The Huntsman of Adamos (Quartet)- draft

CH DRESSING FOR THE DARK PRINCE

“I hate to see my children so troubled,” Yllumina said softly.

Yurieth looked up at her with betrayal and heartache in his eyes. “So, Fleur has already planned her end and you would allow it.”

“No, Yurieth.” His mother corrected him. “She cannot die, for even with her stone and Karstien to bolster my magic, we simply do not have the power she possesses and...”

“And what, mother?” Yurieth demanded emptily, he had never felt so hopeless.

“For you and your brother to survive in the Darkness, you, Yurieth, must be protected by her soul, not mine.” Her words alarmed Abrieth.

“And what of Serapha?”

“Your sealed one will be immune because of who her father is. She is the safest of the three of you and the least likely to go insane.”

Karstien spoke his question in a low tone. “Is that why Lady Serapha had the least after-effects when they were healed? Asha spent a decade trying to understand it, she figured out Serapha was half-Xelusian.”

“What is wrong with us in the future?” Yurieth demanded.

“No, Karstien.” Yllumina warned him.

“Mother, I want to know.” Yurieth retorted firmly.

“I do too,” Abrieth added.

Karstien sighed, then revealed, “You all suffer headaches, muscle weakness, and actual memory loss beyond the memory obscuring spell, but Yurieth also has nightmares, depression, obsessive-compulsive episodes, and anger control issues. My father, Fleur, and Asha believed it was because Abrieth had Serapha, and Yurieth was alone. As your real memories return, you bear the grief of your centuries at war in a few short years. It takes a long time to get you both back to fighting form, time we didn’t have. I won’t tell you specific events, but it was a struggle for our whole family, just don’t give up on yourselves because we won’t give up on you.”

“We won’t give up, nephew,” Abrieth announced firmly, “Now, how do we save my brother’s sealed one and make them think we didn’t?”

“Simple, I die in her place and Naphtala with me.” Yllumina said calmly, her hand on Yurieth’s shoulder was the only thing that kept him in his chair. “When I first met Karstien at the Fjord, he told me he was so happy to finally meet me beyond his dreams and told me how he and his sister had dreamed of me their whole lives. I knew then, that I had gone into the Light and was visiting them from the Celestial Realm. I have met Fleur in this same place beyond the Veil of Light, in her desire to save me, she has forgotten this. In her desire to send me forward with Kalyssa, she ignores that I am already dead. The power of an oracle of light and a siren seer must be at the place of her death, but it does not need to be her power.”

Abrieth stepped toward them as Yurieth rose slowly, “But Mother...”

She put a hand on each of their cheeks. “My sons, I have always known when my death would be. I rejoice knowing that all of my children shall live and that I will have many grandchildren who serve the Light.”

Her sons closed their arms around her, at the same time both said, “I love you, Mother.” Her arms around their necks, their cheeks pressed against hers as their tears mingled.

She whispered, “My love, my life, and my light have always been yours, my sons.”

Karstien watched his grandmother and uncles hugging, it made him miss his own mother and doubled his resolution to bring Fleur home to his half-brother and half-sisters.

The next day at dawn, Lady Naphtala, her handmaiden, and a large bald enforcer wearing the colors of Baalru arrived at the Towers of Xelusia. The enforcer held a clothier by the arm. No one dared look twice as the Pale Lady and her entourage went to the lifters and were carried to the top of the tower. They walked down the hall with the calm sureness of those who belonged with the obsidian walls of the Xelusian royalty. The guard outside the door bowed and opened it. The Dark Oracle was sitting on a chair as a young girl brushed her hair. Lucif watched carefully from the other side of the glass.

“My queen, I have brought the clothier Cinna as you requested,” Lady Naphtala announced smoothly.

“L-lady Fleur?” Cinna stuttered in confused fear.

Fleur smirked at his terror. “Not quite, my other’s dressmaker.”

The Baalru enforcer forced Cinna to kneel in front of her and she leaned forward to put an ebony nail under his chin, “I require new dresses, something suitable for my status as the future queen and in the styling of Xelusia. You will make the first by sunrise tomorrow, and a very special one for the Celestial Alignment Ball, if you succeed I will reward you, if you fail I will destroy everything you love before I bleed you. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes, m-my lady.”

He bowed himself almost to the floor. “Sh-shall we b-begin, m-my lady?”

Naphtala’s handmaiden set several bolts of blood red silk and velvet on the table, while the enforcer dropped a bag of supplied next to them. As the handmaiden poured Lady Naphtala a glass of the juice the Dark Oracle was drinking, the enforcer went to stand outside the door. Fleur stepped out of the oversized dress they had given her and let Cinna begin measuring and wrapping silk around her curves. As he worked, Lady Naphtala advised him of how the dress should look. When the first was finished, the Dark Oracle grabbed his face and looked into his eyes. He made a fearful whimpering sound.

“This is what I want the gown to look like in scarlet and black silk. Can you see it?”

“Y-yes, my queen,” he stammered.

From beyond the glass Lucif felt the surge of power and wondered what the Dark Oracle had done. He couldn’t help his smirk as Fleur threatened the clothier and he pled for forgiveness for not bringing anything but red fabrics with him. Lucif’s heart pounded with lust in his chest as the clothier created the shape of a dress unlike anything he had ever seen. Waves of sheer scarlet silk held in place by lines of ribbon ran center over the lines of strange dark scars that reminded him of the impression of chains in flesh. Almost as if she were already chained to her destiny. He realized the pattern was the same as the bride ribbons worn by the Aetherians on their joining night.

The places on her arms, lower legs, and forehead where the dark scars were finer, looked like lace had been inked into her skin. He suspected what had made them, he had seen his mother wield a razor-edged creeping shadow-vine to torture her enemies. He wondered if Lady Fleur who appeared so mysteriously at court this year was one of those rescued from the dungeons of the Blood Temples by the Aetherians after the last war. Lucif also wondered what it felt like to touch those dark scars as his eyes raked over her exposed flesh. He could imagine taking her in the Pools of Blood Offerings or laying her on the Altar of Shadows.

Her face turned toward him with a knowing smile. He was shocked to hear her voice purr in his mind as her clouded eyes glowed more peach than ruby. The familiar buzz of siren’s magic put him off-balance.

‘Why don’t you come and see how they feel if you are so curious, my prince.’

She remained staring toward the glass as though she could see him. He knew it was not possible and that she was mostly blind, but her gaze tracked his movements as he paced. Finally, he left the observation room because she was so tempting to him and the seers had told him, he could not indulge himself until the day of the true Celestial Alignment on the equinox, four days after the ball.

When Fleur felt him leave at last, she visibly sagged, clutching Cinna’s shoulder. “He’s gone, we’re alone.”

“You are doing very well, my lady,” Cinna whispered quietly back to her.

She shuddered but it was violent, almost like a convulsion. “There is so much Darkness and evil here... and the things Lucif desires to do to this body.”

A tear ran down her cheek as she fought not to keep her fear from overwhelming her. What Lucif wanted was almost as bad as what the Dark Prince had done to her when she was a prisoner of war.

Mina moved to stand beside her and held her hand. “You’re doing fine, Fleur. They suspect nothing amiss.”

The enforcer removed his face mask revealing the Huntsman Regis, clean shaven and head bare. His frown said all his concern, “Please, Lady Fleur, let us take you away... there must be another way to...”

“No!” Fleur snapped, “We are staying with my plan. In two nights, I will use the siren’s magic to convince both Lucif and Xerxes that the Dark Oracle can be theirs, to get the son of prophecy they will both be desperate to claim her. After I make it look like Demona murdered me rather than let someone else become queen, Lucif will be forced to retreat to Xelusia. Yurieth and Abrieth will go with them, place the Implosion Device at the base of the gate and rescue Serapha before it detonates.”

“But can’t we just destroy this Gate and shut the door on these entities?” Regis asked, and Fleur knew he was asking for Yurieth. It hurt her that Yuri would do anything not to face his future with her.

“It’s not that simple, Regis. The Gate of the Devourer is ancient, its technology is beyond us. I detonated a nuclear fission warhead in the citadel located next to it and it didn’t even scratch it. It and the obsidian temple beneath are all that survive.” She glared at him as she explained how futile his request was. “It was designed to keep The Devourer trapped and to resist destruction.”

Lady Naphtala stood before Fleur looking over the dress Cinna was pinning. She changed the subject. “This is going to be unique, what did they call in you time?”

“It is an ancient style of dress called a toga, it is what the goddesses of my birth world are often depicted wearing. Although most of them were more modest than this one,” Fleur explained absently. “I must make sure both the prince and the king desire me beyond my magic.”

Cinna grinned up at her, “Do not worry, Lady Fleur. This dress alone will be enough to start a war. Trust me, this is my magic.” She reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

“It is fitting that you are clothed as a goddess with your power... but, child, that said... you surely cannot expect mere mortals to do the enchantments required.” Naphtala prodded.

Fleur looked at her curiously, answering, “Lady Naphtala, I have done the calculations, Mina and Karstien will have the power to place the enchantments on the Sons of Adamos. They do not need me, I have traded my light for darkness. I am going to create the diversion that will allow a few more to escape into the far future. I will start the war that will be an end and a beginning. You should go now, Lucif saw the dresses were almost complete. And Cinna, if you have time can you switch the ribbons for tiny black chains?”

“It will be done, my lady.” Cinna bowed to her then wrapped her in the robe he had already prepared for her. “I may make a slight change, but you will approve.”

Regis bowed to her as well. “You’re very brave, Lady Fleur.”

“It’s easy to brave when you only have one reason to live,” Fleur answered tightly as she remembered all the times she had said she only needed one reason. The reasons changed over the centuries but really, it was always about overcoming evil.

“And what is that reason, daughter?” Yllumina asked softly, laying the dress she altered on the bed.

“To fight the Darkness for the House of Adamos... Leave me before they get suspicious.”

Fleur never doubted herself like she did now, her resolve had always remained strong, and she would keep it that way. How tired and soul sick she was didn’t matter, the future would be saved. Her children would survive. She walked over to the black glace mirror and stared at her reflection, grateful Yuri wasn’t here to see her. Then she turned and felt her way out onto the balcony. The afternoon sun felt so warm and soothing as if the giant golden star around which this world circled were trying to comfort her. She had always loved how gentle the sunlight of Aetheria Prime felt. She could feel her scars fading and retreating back inside. Drawing in the dark magic she felt all around her, clothing herself in it like armor. In a few nights, she would die for those she loved and for the one who didn’t love her.

Fleur resisted the urge to claw the cold scars from her arms and shoulders. Instead, she pulled on the dress, Cinna had instructed Yllumina to alter to fit her slightly better while he had designed her new dresses. Then she demanded the guards take her to the ballroom. Her bare feet made no noise as she felt her way down the stairs and out in to the center of the marble floor. Her power spread out from her in tentative waves, as she walked toward a concentration of evil and dark magic. The door opened silently, and she slipped in. Several of Demona’s followers and a few of Lucif’s were talking in hushed tones about her.

“She cannot be the queen, she is an oracle.”

“But we saw her wield the dark magic like a blood mage. She called lightning from the sky and razed the Castle of Adamos. You weren’t there, you don’t know. I saw it and will never doubt her.” The second voice insisted as others made scoffing sounds.

“She is just a pretty girl they tried to foist off on the King as an oracle, whoever heard of a blind Oracle.” A third scoffed.

They continued to argue and plot as her guards shifted nervously. Then she sensed Lucif and Demona coming as the people in the room continued to disagree. She needed to kill the doubters before they persuaded Lucif to force her to kill an innocent and drink their blood as they wanted.

Fleur stepped out of the shadows into the center of the room. “Ohhh, my children, I am so much more than an oracle.” Her voice purred as her eyes glowed with the siren’s magic. They all swayed in her thrall, but she could feel some of them resisting so she wove her oracle’s shine into the dark magic. It meant they could barely move, but she let them speak freely.

Several dropped to their knees and bent their heads to the ground. Others remained rigidly upright.

“Don’t you want your queen to return?” She smiled at those resisting, walking up to the woman and man who were their leaders. “Well?”

“You’re not my queen, oracle!” The woman hissed through her teeth,

Tendrils of dark magic formed ribbons of dust and seized Fleur. The woman laughed and Fleur could smell the blood on her breath. “Princess Demona will be my only queen.”

“And do you others feel the same way?” Fleur asked calmly, letting her power seem to wane as she appeared to be a captive.

“We will not follow an Aetherian born,” A man growled.

Fleur laughed, and the woman looked shocked as the magical dark dust formed an orb in her hand and she began to glow. “Ahh, I see. Then you will be happy to know before you die, I was not born on Aetheria .”

Fleur savored the shock in their reaction. Suddenly, the orb shifted into a pair of small shield glyphs and flew at the woman and man who had spoken against her, impaling both in the chest. The sword she had taken off the one who had been at the Winter Castle flashed as she twirled and slashed removing the heads of those still standing in the thrall of the siren’s song and oracle’s shine. By the time, Lucif and Demona rushed into the room, all who had not bowed were forever dead. Demona screeched and a bolt of black lightning slammed into a static black shield glyph that grew as it absorbed the negative magical energy.

Lucif put his hand on the glyph’s surface as Demona knelt behind him, panting from wasted effort. Dark sparks crackled as he drew the energy.

“Remove this magic,” Lucif snarled.

Fleur’s clouded eyes glowed red and the glyph vanished with a shower of dark dust and the discordant sound of a broken bell. They glared at each other then Fleur smirked.

“Does anyone else doubt me?” Fleur’s voice was viciously cold in the room.

“No, my queen,” those who remained alive chorused.

Fleur passed Lucif and he grabbed her arm, “What did you do?”

“I culled those who would see your pathetic excuse for a daughter in my place... And if she is not careful, she will find herself in her sister’s place when we return to the Blood Temples.” She began to glow with oracle light and he snatched his hand away from the burning sensation.

As Fleur reached to door, Demona demanded, “What do you know of my sister?”

Fleur scowled down on the exhausted princess, “I know she is already on Xelusia waiting to be bled to seal the Lord of the Shadows to my chosen prince four days after the Alignment on the Day of Balance.”

“H-how?” Demona stammered. “No one knows.”

“Because, foolish child, I am the one who sent the message of when and where to find her.”

Fleur walked away, back up the stairs, then she held out her hand to the guards escorting her. In the most bored voice she could manage, she stated, “Take me back to my room, I’ve had enough fun tonight. And I need to bathe and wash the blood out of my hair.”

The next day at midday meal, Fleur was sitting alone, eating. Lucif had ordered her not to be allowed to leave her room again after she had killed three more of Demona’s supporters on her morning walk to memorize the layout. No one seemed at all surprised by her behavior or moved to intervene when Fleur as the Dark Oracle demanded loyalty from those who dwelled in the Towers of Xelusia. Those who were loyal to Prince Lucif, quickly shifted their alliance to Fleur and, after a few well-played public displays of power and cruelty, a few of Demona’s followers shifted as well, or so they claimed.

As Fleur sliced an apple, she could feel Lucif approaching. She frowned for a moment, adjusted her robe to be more provocative, then wrapped the dark magic around her and set her face in a malevolent smirk. Looking beyond his darkness after he entered, she could see his reflection in the dark glass mirrors through his own eyes, and herself.

‘Ezra was right, I really do look like a cheetah,’ she thought off handedly, and pushed her horror away.

Lucif was not what she expected, very tall, as tall as Yuri but much leaner muscled like a runner. His straight copper colored hair hung to his waist with eyes colored to match, and pale alabaster skin that made him striking, but his features were too raptor-like to be handsome by her taste. He looked so different from the men of Aetheria. She suddenly understood why Demona had chased Yuri for two centuries and why Serapha had fallen in love with Abrieth. She knew from studying this time that the Xelusians hired Aetherian foresters and miners for heavy work, and wondered if all Xelusian men were less muscular. Certainly, all those she had seen and killed seemed leaner.

She didn’t rise to greet him or move except to finish her slice of apple, before she held out her hand palm up, in the usual greeting of Xelusian royalty. She waited expectantly as he looked her over like a canine starving for meat. Her long, black hair hung loosely around her shoulders. Her legs were exposed up to her thighs, showing they were shapely muscled and covered in scrolling tattoo-like vine and smoky crescent scars. Her velvet dressing gown had kimono style sleeves and eight ribbon ties, only four of which held bows, leaving it hanging open to her waist and barely covering her breasts.

Fleur withdrew her hand with a derisive snort. “So, you would keep your queen a prisoner, my prince?” Slicing a thin sliver of cheese, she nibbled it from the blade before picking up the apple again. She waited for him to decide what to do.