Chapter 52

“Is this really alright?” Arnold asked Claus next to him as he looked worriedly out the carriage window.

“Of course, not…” Claus said, giving his sister a glare on the other side for the carriage.

Claire just stuck her tongue out at him as Jill giggled beside her. “Like you weren’t desperate for a break anyway. I know how much you want the throne, but if you let Father work you to death you might as well have died to Nile. Besides, I’m sure Tirr and the others have been bored these last few days. It’ll be good for us all to get out.”

Claus could only grunt in response. He knew what she said was true but still felt guilty. He had thought it was his chance when his father started trusting him with more work, but as it kept coming and coming, it became clear he was just being dumped with busy work.

The four of them were traveling towards the castle after leaving Claus’s estate, having abandoned much of the work the King had given them for today.

“I’m sure Tirr and Garm are dying to get out and play.” Claire mused as they pulled up to the gate. “Plus, we’ll have to buy a new dress or two for Maria as apologies for leaving them in that big castle by themselves.”

The carriage stopped as it reached the gate and the guards came over. Claire was surprised when the gate wasn’t immediately opened and instead, a guard came to the door of the carriage.

“Your Highnesses,” The guard greeted them politely. Claire could tell from his uniform that he was one of the 1st Knight Orders Shard Users and wondered what he was doing manning the gate.

“What’s the holdup?” Claus asked curiously.

“His Majesty orders you return to your estate and the work that was assigned to you both.”

“What?” Claire replied, “That’s ridiculous!”

“Please leave the Castle, your Highnesses, otherwise, we’ll be forced to use force.”

“Where’s Commander Owens? Is this some kind of prank.?” Claus questioned seriously.

The guards responded by placing their hands on their weapons, “Last warning your Highnesses…”

“Fine!” Claus spat as he called for the driver to turn around. As the carriage drove away, the occupants were left feeling confused and concerned.

“What's going on? Is this something that Nile or Monter did?” Arnold asked.

“I don’t know,” Claire said as she knocked on the front of the carriage to give the driver directions. “but I’m gonna find out.”

“How are you going to get back in? Those guards looked serious…”

Claire just gave Jill a smile before chuckling softly. And Claus couldn’t help but frown. “You never closed those?”

“Hey, it’s going to come in handy now so don’t complain. Just be grateful I liked playing in the dirt more than a princess should when we were children. We got to find out what’s happening in the castle…”

Tirr sat listlessly as the king gave him the report from his guards. He felt drained as he listened to the King's words of the girl matching Maria’s description leaving the city with her things in tow. Tirr wanted to deny it once again but found himself unable to. His nightmares had been growing worse, partly he thought, because of his increased contact with the Shard of Flame.

He had been carrying out the King's experiments in fusing larger pieces of the shard. And so far, they had been successful in creating Shard users at or beyond the level of Knight-Captain Reynolds. Each time though had left Tirr feeling more and more hollow for some reason. The King did his best to assuage his doubts. but Tirr felt worse and worse the more contact he had with the Shard. Maria not being there didn’t help either and he couldn’t help but wonder if she really did leave him.

“Tonight is the night…” King Torn said excitedly, “Everything is ready, and all the previous tests have worked splendidly, now you won’t have to worry about that woman who abandoned you. I will more than replace her. And together we’ll turn Lutel into nothing but ashes.”

The King's eyes sparked with hatred but Tirr was barely listening. His thoughts on his nightmares and Maria. He merely nodded, going along with what the King said as he held a whimpering Garm to his chest.

Maria felt her mind stray as she focused on channeling the Blessing into her body. She had gone without food or water, trying to do nothing but focus as best she could. The tension had left her in a strange state as the blessing kept her energy high, but the continued focus and stress built up its own exhaustion. As a result, she sometimes found herself fading away, only to snap back as she regained herself.

Soon the lost moments extended into minutes and then hours as Maria thought of nothing but Tirr and her Blessing. She could almost feel the tenuous connection that seemed to tie the Blessing to her. At some point she noticed a change, she could feel her progress slowing and couldn’t figure out why. She tried to snap back once again, worried she had somehow lost focus while praying. But instead found herself locked in the strange state she was in.

As she started to panic, she heard a soft and quiet voice slowly guide her. The woman’s voice was familiar, quiet yet strong and it spoke again, softly calling on her to follow that connection she had found previously

She listened to the voice reassuring guidance and managed to follow that thread she felt from her blessing. Suddenly she felt a barrage of feelings. Doubt, loneliness, fear, she recognized what she was feeling immediately and couldn’t help but call out, not even realizing as the voice slowly faded…

Within the Shard Chamber Tirr sat holding Garm as he watched the preparations be put into place. He pet the cub lifelessly as he watched, until a sharp voice seemed to cut through his haze.

“Tirr!”

The voice, obviously Maria’s, was filled with concerned fear, and it was like a cloud had lifted from Tirr he realized she was in trouble. He stood up, carrying Garm as he started to leave. The king seemed to notice and rushed to him.

“Where are you going!” The King asked a tint of anger in his voice.

The anger surprised Tirr and he felt himself looking over the King again. “I’m going to find Maria…”