Their Promised Queen

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

            “She really was just here Zeke! I could feel her in the room with me,” Ruby exclaimed. When she told Zeke what had happened, he just shrugged it off. He was tired and was on his way to lay down before they had to leave to meet with his men when Ruby interrupted him. 

            “Ruby, she couldn’t have been. She’s not here. How would she have been able to be here?” He asked.

            “Maybe it’s like her other power!” Ruby told him. “You said she used to be able to teleport for a few minutes at a time back and forth those last few weeks before her birthday. Maybe she’s able to do something similar now that she’s back in the realm?” 

            Zeke rubbed his face before sitting down at the edge of the bed. “It’s possible. We don’t know the extent of her powers. They’ve been locked away for so long to keep her safe that no one was able to help her the same way they did for us.”

            “Is there a way to heighten those powers when we’re away from her? Like a way to communicate with her?” Ruby asks excitedly.

            “Again, possibly. But, it’s a long shot. I will get with Jyr and see what he thinks.” With that, Zeke walks away once more. 

            Ruby is very aware of how her body feels right now. It’s worn down and tired. The last few days have been stressful and being this far away from Elora for this length of time is taking a toll on Ruby. She didn’t realize how the soul mate pull had been making her stronger until Elora was no longer around. “It makes me wonder how Zeke has done it for so long,” she muses to herself. She decides she’s going to get some rest before her and Zeke are supposed to head out. It’s a few hours but that should be long enough. 

            Ruby takes off her leggings and her tunic so that she is only in her underwear. Human undergarments, she had gotten used to them. Most fairies don’t wear undergarments. For the women, it inhibits their wings. So both men and women chose not to wear them. Ruby pulls the bedcovers from Elora’s bed and crawl in. She had only slept in it once but oh how it smelt like her. Beautiful flower blossoms with a hint of spring rain. “I hate this!” she thought. “I need her back.” Tears started flowing freely from Ruby’s eyes. Those big, fat tears that show every emotion you’re going through. With that, she fell asleep. 

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            “Wake up! Let’s go! You’re going to make us fall behind even more. UP!” Zeke shouts.

            “Jeez! You could have done that nicely!” Ruby yells back at him. “Did you talk to Jyr? What did he say?”

            “There is a way. He said he would fill us in on the way,” he says getting ready to walk out of the room. “Get dressed and meet us downstairs.” He winks and walks away.

            “Ugh, that man!” Ruby flips over and yell into my pillow. It still smells like Elora and the tears threaten to fall again. Let’s get looking for her!

            Once I have gotten dressed, I head downstairs to where Zeke and Jyr are waiting. Jyr is a friendly old man. Not one for many words on a normal basis, but ask him questions about folklore or for help and he will talk your ear off. He is the reason Ruby knows what powers she possess. He knew the fairy who had it before her and he knew how to handle it. At least, that was until Elora was born and Ruby was pulled. According to the lore, nothing like that had ever happened before. Ruby’s powers are supposed to be given to fairies who have no soul mate and who are destined to be alone so that they may protect the realm to their unsurpassed abilities. To have had a pull puts the whole realm in danger. Which was why Ruby was never supposed to be anywhere near Elora. Then Elora’s parents were killed, and she was sent to the human world where her uncle and cousin were killed. Once that happened, they needed Ruby to help protect her. 

            “My powers are that of protection and invisibility. I can protect whole realms with a barrier. Granted those only last a few days. I can create an aura that allows me to hide things, or in Elora’s case, people. I also have the ability to manipulate time on occasion. Hence the reason I am not supposed to get overly emotional. If our realm was to come under attack, I should be able to put a barrier up without any problems or anything in the way. But, I was unable to just a few days ago because of Elora. That’s what got her, and a few others, kidnapped. It’s all my fault, Ruby thinks. 

            “Child, stop blubbering,” Jyr says. How he knows when people are going to cry amazes everyone. It must be a power of his. “You knew what your life was going to be like. We trained you for this. You have to be better at showing your emotions girl. You can love her without putting everyone else in danger.”

            How he knows what to say is also amazing. Ruby nods and walks up to give him a hug. “What do we do now Jyr?” she asks him.

            “Well, we can do a locationing spell to get a general idea of where the Queen is,” He starts to explain. “It requires blood of their pulled one, which luckily, she has two. So, I am hoping that it gives us an even better idea of where she may be hidden. Especially since all three of you are very powerful fairies. But…” He hesitates.

            “But? What?” Zeke and Ruby ask at the same time.

            “But if Chara is really the one holding her captive, I am unsure if the locating spell with help us much. The only benefit we have is if she is yet to arrive in Chara’s grasp. As long as that hasn’t happened yet, we might be able to get to her.” With that, Jyr motions for Ruby and Zeke to follow him.

            They walk to his area behind the throne room. The only thing giving off light are a few lone flames along the walls. His tables are covered in glass jars with luminated liquids. There are a few rows on the walls as well. 

            “How long will this take Jyr?” Zeke asks. “I want to try and get her home quickly.”

            “It shouldn’t take long. We can mix what we need to here and then when we head off in the direction that the Queen went, we should be able to get a better read on her. Give me your hands.” He demanded.

            Ruby and Zeke hold out their hands and immediately Jyr slices small slits in their palms.   The moment their blood starts to well out of the cuts, Jyr starts to recite a poem. Within this poem it talks about finding love without seeing it, finding hope in a desolate world, and seeing each other behind the distractions. He tells them to tilt their palms so that a few droplets land on the necklace laying on the table below. As soon as they do and the droplets touch the necklace, it shines so bright that the whole room is lit up. There is not one place that the light does not touch. 

            “This should help us find the way. As I said before, once we arrive on the path that was taken, I can recite another poem and it will help lead us to her from there. Now, Ruby. Zeke told me that you felt the Queen in her chambers earlier tonight? Is that true?” Jyr asks.

            “Yes. I could have sworn that I felt her presence in the room. I just couldn’t touch her, see her, or hear her.” Ruby looked down thinking that he must think she is crazy. But to her surprise, it was the opposite.

            “If she comes into contact with you again, strengthen that connection. Think of her and only her. That is your pull connecting you two through your powers,” he smiled.

            “What about me? Will it happen to me?” Zeke asks. 

            “It may and it may not. The connection between the Queen and Ruby is an unbreakable bond and one that is being tapped into by their powers and their soul mate pull. You and the Queen have a soul mate pull as well, so you may be able to connect, but not in the same way that Ruby can with her.” Explaining this only made Zeke’s head spin. How is this fair to him? He spent hundreds of years waiting for Elora to return. Patiently waiting for the love of his life to return to him and to finally have a life with her. Yet, he still has to share her with Ruby and to add insult to injury, she can connect with Elora better than he can. 

            “Fine. Let’s go,” he picks up the necklace and huffs angrily away. 

            “Thank you Jyr,” Ruby says as she walks out as well.

            “The life those three will live…” Jyr smiles.

            __________________________________________________

            Once they have left the castle on their horses, they follow the path that one of the guardsmen saw the kidnappers take. It leads to the west, towards Ventir. The smell of burnt trees already starting to come back into Zeke’s memory. He had scared Chara off a few hundred years ago. Back when she was trying to get information on where Elora was. The servicemen fought back against her powers, but her men were nothing like the men that came and took Elora away.

            After traveling for several hours, they reach the edge of the wooded area to the west, Jyr took the necklace out and recited a new poem. During the poem, the necklace started getting brighter and brighter, until it started pulsating slowly. Jyr lifted it a few different ways, but it did not get faster. Jyr made a pass on an old pathway that rested a little farther south than the rescue party had originally thought. 

            “This way. Skyr, please go ahead first and take a small look-out party with you. We will follow behind shortly. Come back and let us know if there are any issues.” Zeke tells a man to his left. The guy nods, takes two guys with him and walks into the forest. “Jyr, do you want to head back to the castle? Or continue on with us?”

            “I will continue on with you. I feel there are other duties I may yet be needed for. But, I will hang behind if that is alright with you,” he says as he leans moves back, away from the forest. “Although, I may need a little rest before we continue. Reciting those poems take some energy from me and it makes it difficult to do much of anything.” 

            “Yes, I think a short rest before we head into the woods would be a smart idea. We have been riding for hours. Lets camp here for the night. We can head back out in the morning.” Zeke tells the group. He starts to set up his tent when he realizes that Ruby hasn’t said much of anything the whole ride there. He walks over to where she is trying to set up her tent. “Hey, why don’t you stay with me tonight. It’s difficult enough that our soul mate is kidnapped, but to try to find her and being on the emotional path we are on right now, I think that would be best.” When he sees her quizzical look he quickly tries to come up with a better explanation. “I was also thinking that it might be a good idea, just in case Elora tries coming to visit.” 

            “Oh…ok.” Ruby says. They set the tent up and bring in their cots, one for Ruby and one for Zeke. They say goodnight to the men and head into the tent to lay down. As Ruby lays down on her cot she asks Zeke “Will El be alright?”

            “I hope so. I can feel that she is fine right now. But beyond that, I don’t know what’s going on,” Zeke admitted.

            “I love her and…I’m scared,” Ruby admits right back.

            “I know. I love her too. For hundreds of years I worried for her and about her. This is different,” Zeke lays down on his cot. “We need to get some rest, or we wont be any good for our men.” 

            “Yeah, you’re right. Goodnight Zeke.”

            “Night Ruby.”

            They both try to fall asleep, but drifting into slumber is a lot harder to do when you have no idea where the love of your life is.