She reached the last tomb. The name on it was that of the first fae king, Faelar Aramaer.
Flowers glowed around it with blue butterflies flapping their gossamer wings on them or on the stone of the tomb. She sat down right in front of it. As if sensing her presence, some of the butterflies fluttered their wings and came to hover around her. They would try to sit on her, but when her silhouette rippled, they would fly away. She chuckled. Her eyes went to the next tomb on his left… of Alvenia Aramaer, his wife. Her fingers went to the small pedestal in front of the tomb and she brushed the petals. How she wished she was corporeal at this time?
She had come here to find answers. Knowing that Iona wouldn't be allowed here, she came at a risk. "Queen Alvenia…" she said softly, yet her voice reverberated in the cave. Her gaze traveled to the corner of the chamber where she saw a chest filled with jewelry—gold, diamond, precious stones and right between them was a sword. It looked familiar. "My god!" she said in a low voice. It must be the sword of the first fae king when he descended on the earth with it. It was an Evindal sword.
"Why are you here, child?" a disembodied voice which came from everywhere and nowhere made her jump. She jumped up and scurried far away before she turned to see whose voice was that. And when she turned—she froze. Her eyes flared wide open.
The man in front of her was so handsome that it was breathtaking. Pure elf features. Silver hair, broad chest, eyes so violet as if they had stolen the color from thousands of lilac blooms, with pointy ears and fangs.
"Faelar Aramaer," she breathed out.
The man smiled as he glided towards her. "Yes, child."
They had a staring match as each looked at the other with interest. After a while he asked, "You have come to find the answers."
She nodded.
"Etayalar Aramaer?"
"Yes."
The fae king laughed.
"Is Etaya the reincarnation of Etayalar Aramaer?" she asked, mustering courage.
The man shrugged. "How would I know?"
Her mouth fell open. How would he know? What a stupid question she asked? She watched him go to his wife's tomb. The butterflies that sat on her tomb fluttered and started flying around him. "You should know to ask the right questions, child," he said, as he caressed the stone of her tomb.
She did know what was the best question to ask, all thoughts leaving her as she watched the first king. He was beautiful beyond words. She couldn't imagine how beautiful his wife would be or his brother. Suddenly he found him peering at her from under those thick eyelashes, as if waiting for her… to ask.
"Did Etaya ever visit these tombs?" she asked carefully, weighing every word.
A smile tugged his lips up. "No, she never came."
And that was the answer she was looking for.
All at once she heard a female voice on the outside. "Where are you?" Iona shouted, panicky.
"Your friend has come to find you. Go back child. We will meet in better conditions." Saying that he waved his hand and was instantly enveloped with blinding yellow and white light. When the light diminished, he had gone.
She came out of the cave and floated put of the tunnel into the blizzard, where Iona was standing, her teeth chattering like drums. "Wh— why did you leave?" she stuttered. "C— come back!"
She followed Iona back to the chamber without saying anything because she knew that the girl was very cold. Her skin was pale and she wanted her to become warm again.
Iona rested against the mantle of the fireplace, which she had fed fresh logs with. She let the heat of fire seep in her body as she shivered. She had discarded all her clothes and wrapped the thick blanket around her. She glared at the woman for a moment and then went back to looking at the fire as if merely looking at it would give her the much-needed heat. "Never ever do that again!"
The woman considered her for some time before saying, "Etaya never visited the tombs."
Iona whipped her head towards her, her eyes as wide as a saucer. "What?"
The woman nodded. "Now I need to go back. It will be dawn soon."
Iona wanted to talk to her more, but resisted the urge. She walked over to her bed and pressed the symbol with her finger. It glowed a bright yellow and sucked the woman in itself. Iona went back to the fire hearth and curled on the rug beside it. That night she slept on the rug. She contemplated a thousand things, but every and each plan came to a dead end.
Next morning, she woke up very late but when she came out, there was a buzz of activity in the palace. A maid had come with a message from Etaya. Etaya had summoned her to the council meeting chamber. Iona crushed the paper in her hand and tossed it aside.
She knew that if Etaya had called her to the council meeting chamber, it meant only one thing—Adrianna didn't accept her offer. But it also had its fallout. Etaya was going to insult her in front of others while showing that she hated Adrianna. She was going to swipe her double edged sword. Nonetheless, Iona had to go to attend the meeting. She wanted to know the next plans of the woman whose name wasn't there in the family tree and who once didn't visit the tombs of the ancient.
Oh, and she was expected to go in her dark witch role. She chose not to.
The meeting chamber was empty, except for Seraph who seemed to be hovering everywhere. Etaya and Aed Ruad were sitting at the head of the table flanked by Yion and… Ráild? There was a palpable anxiety around the room. The air was thick with anticipation. When they saw her walking in, everyone stopped talking and stared at her as if she was an alien with horns. Etaya's disgust was apparent on her face as she glared at her from the moment she entered the meeting chamber to the moment she sat on her chair.
"Adrianna's message has come back to us—stark and clear!" She looked at all of them. "She will not hand over Anastasia to us. Even the dark witch here couldn't waver from the witch queen's decision!" Etaya held up the paper in her hand—a thin yellow parchment which had the broken seal of the Draoidh kingdom. "She wants war! And war it is we will give her!"
Seraph hissed as he floated to Iona and she could feel pure rage coming from him. He glided one of his inky, mucus-like tentacles on her neck and curled it around. "We are going to send the dark witch to lead the battle for us. Shouldn't we?"
Iona kept herself as straight as possible and said, "Yes Master." Her heartbeat raced. Seraph's tentacle released her neck and she loosed a breath.
"Then it is done!" Etaya announced.