Her body ached, attempting to lull her back to sleep, but she forced herself awake. Only the sight of the dark wood and her canopied oak bed made her recall that she was no longer in Calathis, but in the hands of the enemy.
The events from the days before crashed upon her, filling her body with adrenaline. Despite her protesting limbs, she jumped out of bed, taking in her surroundings more carefully now that she wasn’t so exhausted.
Two large windows framed the bed and bright sunlight reflecting off of the snow peeked out of the deep mahogany curtains. There was a large fur blanket on the edge of the bed that had kept Aurelia warm throughout the night, all of the colors of the bed deep tones of red and blue. The walls were made out of the grey castle stone with extinguished candles that hung every three feet or so. Other than that, the room was empty, and Aurelia sorely missed her wall of books back in Calathis. What was she to do now, locked in a room that looked as if it were pulled from the medieval ages?
A sudden thought crossed her mind and she turned towards one of the candles, pushing deep into her mind to find her golden thread.
There.
For the first time in what felt like forever, she could finally see her magic, golden and sparkling within her soul, relief crashing through her body. She pulled it to the surface and very lightly summoned a flame. The candle immediately sprung to life, its flame standing tall and lighting up the otherwise dim room.
Turning back to the window, she rushed forward, spreading the curtains open. Bright light engulfed her, the sun’s reflection on the snow practically blinding. Her eyes slowly focused on the view before her – it was beautiful in its own way, she had to admit, the snow and rocky cliffs on the ocean.
Yet she couldn’t let it distract her as she tugged on the golden thread, this time much stronger, forming the raw magic into a tight ball of energy. With all of her might, she flung it at the window and the invisible barrier that locked her in the room. She felt the walls shudder and grinned. It was working. She went deep into her mind once more, forming an even greater mass of energy—
“Good morning,” A deep voice said behind her, forcing Aurelia to lose concentration.
“Damn it,” She snapped and whirled around to find Ambrose standing in the doorway, a tray filled with plates of food in his hands.
He rose his eyebrows. “What, doing something you weren’t supposed to?” He walked in and gently set the tray down on the bed. “I thought you might be hungry after your escapade with Ilaria yesterday. I brought you the best food Damaris has to offer, though I admit, it is not our strong suit.”
Aurelia peered over at the food – it was mostly bread, soup, and what looked like various renditions of meat, not a single fruit or vegetable on the tray. It was sad and colorless and hardly comparable to the delictable meals she had eaten at Calathis, yet her stomach grumbled nonetheless. It made sense considering none of the kingdoms would trade with Damaris anymore, thus they were forced to eat whatever could survive the harsh winter.
She looked up. “How do I know you didn’t put poison in it?”
Ambrose rolled his eyes. “How do I know that you aren’t going to kill me in the few moments I’m standing here?” He gave her a pointed look. “I don’t. But considering I have neither tortured nor killed you yet, I would think you’d be a bit more grateful.”
”Grateful?” Aurelia said incredulously. “You have the audacity to ask me to be grateful for my life?” She stormed towards him, her fists balled tightly.
Ambrose raised his hands defensively. “Oh come on, Aurelia. What would be the point of me killing you now? After I’ve given you fresh clothes and a bath?”
“So you’re not going to kill me,” Aurelia responded haughtily, taking a large bite of the bread. She was too hungry to decline food, no matter who it was from.
“Yet,” Ambrose said casually.
Aurelia paused to give him a piercing glare. He ignored it, instead gazing out the window at the ocean. “I presumed you would want a tour of the castle today, to get a bit more familiar with the place.”
Aurelia watched him for a moment before continuing to eat.
“I figured I could show you the castle and the village, so you can meet some of the townsfolk. They’re lovely people, really.”
“What, you don’t want to keep me locked in here all day?” Aurelia responded shortly, taking another bite.
Ambrose turned away from the window, crossing his arms across his chest. “No, I’d rather not. My patrol is boring alone, so I thought I would force you to accompany me.” He raised his eyebrows. “Besides, who else is going to make sure you don’t get murdered in here?”
A chill went down her back despite her annoyance. He made a point, though she hated to admit it. She was forced to listen to the man in front of her though she couldn’t trust him.
“Fine.” She responded shortly, standing. Aurelia had fallen asleep in the dress Cressida had given her yesterday and she grabbed the heavy blue cloak to swing over her shoulders. “Let’s go.”
Ambrose grinned and Aurelia could feel as he removed the enchantment around her room. Upon his release of magic, it felt as if the air wasn’t so...still anymore. Now, she could hear distant shouts of the men sparring, the sounds of the waves crashing against the cliffs. She gave him a dark look as she followed him out of her door and down the long hallway.
“So, your room is in the more...abandoned section of the castle.” Ambrose began. “It was the corridors that my father used most frequently. He was a man that loved to read, write, and paint. So...everything Dorian is not.” Ambrose grimaced and they continued walking down an empty section of corridor. “His rooms and most of his servants are in the opposite end, where the training rooms are located. He is quite...physical.”
Aurelia nodded. If she had to be stuck in the same building as Dorian, at least she could be in the farthest possible area from him. They strode through the dark, stone corridors, and as they left where her room was located, the hallways gradually got busier. Aurelia opted to keep her head down, avoiding eye contact with all of the servants and sorcerers that passed, praying they didn’t notice her telltale auburn hair.
“So, I thought I could show you the library first,” He continued as he paused in front of two towering doors. “The third section of the castle is the dormitories for the lunar magic academy and the more elegant rooms, such as the throne room, the dining room, the ballroom. You will often find the students in the library here, but their classrooms are in the main part of the building.” He pushed the doors forward to disclose the library, gesturing for Aurelia to enter.
She had not once visited a room full of books that she had not loved – and the Damaris library did not disappoint. The enormous room had to have had more books than even Calathis and her mind filled with anticipation of the knowledge that was in the room, waiting to be read. Where Calathis’ library was filled with windows, Damaris’ was the opposite. A large fireplace roared on one wall, but everywhere else was overflowing with books. It was as if whoever had created it had meant for someone to get lost in the world of words, unbeknownst of the time or world outside of the walls.
She took a few more steps forward, peering at the titles that her eyes could make out. Oh, what Brina and Calandra would say now. All of the books that must explain lunar magic and the history of Damaris, no longer hidden....her heart squeezed at the thought of the two of them and she paused to ease the overwhelming ache.
“So...there’s still a lunar magic academy?” She asked gently as she ran her finger along the spines of a few of the books. “I was under the impression that lunar power had dwindled in recent decades.”
“On the contrary,” Ambrose responded. “We’ve never seen such rigor and power than we have in our present students.”
“So you’ve improved your magic - to kill innocent people for your own gain?” She asked hotly, turning to face Ambrose.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I have no idea what you’re—“
“Oh yes, I’m sure,” Aurelia interrupted, rolling her eyes. “Where’s next?”
Ambrose sighed before turning towards the doorway. “The dining hall, the training corridors....”
“Very well,” Aurelia said icily, stepping out of the library despite her protesting mind. She knew without a doubt that within that library were the answers that Calathis was searching for – but she wouldn’t be able to find any of it with Ambrose hovering over her shoulder. She decided she would have to come back alone when he finally decided she could be trusted. As if she would ever be loyal to anyone but Calathis.
They walked to a staircase and made their way down, the sound of voices and passerby growing louder as they entered the main part of the castle.
“So..” Ambrose began as they strolled. “If you were in Calathis, what would you be doing? On an ordinary day?”
“I would be training.” Aurelia responded simply, matching her steps to his.
“Training?”
“Yes, training,” Aurelia rolled her eyes. “Swords, daggers, archery, magic....”
He raised his eyebrows. “You train with a sword?”
Aurelia looked over at him. “What, are you one of those that doesn’t believe women should be able to wield a weapon?” She rolled her eyes. “No wonder my grandmother has worked so hard to protect people from Calathis.”
Ambrose pulled away from her as if she had slapped him. “That’s not what I meant,” he said coldly. “I didn’t think enchantresses studied swordcraft. I thought they focused on magic, and Calathis’ warriors were the ones who excelled at fighting.”
“Well, that’s probably because your people were too busy killing others to stop and wonder about who you were killing.” Aurelia said, the words coming out before she had a moment to digest the weight of what she had said.
Ambrose tensed up and stopped, dragging her to the side of the hallway, his anger radiating off his body. “I didn’t kill anyone.” He whispered angrily. “You can’t say stuff like that around here. They’ll cut your head off before you even know what happened.”
He pushed back away from her and continued walking down the hallway, regaining his cool composure, acting as if he had never been angry at all. “I was only asking to try to understand your culture. You're right, I know nothing, because frankly, I never cared to know anything. I remain focused on my own magic studies rather than those that are useless to me.”
Aurelia shook off his comments as she caught up with him. “Fine. Yes, I would be training with one of the warriors. Flexibility, strength, balance....it helped me keep my peace.” She sighed deeply. “That feeling...the feeling of letting your emotions out...I needed that a lot.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “And then I would work on my magic, and then I would scour the library on how to defeat your people.”
Ambrose studied her for a moment, silence falling between the two. “Ah, here we are,” he said suddenly, turning through a door in which loud voices emanated.
“This is the dining hall. As you can see...it’s usually quite busy.” Aurelia peered over his shoulder and shuddered at the sight of so many burly, loud men.
Ugh.
The dining hall itself was beautiful – candles hung from the ceiling and illuminated the long tables below where at least a hundred men dined. Aurelia nodded dismissively to Ambrose, and they quietly walked past the doors and they stopped at the end of the hall to another set of doors, these engraved in gold.
“The ballroom,” he presented as he swung the doors open.
Aurelia couldn’t help herself as she gasped at the sight. It put the other ballrooms she had visited to shame, for the ceiling was painted so intricately it looked as if you were looking up at the night sky, the stars and moon glowing down upon the room. Unlike the rest of the castle, the room was made of black marble speckled with gold and the gold sparkled beneath the morning light. Candles that looked as if they were made of gold were scattered about the room and illuminated the grand staircase that was made to look as if those walking down it were coming down from the heavens.
“It’s...” Aurelia began, but she had no words and her voice trailed off.
“Beautiful,” Ambrose finished, his neck craned to take in the magnificence of the ceiling. “Indeed.”
Aurelia nodded and slowly spun around the large open space watching as the stars above her danced.
“We should get going,” Ambrose said gently after a moment. Aurelia stopped, regaining her balance as she nodded in agreement.
“Not so fast, brother,” A voice said behind them, making them both jump.
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