I did not sleep much. I woke up to someone gently shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes to find the face of an unfamiliar woman standing over me.960Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjMJBxZPXw
"I've brought you food and a change of clothes, missus," she said in a sweet, drawn out accent. She must've been from the deep south, where the great jungles are. She held a platter, with a loaf of bread and some grapes, along with strange, colorful fruits I had never seen before. Alongside the food, placed carefully on the platter, was a goblet of wine. At the foot of the couch, was a pile of neatly folded fabric that was the color of cornflower.
"I appreciate it," I told her, as I accepted the platter from her. She curtsied before quickly departing. I popped a grape into my mouth, glancing around the room. A fire churned in the fireplace, illuminated the shadowy room in hues of dark orange. Outside, the world was painted brighter colors as the sun began to peak up over the western horizon.
I quickly shed my once-elegant gown, neatly folding it at the base of the couch. The bottom hem was frayed and beyond repair and stained, but it was the last piece of home I had.
I unfurled the cornflower dress, scrunching up my face. It was simple, sleeveless, and cut far too low for my tastes. A bronze neckpiece was all that held the dress over my chest. Despite my dislike for it, I quickly pulled it on, terrified that someone would walk in on me at any moment.
After I was dressed, I sat and ate the grapes and the bread provided, and took slow sips of the wine. I had to keep my wits about me, and alcohol wasn't going to help me with that.
Marius did step into the room eventually, now draped in a hooded brown cloak. He held a similar cloak draped over his arm.
"We are leaving." He offered me the cloak. "Put this on."
And so I did. Thereafter, he led me through the maze of hallways of the palace, and out what seemed to be a side entrance into the palace, rarely used. The path from it led down a precarious rocky slope, and alongside the river, before branching off in the lower city.
The lower city was terribly crowded, and smelled strongly of dung. Marius led me through the busy streets with a gentler grip on my elbow.
Eventually, we arrived at a small staircase that led down into a shaded entrance covered with string beads. A black cat stood guard outside, washing his paw. He paused as we neared, before approaching, butting his head against our legs.
"Hello, Gaius." Marius released me, and bent over to pet Gaius the black cat. Mother used to tell me that black cats were bad luck, but this one seemed friendly enough.
"Is this where she lives? The oracle?"
"Yes." Marius straightened, pulling the beaded curtains aside and held them back for me. I ducked my head under them, being greeted with a room dimly lit by candles. In the center, a round table, with various shelves covered with odds and ends against the walls. Marius stepped in behind me, the beads rattling as they fell back into place.
An old woman waddled into the room from another doorway on the other side, her back hunched, and a bandana holding her wire-like silver hair back from her face.
"Ah, yes. I remember you, boy," the old woman proclaimed as she made her way over. As the dim light revealed more of her face, I could see that two empty sockets sat where eyes should have been. The sight startled me, as I wasn't expecting it. Especially for an old woman who seemed to get around with no trouble at all.
"I see you have brought someone. A soul soon to be powerful, yes, yes. Is it who I think it is?" She then paused, laughing. Before Marius could answer, she continued. "Ah, yes, I see, I see. Come sit, little ones." I hesitated, glancing back at Marius. He gave me a sharp nod, before stepping past me to pull up a stool to the table in the middle of the room. I quickly followed suite, watching the woman waddle her way over to one of the many shelves. She pulled down a small leather satchel, before taking a seat across from us.
I glanced over at Marius again, noting his eerily calm demeanor. In that moment, it hit me hard, the weight of my situation. I wondered how in the world did I ever manage to make it to this point? To sitting in a dusty little room on the other side of the world, about to listen to an old blind woman's mumbo jumbo?
Yet here I was.
The old woman folded her bony little fingers together as she 'stared' into the space between Marius and I.
"I did bring the girl you told me about. I was hoping you would be able to tell me more of what is to come."
"Yes, I am able to tell you more. It might not be what you want to hear."
"Tell us." Marius clenched his fist on the table. I glanced nervously between the two, wringing my hands together in my lap.
"Give to me your hands." The old woman held each of her hands out towards us. Hesitantly, I wrapped my fingers around her's. Her fingers were ice, and the moment our skin touched, a shiver jolted down my spine.
After she had both of our hands, she leaned back, and began to utter words in a foreign language. Her words came out wispy, and echoed around the room. I knew in that instant I was witnessing real magic. Not just the sort of trickery that court jesters would try to pull off, but the real deal.
I watched in both fascination and absolute terror as a sea green ribbons of ethereal light spun into existence from the old woman's eyes. They twirled around her head, her neck, her shoulders, down her arms. By the time the ribbons of light reached our locked hands, I could feel tingles shooting up my arm. It took all of my will power to not let go.
Before long, the three of us were completely encircled by the strings of light. A moment of silence past, before the ribbons burst into particles that scattered about the room, and slowly molded themselves together to take shape. Behind the old woman, the sea green particles formed the familiar jagged peaks of the Weygate Mountains.
"In the true north, where not even the northerners dare tread, beyond heaven kissed peaks and curved arches of pristine elven stone," the oracle spoke, the particles dispersed again, only to form the shapes of foothills and impossibly tall trees, and flowers as tall as men.
"In hills of emerald green and pines like mountains," she continued, and then the image appeared to fly past, as though we were birds darting between the trees. The particles stilled in the shape of a lake surrounded by rocky cliffs and the giant trees.
"There be a quiet misty lake, under which sleeps a mighty drake. Seek him out, only then will the true battle begin."
As the last word was uttered, the image and the particles of light that made it disappeared in a blink. The old woman slumped back in her chair, slack jawed. I leaned forward, brows furrowed.
"Is she alright?"
"She's fine. At her age, such magics tire her out easily. Understandably so." Marius stood, pulling up the hood of his cloak.
"Looks like we will be slaying a dragon for sure now."
I stood, furrowing my brows. "She didn't say anything about killing the dragon, and why would you? Especially a sleepy one."
Marius gave me a strange look. "Why wouldn't we kill the dragon? It'd be just as likely to eat us."
"They say Humans are too stringy and foul tasting for them." At least, that is what the last dragon I had seen told me.
"Well, regardless of whether or not we're going to kill it, we're going to go find it." He plucked a silver coin from a pouch tied to his belt, leaving it on the table before we left. As we were leaving, he held back the bead curtain once again for me.
"So just like that. We're going to go to the land beyond the Weygate Mountains because she said so? People go there all the time and never come back."
"I don't think you quite understand what's at stake."
"What do you mean, I don't understand? I understand well enough that we're more likely to die before we ever find this dragon than anything."
He led me down a street with dirt instead of cobblestones, clothes strung up between Windows of the tall buildings on either side of the street.
"I explained to you that I want to usurp my father and take the throne. Not out of greed, or lust for power, or anything of the sort. Look around, and I mean -really- look around."
So I looked around. I saw people in rags all around us. Their faces smeared with dirt. Somewhere nearby I could hear the cries of a baby. Along the streets were homeless folk, slouched in dark corners with their meager belongings clutched desperately to their chest.
"I see people in poverty. Yet, no matter how hard you try, they will always exist. It's a noble cause though, I'll admit."
"No, you're not looking close enough. Their faces. They have no hope. Why? Because under the reign of my father, we are all slowly withering away. I want to remedy that. Bring glory back to the empire."
I scowled, my blood running cold. "I am not going to help you bring glory to the empire that destroyed my home. That only knows what it is to conquer." I halted, and so did he.
"Please, it is not the empire itself that is your enemy, but Nautilus himself. He is the one who commanded it. We are but pawns in his game of chess with the world."
"And once you sit on the throne, what are your plans, exactly? How are you going to be better than Nautilus?"
"First, I'll start on Alderas itself. The empire's internal structure is outdated and old, riddled with corrupted and greedy senators, and old and powerful mages whose influence is too great." He lowered his voice now, so that only I may hear him as we wove our way through the alley ways.
"And your plan with dealing with them?"
He grimaced. "I must admit, I don't have much of one yet. The political battlefield is not quite like a real battlefield, as I'm sure you're aware."
"And what is your plan with me once you have what you want?" I dared to ask, almost terrified to hear the answer.
"You would be free to do as you please. Go back north, go west, stay in the empire, whatever you like. I can promise you will have a place here, should we succeed."
I chose to keep quiet, but I knew in my heart that I would never stay here. Home is where the heart was, and my heart was in the north. At least what was left of it.960Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0i8QMcY3De
