Elspeth- The Unwanted Princess

The Fake? Heart?

Elspeth looks at the suit cases that were packed and realised everything she owned was in one. it was apparent that she had very little for a princess to such a huge city.

This thought should make her sad, but it just made her even more eager to leave. There was nothing she would miss here except for her brother and sister. It was still unclear as to how much she meant to them, but she was sure that she had to mean something to them.

She walked to the mansion doors where here brother was waiting for her.

"Ready to go?"

"Yep, assuming you have the fake for me to test at the gate?"

"Its all set up. They have a priest from a different village coming to check it out with our Earth priests."

"Sounds like its time to get a move on then."

With that Levi led his little sister out the door to the waiting escort the Coveingtons summoned. They had left the night before to prepare for the wedding that was going to take place that week. Both Levi and a Elspeth got into the car and the driver introduced himself.

"Hello, my name is Scott I will be your driver to tiger clan. If there anything needed today just let me know so I can attempt accomidate. It will take us approximatley 4hrs to reach the agreed upon check points where we will meet with the priests to do the ceremony. Its a small pub that is about 4hrs from both places. Not the most direct route but for sure the most neutral."

"Thanks for letting us know Scott, we will be push the call button in the limo if we need to stop."

With that Scott situated everyones luggage and proceeded to drive out of the mansions driveway. It always felt lime such a cold palace and not like a home when Elspeth stayed there. As they traveled the gorgeous path through the gates she could see all of the employees watching the limo depart. If she didnt see it she never would have believed that the servants were on the front steps waving goodbye.

"The staff wanted to wish you safe travels, but you know our mother they were not allowed. I called them down fora morning meeting and ordered them to ensure we all left without incident so that Bruce and the other house keeping staff could waive goodbye at least." Levi looked softly at his sister and smiled.

"Everybody on site loved working with you because you treated them like equals instead of as slave help like our mother did"

"Yeah I always hated the way she would throw away left overs when the maids were clearly starving at home, or throw out clothes because the colors faded rather than giving it to people who worked for us."

Elspeth replied. In unison they both mockingly stated to mimick Janets voice.

"Without clear boundaries the help wont know their place, and will take advantage of us if we let them have what they dont earn for themselves" Sometging Janet was famously repeating to the staff and her children too.

They both giggled knowingly and proceeded to look at the scenery whizzing past. After about 30min of travel Elspeth started to drift off to sleep in the limo. In what felt like a few seconds she was startled by the limo doors opening and shutting as Scott got out to open the doors for them.

"Well that was quick" Elspeth muttered to herself.

Levi yawned and stepped out holding his hand out for his younger sister. As she tenatively grasped his hand he whispered "dont worry" as he hoisted her up onto her feet. "Thanks!"

Scott led them into the little cafe where a middle aged man wearing a charcoal gray robe with a hood. His facial tone was blank not betraying any emotion he may have been feeling.

"My name is Owen I am a priest of the Gale Winds not far from Tiger Clan. I will be performing the ritual to determine authenticity of the Covens heart branch that Elspeth is entitled to. Do you have it with you?"

Levi didnt appear nervous by any means. In fact he seemed excited for this. Elspeth was concerned as to why he would be excited. Did her mother do something?

"Yes I have it I just need to pull it out of the safe from the limo. Give me just a minute I will be right back with it." Elspeth awkwardly waited with the stern witch for her brother to bring out the fake heart for testing. She just hoped everything went through so that she didnt get blamed for falsifying anything.

As Levi returned he held the heart that could either start her a new life or end her new beggining by failing this test.

"How long does the test take?" She asked hesitantly

"It should only take a few minutes. So long as nothing has been altered or tampered with it will be quick. Otherwise it could end very badly for everyone." Owen seemed to be unphased at the idea of the test going bad.

As Owen inspected the clay pot, that housed the blood, he began to chant in Latin asking for Elspeths left hand and Levis

"I need both of your blood types to ensure the familial authenticity, as well as a comparison for age." Elspeth appeard shaken by the revelation that the priest could tell the ages of her family and relation by the blood alone. Her steel resolve allowed her to not react suspiciously to the thought though.

After collecting the blood which was in a different pot and the magic shimmered around it as the priest chanted the spells. The spell cast was not unlike that of a seer spell as he read the blood it started to blend in a swirl. He added his blood to it and chanted causing the magic to glow a different color than before. His blood started to form symbols which he wrote down as well. Afterwards he proceeded to grab an old calligraphy quill and then pulled out an old journal that had been written in and added to over the years.

"What is that for?" Elspeth asked in curiousity

"When the readings of a coven heart is done we are given symbols not unlike that of a seer. They have a special meaning to them and only a witch with a blood specialty can hear the meaning in the runes. I like to write them down as they are given since my memory is not as good as it used to be. This book has bespelled paper that only a priest can see. You will see the runes I write but only I can see there meaning once written. It keeps the identity of powerful witch covens in the hands of very few for safety reasons." Owen was just matter of fact in his rendering of the journal. He calmly dipped the quill in the blood that still glowed with magic and wrote the runes in the book. He then dipped the quill into the fake heart and re-wrote the same runes again.

To Elspeth and Levi nothing was happening but to Owen he could hear different tones as he wrote the runes. It was fairly easy to tell a fake from a real heart because the musical tones he heard would clash very badly. Not unlike that of a tone deaf singer. After writing in the journal he would see the families blood ties and hear the symphony of sounds that a coven would make if they sung together. The magic harmonized when it was real.

The runes on the paper would also change, disappear, or turn different colors depending on what Owen was looking for. Today the runes turned Green and displayed the number 2000.

"Well Ill be damned..I thought for sure she would have sent a fake!" Chuckled Owen. "Janet always was power hungry and took short cuts..."

"Wait, does that mean..?"

Owen looked at myself and Levi while stating. "You passed. The weird thing is though it says your heart is two THOUSAND years old. That is the oldest heart in all the World."

"How is that possible?" asked Levi

"Yeah we were taught the ancient hearts were destroyed during the human shifter wars. Are you certain?

Owens eyes darkened threateningly

"Are you implying my work is flawed or I cant read?"

"Oh! No, its just hardly believable that my family could have kept this secret for so long!" both Levi and Elspeth looked at Owen apologetically.

"I see. This kind of power is rare and must people fight to marry into it. So it is important to keep this secret well hidden."

Owen replied blankly.

"What now?" asked Levi

"Well now I transfer this heart to your sister a seal it with her blood so that the wedding ceremony will take place and bond your new husband to the coven as well."

Owen bowed and left Levi with his sister to contemplate what just happened.Neither was sure of what happened but they both took the win.

Levi went back to the limo with the heart ensuring it was safely put away and the fake was put back into the hidden drawer that his sister couldnt see. the magic swap went perfectly and he wasnt about to let his sister find out his suprise yet......