Their Promised Queen

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

            “Can you explain to me why this Chara lady is coming after me?” I asked after we had been traveling for a few hours. “I don’t really understand what her issue is. No one has ever told me and I kind of feel like I should know.”

            “It’s real complicated. She is real complicated.” Zeke tells me, shaking his head. “She’s your dads older sister.”

            “What? But you said she killed them!” I gasped.

            “Yea, she did. She has done a lot of bad things. So your mother was the princess of Seloria, your father was the prince of Ventir. Both of our lands agreed to a wedding that would join the realm together instead of keeping them apart. For many, many generations there have always been two types of fae. Those from Ventir and those from Seloria. The dark and the light.” I started to butt in but Zeke held up his hand. Patience. “Your father and grandmother were different. A few of those from Ventir are not the same as the rest of the fae there. Your father and his mother were beautiful and kind fairies, but your aunt and grandfather were like the others. The alliance we came to was to keep the fae from continuously fighting each other. A few days before your parents wedding, your grandfather was killed. No one knew who did it, but your aunt tried blaming our fae for his death. Your father refused to hear it and your grandmother was now in charge of Ventir. So, this meant that the wedding was still going to happen and your father chose not to have it in his lands, but instead in ours. That only angered his people more. To separate themselves from our people, the fae of Ventir ripped their wings off. For a while, things were well. Your grandmother ruled Ventir and your parents ruled Seloria. The alliance was working. But as soon as your aunt found out that your parents were pregnant with you, she changed, drastically. Your grandmother was killed by her own people and the wars started back up again.”

            “Wow…I can’t even…wow.” I am flabbergasted. I can’t believe it. “But…that still doesn’t explain what she wants with me.”

            “There was a prophecy a few generations ago about a child born of two lands being one of the most powerful fairies. One who would have powers not been seen before.”

            “And that is supposed to be me?” I ask him, stomach churning.

            “It is you. That’s why you and the stars lit up after you were born. It is also why Chara wants you. She wants you to use your power to control the whole fairy realm. Right now, you are the one in charge of the whole realm, not her. She doesn’t like that. She felt that since she was the oldest, your father wasn’t supposed to have the right to rule the whole realm. That it was her birth right and your father stole it. Her lackeys must be some of those who are loyal to her.”

            “So does she want to kill me or use me?” I asked, afraid of either answer. 

            “We do not know.” He shrugged. 

We were almost at the castle but I felt like I had more and more questions with every piece of the puzzle unlocked. We walked the rest of the way in silence. When we had gotten close enough to see some of the guards around the castle, Zeke yelled to let them know who it was. The gate was opened and my aunt came rushing out. 

“Oh Elora! I am so glad you are safe! I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you.” She said as she embraced me, tightly. 

“Hey aunt Claire! I’m happy to see you too! I missed you!” as I embraced her back. “How has everything been here?”

“Quiet. Everything has been suspiciously quiet. No attacks, no word, nothing.” She says. Finally, she looks around us. Then looks at Zeke. “Salzavere, where is everyone else? Where is Jyr and Ruby and the others?”

Zeke and I look at each other, then I look back at my aunt. “They were taken. An attack in the field right outside the woods.”

“Chara…” she mumbles. “Let’s get inside. We can talk in there.”

“Aunt Claire, I have to get to Jyr’s room. We need to go there first.” Claire nodded and walked us inside. 

Once we were inside and in Jyr’s room, we found what we were looking for. I found several books that talked about my parents historical wedding and the alliance that went with it, I found books on people like me and those with more than one fated pull, I found books on fairies like Ruby, and a few fighting books, magical and actual fighting. Zeke found the red book and was flipping through the pages to find page 273. 

I looked over at him as he sat down, a look of disbelief on his face. He shut the book and put it on the table behind him.

“What’s wrong Zeke? What was on page 273?” I ask him.

“The reason those fairies look like fairies but don’t seem like fairies.” He looked at me, tears in his eyes. “They’re killing other magical beings and using their powers to make themselves…different, better. They’re trying to destroy all the realms. Not just ours.”

“We have to stop her. We can’t let her do this! Jyr said you and my aunt have to help me work with my powers and teach me how to fight. So, lets get started.”

After helping me take the books to my room, Zeke and I went downstairs to the training room. After we warmed up a little, my aunt joined us. 

“You have to be aware of who you are and what you plan to do. You have to make sure your emotions are in the right place and that you don’t only use your emotions to fight. If you only use your emotions to fight, you’ll be a danger to yourself and everyone else. But, if you use logic and strategy in addition to your emotions, you’ll be powerful. Your emotions fuel your powers, but you can’t let them drive your powers.” My aunt said standing in front of me. 

All of a sudden, the room went dark. All of the windows were covered in a black inky cloud and my eyes couldn’t focus on anything. My aunt who was just standing in front of me, was no longer there and the darkness was so thick that I couldn’t even see my hands in front of my face. 

“Be the light. Elora, your first power showed when you were born. Use it.” Zeke spoke out, somewhere to my left.

“Be the light? How am I supposed to do that?” I whispered to myself. I closed my eyes, focusing on brightness and light. Nothing seemed different, so I tried focusing some more. Frustrated, I yelled “It isn’t working!” 

“Just keep focusing. You can’t give up. Think of Ruby. She needs you to do this. She needs you to focus and push through this.” Zeke said softly.

I focused more on Ruby and then added in the feeling of brightness and light. My body started to have this tingling feeling leading up from my toes. When I opened my eyes, my hands were glowing. That same green blue glow from before I found out about this life. It was absolutely beautiful. The more I focused on my hands, the more the light became concentrated there. Next thing I know, a little ball of light lifted out of my hands and sat right above it, floating. I yelled excitedly “I DID IT! That is so cool!” The darkness left the room and so did my little light. 

“There is so much more you have to learn. I heard your elemental powers are already starting to show?” my aunt asked me and I nodded. “Great. That one I can deal with. Your mother, my sister, also had that power.”

For a while, they help me work on my air and fire control. Then we start working on water and earth. Getting earth going was easy, it’s under and around us. But, water was difficult. My aunt brought me a bowl of water and a few sticks. She made me start a small fire with the sticks and try to put it out by moving the water over from the bowl to the sticks. 

“Can I take a break now?! We’ve been going at this for hours and I just need a break. Please.” I look at my aunt and then at Zeke. “Can we eat? Dinner maybe?”

“That is fine. We will go grab some food from the kitchens and then come back here for more training.” Zeke grabs my hand and walks me out of the training room. 

            We ate dinner and then spent a few more hours working on the water technique. What’s even worse is that water hasn’t come to me like air, fire, and earth did. Maybe water doesn’t like me…laying in bed I drifted off to sleep thinking about the elements and Ruby. 

            “Ruby…” I think really hard about her. I didn’t see her at all when I was with Jyr. Where could she have been? I wish I could see her, make sure she was okay. She would be moving heaven and earth to find me. I twisted over in bed and closed my eyes. But as I landed back on the bed, my stomach did a flip and I kept falling. With a thump, I landed hard on the ground. I didn’t realize my bed was that tall. Damn. But this didn’t smell like my room. It smelt like dirt, smoke, and…dirty men?

            Opening my eyes, I realized that I was not in the castle or anywhere I would actually want to be. I was back with the people who kidnapped me. How did this happen? Have I been dreaming this whole time? No…can’t be. Standing up, I looked around and there was a tent behind me. It had no light, and everyone avoided it. Maybe that is where I need to be. Looking around, I made sure no one could see me and walked into the tent. It was pretty dark but I knew at this point I could make light, all I had to do was focus and not be seen. I closed my eyes and focused on light, just enough for my eyes to adjust to. 

            I felt the tingle in my fingertips and opened my eyes, knowing there would be just enough light. Gasping, I couldn’t believe the sight in front of me.

            “Ruby!” Falling down to her I looked around her. She was tied up in multiple places and blood was all over the ground. She looked awful and pale. They must be torturing her! “Oh Ruby…” tears spilling out over my eyelids. Ruby’s eyes flutter a little.

            “El? Am I dead?” She asks with a smile on her face. “Please tell me you’re not really here….they will hurt you if you are.”

            “I don’t know. This feels different than my projections…” I tell her, moving the hair from her face. I unwrap her hands, feet and wings. As I do, she falls into me, groaning from the pain of the movement. “Damn, I can’t imagine how much pain you are in. What can I do to help?”

            “You can kiss me.” She told me, smiling even more.

            “What?” I ask, suddenly nervous of my best friend. “A kiss? How would that help?”

            As soon as that last question left my mouth, Ruby pulled on my shirt, bringing my head down to hers and pushed her lips against mine. The fireworks that shot through us were just as powerful as the ones with Zeke. The passion behind her kiss was just as strong. Just as quickly as the kiss started, it ended. My lips felt empty, my heart felt deflated.

            “El, you mean the world to me. I love you more than the world itself. I will forever be yours and I hope that you will forever be mine. I know you also have Zeke, but some have more than one. I know you are probably confused…but I’m-“ I broke her little talk off.

            “You’re one of my soul mates. Fated one. You’re mine, just like Zeke is. And I am both of yours,” I said, smiling.

            “He told you?” she asked me and I nodded. “I’m surprised.”

            I moved a little and she winced in pain. “How do I actually help you?”

            “You can’t really do much if you’re at the castle. Just train, fight, and become more powerful. That’s how you do it. That’s how you save all of us. Within another day or two we will be in Ventir with Chara. Just do what you can.” She looked so tired and worn out. I wish I could take her back to the castle. Help her heal and get better. This is all my fault. I leaned down and cried in her shoulder. 

            “This is all my fault. Had I not run away we would have to worry about you all being here in my place. They wouldn’t have attacked you all.” Still crying in her shoulder, I feel that same drop in my stomach that I felt coming to Ruby. “No! I’m not ready to go!” 

            Then it stopped. And I was still holding on to Ruby. But it didn’t smell like dirt, or smoke, or dirty men. It smelt like beautiful flowers and running water. Ruby tried to move around, so I looked up and realized….we were back at the castle. What the hell just happened? What did I just do? 

            “El...i think you can beam.” Ruby said looking around. “El, you just saved me.” Looking around, I realized we were in the courtyard in the middle of the night. 

            “Zeke!!!!!!” I yelled. “Zeke! HELP!” With that a few guards came running and eventually, so did Zeke. 

            “What the…?” he said as he saw Ruby. “How did…? Where…?” 

            “She beamed Zeke…she beamed….” Ruby said again, looking up at me. She placed her hand on my face and before passing out she said “El, I love you.”

            “I love you too Ruby…” I leaned down and kissed her forehead. I looked up at Zeke. “Can you help me get her to the infirmary?”

            He simply nodded and picked Ruby up. I followed him, taking Ruby down the corridor, to the infirmary. I wonder if I can do that again…

            I thought of Jyr and the help he could give us. I thought of the words he helped me with and the things he knows. I felt the fall in my stomach again just as I heard Zeke yell “Elora! NO!”