Birth of the Queen

Chapter Eleven: Mia Cara

Prita P.O.V.

I sat on the couch without saying anything. I couldn’t believe Moira would betray me. And I didn’t understand what could possibly have happened. Erion urged, “Come on. We need to go.” I looked at him. He was looking around cautiously as if something could break in through the windows any minute. I didn’t know what to do. If I was smart, it would be super reckless to trust someone as shady as Erion. But, I felt that I could trust him. I asked him, making him look into my eyes, “Please tell me the truth, Erion.” He took my hands into his and tried to assure me, “Trust me, Prita. I’ll tell you everything. But, first, we need to go somewhere safe.” All of a sudden, I became agitated. I shouted, “No! No. I won’t go.” Erion was surprised. I could see that in his eyes. He was about to say something but I didn’t let him. I kept on yelling, “I won’t go anywhere unless you tell me what this is all about.” Suddenly, I could see the room become foggy, or should I say smoky. Erion was looking around, alarmed. He grabbed my arms and shook me, yelling, “Stop. Prita, stop.” I didn’t understand what was going on, but I could definitely feel the heat rise and I was getting angrier by the second. Erion’s voice seemed to be coming from far away, though he was standing in front of me. I could hear him shout, “Prita, stop. Please, stop.” But, I didn’t. In fact, I couldn’t. I felt like my surrounding was on fire. Erion’s voice was fading. I was about to pass out, then suddenly, I felt arms around me. My head was resting on someone’s chest. Everything was cooling down, slowly. I closed my eyes. I didn’t know who was holding me, but I didn’t care because I felt good. When I finally regained my strength to open my eyes, I saw myself clutching Erion’s clothes tightly. He had a very different look in his eyes. It almost looked like worry. He was worried. He asked me, slowly, “Are you alright, mia cara?” I just nodded. I didn’t want him to let go of me. I wanted him to embrace me like this. And, he kept on holding me. I was glad that he understood without me saying anything. I didn’t realize how long we had been standing there like this. Finally, Erion asked, “Should we go now, amore?” I didn’t have the energy to fight anymore. So, I nodded like an obedient child. He grabbed my hand and he was about to leave. But I asked him, “Should we walk for a while?” He smiled, “I was gonna say that. Walking always helps you to get refreshed. Doesn’t it?” Although I was astonished, I couldn’t help but smile. He was something. He looked at me with his deep set eyes, clutching my hand. Damn, those eyes. Okay, snap out of it; I slapped myself mentally. He c****d an eyebrow and smirked, “If you’re done admiring, then can we go for a walk?” I averted my gaze, blushing. We got out of the house. I locked the gate and then I saw Erion move his hands in a pattern and I could feel an invisible wave wash over the house. We started walking, holding hands.

“So, you can do magic. Right?” I asked. He laughed, saying, “What?” I felt a bit flushed but I had to ask, “I know you can do it. I’ve seen you.” He said, trying to control his laughter, “No. Magic is a very petty word for this, mia cara.” I asked him, frowning, “What is this mia cara?” He chuckled, “Oh! I’ve lived in Italy for a few years. So, I’ve become a bit Italian, I guess.” He stopped and looked into my eyes, saying, “It means my beauty, as in darling.” I looked down and said, “Oh!” We walked in silence for a while. Very few people were on the street. I thought it would be a good place to ask. “So, where are we going?” I asked, trying to remain as calm as possible. He looked excited when he asked, “So, are you ready to go to my place?” I was taken aback. Was it really his plan all along? I hesitated. He noticed it. He took my hands in his and said, “Trust me, Prita. That’s the safest place on earth for you now. And we’ll be in a better position to find your parents if you let me train you.” I wanted to trust him, though logically, I shouldn’t. I sighed, “Do I really have a choice in that?” He frowned, “Prita, you don’t get it. Do you? I can only request you to go. I can’t make you do it. Not only me, but anyone else, for that matter, can force you to do anything. But, if you don’t listen to me, you’ll be in danger. So, please, let me take you to my place.” It would be a lie if I said I understood everything he said, but I decided to let it go for a while. So, I agreed. He grabbed my hand and asked, looking at me, “Are you ready? Whatever happens don’t let go of my hand.” I didn’t quite understand what he meant, so I simply nodded. Then, all of a sudden, I could feel wind rushing past me and everything around me seemed to be blur. It took me a minute to understand what was going on. We were running. Well, running would be an understatement. We were rushing faster than the wind. I looked at Erion, scared. He looked at me and assured me with his eyes. His voice sounded hushed when his said, “Just hold on. You love speed, right?” It was true. I had always been obsessed with speed. But, I never imagined these kind of speed could actually exist. With passing seconds, I became more comfortable. I always wanted to run like that. I thought myself as Flash or Quicksilver. I was happy, genuinely happy. I looked at Erion. I smiled at him. He looked happy too. After a while, he stopped. Then, I realized that running like the Flash wasn’t always pleasant. I felt like my stomach is whirling violently. I was gonna puke my heart out. Erion held onto me tightly and made me face him and said, calmly, “It’s okay, mia cara. Take deep breaths slowly.” I closed my eyes and listened to his words. After a while, I felt fine and I had the time to look at my surroundings. We were in front of a cabin. The area looked like a valley. A green, lush valley. I was looking around, still standing in Erion’s embrace. He chuckled, “Well, we can enjoy that later. But, you should get some rest. Are you able to walk?” I nodded and started towards the cabin. I didn’t realize how badly my head was spinning until I tried to take the first step. Erion caught me on time. He rolled his eyes and said, “Don’t try. Let me carry you.” I was about to say no but he lifted me up bridal style. I shouted, “Hey.” But, he acted like he didn’t hear me. he carried me inside. The cabin was fairly neat compared to its external appearance. It had a few rooms, but it was well-decorated. He put me on the bed inside a bedroom and adjusted the pillow behind my back. He said, “Stay put. I’ll bring something to drink.” He left. Then, it hit me. Why did he take me to his bedroom? What did he exactly want? But before I could rush out to ask him myself, he came back with what looked like a juice. Oh! Just what I needed. I was about to take a sip but I didn’t. I asked, with chin up and frowning, “Why am I here?” He was doing something with the bedside lamp. He looked at me and said, “I told you this is the safest place.” I frowned deeper, “No. That’s not what I mean. Why did you bring me to your bedroom?” He looked at me with a gape for a long time and scoffed, “What? Do you think I brought you here to have s*x?” I was totally flushed. I was about to say, “Well..th..that’s..”, but he got up and sat on the bed near me. he said with a smirk, “Well, mia cara, if you want that we can do it too.” He drew closer to my face, our faces a few inches apart; he smirked, “Why? Do you want it now?” I pushed his shoulder and said, “No. No. That’s not what I meant.” He smirked, asking seductively, “Then, what did you mean, mia cara?” I regained my composure and blurted out, “No. N..No. Never.” I licked my lips nervously, totally unaware of what I did. He saw that and his smirk disappeared. His eyes changed too. He said, in a very serious voice, “Don’t do that.” I was surprised, “What?” He brought his face closer to mine again and asked, “Are you trying to provoke me, mia cara?” This time, I frowned and asked, “What did I do?” He didn’t answer. He came even closer. I understood what he was about to do. I said feebly, “D..don’t…” He was now dangerously close to my face. I could feel his breath on my face. He smelled of mint and coconut. I couldn’t look away. He was properly beautiful up close. He tilted his head a little. I thought, ‘Oh my God! It’s gonna happen.’ It would be smart of me to stop him, but I simply couldn’t. so, I waited, holding my breath. Then, suddenly, he drew back and smirked, “Did you think something like this would happen?” I was blinking, clearly astonished. He smirked and said, while leaving the room, “Sorry, mia cara. You’re too naïve for my taste. Now, drink up and take rest.” I was left wondering what the heck just happened. Gosh, he was a jerk. A notorious flirt. I always stayed away from this type of guys. I gulped the juice down in one go. I felt like I would strangle him any minute. Lying down, I thought about our closeness and the change in his eyes, before sleep took me.

I woke up feeling fresh. I walked out of the bedroom and saw Erion in the kitchen which was just across the living room. He was cooking. He must have heard me coming, “Oh! You’re awake? Good. I need some help.” I asked him, “What is it?” He pointed towards the refrigerator and said, “Get me some cheese.” I obeyed. Handing him over the cheese, I asked, “So, now, can we talk?” He looked at me smirking, “What? You wanna talk about s*x inside the kitchen?” I rolled my eyes and shook my head, “You’re impossible. Aren’t you?” He looked at me, glaring, “I think I told you not to roll your eyes at me.” I rolled my eyes again, “Oh! Please. You told me you can’t make me do anything. Remember?” His face broke into a smile. I was laughing too. Then, he turned back and continued cooking. I asked again, “Now, Erion, don’t you think we should really have a talk about what’s going on?” He didn’t look at me, only said in a serious tone, “After dinner.” It sounded more like an order than a statement. I shut my mouth. I knew this was serious. So, I didn’t want to spoil his mood. We ate dinner silently. He was indeed a good cook. After dinner, I sat in the living room and he said, “I guess you don’t know anything.” I shook my head. He sat beside me and made me look at me and said, “We are not normal human, you got that part by now, right?” I nodded. He continued, “We came into this world before humans. We were given different duties to look after the world. Commonly, we are called keepers. We keep balance of different fundamental elements of Nature. Apart from the keepers, there are Azkas, Oroks and Lazats and many more. Keepers were the most powerful and had the most responsibilities. We have existed for millions of years. But one day, some keepers started to defile the system and break rules. Our leaders, who were the most powerful amongst us punished them and they were ripped of their powers. They were made to forget. They started living away from our territories. They couldn’t see us anymore and even if they saw our power, they explained it in their own way. Years passed and these keepers, stripped of their powers, gave rise to humans. Humans are just diminished form of us. So, humans increased in number and we didn’t. We kept our distance from them, trying to heal the nature. Azkas were our followers. They didn’t have intelligence. Oroks are bigger in size, so they were used to raise mountains whenever needed. Lazats , Silvans and other such creatures helped us perform our job. These creatures were sometimes born from keepers. So, we never created a demarcation. The keepers had divisions according to their abilities. This process is same till today. The ‘Bhana’ is the group of keepers who balance Air, like Tristan. He’s a Bhana. But he’s also an Ignian. ‘Ignium’ is the keepers of fire. The ‘Terren’ and ‘Ilma’ are the keepers of Earth and Water. Some keepers have combination of powers and duties. I was born as an Ilma and Bhana. But you should know, mia cara, there are deeper arts than the elemental arts in this world. Our ancestors had tried to dig out this art for centuries. That’s how they found out ‘The Heathen scrolls’ and there, you come.” He stopped. I had been listening to him silently, till now. I asked, “How? But, I don’t know anything. I’m just a human.” He laughed, “No. No. it’s true that you don’t know anything. But, you’re far from human, mia cara.” I was sure I would have been offended if this was some other situation, but I knew he meant something different. I asked, slowly, “So, you’re telling me I’m one of the keepers and the other creatures?” He said, holding my hand, “No. You’re not just a mere keeper, mia cara. You’re the Eterna.” I didn’t know what he exactly meant. So, I watched him silently. He continued, “The heathen scrolls our ancestors found had several prophecies. It had many future events written. One of them was the event of your birth. And some keepers were assigned to be your seeker and protector.” I felt like I was having a crazy dream. I couldn’t believe my ears but I knew he was telling the truth. I asked, clearing my throat, “What is so different about Eterna?” He sighed, “Well, you’re capable of changing the elements. So, you have control over all the elements. And you also are supposed to be aware of the deep arts.” I was looking at him, eyes wide and mouth open. He continued, “That’s why you’re always in danger. There are ancestral keepers who have gone dark beyond repair in this world who wish to harm you. They want to extract the deep art from you.” I asked, now curious, “How?” He looked down, saying, “By killing you.” I didn’t know what to say. Erion looked at me and traced my cheek with his fingers and said, “I won’t let that happen.”