"A ball?" I ask, a mixture of confusion and rage, "To celebrate the King's victory?"
We arrived back at the castle late in the morning. The court was tired and slightly overwhelmed but we still managed to reoccupy Lyonhall Castle in time for the first light of the morning.
Cliara nods taking back the invitation, "Yes, and we're all invited."
I found this all disconcerting. The King was throwing a party -a lavish ball- to celebrate his recent attack on the sirens. Would he always be like this? Throwing balls to idolize the death of not just his enemies, but innocent people?
Cliara sees my expression and speaks upon it, "Don't worry," she reassures me but it's not about the reason that's in my head, "The ball won't be held for a few more weeks. We'll have time to prepare."
"And I'm obligated to go to this?"
"You don't want to?" Cliara asks me and I decide to be honest. I shake my head. "Come on, Lianna," she says as she tips her head slightly, "It would be a lot of fun."
"I don't think so."
"How could you know if you've never attended one?" She doesn't even give me time to answer. "Exactly. You don't."
Like everyone else here, they didn't understand, they didn't see the bigger picture lurking under the surface. It wasn't about fun or a lack of experience, but the reason the ball was being held in the first place. I know humans loathe sirens, but how could they not have the common sense to see they were rejoicing for death and drowning with joy in the fact that they now had the power to wipe out a race. How could they not see the problem with that despite their hatred?
Sure, my mother and her subjects did the same thing to them, but I was so sure someone from the human world would be the bigger person. But it seems that war has clouded people's views beyond what I'd imagined, and eventually the future would suffer from it.
The ball was only the first party, but what would follow after? What kind of outrageous holidays and celebrations would take place in honor of their deaths?
No, instead I needed to do something quickly. I needed to convince someone to help me achieve my main goal and destroy the Aegunic. I needed to talk to Nik, maybe even persuade him to assist me without raising suspicion around court.
"Fine," I respond to Cliara, "I'll go."
That same day I went for training and approached Nik with the topic. The prospect threw him off completely.
He sends the sword in the air and attempts to hit the top of me, but I hit his weapon back with the same force. "You want to attempt to stop my father?" He asks me again for clarification.
I realized I had just entered a dangerous territory, and I needed to be careful if I was going to make it through unscathed. "Yes," I answer, there was no point in lying.
I notice he's caught off guard and go for his side. Like always, he catches me and defends himself, sending my sword ricocheting towards me. I struggle to regain control.
"My father? The King?" He asks again. I think he's shocked I even asked.
I repeat myself, "Yes, why is that so hard to understand?"
Suddenly, he lowers his sword and I do the same. "No, I understand perfectly," he pauses, "It's a matter of what happens afterwards."
"You mean the consequences," I corrected him. "You're the Prince, I'm sure it wouldn't be too harsh."
He nods his head and makes an mhm sound. "And what about you?"
I shrug my shoulders, "Well then we'll just have to be careful about it. Leave no traces behind."
"Lila, it isn't as easy as that," he tries to persuade me.
I knew that. I knew whatever we came up with wouldn't be easy in the slightest. I'm ready to take the risk. I'd been afraid of the repercussions for so long but after yesterday I realized something needed to be done. And I was the only one in the position to do it.
"I know," I reassure him, it isn't comforting at all. "But we'll figure it out. Are you in or not?" I ask him and for the first time he hesitates, unsure of himself and his options.
He takes a few seconds. No doubt he's weighing out the outcomes, potential consequences, and his own motives. "I'm in," Nik says, and I smile. "Under one condition."
"And that is?"
"Nothing too risky or irrational. This is technically treason, and royals don't take too kindly to those who commit it. Especially their family members," he explains, I understand completely.
He had a point. If we revealed that we disagreed with the King or how he chose to deal with his enemies, it could possibly be viewed as treason by the nobles, Baiva, and most importantly the King. Telling anyone about this could strip Nik of his title and fortune and land me a cell. But, what he was asking went beyond that. Without risks and irrational ideas, we probably wouldn't get much farther than how I did on my own. We'd be stuck in an impending loop, racing against time.
"Fine," I respond. "And this goes without saying but, no one can know. Not your brother, not Cliara, or even Galien. No one. "
"Agreed."
The next few weeks were a combination of us training and researching. The training became extensive and increasingly harder, all of it meant to make me adapt to a more fast-paced learning. I wanted to be ready for a fight if it came, and he understood that. We'd also spend time in the library, reading and looking at the records of all types of toxins ever recorded.
"We need to understand it to get rid of it," Nik had said about the Aegunic. I agreed with him completely.
Books upon books would pile up on the tables and we even ventured outside of the castle library to look for clues or more records of plants and medicine. Turns out, a small flower shop owner was key to what we were looking for.
Nik surprised me one day with a book clutched in his hand. Another one to ravage through, I had thought. This time, the book wasn't a waste of our time. It was a book with a list of all known plants and flowers by a botanist dedicated to informing the low-class about the vegetation around them.
In an hour, Nik and I scanned through everything and was given nothing in return. We went through it again, this time paying attention to every annotation and note made. By the notes alone, we were able to cross off all options we knew had no chance of being the poison. In the end, it left us with 2 final flowers. The research had paid off, it was the closest we'd ever been.
The first one, a flower called Ofia, grows in a secluded part of Northern Bavia. It grows on a white, almost drained stem with bright purple leafs and accents. To me, it's an eyesore to look at it.
Even though it grows in the cold, it's rare and is malfunctioned to grow in small numbers and die quickly. To humans, it's one of the most poisonous one in the book. In a human host, it causes weakness and loss of senses. If not treated, the flower will cause a body to shut off organs one by one until death himself would take you.
The second flower is named Ekrus and is almost as terrifying as the first one. It grows on the Eastern coast and protrudes yellow and orange leaves off a dark green stem. Unlike the first, it's actually pleasing to look at and gives a warm vibe. While the annotations say otherwise. The flower Ekrus has been used to kill fish and weaken their fins in the water. Fishermen use it to capture schools of fish and other creatures for the economic industry in Bavia.
Nik's most obvious choice is the Ekrus, but I don't think that's all the Aegunic is made of.
"No," I told him, "Since sirens are hybrids, it has to be a combination of both. Just one wouldn't be enough to weaken them."
"Your right," he says, "Then that's our answer."
"And what do we do now?" I ask.
"We find and make an antidote," He suggests with a smile.
"An antidote," I have to consider approaching it, "And where do we start with that?" I ask him but he has no real answer.
"I have no clue," he responds.
Of course he doesn't. Now, we'd be subject to researching, finding, and retrieving something that would work to cure effects of both flowers. With both plants mixed into one, for all we know it could have created a brand new reaction to each other. It wouldn't be as easy as finding the cures for the individual flowers. No, instead we'd have to create our own from scratch with no scientific experience to aid us.
That same day Valora had called on me. She had sent Eyva to fetch me a message regarding Valora's upcoming ball gown. As much as I didn't want to, I was forced to attend to her and her small dilemmas.
When I had entered her room it was silent with Valora standing on a platform in the middle of it with servants and seamstresses gathering the last few measurements. I stood at the door, with Eyva close behind me, and waited for further instruction.
Valora gazes at me then looks away, dismissing the others attending to her. She then looked to Eyva and commanded her to go. Eyva went rushing out.
She signaled for me to come forth, and so I listened.
"Why are you here?" She asked, starting the conversation off.
I looked at her and her work-in-progress ballgown up and down, "To assist you, Your Majesty?" I didn't mean for it to be a question but why else would I be.
She laughs and my body stiffens, it isn't like her. "That's not what I mean," she said.
Immediately, I understand. She continues.
"House Northwell has been gone for decades. In fact, they once used to be trade partners with Karthmere. Until their line came to a staggering halt. Disease, it slaughtered them all, you know?" She doesn't even wait for me to answer. "Oh wait, you don't because you wouldn't have come running to court with their name if you had."
I don't even know what to say. Her facts could very well be right. My mother's books could be outdated and it only makes sense that the sirens wouldn't completely know what happened to them.
She steps down from her pedestal, a mismatched half-finished gown swinging back and forth from her. "I don't know who you are, or what you want," she begins, "but you're a fraud. You don't belong in Bavia's court, much less the castle."
She begins to approach me, bringing herself closer to me with each dreaded step. "Your Majesty," I begin to say but she cuts my words off.
"Infact, I don't even think you even belong on land, do you?" She asks and my spine stiffens.
I don't have anything to say. I mean how could I? How could I persuade this stubborn Princess her theories were false?
Valora scans me almost waiting for an answer, when she doesn't get it she attacks me again instantly. "You have no words," she smirks, "so I'm right, you are a-"
"You have no proof," I declare, "No proof at all."
"Your point? People would believe me over-"
"You really think so? You think the Kingdom would believe a foreign, spoiled Karthmerian Princess over its own Bavian born citizen?" I state and she goes silent. I think I'm onto something. "Would Josson believe you? Would the King believe you?" I ask her. She refrains from speaking.
After she glances at my bracelet she speaks, "So you admit it? You do have something to hide. You are a-"
"I never said that, and I never admitted to it either."
She rolls her eyes and glares, "Oh but your actions prove differently," she states and I cross my arms. "How do you explain that bracelet you never take off?"
"A farewell gift, from my mother-"
"Your sudden appearance here?"
"It was urgent, I had to come as soon as possible," I reply. It feels like I'm spitting fire unto every question, deciphering her accusations with lies.
"The way you act? How your not always familiar with Bavia's customs?"
"I was raised away from court, secluded from the rest of the Kingdom. And It's not like your more acquainted with them than I am. But still you don't see people accusing you, do you?" I question her and she smiles. Almost as if she's enjoying this challenge.
"The time you spend with Nikoloas? How you try to get closer to the royals through him?"
"Cliara Freye introduced me. Is there anything wrong with having friends?"
"No," she responds and closes her eyes for a little longer than a blink. When she opened them she had a new burning question to throw. "The other day, on the ship. I saw how your expression went blank when you saw them there. Lying at the top of the ocean; dead. Not so long after, I saw you flee the deck. Couldn't bear to see your fellow sisters get what was coming to them?"
I glare at her. But I'm not speechless, I know exactly how to respond. "Have you ever thought about how the sight of death could be uncomfortable for some people, no matter what creature? Or is it just supposed to amuse everybody?" I answer.
"You tell me. You're the bloodthirsty siren," she responds, anger and rage laced into her voice. I open my mouth again but she stops me, "Don't bother trying to persuade me. I've heard enough."
Enough. She's heard enough to make her decision about me. I'm sure it wasn't on the side I'd been hoping for.
To get her off my case, my only option would be to sing, since obviously she wouldn't be convinced through words alone. I didn't have the knowledge nor the experience to make my voice commit to what I needed. I needed her to forget all the things she had gathered about me but with my skill set, the most I could do was render it for a small period of time. From what I'd heard, Valora had known for far longer than I'd thought. If I'd known any sooner, I probably could have fixed whatever had started to fester.
Perhaps a small period of time was all I needed. Maybe Nik and I could figure out something before she started to think and but the pieces together again.
When she sees my mouth open unfollowed by words she flinches. It's small but tells me the same all the less; she's scared, whether she'll admit it or not, she's scared. "Yes, please sing," she said sarcastically, trying to bide herself time. "I've heard from Nikoloas your a brilliant singer." Her jab feels like a slap in the face. What does she not know about?
I glare at her. Glared at her jewelry, her gown, at her viper-green eyes and snake-like personality that would devour and destroy me whole. She had all the pieces in the right place, I wonder if she would actually dare to tell or if her fear would consume her before she had the chance. Before I can even make up my mind, she says one last thing that seals my thoughts exactly.
"Heed my warning, siren," she declares, spews of hatred falling out with her words. "I will ruin you."