Chapter 42

Lady Emmi's POV

As I traveled with Adrian, I had a chance to take a better look at him. He was so focused on getting both of us back that he didn't seem to notice my appraisal. His silver eyes were clouded in worry and concentration and his hair was blond with large red bangs. His strong lightning, fire, and wind abilities made his a great asset to the Emperor; especially in his early years on the throne.

I had seen Adrian before when he was younger and compared his previous appearance to his now. He was still tall with a straight back, but his face had matured and you could tell by looking at it that he had definitely been through more than his share of trials. We arrived in record time and I was swiftly ushered in to the bedroom where Gemma lay while surrounded by her 3 children.

Gemma's damp purple hair lay splayed out around her head. Her eyes were closed, but I remembered their vivid blue from our previous meeting. It was a blue that attracted attention almost immediately. Her face could be described as cute and delicate and while all the children favored more of her features, the child that took after her completely was Aline. Sapphire was a tall slender girl with red hair and eyes. Jasper, though younger than Sapphire, was already taller than his sister. His hair was a brilliant green and his eyes a soft brown that denoted his calm and steady nature.

After sending the other two children out with Adrian , I tasked little Aline to cultivate, while I worked to heal Gemma. Since Gemma already had some healing abilities, I worked to boost her body to fight off the infection and heal itself. The children had really done a wonderful job keeping her head cooled down and giving her body energy in the form of honey. When I finished assisting Gemma's body, I turned my attention to Aline.

'She's so precious' I couldn't help but think. She had wormed her way into my heart when she was living at my house and I was pretty sure I would always have a soft spot for her. In my study of her, I suddenly realized how she was cultivating and it terrified me. I couldn't help but grab her arm and yell, asking what she thought she was doing.

I am ashamed that I yelled at her. I could see the shock and confusion in her face immediately after and realized that she had no idea what she was doing wrong. I felt especially bad when her tears began flowing down her cute little face. I dabbed my handkerchief under her brilliant black eyes and smoothed down her barely grown black hair.

My mind couldn't help but flash back to some of the other newly awakened elementalists who had, like Aline, focused on one element at a time and ended up being severely weakened and died indirectly from that way of cultivation.

Once Aline had stopped crying I was able to ask her questions, but they weren't answered in a way I could understand. The commotion quickly alerted Adrian who had rushed into the room with a very concerned look on his face.

"What happened" Adrian asked with a voice of authority.

"I apologize for the disturbance. I discovered Aline cultivating incorrectly and in my concern, I'm afraid I scared her" I said with shame.

"Incorrectly?"

"Yes...She was focusing on only one element at a time."

"Oh..."There was a significant pause and I could see the thoughts flitting across Adrian's face as he processed the information. "Lady Emmi, it seems that our family owes you many debts of gratitude". Adrian bowed with his words of thanks before moving toward the now sniffling Aline and pulled her onto his lap to try and comfort her and calm her down.

"Aline...do you understand what Lady Emmi was concerned about?" Adrian asked hesitantly.

"No" Aline replied shaking her tiny head.

"When you cultivate, it's like a call to the elements outside your body. They respond and enter based on your elemental affinity which is what is enacted during the ceremony. The only elements that will come to you will only be those with your affinity. There are also...other...not really elements, but similar. They are vital to the cultivator. It gives us strength to be able to wield the elements. Without it, you can become crippled or even die. It is absolutely vital that you cultivate by pulling any and all elements around you." Adrian explained to her.

"Do you understand?" I asked Aline.

Aline nodded slowly, but with a questioning look on her face.

"Do the elements know about this?"