Saving Summer

Chapter Nine: The Summoning Shell's Call

Queen Yesenia knew something was wrong when she woke up the next morning. King Agostino was already awake and out of bed. She had no idea where he had gone off to but it was rare for him to leave the bed before she did. Usually, she was the one who had to wake him up. The fact that he was not still in bed did not sit well with Queen Yesenia. Something was definitely not right. She could feel it in her core. 

Getting up from the bed, Queen Yesenia crossed the room and stood in front of the wardrobe. Yanking open the wardrobe, she grabbed a dress made of sapphire silk and threw it on. Once she was dressed, Queen Yesenia left her bedroom to search for her husband’s whereabouts. As she descended the stairs to the next floor, Queen Yesenia spotted her husband. King Agostino was speaking to a bald headed man dressed in the uniform of the Night Watch. She could not see Agostino’s face as he had his back to her but judging by his tone, he sounded upset and worried. The bald man’s face was screwed up in fear as he looked at the king.

“I am so sorry, Your Majesty. I have no idea how this happened. Montgomery was supposed to be watching over the chalice last night!” he explained frantically.

“Did anyone see anything suspicious, Reginald?” King Agostino asked. He was trying to stay calm but Queen Yesenia knew that King Agostino was trying to save face. 

“No one was wandering around the palace last night except for the guards of the Night Watch,” Reginald replied. “Nobody reported seeing anything out of the ordinary.”

“Search every room in the palace,” King Agostino ordered. “Leave no stone unturned. We need to find the chalice as soon as possible. The people will panic if they know that the chalice is gone so we must act quickly to recover it. Tell only the guards what is going on.”

Reginald nodded, “Yes, Your Majesty. I will get on it right away.”

Reginald dashed away in the opposite direction to alert the other guards. Queen Yesenia waited for him to disappear before she approached King Agostino. As he turned to face her, Queen Yesenia saw the forlorn look on his face. She reached up and touched the side of his face with her hand. King Agostino gave her a half-hearted smile before brushing her hand away.

“There will be time for that later. Right now, I want to get to the bottom of this,” he muttered.

Queen Yesenia tried to hide the hurt in her eyes but Agostino must have noticed it anyway. He wrapped his arms around Yesenia’s waist and drew her closer to him. She buried her head in his chest and inhaled his scent. Agostino always smelled like citrus and cedar and Yesenia loved it. She felt that it was fitting for a man like him. When she raised her head to gaze into his eyes, Yesenia saw that Agostino was already looking at her. 

“I am sorry. I did not mean to upset you, my love,” he whispered. “I am worried, that is all. No one has ever been able to steal the golden chalice before.”

“It is frightening to think that someone was able to take it,” agreed Yesenia. “I do hope that we find it.”

“Me too,” Agostino replied. “I do not wish to think about what will happen if the chalice is not returned to the palace.”

The two heard footsteps coming from the stairs. Reginald was back and he was wearing a very somber expression on his face. King Agostino met Reginald at the foot of the stairs.

“What did you find out?”

“The chalice is not in the palace,” Reginald told the king. “We searched every room and it was not in any of them. And,” Reginald hesitated before continuing, “there is something else that you should know as well.”

“Yes?” King Agostino asked, inviting Reginald to carry on.

“The witch who won the contest yesterday is missing.”

King Agostino shared a look with his wife before returning his attention to Reginald.

“Was there any sign of a struggle?”

Reginald shook his head, “No, the room was neat and tidy. In fact, none of the witch’s belongings were in there at all.”

King Agostino’s face paled for a moment before he recovered, “It pains me to say this but we have to entertain the possibility that she took the chalice and disappeared. For what reason I do not know, but we will most likely discover that when we capture her.”

“Then I will send a search party after her,” Reginald cried. “I will lead the search and catch that witch in no time!”

“A search party is too much. We do not want to draw attention to the fact that the golden chalice is missing. We will send Sir Domnahl in search of the witch. If anyone can find her, it would be him.”

“Understood, Your Majesty. I shall inform Sir Domnahl and have him set off at once!”

Bowing deeply, Reginald turned on his heel and marched away. King Agostino felt his spirits lift slightly. He knew that Sir Domnahl had not failed in a mission yet. He was a man of honor who completed every task that he faced, no matter how dangerous. Still, he felt a bit uneasy about him going up against a witch. Would brute strength be enough? King Agostino was unsure.

Queen Yesenia seemed to read his mind. She leaned in close and whispered into his ear, “You know, you could use the Summoning Shell. Even Sir Domnahl will need all of the help that he can get with capturing that witch.”

King Agostino’s hand went into the pocket of his teal robes. He stopped when it touched the Summoning Shell. Every king in the Summer Kingdom was gifted a Summoning Shell on their coronation day. The shell only purpose was to summon a being of immense power in a time of aid by blowing into it. Once it was used, the shell crumbled to dust. Most kings never used theirs and passed them down through the generations once they passed. This Summoning Shell had belonged to Agostino’s great grandfather King Vincent. It was made of rainbow glass woven by a master glass maker over a hundred years ago. 

He took the shell out of his pocket and held it in his hand. Queen Yesenia watched him silently.

“Let us pray to the Gods that this works,” Agostino said.

He pressed the opening of the shell to his lips. As he blew into it, a low rumble emitted from the shell. King Agostino kept blowing until he was out of breath. The moment that he stopped, the shell crumbled into a pile of dust at his feet. He exchanged a look with his wife. All they could do now was wait.