“Today I watched as the last of the dragons flew across the seas; I wonder if the Dragonairs are amongst them, too or if that bond has been broken too. I must be strong; bear the decisions I have made and step forward to the future.”
- Excerpt of Princess Litania’s diary, prior to her marriage and coronation.
Chapter 32
Under the cover of darkness Aziah made her way along the wall of Lord Trenwith’s house, his guards oblivious to her presence. Her steps made no sounds and even in the biting night air her breath formed no clouds to declare her presence. She reached the door to one of the spires, waved her hand and it opened soundlessly; quick as a flash she was in, the door shut behind her and she paused for a moment, waiting to see if anyone noticed the door. When silence greeted her, she descended down the steps and proceeded out into a small, well-manicured garden.
There, Aziah paused and looked out across the garden to the row of tall windows off the main ballroom. She’d been there, once, when the Empress had visited. It had been for Lord’s marriage to his wife, Azmarie. She distinctly remembered being bored by the fanfare and wealth shamelessly thrown about; the only grace had been that the Empress was just as underwhelmed by the event. So much so that he fell out of favour with the Empress and despite numerous attempts on his part. Aziah knew that he’d felt slighted by Alexandria’s duplicitous nature; she had been surprised when she saw him in her vision, speaking with a girl that was a spitting image of Kathrine.
In that vision the girl had given Lord Trenwith a letter, passing it to him with the bearing of an empress and a look that was both warning and hopeful.
She shook the vision from her mind and hurried along the side of the garden, straight through a door into the ballroom and from there she followed her memories, through another several doors and levels. All the hallways looked the same, lined with paintings and rugs running down every hall. There was, even in the dark, a sense of warmth about the place and she spied no dust anywhere. He still was, it seemed, a studious man in the upkeep of his home. Though, to be critical, his guards were too few.
It wasn’t certainly wasn’t safe enough for the princess!
Frowning, she rounded the corner and passed the lord’s chamber, again unguarded. The next door down led to his private office. She slipped in and strode across to the room, right to where his desk sat before a large window. There, she pushed back her hood and walked around the table, one hand raised over it, sensing for its secrets. Nothing but a dull return whispered back to her. She started to lower her hand when something caught it, the feintest touch of magic, elvish magic. Young elvish magic, the kind you would expect from an elf newly acquainted with her magic.
She leant down, running her hand along the under side of the desk until she felt it, a notch in the wood.
Found you, she thought and pressed her hand up against the notch, flooding it with magic. A click followed and a compartment dropped down, a scroll falling to the ground. She plucked it up and stood, unfurling it carefully, her eyes falling to the delicate script before her.
I have given all proof you required and you have sworn your fealty, yet we both know this is merely an exchange of words. If you remain true then answer the call, for it soon approaches.
- S
Aziah felt her heart burst with joy. Tears, long buried, burned her gaze until the world grew blurry, soundless. She’d done it.
Sybilla, born of two worlds and the true heir to the empire, was alive.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
