Chapter 63

This chapter has been copied from the original and may contain typos and grammatical errors.

~*~

“Can you take these trinkets off of me?” Gloria held out her hand. “They’re restricting my powers, I can’t do anything with them on.”

Romeo looked at the bracelet, turning her hand over in his to see how it was secured. “I wish I could, munchkin, but I was never here. No one can know I was here, else they find your mother and father as well. I’m only here because I need you to know that there’s someone on your side while you’re here. We’re trying to get you out, I promise, but if anyone knew I was here they’d start an investigation - one that we can’t risk,”

Gloria opened her mouth to protest, but Romeo held up his hand. “You are just as powerful as a person as you are a spellcaster. Believe me. And be safe, love. We’ll find a way to get you out of here.”

He put his helmet back on. “Good night, my lady,” he bowed, then walked out of her room, closing the door gently as he went.

Gloria plopped down on her bed, both exhilarated and exhausted. Her family was here for her. They hadn’t believed her story about going away with Blake. They hadn’t trusted Blake, and she was the innocent. This was all planned ahead of time, and she had played along like a doll, following blindly.

She laid down on her bed, knowing that she wasn’t going to sleep. It was late by now; how long had she been talking to Romeo? How was she going to act around Blake and the others? Was she immune to any punishment, or would they lock her up if she opposed them? She wasn’t in charge, she had no power to change anything. If they knew she knew, would they silence her?

Gloria felt a tightness in her chest, and tears started to grow in her eyes. What was she going to do? Why hadn’t anyone warned her of these things?

~*~

Blake sat outside the cell that held the boy, trying to discover what made him important. The boy acted more arrogant than a drunken sailor back from plundering distant shores. He didn’t talk much- more than Blake, but not much more. Blake assumed his cockyness was based in fear. Don’t let the enemy see that you’re scared; they’ll use it against you. So even while he had nothing, he still fought back. It was… pointless.

“Are you going to sit there and stare at me, or are you going to ask me questions?” the boy asked.

“What’s your name?” Blake asked. Start with the basics.

“Do you want the truth or a lie, liar?” he responded. Blake simply looked at him, unfazed. “My name is Harry Potter, and I come from under the stairs,” he said casually, looking at his nails.

“I’ve read that one, try again,” Blake said.

“Oh, he reads!” the boy sat up, looking back at him. “Did you miss the book that said not to gaslight your partner? Let me think about which book that would be…”

“I haven’t lied to Gloria. Not any further than was necessary to get her away from the people who would prevent her from fulfilling her destiny.”

“But don’t you find it interesting that she’s so different than what you expected her to be? She has red hair, which I’m sure we’ve all heard enough about, but she’s also a spellcaster. How ironic that your father led the crusade to remove all the spellcasters from the land, and his daughter is one? How long do you think she’ll let you sweep that under the rug? Gloria is certainly not someone who lets others trample on who she is.” The corner of his mouth raised, as if remembering something.

Blake stood from his stool, opening the door. “Why are you important?” he asked bluntly.

“That depends on who you ask,” the boy said, tracking Blake as he drew closer, the pulse in his neck throbbing as his heartbeat grew more rapid. He was sweating, and Blake could see that he was restraining himself from coiling into a defensive position. He was terrified, but refused to admit it.

“I want to lay out the facts that I know. You know who Gloria is, even though previously she didn’t know herself. You were with her on an island with minimal security, and she says that you were a friend of hers, but Gloria has never been away from the islands. She knows no one here, so how could you be her friend? You know things that only people with resources and connections could know, but how do you know…”

“I won’t tell you even if my life depended on it,” the boy said, serious for the first time since he had arrived at the palace dungeons.

“Oh, it will, but that’ll happen later.” He moved his gaze from the boy’s face. “A friend of Gloria’s… Unlocking your identity is all I need to find out what you know. Who are you?” he pondered.

The boy kept his mouth shut in a firm line, his jaw starting to quiver. Blake raised his eyebrow, “No answers? I’ll have to push further.”

(^This wasn't a pose, just a really great shot!)

He turned to the bowl of flames, extracting one of the metal utensils that had been residing there. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell me your name?”

~*~

Gloria was served her breakfast in her sitting room. It was a light meal, full of flavor that she hadn’t had the past few weeks. Had it been two weeks since she had shared a dream with Seneca? She’d have to look at the moon to see what phase it was. Would she dream of the greenhouse if he wasn’t there? The pit in her stomach yawned and made her feel alone. Even surrounded by all of these people, they didn’t know her pain- her grief. Of losing someone whom you were born to know, tied for an unknown reason.

A knock came from the door, and Blake popped his head around the frame. “Is now a good time?” he asked, a smile on his face. He seemed to have many faces, this was just the one she got to see.

“Sure,” she said, trying to look natural. “What’s up?”

“I was just thinking, when you’re ready, we should talk about what happened during those two months we were separated,” he looked into her eyes, his blue eyes soft with understanding and love, just like they had been when she first met him, when she didn’t know anything.

She shook her head in bewilderment. “I- they were kind to me, Blake. And for them to be gone, to be dead, when I lived... I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to talk about it.”

Blake sat down beside her. Gloria knew what he wanted to know; but even though Seneca was gone, she didn’t feel it was right to tell him. Hopefully there would be a rebelion soon, and Gloria didn’t want to reveal it before it happened. She owed Seneca that much. And Henry. He’d get back to the island eventually to see it charred, and he’d tell the queen that she and Seneca were dead. Without Seneca, she had no power, no card to play. What would she do?

“But, how did you get there?” he asked.

“They brought me there. They rescued me from the river, saw that I was a spellcaster and knew I wouldn’t be safe on the mainland, so they brought me with them to the island where the Templars couldn’t find me.” Gloria said, twisting the truth. Best to play it as close to the truth as possible, that way she wouldn’t forget her lie.

“I see,” Blake said, his face was hard to read. “Did you tell them that you were trying to reach the capitol? Why didn’t they help you get to safety?”

Gloria swallowed, “They didn’t like either side of this conflict. The Templars would kill me if they saw me, and they didn’t like the crown, so they thought the best thing would be for me to just stay put until an opportunity became available. I’m sorry-” she broke off, sniffling. “I don’t really want to talk about it right now,”

Blake shifted away from her. “I understand. I’m sorry, love, I know it’s unpleasant.”

Before, he would have kissed her and held her, but now he simply stood up and walked to the door, turning when he got there. “I’ll see you at dinner,” he said. It looked like he wanted to say something else, but he resolved to just smile and close the door behind him.

Alone again, she thought.

~*~

“She’s lying to me,” Blake said in a huff as he entered the seer’s room. “Why would Gloria lie to me?”

“Maybe she knows you’ve lied to her,” the seer said as she sat at a table, a glowing ring floating above her. He knew not to ask questions at this point; he wouldn’t get a straight answer.

“But how does she know I’ve lied to her? Who told her?”

“She’s a clever girl. She could have figured it out on her own, you know.”

“She believes everything too easily. I have a hard time believing that she came up with it on her own. And that boy hasn’t so much as said his name, no matter what I do. Can you just tell me why he’s important, already? I’m growing impatient, and since I waited three years to win over the heir to come back to her rightful home I know a thing or two about patience.”

“Please, you relaxed in a tropical paradise for three years, loving a beautiful, trusting young woman. That’s hardly patience testing.” She took a deep breath, a knowing smirk on her face. “You’ve almost got him where you need him to be. Just a bit further and I’ll have the payment I need. Just you wait and see. Keep at it, and then all will be revealed.”

Blake crossed his arms. “You know I hate it when you speak in riddles,” he said, leaving the room. What did the boy have to do with her payment? She could have simply said that she wanted him as her payment, end of story. What was she playing at? It bothered him to no end that he had entangled himself so far into her web with no visible way to get out.

~*~

“I think a spring wedding would be nice,” the duchess said. “It’ll be new growth, and a wedding in the winter is always so cold. It can be hard to celebrate, being cooped up inside. Of course you’ll go to the church, but the party could be held outside. It’s been so long since I went to a wedding…” She looked into the distance, remembering past times.

“That does sound nice, but a wedding? Is that… I mean, I haven’t been asked.” Gloria said, trying to stay proper. Blake was absent from dinner tonight. He said he had some important business to take care of that couldn’t wait, but what was so important that he couldn’t break away for half an hour? It made her wonder: if she was to rule the kingdom, shouldn’t she know everything happening?

“But to Lucian, of course!” the king said joyfully. “You’re such a match, and you’re already getting along well, aren’t you?” he smiled, knowing the answer.

“Well, yes, but I’m not sure I want to settle… down… yet,” she trailed off as everyone looked at her as if she had three eyes.

“Do you think you’re going to meet someone better?” the duchess asked, raising her eyebrow, prepared to be insulted.

“No,” she lied, “but I’m not sure I’m ready to start a family just yet,”

“The throne needs another heir in line or it will be unprotected. We have you, but what if you become ill and die, or you have an accident, or you’re killed by an assassin? The more heirs to the throne, the better secured it is,” the king said, sympathetically. “No one thinks they’re ready for a family, but you’re ready. But first, your wedding!”

Gloria sat with her hands in her lap. Hopefully her parents would figure a way for her to get out before the spring came. She really didn’t want to marry Blake.

“Oh, and we can take you to the best dressmaker around! No one else will do. I’m so looking forward to this!” the duchess squealed.

I'm happy to be inspired to write again! It took a bit of work to get through the block, but I had a plot break through (as I said in a previous comment), and now I feel like I can keep writing!

Let me show you some pictures that didn't quite make the cut, but are good nonetheless:

^this one! I was so happy with this shot, but he conversation is between Seneca and Blake, not just Blake, so I went with the one where you can see Sen over his head, which works better. But Look at how menacing it looks! How he looks like a big cat, prowling towards it's prey.

^Illia has done some horticulture in her borrowed room, and I meant to show it, but the picture didn't match the one of the scene, so I didn't use it. Also, I had the lights flicker during Illia's séance! I hadn't had that happen yet (I've barely touched most of the packs from the last two years because I only really play for my story.)

^Not quite Tuesday, but we can still love Taco!

^I don't think this one needs explanation