Chapter 7

The Second Day of the Month of PaleFrost.

The courtyards surrounding the Royal Palace.

Xyla walked back to her carriage, a happy smile on her face.

Elliot was doing better and a huge weight seemed to have lifted off her chest.

He had shared with her, the many tumultuous emotions he had gone through in the last week and all that his brother had said to him the night before.

In the end, the two had chatted lightly like old times. Laughing together, they had decided that they would always have each other and the Lord's kind grace no matter what happened.

Finding comfort, the Prince had returned to his duties and Xyla now walked over to return to her mansion.

Talking with Elliot had settled fears she had harbored herself; a week before, things had taken an unexpected change and Elliot had experienced disaster after disaster.

The kingdom had a certain set of traditions to be carried out by the Royal Family years before the heir took the throne.

There was a five-part Tradition set that included an imparting of a gift or power to the future king.

The bloodline of the royals and a few nobles had a connection to fantastical powers to them.

History had recorded each heir or heirs to the throne assemble at a spot deep underneath the Palace, a few years before they were ready to take the throne.

At the assembly, a flower was recorded to bloom and bestow an extraordinary ability to each man in the bloodline.

There was a variety of powers that took possession of the men or women there.

Flight, for a minimal altitude being one. Temporary hypnosis being another. Invisibility was a well-known one.

The unbelievable ability of Healing was always the ability given to the Crown-prince or princess of that generation.

The people had begun to associate the ability with the throne.

Xyla sighed as she was helped into the carriage by her maiden.

This year, things had taken a sharp turn.

Although this did not decide much, logically, the people were bound to uproar when the announcement was made in the week to come.

In the assembly that had taken place a week ago, Xyla had gathered in the deep, calm underground chamber with the rest.

It was the middle of the night and the moonlight did not reach the tiny stone-enclosed chamber.

Xyla stood respectfully next to her father who was one of Elliot's favourite tutors.

Looking over in the dark, she had spotted the unmistakably shiny hair of Aldith EverGlower, Elliot's new fiancée.

They had only been engaged for a day but Xyla knew that Elliot had high opinions of her.

Xyla had not liked the girl but had said nothing to discourage the man.

Aldith Everglower stood next to the queen, her eyes wide as she watched the event she had only read about.

At the time of the blossom of the flower, there was a thick silence in the air, as the people gathered had waited in bated breath for what was to occur.

What occurred, of course, was what had changed everything they had prepared for.

The Second Day of the Month of Palefrost

Nearing the Royal Palace

Aldith watched Xyla Riverlove's carriage pass by her own.

She scowled.

The moment she'd laid eyes on Xyla, Aldith had hated her.

The stunning woman had made careful plans and had earned an engagement with the second prince only to find him extremely bonded to his childhood friend, Xyla.

If there were two people Aldith feared in the Palace, it was Prince Augustus' keen observance and Xyla's watching eyes.

From the moment they had acquainted, Xyla had gone quiet and careful around Aldith, causing the latter to be more proper in her actions and words.

It had been exhausting.

After succeeding in the killing of Sir Waldorf, Aldith had positioned herself near the queen, claiming to try to comfort her as she was the only other as near to Sir Waldorf as the queen herself.

The queen, in naivety, had trusted the girl and taken solace in her charming, well-thought up words.

A few days after mourning the demise of her childhood friend, the queen had been struck by an urge to keep the gentle and kind seeming maiden close.

She had discounted the thought of giving her in marriage to her eldest son for he was to take the throne someday and had to be much more careful in picking a wife.

She settled instead on her favourite son: Prince Elliot Whitecrest, ever proper, ever kind.

Aldith had played the part of a gentle and delicate fiancée well and Elliot had nodded to his mother's wishes on the matter.

They had only met two or three times but Aldith was caught off guard by how much his personality had changed towards her now that she was his fiancée.

He was much warmer and expressed his affection through love notes and gifts.

There was still a terror lurking in her when she watched the way he easily commanded power wherever he went or the quiet way he analysed things before he spoke. He had a strong, masculine physique because of all the sword-practice he took and was a head taller than most. There was a mystery to him that intoxicated her and she was quite content with marrying Elliot before she saw the allure of marrying someone who was to take the throne.

Especially when she realized that it was suddenly within her grasp.

The shock of it all took everyone surprise but Aldith wasted no time in securing her bid to a life as queen.

Manipulating someone as weak as Cecil was too easy.

He was her route to a life of power the moment the flower had blossomed that day and bestowed him with the power to heal.

The Second Day of the Month of PaleFrost

The Royal Palace

Cecil felt his smirk grow.

That day a week ago had changed everything.

The emotions he had gone through had ended with a firm decision on his part after a wildly passionate kiss he had received from his brother's then fiancée.

Thinking of the way her delicious body had pressed into his, Cecil felt his mouth water.

As he waited for her, he thought back to the day of the flower Event.

He had been excited that morning. Cecil did not have the stress his Eldest brother had.

He was hoping he would get some ability since the Flower sometimes, did not bestow anything on the last born.

The morning had been spent with him trying to cheer Augustus up and Elliot helping him to get the prince dressed.

Right before the ceremony, Prince Elliot's stunning fiancée had arrived.

Cecil had always found himself completely dumbfounded by her.

She had an exotic look in her eyes that always seemed to shut him up.

The party had gone down to the chamber he'd never been to and the moment had arrived.

Kneeling beside his brothers, Cecil had waited with closed eyes, his body nervous despite not needing to be.

A few moments had passed before a warm feeling had entered his chest.

He had passed out and was awoken again minutes later to a scene of quiet chaos.

Many eyes watched him in shock while Augustus sat somewhere far away in utter bewilderment.

Cecil's mother held him close, wordlessly.

When they had broken the news to him, he could hardly believe it.

He had been bestowed with the power the heir would get: the power of healing. And Augustus, his brother, had gotten none.

The shock of it had driven him upstairs, his mind had raced, his thoughts shifting wildly.

He didn't want the throne. He wasn't prepared and it was too much work.

He didn't want to have to take the responsibility.

The powers said no such said rule and the Healing power being associated with the throne was widely due to the people seeing it happen for generations but that was where the problem lay.

The people would become restless if they heard that the crown prince had no power and that someone else in the bloodline had the power of healing instead.

Prince Cecil roamed the rooms of the palace through most of the night, his mind full of thoughts and frustrations.

He had almost walked straight into Aldith, where she stood in the dark of a lonely corridor.