Heir of Golden Storms
Chapter Sixteen

When I return to the castle, the first thing I do is ask a knight where Thalia is. He tells me that she is at the living room of the south wing. I tell him to leave his post and guide me there, because one day is not enough for me to know every room in this castle.

Thalia is sitting on a chair, in front of a small table, with a cup of tea in her hands. Sephira is right across from her, talking with her. They put back their teacups on the table when they see me entering. When the knight closes the door, I consider standing there. Something makes me change of opinion and I move toward the window.

“I need to tell you something,” I say as I return to where I was. I am fidgeting and I know it. “I am losing it.”

“What? What is wrong?” Thalia asks as she stands up.

“I should leave,” Sephira says as she stands up.

“No, stay. I need the opinion of a magical expert,” I say extending my hands and signaling her to stop. Then my hands go to my hair as I keep pacing around the room. “I-I-I do not know where to start.”

“Calm down,” Thalia says, walking towards me. She puts her hands on my shoulders, but I am looking down, biting the tip of my thumb.

“I-I can’t,” I say.

“Look at me,” she orders, and I am forced to look at her. “Sit down with me.” Thalia gestures to a couch right next to me and I sit. She sits at my left on the same couch. Sephira walks towards us and sits on a chair across from us.

“How can you remove an enchantment?” I ask Sephira.

“It all depends on the enchantment,” Sephira says. “Bathing the object in goat milk and recently burned ashes work, or drinking a tea made with the petals of a golden lily. Sometimes using a bracelet or necklace with an enchantment that counters the effect of the other enchantment works temporarily. The best solution is for the one that created the enchantment to remove it.”

“But what if it is a full enchantment?” I ask. Sephira opens her eyes wide. She removes her glasses, cleans it with her shirt, and puts it back on.

“It is impossible to remove a full enchantment in an object,” she says. “But in a person, the only one who can break it is the enchanted one. They need to be strong enough to remove the enchantment. Sometimes even strong emotions help break it.”

I do not notice that my left leg is jumping until Thalia lays her hand on my thigh. “Tell us what happened,” she says.

“I went to The Isle of Memories, thinking that I would replace how the first kings and queens enchanted the crown to give me the storm magic.”

“You went to The Isle of Memories? Did the isle replace you?” Sephira asks, disbelief in her voice.

“Yes,” I say as I nod. “The thing is that The Isle of Memories do not show all the memories from the past. It only shows your memories. It showed me my memories.” Thalia nods, letting me know that she is following me. “I saw how I was born, and I was not born like this. I was born with horns and wings. I was born a monster.”

“You are not a monster, Rowan,” Thalia says.

“But I am,” I say as I stand up. “I saw it myself. I saw the horns. I saw the wings. The only thing that makes me look faerie is because my mother casted a full enchantment on me.”

“Wasn’t your mother faerie?” Sephira asks.

“Yes, she was,” I say. I feel Thalia’s fingers brush my hand. She grabs it, and that somehow bring my attention to notice that I am standing. I sit back down. “But I do not know what my father was.”

“He had to be faerie, right?” Thalia says, looking at me but she turns to Sephira for assuring. “Faeries cannot procreate with other creatures.”

“Not exactly,” Sephira says as she pushes up her glasses. “Many, many, many years ago there were other creatures that were very similar to faeries. They looked like us, but they did not have enchantments or our magic. They had their own kind of magic. That species could procreate with ours because they were similar. For example, ogres can procreate with trolls. Of course, there are laws that prohibits that.”

“So, you are saying that Rowan could be half-faerie and half-something else?” Thalia asks.

“No,” Sephira says. “The creatures that were similar to faeries became extinct long ago.”

“What about sprites?” I ask. They seem like faeries, if it were not for their skin, element magic, and inability to create enchantments.

“I do not think that sprites can procreate with faeries,” Sephira says. “Besides, sprites do not have horns, nor wings.”

I stay silent as I look at the floor. “What can I do to break this enchantment?” I ask. I know that my magic to curse must be linked to my horns and wings.

“I can teach you to break it,” Sephira asks. “Let’s start now.”

***

As I lay on bed, with Thalia and Breeze beside me, I cannot help but let a groan out. Sephira and Sir Fafner drained my energy today. Sephira tried to teach me to enchant objects and tried to reverse the enchantments. Even when lunch came, she did not let me stop. I managed to turn a red apple into a white one but struggled more reversing it to its original color. Not matter how many times I told her that I was never good with enchantments, she made me keep practicing.

After hours, Sir Fafner came. He told me that it was time for lessons on swordplay, but when I told him no, he told me that I already agreed on yesterday’s meeting. He kept me hours, practicing with him and other knights. When dinner came, he made me practice with a dummy while he ate.

When I am falling asleep, Breeze kicks me on the left ribs. This girl kicks harder than a horse. I move her leg slowly away from me and return to sleep.

***

“A tree fell on my house,” an old woman says. “It cracked part of my ceiling. I do not have the means or the money to remove the tree and fix my ceiling.”

“I will send people to remove the tree,” I say. “As for the money for the ceiling, I have to take it up with the council.”

“Thank you, my king,” the woman says, and she leaves through the throne room.

This morning, Thalia told me that it was my turn to hear the pleadings and receive the gifts from the citizen of the court. I have been an hour already, hearing every citizen and saying whatever I can say to help. Most of the citizens ask for money, something that the court cannot afford. The court have recently been released from all debts, and we are still trying to straighten our accounts before we know how much we can spend.

A couple with a son of the same age as Breeze steps forward. They bow at me. The boy says, “My king, I have created a doll of rags and hay for the youngest Storm Princess.”

The boy with the glasses extends the doll towards me. A knight moves to take it, but I stop him with my hand. I stand up from the throne and walks towards him. I kneel in front of him and take the doll.

“I will give it to her,” I say. I pass my hand through his blonde hair, messing it, and stand up.

“My king,” the mother says, “my son has a talent on crafts and is very smart for his age.” I nod without doubt. “We were asking if you could gift us with a place for him at school.”

The request makes me think of North. It makes me think of how she had to make her way through two courts to get to the best school in all the courts. It also makes me think of how Caspian, Hesperia, me, and everyone in that school made her life horrible because she was not wealthy.

“Of course,” I say. “What is your son’s name?”

“Maple,” the mother answers.

I snap at one of the knights. He moves to hand me a feather with ink and a piece of paper. He turns so that I can use his back as support. I write a small letter allowing Maple to join lecture. I sign below. I give the feather to the knight and roll the letter.

“Takes this to the school,” I say. “It will grant Maple a spot as a student and it will assure him to be treated the same way as any other student, not matter the status or economy.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, my king,” the mother says. “You are too kind.” I nod as I smile. They turn around and leave. I walk to the nearest knight.

“Take this to Breeze,” I say as I hand him the doll. The knight nods and leaves with the doll. As I walk back to the throne, a knight comes rushing into the room. He kneels in front of me.

“My king, the queen needs you,” the knight says. She sounds agitated as if she ran from the other side of the castle. I can see her brown eyes filled with worried. I know that she is a loyal knight.

“Where is she?” I ask, but quickly say, “Take me to her.”

The knight nods and I follow her out of the throne room. She leads me through hallways until we get to the south wing. She opens the door to the living room where I was yesterday with Sephira and Thalia. I enter and spot Thalia on one of the couches. She has her hands on her eyes and her elbows on her knees. She is crying. In front of her is a person covered in complete black except for its eyes. I walk towards her and crouch in front of her.

“Hey, hey, what happened?” I ask, trying to remove her hands from her eyes. I look at the covered figure and whisper, “Go. I got this.” The figure nods and leaves.

“One of my spies found North,” she says, between sobs. Her eyes are red from crying. Now I understand who the covered figure is. I want to ask her why she has spies, but right now is not the time.

“What happened to her?” I ask. I feel like I summoned her when I thought about her minutes ago.

“She is at the Court of Miracles,” Thalia says. She lets another sob go. I try to clean her tears on her cheeks with my thumb. “Your father is torturing her.”

“What?” I ask, surprised, alarmed.

“He knows that we were closed to her,” Thalia says. “He wants to know if she knows anything about us.” Then, she puts her hands on her eyes again as she shakes her head. “She has nothing to do with this. She does not deserve this.”

I stand up, anger flourishing in me. I want to scream. I want to break something. I want someone to pay for this. Father has made my wife cry. He is torturing my friend when she has nothing to do about us.

“He killed her family,” Thalia says.

That is it! No one makes Thalia cry. No one needs to punish North. She has saved the Court of Miracles when the court was attacked by the Court of Autumn. She has showed hospitality to Thalia when none of us did. I do not care who the High King is. I do not care if he is my father. He is going to pay!

Then I feel it like a paper breaking in front of me. A sudden energy release from me. I have never felt this much anger before. Not even with Zephyrus. The enchantment has been broken. I feel my horns grow on my forehead. I feel my demon wings extend on my back. I turn and start walking towards the door.

“Rowan?” Thalia asks. I hear concern in her voice.

“I will handle this.” The voice that comes from me is the same voice that came when I cursed Zephyrus.

I push open the door of the living room. The knights outside tense, staring at me as I pass by. He will pay for this. He will suffer for this. He will learn what it means to mess with me.

I walk through the halls and through the castle until I walk through the main entrance. As I head outside, I leap into the sky. Flying comes naturally. My wings support me as if I were a feather to them. With the quickest flaps, it takes me only minutes to arrive to the Court of Miracles.

I land in front of castle. Knights rush towards me. I move my hands and a sudden burst of wind sends them flying and the white doors of the castle open. I walk inside and directly into the throne room, where I know that I will replace him. Another move of my hand and the door flies open.

Father is sitting on the throne. His golden hair and beard have been trimmed again. Easton stands next to him. Father stands up.

“Rowan?” he asks.

“Where is she?” I ask as I stop walking. Knights start running towards me with their swords out. “Tell your knights to stand down!”

“What happened to you?” father asks.

“I mean it,” I say, moving my hand. A gust sends one knight flying, breaking one of the glass windows and landing outside. I have acquired new storm magic, and I will not hesitate to use it.

“Guards, stop,” father says. The knights stop coming towards me. “Saints, what happened to you Rowan?”

“Where is she?” I ask again.

“Who?” father asks.

“I am not playing games, father,” I snarl.

“I am not your father,” he raises his voice. “I never was! You are a bastard!”

“I am your son!” I say. “I might not be yours in blood, but I am still your son as much as Easton, Ailsa, Marin, and Zephyrus are.”

“Was!” father shouts. “Was! You killed Zephyrus!” I have an instinct to shout once again that I did not kill him. Instead, I take a deep breath through my nose.

“Where is she?” I ask in a calm voice.

“That is not your concern,” father shouts. “I do not need to answer to you! You are no one!”

I nod. I remember what it is like to act as a prince. Anger is not the solution. “Oh, father. A father is not the one who begets but the one who raises.” I feel my wings retreat and fold behind me. “We do not choose our family.”

“And we do not kill our brothers,” the High King says, defiantly. I laugh as I shake my head.

“If you want me to play the monster that you think that I am, then I will,” I say. “Bring me the girl or I will spend the rest of the day ripping off Easton’s fingers one by one and feeding them to the knights in your court.” I see Easton take a step back, a sign of weakness.

“You would not dare,” the High King says.

“Test me,” it is all I say without breaking eye contact with him.

It takes moments but the High King says to a nearby night, “Bring her.”

Two knights leave. I continue staring at him. A few minutes later, the knights return. They carry North by her arms, her feet being dragged on the floor. She does not even rise her head to look. The knights throw her in front of me and I catch her before she falls. She looks up slowly, her blue eyes, almost white, closing.

“Ro-Rowan?” she asks, her voice barely coming.

“I have you,” I whisper. I grab her on my arms. “I once told you that your loyalty will never be forgotten.” I walk away, not daring another look at who used to be my father and brother.

“Consider our alliance terminated,” the High King calls back.

“I will not expect anything less from the High King,” I say as I continue walking.

When I am outside, I fly into the sky. I soar towards the Court of Storms with North on my hands. Her white hair seems to want to leave her head and be free with the wind. When I arrive, I enter the castle. Thalia is standing at the main hall.

“North,” she exclaims, worried and as she runs towards us. “Is she all right?”

“I hope so,” I say. I look at the nearest knights. “You, look for the greatest healer in the court and you, summon the council.” I turn to Thalia, who has moved the white hair away from North’s face. “Where is an empty room?”

“This way,” Thalia says. I follow her quickly through the halls and into a room. I lay her on the bed, trying to be as gentle as possible.

“Keep an eye on her until the healer arrives,” I tell the nearest knight. “If anything happens, call us.”

I start walking away, Thalia fast on my heels. When I reach the council room, I open the door with brute strength. “We have two problems,” I say, taking my seat. Thalia takes her seat beside me. Everyone is already here and when they see me, their expression changes but do not dare ask question. “I just broke the alliance with the Court of Miracles.”

“Oh, this is bad,” Master Nidd says. “This could bring many problems to this court. This could even bring war.”

“What is the second problem?” Sir Fafner asks. I can feel a hint of sarcasm in his voice. His light mood is going to be needed on future occasions.

“Well, what do you think?” I say, smiling so that he knows that I got his joke. I point myself with both hands. “This. I just became king. The citizens will rebel once they replace that I am not who they thought I was.”

“Yeah, what are you?” Sir Fafner asks. “A demon?”

“Sir Fafner!” Elvia scolds.

“Demons are not real, Sir Fafner,” Sephira says. She turns to me. “Well, you can enchant yourself the same way that you enchanted the apple. Try it. Concentrate.”

I close my eyes, concentrating the same way that I did with the apple. I imagine me the way I was before. I imagine myself without horns and wings. It takes almost two minutes, but I feel my wings and horns disappear.

“That should keep it a secret for a while,” Sephira says. “You should reapply the enchantment every few hours.”

“Now, what are we going to do about the Court of Miracles?” Sir Fafner asks, bringing back the conversation to the main point.

Elvia speaks, trying to replace a solution. I look at Thalia, who has not said a word. She is looking at the table, ignoring everyone. I grab her hand under the table.

“Hey, are you all right?” I whisper.

“This is too much for me,” she says as pulls her hand away from me. She stands up and says, “Excuse me,” before leaving the room.

I am afraid that she fears what I have become.