Heir of Golden Storms

I drop the sword as I kneel next to Thalia. My hands search for her face. I touch her cheeks, hair, forehead, desperate for her to wake up. I lift her up, putting her head on my lap as I sit. The rotten apple rolls away from her hand. Tears blind my vision as I put one hand under her head and the other hand shaking her from the side.

“Wake up, wake up, wake up,” I keep repeating.

“The party is over! Everyone, get out!” I hear Hesperia shout. She keeps shouting orders at everyone. “You two, bring me a couch from any living room and put it at the throne room. You bring me pillows from any room. And you, make sure everyone is out of the castle. Don’t stand there! Move! Move!”

North kneels next to me. “Rowan…”

“Do not bring the couch,” I hear Glade shouting, his voice fading as if he is walking away. “I will build a pedestal for her to lay on.”

“Come on, Rowan, bring her,” Hesperia says. She is now standing beside Thalia. I do not move. “We do not have time for this! Snap out of it!”

I feel my enchantment break, the wings coming alive. “Do not tell me what to do!” I yell at Hesperia.

“Don’t you dare yell at me!” she yells back. Everyone else would have ran from me, but not Hesperia. She knows me too well to not be afraid of my wings and horns. “You need to get a hold of yourself! We only have four hours until midnight and the more you spent crying with yourself, the more hours we lose!” She slaps my left horn. I shake my head, waking up. That was unexpected.

I stand up, holding Thalia on my arms. That is when I notice the room. Everyone has left except for us. Kalani stands a few meters away, holding Breeze, who is trying to break free with tears in her eyes and cheeks to run towards Thalia. “Let’s go,” I say, my voice coming sore.

Hesperia leads us towards the throne room. There, in front of the thrones, Glade has created a pedestal from roots, twigs, and leaves that he must have pulled from his tree at the terrace. He steps aside to let me lay Thalia on it. I lay Thalia on top of it, laying her head gently on the pillow. I lay the sheets on her, covering her completely except for the shoulders and her face.

Breeze lets a shriek escape. When I look behind me, I see that she has broken free from Kalani’s grip. I catch her before she crashes with Thalia.

“Let go off me,” Breeze starts screaming. “Lia! Lia! Wake up!”

“Breeze, calm down,” I tell her, even though I want to scream like her. She keeps pushing against me.

“Do something Roro!” she keeps yelling. “Do something! Break the curse! Do it!”

“I can’t do it right now,” I say, and she stops pushing. I kneel and pass a hand through her hair, trying to calm her.

“Yes, you can,” she says between sobs. “With true love kiss! True love kiss can break any curse. Kiss her!”

“Breeze,” I say. As much as I want it to be true, it is not. True love kiss cannot break a curse, and even if it does, I am not her true love. I cannot wake her up. “True love kiss only happens in faerie tales.”

“And what are we?” she asks as she wipes her tears with her arm. Her sobs have become less frequent. “We are faeries! Kiss her!”

“Breeze-”

“Kiss her!”

I look at Thalia behind me. She looks peaceful, even though there is nothing but chaos around her. I want to wake her up. I want to have Breeze’s innocence.

“All right,” I say as I stand up.

I turn to face Thalia. With a light touch of my fingers, I remove her hair from her face. I lay my right hand on her cheek and brush back and forth the freckles on her cheekbones. I look at her closed eyes. How I wish to see those blue eyes one more time. I lower my head, closing my eyes, and kiss her rose lips, a soft kiss.

I pull back and wait. She must wake up, she must. She cannot leave Kalani and Breeze. She cannot leave me alone.

“I am sorry,” I tell Breeze. I lower myself and she hugs me, tears returning to her cheeks. “I will find a way to break this.” She has given me so much and now is my turn to do so. I stand up, leaving Breeze grabbing Thalia’s hand in her little hands.

“What can we do to break this curse?” I ask North. She looks disoriented but she shakes her head and comes back to reality.

“I do not know,” North says. “I mean, I am afraid of saying this, but Breeze might be right.” I raise an eyebrow in confusion. Hesperia’s eyebrows furrow as if she is trying to understand what North is saying. “True love kiss did exist in this land many centuries ago. It was the alternative most used to break curses. This curse has not been seen in centuries. Maybe true love kiss is really the answer.”

“But who is Thalia’s true love?” I ask. As much as it hurts me, I am not Thalia’s true love. I did not fall in love with her the first time that I saw her. She did not fall in love with me the first time that she saw me. We were never meant to be together. But there is someone in love with her. “Kalani, may I speak with you outside?”

“Sure,” Kalani says. We walk out of the throne room and into the hallway. I close the throne room’s door behind us.

“Thalia trusts you and I am sure that she tells you everything,” I say. “Do you know who Thalia’s lover is?”

A flush of emotions hits Kalani. She looks surprised and then confused. “How do you know about her lover? You are not supposed to know.”

“She told me,” I say. “She also told me that the lover is in love with her. I need to find her. She is the only one who can be her true love.”

“Wait, do you believe in this?” Kalani asks.

“No,” I say. “But North and Breeze do, and I need something to believe in. I cannot just stop and do nothing.”

“All right,” Kalani says. “Her name is Cyrene. She lives at Windford. Let’s grab a raven and I will show you where she lives.”

“No,” I say as I start walking towards the entrance of the castle. “Searching for the raven and riding it will take too much time.”

“Then, how are we going to get there?” Kalani asks, walking beside me.

“I will fly us there,” I say, breaking the enchantment.

“Oh, no,” she says, stepping back. “You could drop me accidentally. No. I am taking a raven.” I smile. “Rowan, I told you no.”

I take her arm and pull her towards me. I wrap my arm around her waist and fly towards the door. The knights open the doors as they see me fly. It only takes a few minutes to arrive to Windford. When I land, I let her go.

“Saints, Rowan, I do not like you right now,” Kalani says, pushing me.

I laugh. “Saints, you are just like your sister, always expecting me to say or do the opposite thing.” I stop laughing as I remember Thalia and every time that she pushed me whenever I said something arrogant.

“Shut up,” she tells me. She starts walking through streets and I follow her as I put my enchantment back on.

All the houses are lighted up. Everyone just arrived from the ball at our castle. After several streets, Kalani stops in front of a small house. It has stone steps that goes to the wooden door. The lights inside are on. She must be home. I look at Kalani to ensure that this is the house, and she nods. I walk the steps and knock on the door.

A woman with orange hair opens the door. She is wearing a simple light purple gown. She must have come from the castle. Her green eyes widen when she sees me.

“I know you,” I say. “You are the woman that I danced with the night of my coronation.” I danced with her when Thalia was singing.

“I am, my king,” she says as she curtsies. “I am grateful that you remember me.”

“I am looking for Cyrene,” I say. “I believe that she lives here.”

“That would be me,” the orange hair woman answers. I blink. Thalia told me that she has a lover, and I thought that I did not know her. All along, I have been closer than what I expected.

I can see why Thalia likes her. She is a masterpiece. She has a white skin that is almost pink and seems to be soft. She has thin rose lips. Even her cheeks seem to be blushing all the time. She is beautiful.

“I came to seek your help,” I say. “You were at the ball and you saw what happened to Thalia. We believe that the only way to break the curse is by true love kiss. I believe that you can break the curse.”

She does not move. “You know,” she says.

I nod. I want to say that I do not mind that she is the lover of Thalia, but I do mind. “Do not worry,” I say and decided to repeat the words that Thalia once told me. “We are only married politically, not romantically.”

“All right, I will help you,” she says as she steps out of her house. “I will do anything for Thalia.” She loves her, and love can make anyone do crazy things. She closes the door behind her as I walk down the stairs. “Hello, Kalani. Beautiful dress you are wearing tonight.”

“Thank you, Cyrene,” Kalani says as she curtsies.

“Where is the raven?” Cyrene asks.

“We are not going to use a raven,” I say. “I need you to not lose your mind and to promise that you will not tell anyone.” Before she opens her mouth, I break the enchantment on me. She staggers a few steps back.

“What-What is this?” she asks.

“Thalia knows and she trusts me,” I say. I do not have time to explain. If Thalia trusts me, and Cyrene trusts her, she should trust me. She nods. “All right, this is going to be a bumpy ride. Kalani, I need you to stand behind me and wrap your arms around my neck. Whatever you do, do not let go. Cyrene, I am going to hold you, if that is fine with you.” She nods once more as she walks closer to me.

“I am going to regret this,” Kalani says.

She struggles to wrap her arms around my neck since she is smaller than me. When she does, I grab her hand with my left hand to ensure that she will not let go. I place my right arm slowly around Cyrene’s waist, feeling that I might be overstepping. I do not warn them when I begin flying. I try to push myself faster, but with Kalani on my back, it takes a lot of strength. I let go of them when I land.

“Remind me not to follow any of your ideas in the future,” Kalani says with both hands on her knees and trying to take deep breaths.

“Come on,” I say as I walk into the castle, not letting her catch her breath.

In the throne room, Breeze has fallen asleep on the floor beside Thalia’s pedestal. She must have cried herself to sleep. North is sitting on the floor with seven or eight books opened around her, trying to find answers to this curse. Glade is sitting near her, playing with a twig in his hand, trying to transform it into a small statue. Hesperia is sitting next to Breeze with her back on the pedestal and caressing Breeze’s hair. North, Glade, and Hesperia stand up when they see us walk in.

“Who is this?” Hesperia asks.

“Cyrene, Thalia’s lover,” I say in a low voice, not wanting Breeze to hear if she is pretending to be asleep. “We need someone to break the curse.”

“Of course,” Hesperia nods. “I will take Breeze to her bed.” She lowers herself and gently picks Breeze from the floor. I wait for her to leave.

“All right,” I say. “Do your thing.”

I take a step back for Cyrene to step in. She grabs Thalia’s right hand with her left. She starts caressing her dark purple hair. Then she leans in for a kiss. Her kiss lasts longer than mines. Something inside me screams to pull Cyrene away from Thalia, but I remain unmoving. I push the voice down for the sake of Thalia.

She pulls back from Thalia and stare. I take a step forward, searching for a better view of Thalia’s eyes. We wait. In the end, she does not wake up.

“No, it cannot be,” Cyrene says as she takes a step back. “I-I-I love her. I thought that I was the one for her. I thought that we were meant to be together.”

“Cyrene,” Kalani says as she places a hand on her shoulder. She pushes it away.

“I need to be alone,” she says. She leaves the throne room.

“Take her to her house,” I tell the knight at the door.

I turn back to Thalia. I need her to wake up. I was the one who broke the curse of the Forbidden Forest. I was the one to cast the curse back. She should not be the one paying, I should. But I know that this is the way that Crimson wants me to suffer.

“North, I need you to keep searching for a solution to break the curse,” I say. “Glade stay here with Thalia. Erie, do not let anyone in or out of the throne room except for North, Glade, Kalani, Hesperia, and I. Do not even let Breeze in; she does not need to suffer anymore.”

Erie, who is standing by the door, nods. I walk out of the throne room. I make my way to the entrance and fly away. I soar through the night, noticing that the moon is full tonight. I made my way to the Forbidden Forest. Crimson is standing inside when I land.

“Ah, it took you long enough,” Crimson says, leaning against a tree. She does not have her enchantment on, revealing her long horns and her smaller wings.

“How do I break the curse?” I demand.

“Break the curse of the Forbidden Forest and I will tell you,” Crimson says.

I consider it for a moment. Breaking this curse will cause Crimson to break Thalia’s curse. She will awake. But I cannot break this curse. It will bring back the creatures to every court. It will harm the people in our court, and Thalia would not want that, even if it is for her own good. Even if I break the curse, Glade said that a pixie’s word is not worth as much as faerie’s word. She could be lying.

“I cannot do that,” I say, even if I want to do it.

“You will change your mind,” Crimson says, looking at her nails. “As the time passes and as the hour draws in, you will become desperate and you will come back. Then, the price will not be the same. I will ask for more, feeding on your heartache until you give up everything for her.

“But I can break the curse,” she continues, “if you find my true name.” She smiles, and I know that she is playing with me. I doubt that anyone, not even Glade, knows her name. She is a trickster. She won’t let me win so easily.

I fly to the sky, angry at myself for coming here. I hate myself for asking her. I hate myself for whenever there is a problem, begging the villain for one last chance. I need to take things in my hands without begging for them.

“Get out!” I shout as I walk into the throne room. Everyone walks out without asking, even Hesperia who just returned.

I kneel beside Thalia’s pedestal. I grab her hand with both of mine, feeling my eyes watering.

“Do not leave me,” I say. Time is running out. There is nothing else to do. “Wake up. I need you beside me. I know that I am bad at everything. I cannot rule a kingdom. I cannot express my feelings well. I do not have anything to give you. I am arrogant whenever I talk to you, but do not leave me. I cannot do this without you.” Tears start falling on her hand. I try to make sense of what I am feeling. I try to name what I am feeling.

“I love you.”

I start to sob. She is going to leave me. She is going to sleep forever, and I am going to be punished into seeing her every day as a memory of what I lost.

“Rowan?” someone asks. I rise my head. Thalia is sitting up, her eyes opened and looking at me. “What are you doing?”

“Thalia!” I shout, jumping into a hug.

I hold her, pressing her completely against me. I hold her, afraid that if I let go, she is going to leave me again. She hugs me back and I do what I have not done in a long time. I let my tears go and cry on her shoulders until all my worries are gone.