Heart of Silver, Soul of Glass by Stomlight Chapter 12 The next evening found Serena in the history vaults again, poring over book after book with renewed determination. She was alone this time, having picked the key from Endymion’s pocket when he wasn’t looking. Quite the handy little trick; she’d learned it from one of the newer soldiers recently...a cute, foul-mouthed, fire-haired man only a few years older than herself...and had locked herself in the room, determined not to leave until she’d found her answers. Of course...it had never occurred to her that there might be another key... She squealed in fright when the heavy door abruptly swung open with a deafening wham, sending dust and dirt flying in its wake. The candles and torches sputtered, danced wildly, and nearly went out altogether. Wide-eyed, she stared at the open doorway and waited for the dust to clear, wondering if Endymion really would kill her this time for picking his pocket. It wasn’t the crown prince who stood there, much to her relief, but rather his sister, dangling a silver key identical to Serena’s own from her fingers, a sweetly calm expression on her face. Serena gulped and casually edged her way around until the dusty table stood between her and Rei. She knew that what that look really meant. An angry Rei was a dangerous Rei, and she preferred to have some kind of shield in front of her should the princess decide to start throwing things. "Ah...Rei, what’s wrong?" she asked nervously, gripping the edge of the table in preparation to throw it over on its side, should the need arise. "Are you still upset about King Ayurhu leaving?" If anything, Rei’s black look went even blacker, and Serena winced. Oh, this was not good. She was really mad at her, for some reason or other. It would be the guillotine for Serena if she wasn’t careful. It was time for the tried-and-true method of apologizing profusely until the princess either calmed down, or forgave her out of sheer exasperation. "I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Really I am! I didn’t mean it!" she wailed, clasping her hands together and bowing repeatedly, nearly braining herself on the table in the process. "Whatever it is, I’ll fix it, honest!" She paused, then added in a tiny voice, "Um...could you at least tell me what it is I’m supposed to fix, first?" Rei continued to stare at her, but now she looked a little befuddled. She blinked a few times, then scowled. "Serena, why didn’t you tell me?" she scolded. "How could you not tell me about something like this?" Serena hesitated. "Um...I...that is...it slipped my mind?" She blinked, and now she was the one who looked befuddled, trying to remember what she was supposed to have told the princess. Rei sighed, realizing that Serena had no idea what she was talking about. As usual. "You’re neck, you dolt!" she snapped. "Why didn’t you tell me about your neck?" The other girl winced. Oh. Right. Her neck. How did Rei find out about that, anyway? For that matter...how had Rei found out that she was down here? "When I went to get some tea from Luna, I overheard Endymion asking Mitsukake for some healing salve for your neck, since you refused to get some for yourself. Mitsukake, naturally, wanted to know what had happened, and Endymion explained the entire situation. He said Ayurhu had tried to strangle you! Is that true?" Rei demanded before Serena could voice her question. Serena glared. "Stop doing that! It’s creepy," she pouted. "And he wasn’t supposed to say anything! I should have known he couldn’t keep his big mouth shut!" Rei looked horrified. "So it is true? He really tried to hurt you?!" Serena winced. "Well, no it wasn’t like that, exactly!" she protested. "I mean...it was...but he was trying to look at this..." She held up the pendant. "...and it happened to be around my neck at the time, is all." "Didn’t he notice?" Rei demanded angrily. She scratched her head and tried to laugh. "Actually, I don’t think he did. He seemed to be too focused on the pendant to realize that I was turning blue," she replied flippantly. "Why didn’t you tell me?" Rei cried. "Or Miaka! Why didn’t you tell your own sister?" Serena squirmed. "You both have enough to worry about without me adding onto it," she muttered. "I wasn’t trying to keep secrets..." Rei gave an un-princess-like snort at that blatant lie. "You thought I wouldn’t believe you if you told me, didn’t you?" she huffed, pointing an accusing finger at her friend. "Admit it!" Was it just her, was it suddenly rather warm in this room? Serena tugged on the collar of her dress uncomfortably, and Rei abruptly had a clear view of the fading bruises that marred the delicate skin around her throat. The princess’s hands came up to cover her mouth at the sight of the undeniable proof. "Well...the thought had crossed my mind," Serena was muttering. "I mean, he’s your fiancee, for heaven’s sake! You’re in love with the man! Of course you wouldn’t want to hear that he tried to strangle your best friend!" She paused and glared. "And you wouldn’t have, either!" she accused, pointing her own finger at the princess. "You’d have gotten mad at me and accused me of being jealous or something! Wouldn’t you?" Now it was Rei’s turn to squirm. "Maybe," she muttered. "But look at your neck, Serena! I mean, good grief! How could I deny it happening when you’ve got the evidence right there?!" She sighed and threw herself into a chair, absently waving away the cloud of dust that immediately rose from it. Serena raised an eyebrow and amusedly wondered how long it would take for the princess...who prided herself on maintaining an immaculate appearance...to realize that she was sitting in dirt. "So now that you do know, what are you going to do about it?" she asked bluntly. "Hmmm?" Rei looked up at her in surprise, as though she’d forgotten her friend was there for a moment. "Oh, I’ll simply call off the engagement, of course," she sniffed, waving a hand in a dismissive gesture. Serena’s jaw dropped as she stared at her friend in shock. "J-just like that?" she sputtered. "You’re just...going to tell him you aren’t going to marry him anymore?! But...but...I thought you were in love with the man! How can you be so...so dismissive about it?" Rei sighed and examined one manicured hand. "Well, whoever said I was in love with him, anyway?" she asked simply. Serena almost fell over. "Are you kidding me?!" she almost shrieked. "All those weeks of ‘Oh, he’s so wonderful!’ and ‘Oh, he’s so handsome!’ and ‘Oh, I’m so lucky! He wants to marry me!’, and now you’re telling me you don’t love him?!" Rei rolled her eyes. "Really, Serena. Screaming is unbecoming of a lady." Before Serena could react to that statement (Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!), she continued conversationally, "You cannot tell me you’re really that naïve," she sniffed. "Just because I thought he was handsome and wonderful, it doesn’t mean I love him!" "Then what does it mean?" the younger girl demanded. "Serena, you simply have no idea how things work in royalty...although you should, considering you grew up with us!" Rei shot her a scolding glance. "It was an arranged marriage, between my father and King Ayurhu. Elithia is a small kingdom, and just like Palash it is attempting to gain military power by marrying into the family, so to speak. If I marry Ayurhu, his kingdom will be joined with Davinshire, and it will be twice as strong." "How could you simply accept something like that?!" Serena sputtered indignantly. "Don’t you care that it’s your life your father is playing with?!" "I’m really rather lucky, Serena," Rei replied soothingly. Then she grimaced. "Or I thought so, anyway. King Ayurhu is a relatively young, extremely attractive man, who does have a lot of wealth even if his army is small. His kingdom can benefit ours the same way we can benefit his. I always knew I’d be forced into marriage eventually, and I’ve long since learned to accept it." "So how does that make you lucky?" Serena demanded. She sighed. "I know of several women...and not just princesses...whose parents forced them to marry men who were old and decrepit, simply for their own financial gain. Those who were lucky enough to marry someone slightly younger than their grandfather are now forced to deal with adulterous husbands. If any one of them strayed, it would be imprisonment or death for their actions, but of course nobody would even think of punishing the husbands for the same crime!" Rei’s tone was bitter as she spoke. "How do you know Ayurhu wouldn’t have done the same thing to you?" Serena asked softly. Rei shrugged. "He lied. He told me that I was the one he was looking for all his life. He told me he would take care of me. He told me I would never want for anything." She paused and looked at the floor reflectively. "He never once told me that he loved me..." she finished softly. She sighed and shook her head. "Part of me knew he wasn’t telling the whole truth, but I was determined to make the best of my situation." She looked up, and her gaze was hard. "Still, now that I know what he’s truly like on the inside, I will not marry him. I’ll go to my parents and tell them what he did. My father isn’t stupid. He won’t force me to marry someone when my life is potentially at risk." "But I don’t want to be the cause of any trouble!" Serena exclaimed. "Won’t Ayurhu be offended? It could start a war if you deny his engagement!" "It could start a war if I marry him and he kills me, too. I’d rather be alive to know, either way," Rei replied humorously. Serena scowled. "I don’t see how this is funny." "It isn’t," the princess replied. "Now come on. We need to go see my father." "Wait, I need to keep searching for this," Serena protested, holding out the pendant. "It’s important that I find information on it." "What is it?" Rei asked curiously, and Serena explained where she’d found it, and Ayurhu’s reaction to it when he’d seen her wearing it. When she finished her explanation, the princess looked at her for a moment, then calmly picked up a book and began to page through it. "Well, if we’re ever going to get through this mess, we’d better start looking," she stated simply. "We can go see my father later." Serena grinned at her friend, then opened another book and once more began to read. ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ That’s where Endymion found them three hours later, when he finally realized that his key was missing and that Serena was nowhere to be found. After questioning Miaka...who immediately became curious and, looking for anything to take her mind off her troubles, decided to tag along...Endymion hurried his way down to the history vaults. They came upon Nuriko on the way, who insisted on coming with them upon learning of their destination. The three stopped in front of the door and stared at the two serene girls, books and scrolls piled around them and their faces, hair, and clothes smeared with dust. They didn’t even notice the intruders, so intent were they on their reading, until Endymion made the snide comment that he could barely tell which one was his sister beneath all that dirt, whereas Rei calmly picked up a book and threw it at him. "Ah!" he exclaimed, grinning. "There you are! What in the world are you doing?" Serena shot Rei a wry glance. "And he’s supposed to be the smart one?" Rei shrugged. "Don’t ask me. He’s just my brother," she replied. "Serena, what are you doing?" Miaka asked seriously, looking around the room in distaste. "Endymion said something about researching a pendant...?" Serena and Rei glanced at each other, and then Serena sighed and stood up, taking her sister’s hand and leading her away. The others pretended not to watch as the two girls spoke quietly to one another for a few moments. Then Miaka’s soft gasp was clearly heard as Serena adjusted the collar of her gown to reveal the fading welts. After a few more words and a brief hug, the sisters rejoined the group, where Miaka picked up a book from the "unread" pile and began to page through it in grim silence. ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ ~~~{~@ "You would think that with all the records in this room, one of them would actually have some useful information in it!" Serena complained loudly, shoving the thick volume away from her in disgust and succeeding in knocking an entire pile of scrolls off the table in the process. "Watch it! I haven’t read those yet!" Rei protested, hastily gathering them up before they got mixed in with the "read" pile. "What’s it matter? They’re probably as useless as the others are," Serena huffed. "Come on, Little Sister, don’t give up yet," Miaka soothed. "One of them has to say something about your pendant." "Look on the bright side. You probably know more about your country now than you ever learned during lessons, since you always managed to sleep through them," Endymion teased, and got another book thrown at him for his efforts. "We have been reading a long time," Rei added. "It’s very late. My suggestion is that we follow Nuriko’s example and call it a night." They’d forced the minstrel to bed an hour ago after catching him nodding off over a book. He’d been rather embarrassed when they woke him, and insisted on staying to help, but Serena wasn’t having it. She finally bullied Endymion into ordering him to his room, and Nuriko had reluctantly acquiesced, although he insisted on taking several scrolls along with him to read over breakfast. Serena had helped to carry those and two thick books to his chambers, laying them neatly on his table, and when she’d turned to bid him goodnight, the minstrel was sprawled haphazardly across his mattress, already sound asleep. "I agree with my sister," Endymion was saying as he closed his book with a snap and rose to stretch his cramped limbs. "We’re all tired. Therefore, I order you all to retire to your beds for some decent sleep." Serena looked like she was about to protest, but Miaka clapped her hand over her sister’s mouth and said teasingly, "That was an order from the crown prince, Serena. We can’t argue with that!" "He always gives orders to get his way! It isn’t fair!" Serena whined. "Well, you certainly weren’t complaining when it was Nuriko’s turn," Endymion pointed out with a smirk. She glared at him and pouted, before moving to the door and grabbing the tarnished handle to pull it open. To her surprise, it didn’t budge. She blinked, then tried again. "Um...everyone? We have a problem," she muttered, pulling on the door with all her might. Again, there was no movement. "It’s stuck!" Endymion rolled his eyes. "Let me handle this," he stated arrogantly, gently pushing Serena aside like an errant child. She glared at him, half-tempted to kick him, but immediately felt better when he gave a mighty pull on the door and succeeded only in pulling himself into it. He grunted and stumbled back, rubbing his stomach where the handle had jabbed him, and stared at the door in bewilderment. "You were saying?" she smirked. "It must be locked," he replied with a glare. "How can it be locked?" Serena snapped. "We’re all in here, and besides, Rei and I have the only keys! See?" She held hers up, and Rei did the same. "Well, maybe something’s blocking it from the other side?" Miaka suggested. "There isn’t anything in that hallway to block it, and besides, the door opens inward, not out. It wouldn’t do any good to block it from the outside," Rei pointed out. "So what do we do?" Serena asked, starting to panic. "Don’t tell me we have to spend the night in this place! What about ghosts?!" "There are no ghosts, you ninny," Rei snapped, whacking her across the head. "Those are just stories!" "But what if nobody realizes we’re gone?!" All three of them shot her incredulous looks, and she blushed. "Right. Stupid question," she muttered. "Look, Nuriko knows where we are, and as soon as the guards start to realize we’re missing, he’ll figure out that we’re still down here and come looking for us," Rei began soothingly. "Until then, we may as well keep reading." She sat back down and picked up the scroll she’d been looking through, and Miaka did the same. Endymion headed back toward the table, only to stop and give Serena a worried glance. "Are you coming?" he asked softly. "Something doesn’t feel right," she whispered, hugging herself tightly. Her face had grown pale, and her eyes looked haunted in the flickering torch- light. "I feel...cold..." He was immediately beside her, wrapping an arm around her and rubbing up and down her arm soothingly. "There’s nothing to be afraid of," he assured her gently, pointedly ignoring the sly glances the other two girls were throwing at him. "It’s only a few hours until dawn. Somebody will realize that Rei and I never made it to our beds tonight, and they will sound the alarm. People will start panicking, and everyone will know we’re missing once the servants get wind of it. Nuriko is sure to find out, and he’ll come get us out...hopefully before my father sends guards out scouring the kingdom for our whereabouts and causing a national panic. It’s as simple as that." Serena nodded slowly, but didn’t look at all convinced. He smiled and gave her shoulders a friendly squeeze. "Look on the bright side," he added cheerfully. "We certainly won’t be bored, and there’s plenty of light left to read by." At that moment, the torches and candles flickered out. All at once. As though they’d been snuffed by an unseen hand. There was a moment of stunned silence as utter blackness settled across the room like Death’s shroud, punctuated only by harsh, startled breathing...and Rei’s somewhat ironic statement, "You just had to go and open your big mouth, didn’t you?" "Okay. So. Can I start panicking now?" Serena asked in a choked voice, unconsciously reaching out to clutch Endymion’s arm in the dark. "There must have been a breeze," Rei explained, not very convincingly. "Even though the air was perfectly still? That makes sense," Serena huffed. "Well, if you have any other brilliant ideas, I’m more than willing to hear them!" the princess snapped. "Ladies, now is not the time to squabble," Endymion’s voice cut in commandingly. "We need to find some match sticks and get the candles lit again." "That’s all well and good, but I left the match sticks on the table, which we can no longer see," Rei pointed out. "They’re probably buried under a pile of scrolls or something. "We’ll just wait for our eyes to adjust," Miaka exclaimed. "But there’s no light," Rei replied. "There are no windows or anything." "Look," Miaka began practically. "If there’s air in the room, there has to be another door, right? Light isn’t any thicker than air is, so of course it can get in just as easily!" "Unless the place the air is coming from is just as dark as here," Serena muttered. There was another moment of silence, and then Rei exclaimed sarcastically, "You certainly have a knack for murdering hope, don’t you?" "Stuff it, Rei!" Serena snapped, not in any mood to be polite, even to a princess. "Endymion, we’d better get out of here before these two kill each other," Miaka proclaimed, and the prince chuckled. "I agree. Let’s see if I can get the door opened this time." He reached out into the darkness for the handle. "Ow!" Serena yelped as his seeking hand made sharp contact with her stomach. "Er...sorry." Serena carefully moved out of his way, on the chance that he would take out her eye next, and looked nervously around the blackened room, imagining all sorts of creepy-crawly things that could be sneaking up on them at that very moment. She just wished she could see something! After several moments of squinting at nothing, she suddenly became aware of an odd sort of glow, and blinked rapidly at it, wondering if her mind had decided to start playing tricks on her now. But no, the faint gleam of light did not abate, and she cautiously moved toward it. She pictured the span of the room in her mind and determined that it was coming from the back left corner, where some of the older records were kept that she’d not yet gone through. "Does anyone else see that?" she asked curiously, certain now that she was not seeing things. "See what?" Miaka replied. "The light! Coming from over there!" Serena pointed to it, before remembering that in the dark nobody could see where she was pointing, and added hastily, "It’s in the back corner." There was a moment of silence. "Yes...yes, I do see something," Rei announced slowly. "It’s getting brighter, too." "What is it?" Miaka asked nervously. "Maybe it’s the local spirits coming to pay us a visit?" Rei suggested teasingly. "Don’t even joke about that!" Serena snapped, moving to where she thought she was and whacking her on the head. "OW! Serena!" "Whoops." Serena giggled and scratched her head. "Sorry about that, Miaka." "Well, there’s only one way to find out what it is, and that’s to go and...well...find out what it is," Endymion stated obviously. A moment later, Serena saw his shadowy form passing her in the darkness, and she realized with a start that the light had now grown bright enough for her to see him. She hastily followed, latching onto his sleeve, and felt Miaka and Rei fall into line behind her. They moved cautiously toward the back of the room, maneuvering cautiously around the stacks of books, trying to pinpoint the source of the strange light. To Serena’s growing dismay, it didn’t seem to come from anywhere. It was just...there, glowing softly enough to highlight the shadowed forms within the room, with no discernible source. And it wasn’t exactly like the glow of a candle or torch, either. It was too...white. Too pure; more like a shaft of moonlight streaming in through a window than a candle. Only there were no windows, and there was certainly no moon. So...where was it coming from? "This is magic," Serena whispered certainly. "There’s no other answer for it." "Don’t be silly," Rei sniffed. "There is no such thing as magic." "That’s not true, Rei," Serena protested. "I used to think that, too, but I found out in some of the history books that magic actually did exist." "Really?" Miaka questioned curiously. "What did you find out about it?" "Well, mostly the history of how it disappeared," Serena replied. "Magic was a common practice, especially in Davinshire, hundreds of years ago. But not just anyone could use it. Only certain people who were...I dunno...born with this certain knowledge of how it worked were allowed to study the spells and such. Mostly it dealt with alchemy and scientific knowledge. Mixing plants and minerals and such. But there were a few who were born with...extra abilities, I guess they could be called. They had real magic, casting spells without aide of potions and such. The book didn’t really explain how it worked." "That’s just...frightening," Miaka muttered, shuddering a little. Serena shrugged. "Those with the most power were called Mages, and they’re the ones who taught the ones with lesser power to work with the minerals and such. The Mages were well-respected among the kingdoms, and many were given high positions in court as councilmen and advisors to the king, since they were said to be so wise." "So what happened to change all that?" Endymion murmured, still searching for the source of the light. Every instinct was screaming at him that something was wrong, but other than the unnatural glow in the room, nothing seemed out of place. "Some of the Mages became too ambitious," Serena was explaining, "and they rebelled against the king and tried to usurp the throne, thinking that he wasn’t doing a good enough job of ruling. The king was warned, however, by two of the Mages still loyal to him, and they devised a plan to trap the traitors. I don’t know what they did to catch them. The book didn’t really go into detail about that, either." Serena sounded somewhat disappointed. "All I know was that it involved a very powerful spell, and that it worked. The Mages, once caught, were then put to death, and their books and scrolls were burned, and it was decreed thereafter that anyone caught practicing magic would be banished from the kingdom. Even the Mages still loyal to the king were no longer trusted, so they eventually decided to leave with some of their remaining students, taking all their secrets with them. So after that...magic just kind of disappeared." "You know, that’s a very interesting story...but how does that explain where this light is coming from?" Miaka asked nervously. "Obviously this is Mage-light," Serena replied knowingly. "The book talked about that a little. It’s the source of a Mage’s power. It usually heralds the use of a spell." "Wait..." Endymion stopped in his tracks. "It heralds the use of a spell? Just what kind of spell are we talking about here?" he questioned gruffly, his brow furrowing. "I don’t know. It could be anything," Serena replied. "From what I gathered, there wasn’t much a really powerful Mage couldn’t do." "Anything like...what?" Rei asked. She, as well as the others, were growing increasingly nervous. "If the Mage is strong enough, he could do anything." Serena paused as a sudden thought occurred to her, and she looked at Endymion and finished on a breathless whisper, "Anything as powerful as causing a storm to blow up out of nowhere...or as simple as keeping a trapdoor from opening. Maybe Nuriko had been right, after all." Endymion paled, but before he could voice his thoughts, Miaka suddenly shrieked. "Look over there!" she screamed, pointing to a pile of scrolls sitting on a nearby table. They all looked...and blanched at the sight of another glow issuing from the stack of rolled parchment. This light, however, wasn’t magical in any way. This light came from the tiny, yellow-orange flames that licked hungrily at the dry paper, growing brighter and larger with every passing second. "Where did it come from?" Rei cried, even as Endymion stepped forward, hastily pulling off his shirt to smother the flames before they grew out of control. "I think we just found out what kind of spell was being cast in here," Serena replied unsteadily, trying to still the tremor in her hands. "To burn us? That’s...that’s..." Rei couldn’t even begin find words for it. Endymion stepped back and brushed his hands. "I think that did it," he announced, then made a face. "Too bad. I really liked that shirt, too." "Quit joking. It isn’t over," Serena whispered. "What do you mean?" Miaka demanded. She looked to be on the verge of panic. "I mean it’s still here! The Mage-light! It hasn’t left yet!" Serena cried, non-to-calm herself. "W-we have to get out of here! Somebody’s trying to kill us!" "Relax," Endymion soothed her, taking her into his arms. "We’ll be fine now. Look, I put the fire out, so what else can happen?" The Mage-light abruptly vanished, plunging the room into blackness once more. "Endymion, in the future, will you please make a better attempt to keep your mouth shut?!" Rei growled at her brother. "Oops?" the crown prince offered by way of apology. "Is it gone?" Miaka asked in a whimper. They stood in tense silence, waiting for something...anything...else to happen, and when nothing did, they began to relax. "It’s over," Rei breathed. Then, forcing a mocking laugh, she added, "I must say, despite the scare, if that’s all the powerful a spell can get, then magic has been highly overrated." Serena froze, her eyes flying open as she turned in what seemed like slow motion to scream a desperate warning to her companions. Too late. Brilliant light flared all around them...almost blindingly bright...causing everyone to cry out and cover their eyes. There was a roar that sounded like the waves of the ocean pounding against a cliff, and then everything around them abruptly exploded into heat and flame. To be continued...