Wings, Beasts and Claws: Violet Embers

Ch. 23 : Chest of Secrets

“Momma.” I blinked a few times to shake myself free of my deep thoughts, turning to find my little girl walking up to my desk. “Cookie?”

I smiled and leaned forward to kiss her head, taking the chocolate treat she offered before she turned on her heel and ran back to her Grandmother. 

Three days have passed since that wonderful encounter with my mother and sister and I have yet to hear from them again. I couldn’t deny that I was shocked that my threat had worked, but another piece of me was tense, still anticipating something to happen. It wasn’t like my mother to listen the first time, or the second time. She was a stubborn woman that was never afraid to dirty her hands to get what she wanted.

“Lauri.”

I looked up and found Des rapidly making her way to me after glancing at my children talking happily with their grandmother. Worry stuck to her like a tight coat and she made a point to walk around the desk and stop beside me, leaning in to speak softly.

“Korinna’s here.” My eyes widened, waiting for her to say that my mother was beside her, since she kept my sister by her side no matter what. “She says she has something for you… and…” Des looked away, gnawing on her bottom lip before looking back at me. “She’s hurt Lauri, I caught a heavy scent of blood that she’s trying to hide with perfume, and she’s walking strangely too.”

I got up and silently nodded, urging her to lead me to my sister.

Once I was on the first floor, after needing to pause my rapid steps twice to catch my breath, my friend helped me to a small conference room. This was a room used for small audiences with multiple Nobles that wished to speak to me or Galen. It held a long table with four chairs on either side and a much more elaborate seat at the head of the table facing the door. Large paintings of varying scenery hung on the walls and vases, flowers and a few small statues adorned the corners and the table’s center.

Korinna stood with her back to the table, her face turned up as she stared at a colorfully painted meadow covered in flowers and a small cluster of butterflies hovering above them. She turned as Des closed the door behind me, revealing a small wooden chest that she held in her hands.

“I greet the Dragon Mother.” She said softly, her body flinching when she tried to bow.

“Korinna… what happened to you?” I slowly walked closer as I took her in, my chest pinching painfully as I took note of her pitiful state.

Her face was pale, with dark circles under her eyes that looked almost like bruises. Her hair, that looked perfectly combed at a glance, was limp and appeared to have been cut at an odd angle. The high collar of her dress couldn’t hide the purple and blue marks on her neck that climbed up and stopped under her chin. And I could see bandages peeking out from her left wrist beneath her sleeve. She was standing stiffly as well, a faint tremor running through her torso with every breath she took in.

“Who did this?” I asked, preparing to continue asking her how she had gotten to this state, but she raised her hand to stop me.

“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself about.” She smiled, her eyes glistening with unshed tears before she shoved the box forward towards me. “I found this while I was packing and thought of you.” I hesitated, taking the box from her as she stepped back, creating a larger space between us. “I also wanted to let you know that my marriage has been finalized and I’m moving into my husband's estate… so you won’t be able to see me for a while.”

“What?!”

Her final words stunned me intensely and I set the wooden chest on the table as I tried to grasp what she just told me.

“It’s only been three days, Korinna! Why have you agreed to something so quick? And which Temple dared to perform the ceremony like this?” I stepped forward as I spoke, stopping when she took another two steps back, her face slipping into a blank mask. “Korinna, you need to reconsider going through with this madness. You have a Mate out there that the Goddess has paired with you.” I reached out and pleaded with my eyes, needing to find something, anything that will make her break away from our mother and this insane decision she’s made. “He would love you, protect you and fight for you… you would be happy and finally have a say in your life.” My gaze dropped to her right wrist, narrowing when I finally noticed the Chosen Mate bite that rested there. “Please… let me help you get away from all of this.”

“It’s already done, Lauri.” She said softly, turning away from me with a weak smile. “There are no options for me anymore…” She closed her eyes as she blew out a shaky breath, her lips trembling before she spoke even softer than before. “It’s the only way to protect him…”

“Him?” I asked, flinching when she snapped back to me, panic flashing in her eyes for just a moment. “Is someone being used against you?” She ignored my words and raced around the table, shaking her head as she walked. “Korrina! Who are you protecting?!”

I stood there, frozen by everything that had just happened as my sister burst out of the room. But once she walked out I managed to shake myself out of my daze and attempted to race after her.

“Korrina!” I shouted, stumbling to a stop as a sudden burning ache climbed up my back.

I huffed as I braced myself on a nearby pillar, looking at my sister's running form until she disappeared through the main entrance to the Palace. Some Knights were there standing Guard and I sucked in a breath to order them to stop her, but the pain wormed its way deep into my spine, knocking the wind out of me.

“Your Majesty!” Des appeared with a few maids and noticed my groaning self leaning heavily against the pillar.

I tried to speak, tried to clearly tell my friend that I needed my sister stopped and brought back to me. But a dropping and bursting feeling alerted everyone to the sudden liquid rushing down my legs. The pain grew, the ache and throb that spread through me leaving me a humming, groaning mess as they gripped my arms. I was half dragged into the Physicians clinic and quickly stripped and placed on the bed while Des ran back out to let Alecta know that I was in labor.

I was told to push a few moments later and I screamed through it all. My mind still wrapped around what had happened with my sister, though it still wasn’t enough to distract me from the pain. My mother-in-law joined me and talked to me while I continued to sweat and cry out as I pushed. Dizziness overtook me just as my second son was born, tears rushing down my face as I held him. My eyes fluttered as I took in the bright red hair atop his little head that was just like mine, and his deep teal eyes that were an exact copy of his father. And, just like with Ilaria and Khristos, my baby boys Inner-Light climbed up from his body and gathered over him. A few seconds later, we were all beaming at the tiger that his Light had changed into, fresh tears running down my face as it dove back into his little body before he started to cry.

Another week slipped by after that fateful day and I was still doing everything I could to reach out to my sister.

I’ve sent letters, people and an open invitation that included my mother so I could at least see Korinna. But nothing got a response. My mother even turned away the people I had sent to their manor and the few spies I had assigned to find her had confirmed that Korinna’s room and all of her things were gone. Strangely, they did find a childs room that looked occupied beside my mothers, but they never caught sight of any children within their gates.

On the ninth day, I remembered the wooden box and had Des bring it to my room after I had fed my son and tucked him in for a nap. She agreed to watch him for me while I stepped out into the sitting room, staring at it on my lap before opening it.

The first thing I found was a canvas picture of my sister and I when we were children. We were holding hands in pastel colored dresses with trees casting a shadow behind us. Bright smiles were on our little faces and woven flower crowns were atop our heads. I smiled as I recalled this memory, our father having taken us out for a short walk through the forest's edge while our mother was gone ‘visiting friends’. Beneath the canvas was a small velvet box that held a broken bracelet with little peridot gems on it. This had been a birthday gift I had gotten for her twelfth birthday, but our mother ripped it from her wrist, scolding her for accepting anything from the ‘defective’ daughter. Korinna’s journal from when she was a child was in here as well as a few pieces of jewelry. Some letters that I had sent her while I was away at the Academy and when I first left the manor were inside too, making me choke up a bit.

At the very bottom of the box were another two, much smaller pictures that spilled ice into my veins.

One showed a Korinna from not long ago in a soft pink dress with her hair braided back. She was smiling lovingly at the man beside her, his arms around her waist and a warm tender gaze coming from his sea blue eyes. He was dressed very plainly, with dark brown hair that was pulled back by a ribbon. It was clear that he wasn’t a Noble, or had more than a couple coins to his name. But he looked kind and warm, with his eyes wrinkling in the corners as he looked at my sister.

The second image was of a baby.

A little boy wrapped loosely in a pale green blanket with dark brown hair and sea blue eyes. Eyes that looked exactly like the man beside my sister. And on the bottom of the picture, written over the hand of the person holding the child, was a name and a date from a little over a year ago.

“Emil…” I muttered, tracing the name as I recognized my sister's handwriting.

Common sense told me what I was struggling to accept, the image nearly screaming the truth at me while I sat there in silence. It hurt and ate at me that something like this was kept from me, yet I wasn’t fully accepting the truth as it stared back at me with my sister's eyes.

Curiosity along with a sense of dread and foreboding came over me a moment later as I continued to stare at the baby. So, hoping I was strong enough to do this after giving birth, I called on my glowing pools and created a glove on my free hand. I lightly placed a finger over my sister's writing and closed my eyes, opening my mind to any and all possible memories that were attached to this picture.

A swirl of color took over my mind's eyes before I started seeing a form manifest. My sister came into view and I recognized the inside of her room, seeing it in the process of being packed up and emptied. She stood over her desk as she wrote on the image, placing it carefully into the box and spilling a glittering peach colored liquid over the latch. Surprise filled me when I realized that the elixir she had spilled was an enchantment type that would’ve destroyed what was inside the box if the wrong person opened the little chest.

I felt my body break into a sweat as I tried to focus my other senses to pick up on something, anything at all that would help me understand what she was doing. A strong pain struck my head as a ringing began in my ears, making me struggle through the vision before I finally started to hear something.

“Please help him…” My sister muttered, sniffling as she hugged the box tightly. “I have no power, no strength left, and my days are numbered…” My heart hammered in my chest and my breath burned in my lungs. “Please Lauri… find my son.”