Fire of Magic (Soul of Magic Book 4)

ONE

Winter, Richard thought to himself as he stared out the window into the courtyard below where a number of guards were patrolling round the great castle palace of the great kingdom of Cyrian even as a light snow shower fell, always a special season in itself. Of course, special wasn't exactly the word the other people of the realm would use to describe the seemly never-ending frosty time of the year; not that the king could fault them for that attitude really.

Thing is, it had always being a known fact that the realm, most especially the Kingdoms' region, was more attuned to the spring season; and as a consequence of that, any other weather apart from the bright day, cool sunlight and pleasant rainfall that was characteristic of it was viewed with utter dislike. And that very moment, which was actually almost the middle of the day but the sun was still hidden behind a thick fog, Richard could understand why winter would never be an accepted season in the realm.

One reason above all others was the gloom it brought. Regardless of how much bravery was had to go around, no man in his right mind would like a day filled with dreary darkness. In fact, the entire castle would have been cast in shadows if not for the candles that were lit all around. It wasn’t something Richard or anyone in the great kingdom would want to be in experience of; especially not on a special day such as that one.

"The king of Cyrian staring out the window with an intense look on his face," Richard suddenly heard someone say and he turned to see Lorraine walking up behind him. "Surely, this must be about a certain someone." She smiled.

"Actually, sister, my thoughts were more about myself," he replied, moving from the window to face the princess squarely. "But yes, I'll admit that I did think of Kyra once or twice. I mean, I really wished she was here today."

"Me too, brother," she returned. "But you said it yourself that Kyra sent a letter over to say that she would be unavailable today. And I believe she would have been here if she could, as the Head witch of the realm, as the Soul of magic, and as your friend most of all."

A serious look passed in Richard’s eyes, as if he was remembering something that wasn’t quite pleasant to him. But it was inconspicuous and he quickly smothered it with a smile so Lorraine wasn’t able to see it. "I totally agree that she would," he said to the princess and took her hands in his. "And not just because a beautiful woman like you pointed it out."

And beautiful, Lorraine really was in the full length, body fitted, wine-coloured gown she wore; adorning it with a wine-coloured winter cloak to match. The outfit really complemented the princess’s auburn hair which had been tied into a bun that day, giving more prominence to her green eyes. The symbol of the great house of Winchmore- two snakes coiled round a sword and an eagle wing on each side- was sewn into the front of the gown with a gold fabric; the glittering of the fabric in the candlelight adding an almost fairy tale beauty to the gown and its wearer. The princess completed the attire with a ruby necklace and matching earrings.

Richard himself wasn’t to be left out in all the grandness as he was putting on long red cloak as was usual of the Cyriani kings, the cloak opened in the front to reveal his ceremonial armour. A ceremonial sword hung on the king’s hip and he caressed it with his signet-bearing left index finger even as he fiddled with the gold chain, its pendant also bearing the symbol of the great house of Winchmore, around his neck.

"Are you really sure I'm beautiful in my attire, Richard?" Lorraine asked, almost sounding serious if not for the teasing smile on her face as she twirled a little so that the king could admire her from different angles. "I mean, it's just one of my normal outfits."

"It's a perfect outfit," Richard corrected. "Fit for a wedding."

Just then, trumpets began to play a lovely tune from within as the cathedral's double doors which the duo had been standing in front of for a while swung open and all the congregation rose to their feet. "It's time," Lorraine said to Richard and he linked his arm in hers as they walked towards the altar where a priest was already waiting for them.

As they walked, the king couldn't help but think back to two years ago when he himself had walked into the cathedral and down its aisle in almost the same fashion as he was that moment to be crowned king. He had just returned home victorious then from his campaign against the wizards- back then he thought they were soulless monsters that needed to be wiped off the face of the realm- and he couldn’t be more proud it. But that victory and thought was no more than a forgotten memory ever since he’d grown to know Kyra and the rest of the wizards for the good people that they were.

Of course, it was  worthy of note that the celebration of Richard’s coronation had been cut short on its day as the news that a great force of evil was coming for his people and the realm. Fortunately, the king had been able to deal with it; and even more ever since then. But just the thought of it sometimes gave him goosebumps.

Just then, Richard looked up ahead and standing right next to the priest was the real reason why there was even a wedding to begin with; Lucian. The blonde-haired warrior stood with a smile so bright that it could almost make the sun envious; putting on a steel armour with the insignia of a sword in the middle of a pentagram engraved on its breastplate. It was a proclamation of his newly awarded title as Commander of the magical forces, named so by Kyra herself. Lucian was the one who had proposed to Lorraine a couple of weeks earlier and the latter had insisted that the ceremony not be delayed at all.

Truth is, Richard had known for a while that the blonde-haired warrior was in love with his sister; plus Kyra had hinted it to him times without number. What he didn’t know however was that the two had been courting for two years now without his approval; as they should have gotten as was the custom in the realm. And because of that, even though he would never admit it he felt a little blindsided by the wedding.

But despite all that, Richard smiled to Lucian as the latter put out his hand to him and he placed Lorraine’s hand in it; a customary sign that the wedding ceremony was openly acknowledged to be between the blonde-haired warrior and the princess and could now officially begin.

"Take care of her, Lucian," Richard said to him before letting Lorraine’s hand go.

"With my life, your Majesty," he replied, nodding in a friendly manner to the king who walked back then to his seat in the front row right next to Henrik, Richard's former squire but now a knight of the great kingdom of Cyrian, and Isidora, a dark witch and strong ally of the king. An overly jubilant smile surprisingly present on the dark witch's face which was normally stoic.

Just as the priest called for silence and the service was about to begin, a guard suddenly walked into the cathedral and towards Richard. "Your Majesty, there’s been a situation outside that requires your urgent attention," he said.

"What is it?" Isidora cut in with a whisper, holding Richard's hand to make sure he responded before he left to go deal with the 'situation'; whatever it was.

But all the king replied was, "It's nothing to concern yourself with,” and firmly removed his hand from the dark witch’s before taking his leave.

Unfortunately, Isidora wasn't just planning on taking Richard’s word for it and she stood up right after him and followed the guard as he did.

"You did hear the part where I told you not to worry, right?" Richard whispered to her as they went, unable to keep the displeasure at being disobeyed off his face.

"Oh, I did,” she replied, smiling, “I just didn’t believe you."

Richard stared long and hard at Isidora. He couldn’t decipher if the dark witch was really concerned about whatever the situation was that had made the guard come to interrupt him at his sister’s wedding or just having fun at the expense of his infuriation; he strongly suspected the latter. 

But restraining himself with all that was within him, Richard looked to Lucian and Lorraine- both of whom was starting to look concerned about the king’s abrupt standing and the tension between him and Isidora- and gave them a reassuring smile. And then, he left with the guard; not minding that the dark witch still followed him after all.

Just as the trio approached the castle's hallway, they heard the sounds of commotion which turned out to be two guards trying to restrain a girl. Although it was obvious that the guards were more than twice her strength, the girl struggled unrelentingly against their hold and unsurprisingly to no reasonable success. But the guards were soon annoyed and were almost striking the girl when Richard showed up. 

"What’s going on here?" asked the king and the two guards immediately stopped and bowed to him.

"We saw this intruder breaking into the west entrance of the castle, sire," explained one of the guards.

"I wasn't breaking in, you dolt!" the girl shouted at the guard, cutting off whatever further explanation he had. "I wanted to see the Soul of magic."

"Who are you?" asked Richard, finally turning his attention to her. 

From the girl's appearance, Richard judged that the girl was about fourteen years old. Her eyes looked black; although it was hard to be really sure with the fog still stealing away the light. Majority of her was hidden under the hood of a weather-beaten cloak- the king presumed as a probable result of her travelling under the snowfall- but the little part of her hair out in view was definitely black. "My name is Ariel, your Majesty," she introduced herself with a quick curtsey. "I'm a seer from a faraway town. I came here because I’ve given a message to deliver to the Soul of magic."

"Unfortunately, the Soul of magic is unavailable right now," Isidora replied before Richard could, moving from where she had leaned against the wall the moment she realised what the situation really was to stand next to the king so that she could get a good look at the girl too. "But perhaps if you tell us what the message is, we can pass it along to her," she suggested.

"No, it’s imperative that I see the Soul of magic and the Soul of magic alone," the girl, Ariel, insisted, and looked very alarmed about it too.

"What’s this about exactly?" asked Richard, a feeling of apprehension suddenly coming up within him at the mysterious girl and her reaction.

"Well, something of great emergency, your Majesty," she replied before she went on to say what no one of them standing there would have ever imagined they would hear at the start of that day. "It concerns the Conqueror's flames."