of rope.
A unanimous groan filled the room.
"We don't all have to go" Nicholas said. "I'm sure it doesn't take eight people to talk to a person".
"This isn't just a normal person. This is a Conjuror" Victoria said. "We'll all go. You don't know what lurks beneath us".
Rosaline flung the rope overboard and tied the other end to a railing inside the airship. Rosaline then swung her legs out the door, wrapped her hands around the rope and sailed through the sky. The wind forced her plaits to whip her face - she didn't care. She felt like she was flying. The airship was lowered, and soon it was cutting tips off trees.
Once the ground was only five feet below her, Rosaline reluctantly let go. The crash to the earth sent dull throbs up her legs but she let out a whoop of laughter anyway. The airship came to a subtle stop which allowed Victoria to climb down the rope which still swung through the air. The rest soon followed. Each one with a look of sheer terror on their face. Cecelia even screamed. Why join the AIA if you can't handle an adventure?
"Wasn't that the best fun you've ever had?" Rosaline shouted over the noise of the airship.
There was another unanimous groan.
"We've got company" Nicholas said, gesturing behind Rosaline.
Rosaline spun around and sure enough there was a Lupine Beast staring her down with its red eyes. More of the beasts crept along beside it, half hiding in the bushes. Careful not to make too much noise, Rosaline unsheathed her blades and stepped forward. A quiet anger flashed in its eyes and the lupine beast leapt for her. But she was faster. She grabbed the rope swung over it and plunged her two knives in its back. She then used the rope to backflip onto a leopard beast and tore a wide gash around its neck.
The Falcons dissipated, running off in the many directions the beasts came from. But Rosaline spotted Victoria and quickly ran to her.
"Not getting rid of me that easy" she said.
"I wouldn't dream of it" Victoria said.
Victoria stopped before a group of small flying imps. She rose her sword above her head and brought it down the imp's head. The one closest to her was completely sliced open. The others flew in the other direction.
"Don't let them get away" Victoria cried.
"I've got them" Rosaline reassured.
She began to sprint and then ran up a high rock as if it were a raising platform and launched herself in the air. She spun round cutting the imps in one go, kicking the low flying imps with her outstretched foot. Rosaline landed in a crouched position and laughed. She got to her feet and brushed herself off. Then she saw something sparkling on the ground before her.
When she picked it up she realised it was a wedding ring. One that she had seen before many times. On Adelaide's hand.
Will they find Adelaide in time? Don't forgot to like/comment if you like what you read.