《To This Kingdom Come》Chapter 11
Advertisement
The library was danker and colder than ever, like winter had decided to come six months early. Stars peeked at us from the midnight sky, visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the library. A crackling fire cast flickering shadows on the maroon walls, yet it didn't warm me; Tem had taken my ability to feel warmth with him. As Keenan pored over books about Realm history, I watched Marylea's eyes flutter open.
"She's awake," I said.
Marylea blinked and stared into the ceiling. Then she looked at me, her eyes full of confusion. "Ash? Where am I?"
"Sorry, we had to move your bed into the castle," I explained. "There were rumors of planned assassination attacks on the Shaper's Wing."
Marylea jolted upright. "Assassination attacks?" She touched her hands to her heart. "People want to kill me?"
"They're just rumors," I lied. The Shaper Wing was now a pile of glass debris and empty metal frames; Cassandra hadn't thought to fortify the windows. She hadn't thought the Shaper would be under attack.
"That's not true," Fabe cut in. "Have you seen the Shaper Wing lately? It's like someone swung a demolition ball into it over and over. It's bad."
I shot a glare at Fabe. "What?" he said.
Marylea scanned the room, her head darting left and right. When she noticed Keenan sitting by the fire, an open book cradled in his hands, raw pain shot through her eyes. Her eyes lowered, and she plucked at her quilt. Then she looked up again, her lips curled in amusement.
"So you carted my bed into the library?" she asked.
"Well, we had help," I said.
"That help is stationed outside those doors -" Fabe pointed at the shut mahogany double doors, "- to make sure no one storms us."
Advertisement
Marylea winced. "Have things been that bad?"
"People have been rioting all over Aragonia," Fabe said. "They say they will resort to violence if you're not arrested and banished. Along with the flood of assassination threats."
Marylea massaged her temples. "I don't blame them."
"Lea, none of this is your fault." A pained shiver ran through me as I recalled Tem flaking away into gold dust. It was a memory I'd been struggling to live with. I wanted to lock it away, but my heart couldn't bear it; it was my last memory of Tem. "So what did your mother say?" I asked.
Marylea relayed to us what her mother had said. We listened as if our lives depended on it, which it sort of did. I sat so still I found it hard to breathe. Marylea's entire body sagged with guilt. I wanted to reach out and tell her it was fine, except it wasn't. Nothing was fine as long as Tem was gone and Aragonia crumbling to pieces.
When Marylea was done, Keenan, who'd tried to remain as invisible as possible, shot up from his armchair and strode to the bookshelf on the south wall. He proceeded to scale the ladder to the top shelf with the agility of a spider monkey, up to where the rarest and least-touched books resided, and pulled out a wizen book. He tucked the leather-bound book under his arm and climbed back down. He sat on the couch opposing us and opened the tome.
"The Keeper resides in the core of the Realm," he read. "There she lives in solitude and peace. She is seldom disturbed, but when visitors arrive, they are sure to experience the wealth of her hospitality. Her abode is said to be a sanctuary for lost souls of the Realm."
Advertisement
Keenan's lean body sagged, silhouetted by the blazing fire. He hadn't slept for days, instead staying up poring over books to stop Aragonia's catastrophe. As a scholar, his failure to find what he sought exhausted him, sucked his lifeblood.
A torrent of goosebumps swept over my skin.
"Where exactly is the core of the Realm?" asked Fabe from the armchair by the fire.
"There's a map," said Keenan. He stood the book up on his lap so we could see. A colored map was spread across two pages. The ink was slightly faded, but still legible. "It seems to be south of the Kingdom of Killi."
"So we fly to the Keeper Core and ask her to reverse the refresh?" I asked. "How does that work?"
"My mother mentioned a poem," said Marylea, her arms wrapped around her legs. "Perhaps we could look for said poem?"
"I have never heard of a poem about a refreshing," said Keenan. "In fact, I've never heard of a refreshing." Things between Marylea and Keenan were icy to say the least, but at least they were still talking. I couldn't imagine what Marylea must be feeling at the moment. Did she ever share her bed with him? Keenan ought to be beaten if they did.
"The Keeper will tell us what to do, won't she?" asked Fabe.
"I suppose so," muttered Marylea.
The part of me that scrambled for some hope of Tem's return had now found something to cling to. A fire surged through me and I stood. "It's settled, then. Marylea and I are visiting the Keeper."
"I'm coming," said Fabe. "Tem's my friend too."
I smiled. I had a feeling he would say that.
"And me," said Keenan, snapping the Keeper tome shut. "You'll need someone who possesses knowledge of this Realm, outside of Aragonia."
That one I did not expect. On my right, Marylea wore a look of conflict inspired by Keenan's sudden involvement. She met my gaze, inhaled, and nodded lightly. "The more people the better, I guess."
I felt sympathy for her, but it was quickly swallowed by the bright, glorious hope that Tem might come back.
"We must hurry," said Keenan. "We cannot be certain there is no time limit."
I shivered. What would life be if Tem was gone forever? Cold. I would be forever cold.
Then I pictured him sitting next to me, a cheeky grin on his face. He spoke. "I'll come back. You know I will."
My daydream, however hopeful, brought warmth to my chilled bones. The effect of the crackling fire seemed to finally reach me. For the first time in days, I smiled.
"Let's go then," I said. "For Aragonia."
For Tem.
Advertisement
- In Serial14 Chapters
I Totally Don't Have Anger Problems!
Discontinued 7/11/2020 Sorry if anyone was hoping for more updates. It seems I'm losing interest in the character as time goes on - not sure if that's due to miscalculated character development direction or just a limited amount to express in the first place. If I do any writing projects in the future, I'll make sure the premise has a lot of room for long-term, interesting, development before posting anything. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback! I’m Talia Shimada, and my life just got a lot more complicated. One moment I was just doing some regular investigation of an interesting boy from my senior year in high school, and then suddenly, everything went wrong and I was stranded in another world in the middle of nowhere. It’s not my fault he left a clear line of sight to his house keys where they could be photographed and replicated on a 3D printer! Now I’m stuck in the middle of a giant forest with all these annoying creatures that keep attacking me until I SMASH THEM INTO PIECES AND STOMP ON THEIR REMAINS, surviving off of raw meat and, well, other kinds of raw meat. What, am I supposed to know which plants are edible in some far-away wilderness on another PLANET!? This is a planet right? It has to be! What did I do to deserve this? At least that class I got is useful. Now, when something doesn’t do what it’s supposed to, I can keep smashing it until it CAN’T BE A PROBLEM ANY MORE BECAUSE IT’S NOT ABLE TO DO ANYTHING AT ALL! If anyone else tries to get in the way of my plans, I’ll just PICK UP THEIR PUNY BODIES AND THROW THEM ASIDE and watch them sail away, never to trouble me again, because I am DONE having people mess with my life and not being able to do anything about it! From now on, anyone who tries will get to briefly realize their error as I SMASH THEM INTO PASTE BECAUSE THEY PICKED A FIGHT WITH THE WRONG WOMAN! I totally don’t have anger problems! Updates Sundays and Wednesdays, occassionaly Fridays
8 101 - In Serial13 Chapters
Spiritual guardian
After dying in his previous work our mc finds himself in a new world as a spiritual being tasked by a higher power in training and safe guarding this new land. Blessed with interesting new powers and a brief description of his duties our hero must find a way to strengthen the people's hearts, mind and souls for the dangers that lurk out in the Browder universe.
8 199 - In Serial12 Chapters
NOIS: A RWBY fanfiction
This fanfiction follows a team of four young boys. Like team RWBY they are first years and are an elite squad. What they do coincides along with team RWBY adventures. They are: Team NOIS (Pronounced Team Noise). Here we meet old and new friends as we see the world of Remnant through their eyes.
8 106 - In Serial15 Chapters
Lucky Me!
Story about some guy that was summoned in different world in first point of view.Pace: slow-modual...Update dates: Random.Note: t's going to be first attempt. Please understand if the plot and characters are too plain,shallow, no depth, or every other negative vocabulary to criticize terrible character/plot.**Mature Content** Just in case, and there may be more tags to be added or to be left out. Thank you for understanding.
8 103 - In Serial45 Chapters
Pipe Dream || Timothée Chalamet
in which a lost Columbia student spills coffee on the sweater of an esteemed actor --real life x social media
8 171 - In Serial50 Chapters
The powerful hybrid ||Twilight||
Athena is a hybrid, she is also the jewel of the crown for the Volturi and she is the favorite of the kings... Will she overcome the pain and anger or it's going to take the best in her...?After some time she found another home with Carlisle and Esme and later she met her mate that also had some problems, decades later they had a happy life.But what happens when a human is the mate of her adopted brother... will she be on their first family side the Volturi or her second family the Cullens...?! What is Athena going to choose?!Pre- Twilight Twilight SagaI just own my characters and their plot, the twilight saga is own by Stephenie Meyer.
8 131