Their Promised Queen

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

            “How are you here?” I asked them, wanting to take a step forward, but unsure. 

            “The necklace,” My father said without any further explanation. 

            “What he means darling, is that the necklace has allowed us to show ourselves to you for the time being.” My mother said, glaring at my farther. He held his hands up, almost like a surrender. 

            “This was your idea.” He laughed. That laugh, so warm and filled with joy. He wasn’t upset, he seemed almost happy to be joking with my mother. Teasing her.

            “How did the necklace show you to me?” I asked, still unsure if this was real or a dream.

            “When you were young, we recognized the power within you. Jyr told us of the promise made so long ago. We understood what that meant for our little family.” My mother’s voice, so quiet and kind. “We knew it was possible we would either lose you or you would lose us. We didn’t want it to be true, but it was the reality we could unfortunately see coming true.”

            She walked towards me, I took a step back, stepping against the wall behind me. The look on my mother’s face made me wish I hadn’t taken that instinctive step backwards. Her raised arms landing back against her body.

            “So umm..about the necklace,” she said, wiping a tear away. My father put his hand on her shoulder. Comforting her. “We chose to take a part of each of our souls, your father and I, so that we could have it enchanted into that necklace. So that when you wore it, you might be able to speak and talk to us.”

            “Does that mean you are really here? Or…” I asked. 

            “In a way we are. In a way we are not.” My father replying this time. Seeing the look on my face, he continued. “Since part of our soul is with you, in that necklace, part of us is here. Our real bodies are dead, but leaving a piece of our soul with you allows us to travel to you in times when you need us. Or whenever you call on us.”

            “So, you are here now because I need you?” I asked them. They nodded. Feeling a little more open. “I can’t be queen….I’m only 18!” 

            “Oh honey….I wish we were able to actually be here for you. We tried everything to keep you safe dear.” My mom, who had started crying right after I did, said. “We wish we could make this easier on you.”

            “Honey, you can do this. You are the bridge between everyone. You are so powerful and strong. We believe in you.” My father told me, taking his hands off my mother’s shoulders and placing them on mine. That only made me cry worse. He pulled my face up so that we were looking at each other. “Look at me darling. You are stronger than you know, and we love you so much. We have loved you from the moment we found out we were pregnant with you.”

            “How am I supposed to get through all of this without you guys?” I asked them, wiping tears away through my father’s arms. 

            “You’ve been doing it so far from what we have seen. Your aunt is raising you well.” My father told me, smiling.

            “And you have Rumaliza and Salzavere by your side.” My mom smiled as well. Her tears finally done flowing. “You have a huge support system around you. You will do so well.”

            “But what about Chara?” I asked them. Looking from my mother to my father.

            “She hates the light. Just push that light forward and she cannot win.” My father told me, as if it was obvious.

            “How do I do that?” I asked them. Trying to figure out how I am able to do such a thing. 

            “Because you are the light my love!” My mom laughed. “You are the light. You are brighter than the stars and your powers are stronger than she is.”

            “I don’t know…I don’t…” I stammered. I slid down the wall behind me so that I was sitting on the ground. Looking up at them I asked, “Can you stay for a little bit?”

            They looked at each other and nodded. “Just for a little bit.” My father said.

            Within moments I was asleep, leaning against my parent’s arms, comfortable and quiet. Even if for just a moment. When I woke up, it was dark out. I must have been asleep for a few hours. My parents weren’t here anymore, and it made me wonder if I dreamt it all. 

            Closing my eyes, I start to imagine being back at the castle. Until I hear a loud thump in the living room downstairs. My eyes fly open. Maybe it is just the realtor. But then why would she be here this late at night?

            “Hello?” A sweet-sounding voice calls up the steps. “I can hear you up there. Why don’t you come down and we can talk about why you are here.”

            Crap.

                                    ______________________________________

            “Where do you think she went?” Zeke asks. 

            “I can really only think of a handful of places.” Claire told them. 

            “I think there is only one.” Ruby mentioned after several minutes of silence. They looked at her, waiting for her to tell them her thoughts. She shrugged. “The house. It has been her comfort for so long. I can only imagine that being the place she would go to.” 

            “I guess that makes sense.” Claire nodded. “We should go, make sure she is ok.”

            “Zeke and I can go. No reason to worry everyone.” Ruby told her. “Chara can’t be too far away, and we need to be ready.”

            “Okay…yeah. That’s fine. Go get her and bring her back.” Claire said walking away. She stopped before the door and turned around, “I have a feeling Chara has people in the human world still and now that were not at the house anymore…and you aren’t there to protect her…they’ll have found her by now. Call to me if you need me.” And she was out of the room.

            “Let’s go.” Zeke told her. “Set up your portal and try to get as close to her house as possible.”

            The purple light that Ruby was known for started to shine right in front of her. The little circle of purple started to grow from a penny sized hole to a doorway for them to pass through. As they started to step through, they heard shouting and fighting in the hallways. What was going on? Unfortunately, they had already stepped through into the portal and from there the portal takes over. Swinging them into the human world with such force. They had been distracted at the castle so when they landed into the human realm, they were thrown off and landed on the ground together in a thud. 

            “Owe…” exclaimed Ruby, rubbing her head where Zeke’s knee had hit when they fell.

            “Are you ok?” He asked, quickly standing up and offering her a hand.

            “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little sore.” Ruby said, taking Zeke’s hand and standing up.

            The house was right in front of them, but something didn’t seem right. There were noises coming from inside. They start to run up the walkway and up the steps. As soon as Ruby was getting ready to slam the door open, something crashed through the window to her right. She looked back and it was Elora, all bruised and bloody. They turned around and ran back to her. Ruby fell down next to her, not sure what to do.

            “El…El are you okay?” she asked.

            “Umm…Ruby. We need to go.” Zeke prompted her. “Like leave now.” 

            Ruby looked up at him and then moved her eyes to where Zeke was looking. There was a large man standing behind the doorframe. Half lit by the streetlights. 

            “Zeke, he doesn’t look right. He looks like a fae, but…he looks wrong.” Ruby told him.

            “Magick….she did something to him.” Elora murmured. “He’s the one I thought I killed when I first got my air powers. His name is Mun and he’s the one who took you captive Ruby.”

            “He doesn’t look the same…” Ruby told her. 

            “She worked dark magick somehow and was able to do something to him.” Elora told them, trying to get up. Ruby tried to hold her down but noticed that a lot of the spots on Elora’s face was starting to heal, quickly. She definitely looked stronger. 

            “Oh look…how sweet. You are all here together!” a lady said from behind Mun. But when she saw Elora, she seemed surprised. “You were just bloodied and moments from passing out. How are you standing????” She screeched. 

            “I don’t know.” Elora smirked. Surprises were the best. “Wanna go again?” she asked.

            “No. We need to go El. The castle…I think they’re attacking the castle.” Ruby told her fearfully. “We need to get back there and protect the people.”

            “What about these two?” She asked.

            “They will more than likely get back to the fairy realm shortly after we do. But we must go.” Zeke started to pull them away. Starting as a slow walk back turned into a quick run. 

            Ruby started making her portal, by the time it was big enough to go through, the other two were running quickly behind us. As we stepped through and started being pulled into the fairy realm, Ruby lets out a loud gasp of pain. When we land, she shakily reaches behind her and pulls her hand back around. It was stained red with blood and droplets, that turned into rivers, fell to the ground.

            Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and as her knees buckled under her, Zeke reached out and grabbed her. Looking at Elora he saw the shock written on her face and the tears in her eyes.