The Elemental Heiress

chapter 1

Oak

Meet me at my office. The letter had read ending with, you may bring Oak.

I had been with Tallmer when he read the note. Having been raised by the man these past 19 years I had seen him pissed off plenty of times, but never as much as he was then.

Right now, we were walking at a brisk pace to the Oracle's wing in the castle. I could not see Tallmers face, but I knew the rage still burned in his eyes. In many ways other than the traditional way, Tallmer had been my father. He and his husband Shi have cared for me since they brought me here when I was a newborn. They taught me everything I know. Of course, they had little choice given that I was named Tallmers Heir, but he did not just train me to take his role. He was there for me through more than he had to be. That along with his strength and wisdom, he had earned my respect rather than just expecting it. So, it bothered me to see him disrespected like this by a woman I barely knew.

“I told her I wanted a letter, not a meeting,” Tallmer said without turning around.

“She does not understand that not all of us can be blessed with an Oracles schedule. We don't have time to wave around beads and play in sacred smoke.” The insult made him snort, as close to a laugh I would ever get while he was in this state.

Imani was the Oracle we were talking about. Oracles were held in high esteem due to their connection with Fate. The Oracle wing was an addition built by Tallmer as a gift to his childhood Oracle, May. May had served well as a part of Tallmers court. She gave him console when he asked and doted on him like a son when he needed it. Tallmer always spoke highly of the woman so it was a shock to not only me when Imani stayed distant from the beginning.

The Oracle came to us at eight years old, not long after I came here. She had been the best at her gift even at her young age and everyone said that she had promise. The elder oracles determined that Imani was to be Mays replacement after her sudden disappearance. Tallmer and his court expected me and Imani to be like sisters due to our age, but we soon found out that she had no intentions of filling her role more than necessary.

“Perhaps you and I will teach her the burden of being an Elemental. Along with the proper way to address an Heiress.” I could hear him snap his teeth.

There it was, the real reason the Oracle's letter had irked him. Not her calling him to her office with no regard to his schedule. No, it was the way she wrote my name, only my name. To everyone, I was referred to as Heiress Oak or Elemental Heiress. Just referring to me as Oak was reserved for very close members of the court. Imani had made it clear we were not closebtherefore she had no right to address me so informally. She had always acted like this, whenever she chose to acknowledge me, which was rare, it was always without my title. She avoids me so thoroughly that I only ever see her on council meetings when Tallmer needs direction from the goddess Fate. As the Oracle of the castle she was required to be the ears, eyes, and voice to Fate but other than that the only time she would leave her wing of the castle was to go to Bertram’s libraries. It bothered me more than I cared to admit.

The Oracles wing was brightly colored. Although Oracles are born colorblind, they prefer to surround themselves with color in any way possible. I’ve never seen it myself, but I’ve been told that the followers of Fate’s fortress was the most colorful place in the realm. I'm sure there was some kind of meaning or symbolism to it, but I never cared to ask. Looking at the multicolored decor made me wonder if she would even notice if I went in a recolored everything, the thought brought a short laugh to my lips.

“Please do tell me what made the stone-faced Oak laugh? It must be very amusing. The twenty-seven-year-old Oracle sat in a dark purple cushioned chair with an eyebrow c****d. Twenty-seven I reminded myself. When I was tied to the land at the end of this year I would no longer age but Imani would grow old and be replaced in under a century hopefully the next Oracle be better, an older one maybe.

“I was just clearing my throat” I replied with my best stoneface.

Her grey eyes look slightly displeased but mainly bored. Those eerie gray eyes were how an Oracle was identified at birth to having the connection to Fate. They were not your typical grey eyes; the color covered the entire eyeball, not just the iris. When an infant was born with the eyes, they were immediately shipped off to the Oracle’s fortress to begin their duty to Fate. It was considered a high honor to have an Oracle as a child, but to a parent, it just meant that they had to hand over their newborn. I wondered if Imani’s parents missed her then decided that I didn't much care.

“Elemental” she gave a simple nod to Tallmer, not even bothering to get up from her chair. I clenched my teeth together to stop myself from snapping at her for the disrespect. We were here for her help and Fate’s guidance I would not speed anything up by cussing out the woman. Twenty-seven I reminded myself.

Tallmers jaw twitched as he said “Oracle” back. “I expressed in my letter about my schedule.” I looked over at her desk seeing a folded piece of paper with Tallmer’s handwriting.

“Don't worry this won't take long” she smiled. I felt my anger boil over as I noticed that the note looked untouched in the golden dish used to quickly send messages throughout the castle since sending it with the conventional messenger could take hours with how big this palace was. All you needed to do to send one was picked the matching colored falme your receiver had and light it, then let the paper burn. If all went well the message would appear in the person’s dish. She had not even bothered to touch Tallmer’s note.

“Good,” he said showing no notice to his letter. “As you know the Heir’s bonding ceremony is in a few weeks, and she needs her power to participate in it.” the thought of the ceremony drew my attention away from my previous anger.

It was what all my years of training had been leading up to. It was why Tallmer sent me off to a war camp when I was four. To hone my skills to perfection, all for my destiny. I could not be more excited. In just a few weeks I would participate in the ceremony meant to transfer the bond that Tallmer had to the land to me. My aging would freeze for the next 4 centuries while Tallmer will begin to age again. After the bonding ceremony would be the transfer of crowns. Tallmer had every right to hold on to his claim as the Elemental King till he took his last breath but he revealed to me that it was his every intention to hand the title over soon after the bonding. He feels that I am ready in every way but one, my powers.

It is expected that every Elemental Heir is trained without their powers for a decade after they turn four to strengthen their mind and body without becoming reliant on their abilities. After this training, they are sent back to be trained by their future predecessor on how to control their powers. As Tallmers successor I was meant to start to gain the power at fourteen. The only thing was I did not. Bertram believed that there must be some kind of blockage preventing me from accessing the power Tallmer was transferring to me, most likely because I was human.

“I can assure you that she will be perfectly capable of performing the bonding ceremony.” The Oracle was annoyingly calm as she said this and Tallmer’s patience was clearly growing dangerously thin.

“How? I used a method Bertram had discovered to transfer a large amount of power at once but nothing, she did not react to gaining the power at all. As my Heir Oak should have needed immediate release of her power.” Over time an Elemental naturally leaked power to the Heir. Once the process is started it won't stop till the Elemental power is drained completely into new Elemental or the old Elemental died and the Heir received everything left all at once but the amount was little and slow coming. Typically, we would have little control of it other than starting the process. Bertram searched his books and found an ancient way of speeding up the transfer. In the past it had been used in emergencies when an Heir needed more power quickly typically for battle.

“Yes, the Celeri Incrementum Spell.” She laughed. I folded my hands into fists. “Bertram told me he found that in a book dated back before the ravine was carved out. When Wasters tore through the kingdom to pillage without hindrance. A useful spell then but pointless now.” she rose from her seat and ran a finger along the edge of her desk.

“The wasters still remain a nuisance to the kingdom” I pointed out.

“True, but not a real threat. They cannot fly over the mountains in the earth region. They cannot survive a journey through the deserts of the fire region unless they do not require water to live.” She placed a fingertip to the top of her inkpot “and I'd love to see them try to travel over the ravine that borders the rest of the Kingdom.” With a slight push, the inkpot went over the edge of the table and shattered on the floor. It left messy black splatters on the red marbled floor. ”Which leaves only the bridge to the castle, but I'm sure Tallmer and his court would give them a b****y welcome to make them regret that decision.”

“The spell was necessary. Oak has waited long enough for her powers. If it had worked as it should have, she would have been shocked into using her powers.” But when it happened, I had felt nothing, not even a spark.

“Oh, the spell worked on your Heiress. I can assure you of that.” I was so shocked by her finally referring to me as his Heir that I could not think of a reply. Tallmer however was just confused.

“I think I would know if I had if it had worked,” he said.

“Well with the distance between our realm in the human one I doubt it's reached her yet. I'd say the Heiress should receive it in a little over twenty-four hours after the spell had been completed.” she picked up a teacup from her desk in sipped on it with annoy indifference. It made me want to shatter the dainty cup.

“What?” I asked restraining myself. Tallmer stood there more still than I had ever seen him. Imani turned to me with a pity-filled look that annoyed me more than her disrespect ever had.

“On behalf of Fate, I'd like to thank you for your service.” Tallmer was still saying nothing. “Standing in for the Heiress was vital to ensure her safety, and you filled the role perfectly.” Standing in? A cold feeling started to creep up my spine as I process the words.

“May told us to get the wrong one.” The disbelief in Tallmers voice was mixed with anger and betrayal. The wrong one rang in my head on repeat.

“May told you what she was told to tell you,” Imani stated firmly sticking up for her sister Oracle. It was my turn to remain shocked in silence as Tallmer spoke.

“Then who is my Heir?” his eyes burned into her as I felt the world slip out from under my feet.

“The twin.” She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Tallmers glare clearly didn't affect her.

I remembered a conversation I had with Shi when I was young. Shi was tied to Tallmer in marriage and a member of his inner court. Shi was the one sent to get me when I was born. He was so proud that he had been the one Tallmer sent that he was all too happy to tell me the story when I was finally old enough to ask.

“I walked into the human hospital that smelled and looked unnatural, but that can be said for everything in the human realm,” hep said wrinkling his nose. “And there you were wide-eyed lying next to your sleeping sister.”

“Sister?” I had asked.

“Yes, your sister. You were a twin just as the Oracle had known you would be. Twins are seen as a good omen so I knew that you would be a special ruler.” Shi had always been kind to me as far as he was concerned, I was his child from the moment he carried me home in his arms.

“But how did you know I was the one and not her?” he had smiled at me and with a gentle hand touched my cheek.

“Because of this.” The birthmark covered majority of my right cheek. The wine-red color made it hard to miss. I had always been proud of it. I had been told that it resembled the shape of the castle and had done my best to show it off. “May told me to bring the marked one home. Even without her telling me that I would have known it was you.” He messed up my hair lovingly and said “From the moment I saw you I knew you were destined for greatness.”

I had often thought of my twin and wondered about her life. What she looked like, what she was doing, and if she had even known I existed. Now I could not help but feel cheated. Shi had not looked at her and seen greatness. My sister was likely average and boring like all humans. She had no training, physical or mental where I had spent my whole life preparing to take the throne. It was all I knew, what I had waited for, and it would all be given to this weakling. She probably did not even know what an Elemental was. I was seething in anger by the time Tallmer found words to say.

“The girl has gone her whole life ignorant of this realm and what she is. How could Fate have thought this was a good idea. The ceremony is under three weeks away, she'll never be ready in time.” He was smoking with anger, literally. Smoke leaked from his mouth and nose to surround his body. Tallmer was born to a family of the fire region, so he had been born with the ability to control fire. That added with the elemental powers gifted to him by the goddess, he had a larger range of control when it came to flame.

“It is not anyone's place to question the decisions of Fate.” Imani snapped. I wanted to scream my agreement with Tallmer. Fate was a fool a wicked cruel fool. Before I could say anything, his eyes went wide.

“The spell,” he whispered not looking at either of us. The anger suddenly drained from him.

“As I told you it likely won't reach the Heiress till a day after you performed it. Fate will help me locate her before then. You completed the spell this morning, so you still have about four hours, till how do you say it in your letter?” Imani cupped her chin with the palm of her hand in feigned wonder. “Ah yes, the explosive reaction.” Without another word, Tallmer abruptly turned and walked out of the door leaving me to chase after his long strides. I didn't even get a chance to question how she knew what was in the letter.

“What now?” I asked still trying to come to terms with all that I had lost in a matter of minutes.

“I need to get a party together to retrieve your sister before she exposes herself to the humans,” he said not even short of breath despite the pace he was walking at.

“Don't call her that, she is not my sister.” I snapped not being able to stop myself. Tallmer came to such a sudden halt that it took me a few steps to stop. I turned around expecting to see him angry at my tone but instead, I found pity. The same Pity that Imani had looked at me with moments ago. I had never felt a negative emotion towards Tallmer before, only love, gratefulness, and above all else respect, but he had never looked at me like this before. It made me want to spit in his face. He quickly looked to the floor.

“We will speak when I return.”

“I will go with you,” I said trying not to sound desperate. His face hardened.

“No, I'm bringing Cosmoses, Bertram, and Imani.” I could see the Oracle calmly walking down the hall behind him.

“That fast?” I asked him. He had always taken me on every task of importance, but that was when I was his Heir. “Just yesterday I was training with Cosmo and now I'm just tossed to the side?” I could not help the burning betrayal that I felt. I did not care if I sounded pathetic. I did not care if that witch Imani was witnessing at all. I had nothing to lose anymore everything I had was because I was the Heiress now it was just Tallmers human pet and Imani had know it all along.

“Oak, I need you to stay here and explain things to Shi.” Thinking of him made my grief worse. I knew you were destined for greatness. How would my biggest believer react when he found out I was destined for nothing.

“What am I now?” I knew my voice held no strength only defeat.

‘You are my daughter” he said sternly “And when I get back, we will talk about your place here.” He laid a gentle hand on my shoulder as he walked past me, Imani trailing behind him. He had sounded so sure, but he could not fool me. Not when I already knew the answer. I was human, and I had no place amongst the Fated.