Chapter 53: Chapter 53
Mage Silas assisted Shia all the way until they were able to get out of the court house successfully. He propped her to a seat in the open garden of the court house, which was thankfully deserted, to ebb her light-headedness away.
As soon as she was seated, she cupped her face in her hands and began to cry uncontrollably. It was all her fault that Prince Langrion and Khailis had to accept the false accusations thrown against them! If she had not gone to the court room that day, Langrion would never have to fear for her safety and Khailis would never have to cover for her. If she had just exposed the king’s letters while she was there, the king would have been thrown in jail too, and who knows? The claim against the prince and Khailis would have possibly been overturned. If she had never met the prince at Ylann in the first place and he never rescued her, he would never have had to face this predicament of being exposed as a cursed one at all!
She was the sole root cause of Langrion and Khailis’ sufferings, and she felt helpless to the core at that moment.
The mage patted her weakly at the back. He must have witnessed what had happened back there, but he did not say anything to her. He just let her cry as long as she wanted.
“How did you know I would be here?” Shia asked him after sometime, once she had already composed herself a bit.
“The prince called for me and left me a letter yesterday. I followed you closely since this morning as he requested,” He handled her a small piece of note that he produced from within his cloak. Shia unfolded it and began to read.
Mage Silas,
In case I do not contact you by nightfall today, something grave must have happened to me. If that will be so, please assist Lady Shia. Stay by her side until all is well. I will make sure I come back to her, but if something goes wrong, don’t leave her. She might not be able to think of contacting you, but she will definitely need your help.
Prince Langrion
“Then, this means Langrey already knew that this might happen…”
“Perhaps. He did not explain why and how this had taken place. Do tell me, what had happened, child?”
Shia looked back at the mage’s worried face. Somehow, she did not know if she could trust him, but since Langrey trusted him enough to write this letter, Shia began to tell him what had transpired and the suspicions she had inside her head about the king.
“So, what are you planning to do about it? Are you going to accept the king’s proposal?”
Shia rested her head against her knuckles as she brooded. “I have to. He is the only one who could save the prince and Khailis from being sentenced to death at the Capitol.”
“He is cunning though. Do you think he will fulfil the end of the bargain if you marry him?”
“I know he won’t. He is a scum that could not be trusted,” Shia replied. King Caldwell was not just a scum, but a murderer who wouldn’t hesitate to kill even the person that he used to love. How can she even trust any word that comes out of his mouth?
They fell silent as both of them thought about the situation.
“Mage Silas, do you know of any way I can use my powers at the Capitol?” Shia began to ask. Shia had never been to the Capitol before, but she knew enough from stories that the whole city was surrounded by a fortress made of guiding stones. Shia knew she would never stand a chance of using her powers should Khailis and the prince be transported there. She needs to find a way to bend things to her advantage.
“There won’t be a way for you, child,” he began to say, “but there could be a way for you as Freya…”
“How is that?”
“Guiding stones block the negative energies coming from the Ancient Evil. That was why they were used by the gods of Teotroly to fight Sirion when he first attempted to conquer the earth. Since the power of cursed ones are originally from Sirion, you will not be able to use it there, and your body will start to physically deteriorate should you even attempt to use a flicker of it, like what had happened earlier at the court house.”
He continued. “However, Freya’s powers come from the light. The guiding stones have no effects on it, as well as the other powers bestowed to the gods. If you use Freya’s power to create magic instead of using Sirion’s curse, you will be able to use it in the Capitol.”
“If that is the case, then teach me! I-I need to learn how to use it in a week. No, I need to learn it in three days!”
“Child, Shia, powers like that of Freya would take years to learn how to control. It had taken even Freya herself almost all her lifetime to control the power of light. I am not sure you could do it in a mere three days.”
“Galahad, I have to…” Shia said. She looked at him, eyes ablaze with the fire of desire to succeed.
Mage Silas – Galahad – sighed deeply. “You don’t have to go through this ordeal… Remember what I told you before? This is your last life as a mortal. I don’t think you should waste it away like this.”
“And what do you propose I should do - forget about the prince and Lady Khailis? Do you want me to get away from here and leave them be?”
He fell silent before answering. “Yes. That would not be a selfish thing considering that you have been trying to kill Sirion for a thousand lifetimes already. Do you not wish to just live your life free of care for once?”
“I am already living a carefree life, Galahad. I am living this life as Shia, not as Freya…” she said as tears started to pool at her eyes. “This is the choice I am making as Shia. I am choosing to save the people I love. Regardless of any destinies, regardless of any consequences, I am choosing them...”
Galahad looked at her straight in the eye, and she looked straight back at him. She knew he must be worried about Freya, but she is not Freya now; she is Shia, she won’t be any one else but Shia.
“Please help me,” she said reaching out to his hand, “you swore to help me, right? You swore by my name, not Freya’s. You’ve got to help me, god! You’re the only one who could help me…”
He closed his eyes for a while. After what seemed like an eternity, he nodded towards her.
Shia heaved a sigh of relief. If the mage was right, she could help Khailis and Langrey even if the king transports them back to the Capitol in haste, but there was one more person that Shia needed to speak to if she was to attempt to execute her plans.
******************
At breakfast that morning, Danterion’s heart began to thump wildly in his rib cage when he heard the news from his assistant.
“Your highness, Prince Langrion and Lady Khailis’ trial did not go well… T-they admitted to the charges, and they admitted they were cursed!”
A loud crash was heard as Edelfina’s tea cup came falling down the marbled floor of the Rubiyah Mansion’s dining hall.
“What did you say? Speak up! How did all of these happen?!” Edelfina began to demand wildly as she stomped her fist on the table.
Danterion’s assistant began to recall what had happened at the rushed tribunal at the Judicial Court Hall of Sensala that morning. Edelfina trembled in her seat as she listened.
“Then, Prince Langrion and Lady Khailis, what will happen to them?” Edelfina asked.
“I’m afraid that the roads will lead to their sentencing at the Capi-”
Before the assistant could finish what he was saying, Edelfina’s hand came flying to his face, sending him to stagger back from the table.
“Lady Edelfina, calm yourself!” Danterion demanded to her. He moved closer towards her and held her trembling form. She was still quivering in shock against his embrace.
“Your highness, you’ve got to help them! You’ve got to help your brother,” she said. He looked down at her, feeling surprised that she wasn’t crying after hearing what they had just heard.
“And why do you want me to do that?” he said. He wanted to know her motives. Is it out of love for his brother that she is requesting this?
“Prince Danterion! Do you even have to ask? He is your twin brother! Have you got no heart?” she retorted back.
“Of course, I do. I just wanted to see if your reasons fall within the bounds of common courtesy and nothing else…”
“Of course, he used to be someone special to me, but Prince Langrion is also my best friend, and he is your brother and your best friend as well, is he not? Have you forgotten all of that?”
Danterion held her back in his arms. “Of course, love, I have never forgotten my brother… There, there, don’t fret,” he said, soothing the golden locks at the back of her head. “I will talk to uncle about this… I am sure he has the upper hand on all these things…”
“Please do,” Edelfina said, trembling slightly against his chest, “if the king refuses, I will see to it that he regrets the day he was born!”
Danterion smiled back at her flimsy threats. He stroked her back further and kissed the top of her head lovingly.
“But how come you don’t look so surprised, your highness,” Edelfina finally said to him when she had calmed down already.
“The truth is that I have received a strange letter from Langrey yesterday. I thought he had left to do one of his exploits again, so I didn’t pay any attention to it… Now I see that I should have…”
A servant came in and broke their conversation. He handled Prince Danterion a folded note.
Edelfina eyed the small piece of paper in his hands as he opened it.
See me at the library by noon time.
It was an unsigned letter, but Danterion’s hunch told him it was from someone familiar. The Tainted One began to chuckle softly inside of him.