Sapphire stone
1277 Words
It was just another day in the Slouteron Dynasty and I was pouring myself some of Astrid’s magical herbal tea when I saw Lucius coming back from the palace. I was not sure if he really went to the palace or the forest.
“Would you like to have some tea?”
“Sure.”
We started sipping tea in comfortable silence, I looked at him, it was always hard to read his face but his eyes were the mirror of the soul. There was a comfort around him yet I could not let myself trust him.
“So, you went to the palace?”
He hummed in response.
“How was the work?”
“It was a usual day, nothing special happened,” he shrugged.
A took a big sip of tea, “What work do you do?”
He slightly raised his bushy eyebrow at this, “Why are you asking all these questions out of the blue?”
“We have been living here for over a month now and yet I don’t know much about you guys, I am just trying to get to know you better.”
“I work for the royals. I think it is best if you focus more on keeping your identity hidden rather than focusing on my work.”
He put the cup on the table with a little too much force than intended and stormed out of the room.
I stood up and went to see Lily.
She was arranging her clothes, she gave a wide smile after seeing me standing at the door.
A smile that could have fooled others, “Are you okay?”
“Yup, fine as a fiddle.”
I folded my arms and gave her a ‘look’.
She put the clothes on the bed and sat next to them, “I miss my family home, I dunno how mum and dad are dealing with all of this. I usually pretend everything is sunny and bright but I have seen the look on Astrid’s face whenever I ask her about the pendant,” she replied, biting her nails.
“It is okay to be worried Lil, they are your family. You don’t always have to be the brave optimist, who takes care of everyone and cheers everyone up,” I said, giving her a side hug, “oh, and Lucius told me Astrid has some news for us, she will tell us about it today.”
“When did you talk to him?”
“Last night, I was not sleepy and he was also in the garden.”
She pursed her lips, “Did you ask him about the forest?”
“I couldn’t ask him directly. I asked him about his work and he said, I should focus more on keeping our identity a secret rather than focusing on his work.”
She rolled her eyes, “That was rude and he avoided the question, my experience of watching the crime shows tell me he is hiding something,” she said, running her fingers through the invisible beard.
I laughed.
“I have to tell you something.”
She sat up straight, “Okayy?”
“Valeriaknowseverythingaboutus,” I said in one breath.
“Huh?”
I took a deep breath, “Valeria knows everything about us.”
Her eyes became huge to a size I could not believe was possible, “WHAT?”
“Shh... someone will hear you...keep your voice down.”
"How did it happen? How can you let it happen? Do you have any idea what they will do to us? This place is supposed to be a secret and they will not think twice before eliminating a threat to their home. In simple words they will slit our throats,” she yelled at me while whispering.
"I didn't tell her anything, she figured it all out. Something about our different auras but she will not tell anyone about us,” I tried to reassure her.
"How can you be so sure?" Lily asked as she ran fingers through her hair.
"Lily calm down. She knew it even before she confronted me and if she wanted to tell anyone she would have done it a long time ago. She is a powerful witch and she will help us,” I said to calm her down.
“How will she help us, huh? Astrid has not figured out anything yet and she had been working her socks off on that stupid stone ever since we came here.”
“Try to think about it, Valeria is a powerful witch, and she is also helping us now. It means the odds are now in our favor,” Lily started thinking about something.
“Astrid and Lucius can’t find out about this, she does not like her very much. Lucius will not let you see her anymore. ”
“They won’t,” I grinned, “Valeria told me witches of this place only can activate that rare stone.”
“That’s f*****g nuts, why would a witch just gave me a rare stone on a discount?”
“Even if my blood worked as a key then who was the witch? The old lady who gave it to you?” I asked, even though I knew she did not have any answer either.
“Do you really think Valeria can help us?” she asked reluctantly.
“I am sure,” I trusted her, “what if someone from the party is behind this? I mean think about it, the light appeared in the party.”
“I hope not, otherwise we have a long list of suspects.”
Lily and I sat there silently thinking about the day when it happened. She picked up her clothes from the bed and put them back into the closet.
A bright flash of red light appeared outside the window.
“Astrid is back, let’s go and ask her about the pendant.”
When we reached the living room, Astrid and Lucius were standing there. Astrid had a frown on her face whereas Lucius was standing there with a blank face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as we approached them.
Lucius gave Astrid a nod, she held the pendant in front of us.
The stone in the pendant was no longer sapphire blue but baby blue.
“From your faces, I don’t think it’s a good sign,” Lily said as she observed the pendant closely while maintaining her safe distance from it.
“The pendant is losing its magic, soon it will be of no use.”
An uncomfortable silence engulfed the surroundings. Everyone had a sour expression on their faces except for Lucius.
“Isn’t there anything that you can do?” I broke the silence. I wanted to ask Valeria for help but I knew they would never let her help us.
“Lucius and I are leaving tomorrow to see a friend, he can help us.”
“We will find a way to send you home,” Lucius tried to cheer us up, but it was of no use.
Lily and I went back to our rooms, I knew she was sad about it as well, but I had no words to comfort her. No matter what I said the truth was in front of our eyes.
But I knew what I had to do, I could not sit back and see the pendant become useless.
- Writer
