Agartha

Chapter fourteen

Dinner was long. Etan was there searching for a positive answer in my eyes. At dessert, he sat next to me.

“Galia, I'm leaving in a moment. I need to know if I'm allowed to leave a part of me here with you”

“I am so sorry, Etan. I can´t”

“Is it because of the General?”

My eyes widened in surprise “What? I just….”

“Don´t hide things from me. He was waiting for you earlier and interrupted before I got to kiss you. Everybody takes his concern for you as part of his duty, but he spent hours waiting for news about you yesterday after your accident, I saw him at the gardens” I was silent, trying to figure what to say. “He is not the right person for you. You are so sweet, and he is a warrior, he will take the best of you”

“Not to mention I'm a witch and he is an elf…”

“And he is centuries your senior”

“I know everything is against it… But to me he is not an elf or a warrior, he is just a man. To me I'm not a witch or a princess, just a human girl. Is hard to explain but I see the world with different eyes. Probably I will regret not being with you, but I can´t pretend to feel what I don´t”

“I think you will. He, in your life, will only make it hard. Those feelings will steal your peace”

“I haven´t decided to be with him” His eyes brightened. “I just want to be fare. I need to take him out of my thoughts, if I decide to do so, before allowing anyone else to get closer to me”

“Then I leave with a hint of hope”

“You are a remarkable man. Take my friendship with you too”

“I hope someday I´ll have much more than that. I desire the taste of your lips” Having a lot of people around speaking loud hid our conversation, luckily.

“Maybe none of you will see me ever again”

“You won´t leave, I am sure”

“Wish I had your certainty”

He kissed my hand winking at me with a grin and went to talk to the elders of my family before leaving. He wasn’t long gone when Tera and Hari sat next to me at both sides. The interrogatory began…

“Girls, please calm down. Etan was just saying good bye”

“Lier!” They said simultaneously. “That man wants you! Don´t listen to grandpa, he is the right guy for you” Tera was all excited talking.

Hari continued “Galia, you won´t marry our little brother, you won´t rule here, but with Etan we could form a strong alliance, even recover your mother´s land and name!”

“Shut up Hari! Galia doesn´t think of political advantages. Dear little cousin, Etan is amazing, he would make you so happy”

“Then why didn´t Hari marry him?”

“Because he didn´t love me and I loved his brother”

The king announced it was time to go to work at the library.

The twins took me by my arms, one for each and walked me (more like floated with me) to the library saying this conversation is not over.

***

After dinner, we had a lot of work at the library, everyone on their field. There were witches and wizards working all over. The training center was my area, with my grandparents. Ragnar was there between the table of the training center and the king´s table (political and warfare work). It was too hard to concentrate for either Ragnar or me.

The year was coming to its end, and the center had a lot of work closing the classes and organizing next year´s students requests coming from everywhere.

I learned that there would be a new year party and right after, Ragnar would take the children back to their parents and stay there for three months. The party was in two weeks… In two weeks, he will be gone…

At midnight, the king dismissed everyone, and I was walked to my room by my cousins. Kiryat followed us but her sisters told her it was an adult conversation, so we needed privacy.

“Galia is my age!” She protested.

“No”, said Hari, “she is chronologically your age but mentally ours”

“That´s not fair! Are you guys talking about prince Etan? I know Galia likes him and you know grandpa doesn´t like it!”

“See? That´s why you´re not coming”. They entered my room and locked Kiryat out.

“Girls, don´t be mean to your sister, why don’t you let her come?”

“Because she can´t keep secrets” They said at the same time.

“Well, before you start interrogating me, I don´t want to talk about prince Etan anymore”, they looked disappointed. “And also, I need you to teach me to astral project”

They jumped all excited “Is it to visit Etan?”

“Don´t make awkward questions. Can you teach me or not?”

“You can vanish, but you can´t astral project? That´s odd”

“Remember I didn´t have a traditional upbringing (for your terms). Vanishing was the first spell I did, intentionally, to save my grandpa”

“Fine… Meet us at the center tomorrow…”

“Good night girls”

“Good night, cousin!” They said chanting.

Next morning, I paid a visit to my cousin Kiryat at her room to make sure her feelings weren´t hurt. I explained my relationship with Etan was only a friendship and she was very happy with our conversation.

I met my cousins at the center. They took me to a safe room. It´s a room designed to control magic so it can be practice in safety avoiding getting yourself killed.

“Well, we teach you astral project and you teach us to vanish”

“You didn´t mention any deals yesterday!”

“Because we are smart”

“It´s not a big deal!” I tried to recall grandpa´s exact words. “Just move your wand in circles, think of nothing but water and air… feel it… then, close your eyes end repeat the spell visualizing the place you want to reach. That´s it!”

“And what is the spell?”

“You guys seriously don´t know it?”

“Nobody would tell us… Only elders of our family know it”

“But it´s too simple!”

“Simple if you know the exact words, but we don´t” Teri explained

Hari confessed “We tried with some ideas and we ended up beaten against a wall”

“The same happened to me…”

“But after you vanished. We didn´t even got to that part”

“Am I getting into trouble for teaching you?”

“Noooo” They repeated faking innocent faces

“Not convincing, girls”

“Oh, come on Galia!”

“Fine… You say let me be taken to the place my heart yearns”

“See Hari! I told you we had to use some corny words!”

“You did, sister”

“Now, teach me astral project”

“Fine”, said Tera, while Hari was feeling out the ribs in my chest like looking for something. “It´s very simple”. Hari found a spot in the middle of my chest that hurt a little, like a bruise. “That spot is the soul center, I guess they taught you about the energy centers in the body, right?”

“Right”

“Close your eyes, take your wand and touch the soul center and thinking of the person you want to talk to. Don´t ever forget, you need to make sure you are at a safe place, when you astral project your body remains vulnerable and someone might hurt you”

“Ok. Got it. Quick question… I don´t use my wand, that thing blows everything around me… What options do I have?”

Both rolled their eyes and Hari said “you should get used to that thing once and for all, you know? It´s not for decoration purposes…”

“I know, but I just can´t”

“Your nails are completely crystalized, is embarrassing”

“Why is it such a big deal?”

This time Tera answered. “Do you know what a naturalist is?”

“No. Explain please”

“A naturalist is a witch that practices raw magic. Are the ancient ways, closer to elves magic, all about nature and before it evolved to what magic is now. All royal families must have one naturalist, is trained at the center under that purpose. It´s necessary because it helps to keep the magical bloodline connected to nature and strong, besides, it´s the main healer in the family. Nobody likes to be a naturalist because it pushes you closer to nature and you become a little wild”

“I see… And who is the naturalist in our family?”

They stared at each other. “It was your father…”

“But he is gone… Now what?”

“Now one of us will have to take the responsibility. It´s been said Kiryat might be the next one. She doesn´t know. In a couple of years, she might start with the training… The naturalist must be a strong-tempered person, to be able to resist the calling of nature. Your father was chosen because he showed a very determined temper since a very young age. Kiryat doesn´t fit the description, but we have no choice, Erik will be king, and we are almost done with the training, it´s too late for us”

“What about me, Hari?”

They stared at each other again “You are too strong, we need you taking different tasks, and you´ve already been through a lot. You are second in line to the throne since you and my brother are the strongest and you are the youngest; naturalists cannot take the throne”

“Girls, what are you hiding?”

“Nothing” They said simultaneously, as usual.

“Spill it out now!”

“Fine… You probably inherited the tendency. You have shown signs of being able to handle raw magic effortlessly”

“So…?”

“That is exactly the problem. You have your father´s determination and strength, but you are stubborn, and naturalists are hard to control in regular conditions, with your temper you might get away and we´ll never see you again”

“So, you prefer to sacrifice Kiryat?”

“It will be hard, but we can control and help her, we won´t lose her. In your case, it´s most likely we won´t be able to help you. Accordingly, the family had to make a hard choice: giving a hard life to one child and be there for her or completely losing another…”

What a hard choice they had to make. Also, they truly care about me, they make no difference between me and my cousins, even though I grew up away and give them a hard time... This new information melted my heart and I gave them a big hug which surprised them.

We spent the whole morning there. They achieved the vanishing but decided not to try it again for several years. Tera made it but as far as the garden outside the center and burnt half of her hair´s length. She made an appearance changing spell to cover it and I asked her to teach me. It was perfect to cover my own hair situation.

I achieved the astral projection. Even taking Hari´s projection with me, so I could do it later with Ragnar. They were right, it was simple, compared to vanishing. I astral projected to the library making my grandparents jump and almost fall from their chairs. Ragnar was there, talking to the king. He turned to my projection, looked like it was no big deal and turned back to my great uncle who had a wide smile. I see them now with different eyes. I miss my parents and sister, but this is also my family. I feel it in my heart…

We were about to leave the center when three witches came to us.

“You are princess Galia, right?” She looked angry.

“Yes, I am. What can I do for you?”

“Maybe staying away from prince Etan!”

“I need a little context here, kid”

“How dare you! I am no kid, unlike you. I'm lady Dahna, from the brown lands. My relatives are soon to speak to Etan´s parents, a marriage alliance between our families would be most convenient and you are not going to ruin it!”

I seriously have no time for this stupidity… “Let´s see…” I said rubbing my tamples “you want to marry prince Etan, because, let´s face it, he is handsome, talented and an amazing man. You cover your crash on him under the alliance pretext AND you are making demands on ME. Did I miss anything?”

Her eyes were glowing red out of anger. She was preparing to yell at me, but Tera interrupted her “Galia, command her as it is your right and as you were taught”

I hesitated but followed my cousin´s order “I am princess Galia, your sovereign, I command you to kneel before me” My voice echoed around.

I wasn´t sure it would work but her body started trembling like she was fighting hard against something. Slowly she kneeled bowing her head.

“Now, leave. You are uninvited to the end of the year´s party as a disciplinary measure for your disrespect”

Her eyes filled with tears, she stood up and left with the terrified faces of her friends.

Teri was trying not to smile “Wow, cousin, you are tough. No wonder grandma says you have our grandpa´s temper. Too bad you didn´t marry our brother”

“Teri is right. This is the girl´s last year at the center and she won’t be at the closure. She deserves it though, that girl is a handful of trouble”, Hari added.

“Do you think I was too harsh? Maybe I should take it back”

“NO!”

“NO!”

“We are the rulers, we can´t allow disrespect from anyone! Our ability to maintain order in all the kingdoms and keep everyone safe depends a lot on a firm hand”

I feel terrible…

After dinner, everybody went to their rooms. I pretended to do so but escaped to my gazebo. Once I got there, took my dagger and named Ragnar softly to the handle. After a few minutes he was there. Without saying a word he entered, walked towards me, embraced me burying his face in my neck and then kissed me softly.

“I learned to astral project”

“I saw it. You are very talented”

“You didn´t seem to care”

“I was resisting the impulse to go to talk to you. You called me using the dagger”

“Yes, I did. Wasn´t I supposed to?”

“You could have just walked to the camp and found me. The dagger is for an emergency, you truly scared me. I found my cricket friend on my way here and he told me you were fine”

“That cricket needs a hobby…”

His laughter sounded like music “Let´s go visit my queen”

“Now? Isn´t it a little bit late”

“She must be reading letters right now. She will receive me”

“As you wish”

“Don´t think of the queen. Think of a guard”

“That’s not going to work, I don´t know the face of any guards”

“But I do. Let me show you” He placed his forehead against mine, took my hands and placed his right one with my left one on his cheek and on my cheek his left hand with mi right one. My vision got blurry and I saw an elf´s face in my mind.

“Do you see him?”

“Yes! How did you do that?”

“Mature Elves do that… That is an inside palace guard, his name is Eldry”

“Ok, mature guy. Let´s go”

I did the spell and in three seconds, we were in front of Eldry. He took a defensive position even before we were completely visible.

“Calm down Eldry, is your General, Ragnar”

“My General!”

“We don´t have much time. I need to talk to the queen”

“Yes, my General”

He knocked the door announcing General Ragnar is here with company to talk to you, my queen.

“Let them in”

The place was amazing. The whole palace -walls, columns, floor, ceiling…- appeared to be carved on a monumental piece of dark marvel. Windows and doors were made of a heavy reddish wood and gracefully attached to the marvel structure with golden nails.

Before the guard opened the door, we walked through it.

“Your highness” Ragnar said and we both bowed.

“My dears, welcome. I suspect the purpose of your projected visit, but first, how are my children?”

“They are very good, missing you a lot and counting the days for their return” I answered this time. “I also want to thank you one more time for this wonderful gift, you saved my live”, I pointed at the necklace.

“I heard about your accident before leaving your land, I knew you would be fine, glad to be helpful. What, I am sure, most people don´t know is the reason why you vanished in the first place, probably has something to do with the reason for your visit. Am I mistaken?” Ragnar and I lowered our heads and he spoke.

“My queen, feelings cannot be hidden from you. I'm certain you knew about my feelings for Galia, probably before I recognized them myself. Something happened yesterday. We had a… moment of closeness…” He blushed and repeatedly cleared his throat.

“Oh, come on Ragnar! We kissed your highness” My face and tone were very serious. “During that moment my heart -and probably his- felt oppressed, like stopping for a moment and then I felt peace and joy. Also, my hair turned straight and his eyes darker. I am fully aware this is probably not a good reason to disturb you, but we had no one else to talk to”

The queen smiled tenderly “You did the right thing coming to consult all this to me, a regular witch won´t know what is happening and your family isn´t the best choice for advice right now. Also, Galia, I told you my friendship is yours forever and you two coming to me is an honor”

Ragnar´s eyes brightened “The honor is ours, my queen”

“You two are different, you are an elf and she is a witch. Between witches and wizards, a magical union connects their bloodlines´ magic and their love become like the air they breathe. It happens with the marriage ritual and as soon as their love become strong and absolute. They will always feel and find each other, and they only find peace with the company of the other. Elves true love and matting is all they need to establish their union”

Ragnar blushed again and cleared his throat.

“Ragnar, don´t feel uncomfortable in my presence, I'm your friend”

“It´s just… Galia is young and…”

The queen and I laughed loudly and ignored him.

“You both felt true love, your magic abilities tried to connect with the other´s but got confused after finding a different nature, so it´s adapting. Instead of changing your instincts, your physical form started changing to take something from your loved one. Elves hearts beat at the same rhythm forever after their mating, but it begins when feelings start developing”

“So, mating is a serious thing for elves…”

“Only if they are both in love, it bonds them for the rest of their lives” Ragnar sounded sad.

“Your hearts hurt because you are a witch, Galia. It is not your nature to adapt your heart beat to your mate´s, that´s an elves thing. Magic will push until it happens, and it will if you two insist on being together. Physical changes will continue too”

“Something else happened. I tried to vanish (I know, bad idea) and he grabbed my arm and stopped it. How is that possible?”

“Witches and wizards can influence their mate´s magic, making it stronger or getting abilities inexistent in their bloodline, but existent in their mate´s. Ragnar is an elf, he can´t take your abilities but is starting to be able to influence it.

Ragnar seemed thoughtful and after a while decided to talk. “My queen. You know me very well, I need Galia, I love her, and because I love her, making her go through all the storm that a relationship between us will cause, makes me want to stay away”

“Ragnar this is not a decision you will make on your own. It´s our decision, and the queen´s advice counts too, I trust her wisdom”

They queen interrupted me “My husband is waiting for me, I shall go now. My advice is not to take any rushed decisions. Your love is pure, but your path will be hard”

“My queen” I said “thank you so much for clearing our doubts and for your advices”

“Please come to talk more often. In my heart I treasure the hope that you will come to visit before classes start again at the center”

“I will try my queen”

We went back to our physical form at the gazebo.

“Ragnar, now we need to talk and figure what to do”

“No, we don´t”

“What do you mean?”

“I will wait until you are older, maybe your family will be more open to our relationship if they consider you are old enough to make decisions”

“And I have no saying on this? Your answer, again, is to push me away?”

“Galia, I´ll wait centuries for you if I have to. I'm just asking patience. If our love is real, will resist time and anything else”

My disappointment was unmeasurable. I was willing to fight the world for him and he just decided, without considering my opinion, he would pause our relationship.

“No thank you”

“What do you mean?”

“You want to make decisions about us without consulting me? I respect your feelings, but I'm making decisions too”

“I don´t understand”

“You don´t want to fight for us, your love is not strong, you don´t love me”

“You know very well that´s not it”

“Take your patience and enjoy it. I consider this relationship over”

Our hearts cringed making us fall on our knees after my words. I did my best to stand and run away tripping between the trees. I knew he wouldn´t dare to follow me.

I walked not paying attention, thinking and crying. Nature made me feel comforted. I realized I had passed the center and was walking through the forest leading to the villages.

A water stream made me stop. I kneeled to drink some water and see my reflection on it. After drinking, the absence of reflection scared me. The moon was reflected but I wasn´t. The water trembled and instead of my face, I saw a guy´s face.

It was a gorgeous face. He came out of the water, a guy with purple eyes and wings! It made me fall on my butt trying to step back. He had no shirt, only pants and he was barefoot. He shook his wet hair, not longer than his neck.

He kneeled before me “Don´t be scared, I will wash away all your tears. No one will ever hurt you again”

“Who are you?” My voice was shaky and my nails glowing blue prepared for anything.

“I am your happiness” His eyes looked melancholic and sincere.

I couldn´t help it, it was like he could read my heart and my tears just flowed with my raw pain. He approached slowly and hugged me with his arms and wings, my tears rolled all over his bare chest. The last thing I saw and heard was Ragnar running towards us with his sword on his hand “GALIA! THAT’S A SATYR! STAY AWAY FROM HIM!”

Ragnar threw his sword at us and hit the guy in the back of his shoulder, he motioned to the water and felt in with me in his arms. A warm feeling and sleep took over me.