The Aldean Chronicles: Spotlight (Part 2)

Cara walks into the class and grabs her chest. "Cassandra, why are you early?" She looks at her board. "And what is this?"

I try to contain my excitement. "I found it. The missing piece."

"You'll have to be clearer than that."

I show her my tiara. "This was worn by Delia Beltane. She was actually the first to ever wear it." I point at the board. "Since then, only three other people have."

She looks overwhelmed. "Okay," she drags out. "And what is their connection to Delia other than a piece of magical jewelry?"

I frown. "I don't know. Yet. But I've pieced together something about all of them." I point at the board. "When they all turned 13, the Percival erupted."

She stares at me blankly. "It does that sometimes. Funny thing about magic is how unpredictable it can be."

"Well, yes but...no one's made the connection before."

"And you did. Why?" She drops her bag on her desk.

"I have this." I show her my phone screen. "It's a picture from the Royal Aldean Treatise."

Her eyes widen. "A book that's only accessible to the Queen."

"And a few pages to the pledges," I add. "But I remembered her name from when I took the pledge. Isn't that amazing?"

She looks uncomfortable. "Am I even allowed to look at this?" She points at my phone. "This feels like treason."

I shake my head. "No, this is our connection." I try to convince her. "Delia, my tiara, the Percival, it's all connected."

She stares at the crime trail I made on her board and shrugs. "Fine, it's better than nothing. I'll take Princess Kaili, you take Prince Enrich."

I go online and try to procure as much information as I can about him.

Weirdly, there's almost as little as there is about Delia.

"Any luck with Kaili?" I ask Cara.

She shakes her head. "An enigma."

I slump in the chair. "It feels weird," I confess. "That there isn't much about them. It's almost like someone went through the trouble of erasing them from existence."

"How did you find out about the Percival going off?" Cara asks. "That sounds like vital, cryptic information."

I'm embarrassed to even admit it. When I started researching this, I asked myself how I could be related to this.

So I spent the whole weekend comparing myself to them.

When it got to the Percival going off, I checked for all the times it's gone off.

It usually does that at least once every decade.

People never know to expect it, or what it means when it does.

I checked the dates of explosions, and two of them matched the 13th birthdays of people on the list.

"Cross-examination."

She hums. "It's been an hour. I say we give it a rest for today."

I check the clock, my eyes widen when I see it's actually been an hour since she walked in. How did I not notice?

"But we can still find more clues."

She looks defeated. "I don't know what I was thinking picking Delia Beltane for my research." She adjusts her bangs. "I like how different it made me sound. It would have saved me so much trouble to do this on a popular monarch."

"No," I complain. "Everyone does everything on popular monarchs. That's why Delia was perfect."

"We know nothing about her."

"We know some things. We have some parts of the puzzle we need to create a whole picture."

She hisses. "Close enough."

I sigh. "I just think we shouldn't give up yet."

She offers me a warm smile. "Good luck, Cassandra. Let me know if you find anything useful. I'm going home." She picks up her bag and walks out the door.

I pack up my things, secure them in my bag and go for dinner.

I sit with Michelle at an empty table.

"Hey."

"Oh, hey." She smiles at me. "How did it go?"

"She gave up on me."

"No," she moans. "So you're obsessing by yourself now?"

"Not obsessing, researching. I really think Delia's the key."

"To a project no one gave you?" She asks.

To find out the truth about my powers. I don't say that. I just say, "exactly."

***

Friday evening, I get a letter. I didn't know Aldean's even did letters.

Cyan hand delivers this one to me during Potions class.

I'm not in a rush so I wait till after school to open it.

I settle at my usual table in the library and dig the letter out of my bag.

I break the red seal and remove the card. My aunt's full title stares back at me.

Of course she sent me the letter. Who else would?

It says that the Queen is requesting my presence at her Private Drawing Room for tea on Saturday at 8 am.

That is inhumane.

I put her letter aside and force myself to focus on my research.

One painstaking hour later, I give up and go to the nearest vending machine for snacks.

It's in the library's front hall.

Where I am, I can get a good view of everyone who enters.

It's how I get a good view of him.

Tristan walks in wearing old sweatpants and the school sweater. He's carrying a lot of books in his hands.

He pauses when he sees me.

"Hey," I break the silence.

"Hey," he says back.

"PSE?"

He nods. "PSE."

My snack falls down the vending machine. It's a sugary treat with different fruit flavours. There's another thud. I check and it's another bag.

"Want it?"

Tristan's weary eyes brighten. "Thanks."

I shush him. "If you want the sugary goodness, you have to help me." I show him the letter.

He doesn't read it, he knows what it is after a quick glance.

"The infamous tea meetings."

"How did you feel? When you got yours?"

He sighs. "I wasn't surprised. My parents said it might happen if we broke up. For the first time, they were right about something."

That makes me smile.

He stretches his hands for the letter. "Let me see it." I hand it over.

He mumbles silently. "Yeah, you're in deep shit."

I only stop laughing when more students enter the library.

I smile at Tristan. "What are my chances of coming out of the meeting alive?"

He pretends to think. "None. There is no chance she won't murder you." He hands me back my letter.

I toss him the sweets. "I should go. I have a bunch of things I need to tick off my bucket list."

His smile dissolves slowly. "Goodbye, Cass." And walks past me into the library.

I steady my breathing and rush back to my dorm.

I place my hand over my heart when I walk in. "How did you get here?"

Axel is lying on Michelle's bed. "I'm a ninja."

I throw my books on my bed and go to the bathroom. I don't know what to say to Axel. He kind of chose Sara in the friend group civil war and we haven't spoken in months.

Michelle comes back to the room and I leave the bathroom.

"Did you and Tristan get back together?" She asks. "It's all over the school site."

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Some students saw you guys making out in the library." She flashes her screen in my face.

"We were just talking. What is wrong with the students in this school?"

Axel laughs. "I forgot how entertaining your life was."

I don't respond to that. "I'm going to bed early, I have a big day tomorrow."

Axel and Michelle leave the room and I'm left on my own.

***

I open the doors that lead to aunt Freya's famous drawing room.

I'm hit instantly by the sunlight coming from the glass walls.

I've only been in the room once before. The other time was with other Harringtons. Now it's just me and her.

Aunt Freya is fully dressed for the day and having tea by a glass wall.

"Cassandra. Please, sit." She gestures at the chair opposite her.

I take it and she pours tea for me.

She takes a sip of hers and sighs. She looks so calm and serene in the morning light. I wonder if this is why she chooses to have tea here almost every day. So she can enjoy a peaceful calm before the storm that is her life.

She stares at me and her face contorts.

Great. Now her real day can start. And it begins with her yelling at me.

"How have you been?"

I don't think she cares about my answer. "Good."

She nods. "Katya mentioned you don't read your school news."

I shake my head. "No."

"I'm assuming you don't read proper newspapers either." I don't reply. "Do you know what the press is saying about us?"

I frown. "Us?"

She nods. "Yes. They sense tension, and are working hard every day to fabricate lies. They're saying you hate me."

Those are not lies.

My aunt smiles warmly. "People don't mind their royal family bickering, arguing occasionally, lightly challenging each other. But fighting? It doesn't look good for either of us."

I hum. "I almost thought you cared about our relationship."

She studies every inch of my face. "From now on, don't attend functions I don't sign off on."

I roll my eyes. "You could have said this over the phone."

Her eyes go icy and her smile turns cold. "Do not tempt me, Cassandra." Her voice is low but commanding. "If you do, well..." She laughs sharply. "I will give you a reason to hate me."

I'm unable to move.

"You're excused." She picks up her cup of tea and sips it tentatively.

I leave my untouched tea, the table, and her.

I leave her tea room, rush out of the building, and into the waiting black car.

Once I'm inside, I start to calm down.

Whatever warm feelings I harbored for her are gone. I feel stupid for ever thinking she was my aunt. That she ever cared about me in any way.

She will always just be the Queen of Aldean. And she will always be a massive bitch.

The drive back to school is quick.

As soon as I get back, I return to my research.

The only connections I've made so far are the Percival going off.

Today, I'm exploring powers going off. That seems harder to find. Something Monarchs have in common is they don't want the public to know when something is wrong with them.

I head to the library and spend the whole day there.

It closes later on weekends, so I'm still there by 7 pm.

I'm looking through public archives and find an old newspaper clipping from the 1400s.

The headline says, in fading ink, "Mysterious illness keeps Princess from competing in junior tournament."

The writer claims that Kaili was supposed to fight in her first tournament after taking the pledge. Two days before the event, she fell ill.

I search for more articles from that year. Only one other mentioned her. She never recovered and died before her 17th birthday.

There seems to be a pattern because Prince Enrich also never made it to 18.

My phone goes off and I have a mini heart attack.

I relax when I see that it's Arin. I call instead of answering his text.

"How did it go with your aunt?" He asks.

"As well as you're expecting."

He hisses. "Where are you?"

"The library."

"Any epiphanies today?"

I sigh. "There's a big chance I'm not seeing my 18th birthday."

"How medieval." He jokes. "You need another pair of eyes?"

"Thanks."

Arin gets here ten minutes later and takes the computer beside me.

Fifteen minutes in, he taps my shoulder. "Did you know that Prince Enrich was declared clinically insane?"

"By who?"

"His family had him tested when he was 14." Arin is staring at the screen. "They tried to keep it quiet, but they had many enemies at court."

"Sounds right." I massage my neck. "Why did they think he was crazy?"

Arin laughs. "There are lots of accounts." He scrolls through the screen. "Some people say he'd wear his clothes inside out and mutter words from his favourite books. Some accounts said he tried to grow flowers in fire pits. One account said he believed his fire was blaring white. Another said he thought goblins were..."

I grow cold. "What?"

"The goblin thing is actually really funny. Apparently..."

"I don't care about the goblins." I cut him off. "His fire. What colour did he think it was?"

Arin bites his bottom lip. "White. I'm not a fire elemental but I'm pretty sure you guys only produce red fire." He sees the look on my face. "What's wrong?"

A chill passes down my spine and I feel cold. "We should leave," I whisper to him.

"What's wrong?" He repeats.

I don't pack my things. I just stand up.

"Cass..."

He doesn't finish his sentence. A chair is thrown at him, he barely escapes it.

We stare in horror as a Rypper makes its way from behind a bookshelf.

"Where did it come from?" Arin whispers in fear.

"I'll distract it, and you run."

He scoffs. "That is not happening."

He throws a chair at the monster. The 7-foot beast swats it away.

Arin jumps over the table, knocking a computer in the process. He reaches the wall and draws two decorative swords from their hold. He brandishes them.

I stare the Rypper down. Its shiny, black-rock eyes seem to be boring into me.

Arin appears at my side.

"How do we do this?" He asks.

"Slash it anywhere you can. I'll try and burn it."

He nods and walks closer to the monster. He hacks it with his sword.

The monster turns to him slowly and throws him to the nearest table with the back of its hand.

"Arin!"

He moans and groans on the floor.

The monster picks the sword out of its shoulder like it's a twig and throws it at its back.

It focuses on me and gets ready to fight.

I summon fire and throw it at the monster.

It walks through my flames. I get more afraid with each step it takes.

If I have any special powers, now is the time to use them.

I make my crown appear and the Rypper smiles.

I draw strength from it and aim the flames toward the monster. It stops momentarily but resumes advancing once my flames die out.

I try to muster more, and at the worst possible moment, it dies out.

I groan and jump out of the way to avoid the creature's hand. That causes my back to collide with the table.

The computers behind me are sent to the ground and I fall on the floor.

Arin groans again and I crawl toward him.

The monster follows with renewed interest.

I keep trying to muster flames, nothing happens.

I kneel at Arin's side and check his pulse. It's low.

The monster growls at me and stretches its hand out to me.

I pick a chair and hit his hand with it.

It seems more annoyed than affected.

The monster reaches down again, it's aiming for my head.

It wants my tiara.

That thought fills me with renewed strength.

There's something that makes this piece special. It alters magic, making it go off at the wrong times, and making the wearer appear crazy. But it also gives them extra strength.

I stand up and take it off my head. It doesn't disappear.

I clutch it in both hands and feel my insides transform.

When I open my eyes, I notice a layer of fire surrounding my body. I stretch my hand towathe Rypper and it's instantly set alight.

With a rough growl, it slowly dissolves into a steaming pile of ash.

I fall to the ground beside Arin and the tiara disappears.

"Cass," he whispers. His eyes aren't open.

I don't say anything. I just let the darkness take over.