The Golden Vase of Hope

<p>Spring, Year 225, Luminous Calendar<br/> <br/> Iris stepped towards a tipped over empty golden vase on a wooden block that had stood next to the spot where the tall glass Jar of Life had been just a moment ago, its absence leaving a wide ring of dark rich soil behind. "This is The Swirling Vase of Hope. It is said that many decades ago the last Divine Priestess was able to not only tip the heavy gold vase over with nothing more then a glass of water, but that she was also gifted enough to fill this vase with that small stream of water. For the sake of this Trial, we don't expect you to fill the vase but we do expect you to be able to at least tip it over to it's natural state with this bucket load of water and then push the same water into it." King James said in a serious tone and Iris nodded, stepping close to the vase before the King could place his hand on her back again and cause her to involuntarily shiver.<br/> Iris placed her hands on the table on either side of the large golden vase without actually touching the vase or the wooden block it stood on. 'It would be quite foolish of her to do that' she thought to herself. She knew from the long dusk hours she had spent by the river, that ran just outside the Temple walls, filling dozens of buckets of water for the Sisters in an effort to help them out with their morning chores, that the water was what she had to focus her energy on. She had seen strong water currents crush and crumble stones the size of houses during heavy storms, so she knew that simple bucket of water by the foot of the long black table would be more then enough to turn this heavy gold vase over without even so much as a break of sweat from her forehead. She slowly chanted to the water as she once again closed her eyes and felt the energy slip past her palms and into the wooden bucket of water that stood a few feet away from her. She twisted and turned her palms slowly to a soft rhythm she chanted as she felt the coolness of the water's energy easily respond to her warm energy. The King and his men watched with awe as a snake like stream of glittering transparent water slithered up and over the edge of the small wooden bucket and then made it's way up the sturdy leg of the black table. The glittering stream stopped before the large golden vase before turning it's snake like head toward Iris, who slightly opened her eyes to smile and nod at it and then close her eyes to refocus on her streaming energy in an effort to push it towards the golden vase. The stream, however, seemed to have a mind of it's own and instead circled around to the tipped over side of the golden vase, almost as if it was inspecting it and the slowly made it's slithering way past the rim and into the vase's bowl. The stream bunched itself up into a medium sized water ball before hurling itself against the other side of the tipped over edge. Over and over again it did this, each time growing in force and size. By the time the once small stream was able to tip over the vase, it's force was almost that of a steel hammer crashing into the golden vase's rim and it's amount was so large that it barely contained itself inside the vase. The water splashed and swooshed inside, small streams leaking over different sides of the rim.<br/> "Once again, well done my dear." King James chortled happily as the man besides him stared at the vase with a serious face and then turned to write something on his scroll of paper. "that was truly wonderful. Now tell me, are you ready for the next Trial?" The King asked Iris with a lifted eye brow and Iris smiled politely as she muttered a quick, "Yes your Majesty, I am." The man dressed in white that had been standing behind the golden vase, quickly removed it with the help of another as Iris and the King moved over to the next object. "This is an old relic that belongs directly to the Royal Family of Sundome, so if you could be very careful with it, I would be very grateful. This relic is called the Glass Feather of Destiny, your task is to make the feather float over the stone base without letting it fall or waver." King James said waving a hand in font of what Iris couldn't quiet understand as anything other then a contraption meant to make the person taking the Trial fail without a doubt. A thin feather shaped object made of glimmering gold colored glass laid on a royal blue velvet cushion while a massive white marbled stone slab stood vertically next to it and then another identical cushion laid next to the marble slab. Long copper wires tangled and protruded from the slab in an awkward array of arches and twisted around themselves in a few spots while some sharp ends stuck out like the thorns of the Brittle bushes outside. "Everything ok?" The King asked and Iris smiled at him while her mind raced with a stampede of rampant panicked thoughts. "Everything is ok your Majesty. I was just thinking about how this relic reminds me of the Brittle bushes in the Garden and then I couldn't help but think about how I've only had a short walk in the Garden since I was allowed to leave my bed rest." Iris knew she was ranting but she was willing to do so if it would buy her some extra time without making it look like she was having second thoughts or even worse, that she felt she couldn't complete the Trial at all.<br/> "I see." The King said and then looked around at his men. They all stood quietly, but the wise King could see the glinting of hope and anticipation in their eyes. He could have easily compared this to a murder of Three Clawed Vultures sitting atop tall branches waiting with hope for a small and innocent Fox Rabbit to pass by so that they could feast that night. "Barthol." The king said in his booming voice and not even twenty seconds later, a man dressed in dark green squire's attire ran to the King's side. "Yes your Majesty?" The young boy asked as he kneeled before the King, his head bowed with respect. "Have dinner prepared for us. We will be taking a break while we wait so make sure the kitchen staff hurry. My, I'm sure many of us are hungry and I'm also sure that after a few hours of work, Lady Iris would surely enjoy a break. How about it Lady Iris?" The King asked looking first at his men and then at Iris, who, for the first time in the day genuinely smile at him and nodded before responding with the only line she seemed to remember today, "Yes your Majesty."<br/> <br/> Iris slowly walked behind the same man who had lead her to the Altar a few hours ago. He was silent and cold towards her but she didn't mind. His aura reeked of anger and distrust so she was fairly certain that there wouldn't be much for either of them to talk about either way. They were barely two corridors away from the Altar room when a familiar man rounded the corner and quickly stepped towards them. "Guard, here. Take this to his Majesty." The tall handsome man said to her escort with a commanding voice. "Your Highness, I was ordered to accompany Lady Iris to the Garden." The man in front of Iris said in a low voice. The familiar man looked at him almost as if he was studying a very strange puzzle that was either too complex or too idiotic to solve. "Repeat that for me, Guard" The Guard looked down at the Prince's shoes and repeated his statement. "So, what you are telling me is that you are disobeying a direct command, based on the fact that you were ordered to accompany, no, lead a Lady to the Gardens, which I'm sure she already knows how to get to by herself, since this is her home and we are guests, almost as if she were a prisoner?" The Prince asked with a cold tone. The guard kept silently looking down at the Prince's shoes while the Prince stared at him tensely for a few more minutes. "I'll tell you what guard, since I know this was a direct order from my father, I'll let this blatant sign of disrespect slide. Now take this message to His Majesty and I'll accompany the Lady to the Garden." The guard quickly nodded and gave the Prince a respectful bow before the Prince handed him a white scroll which he took, and almost ran back to the Altar room. The Prince gave Iris a bashful grin and waved his arm towards the corridor he had just walked out of, signaling for her to go first. Iris felt a sudden rise in her heartbeat as a blush swept through her face and she quickly walked before the Prince could notice the sudden embarrassing reaction.</p>