“So…”

“So…”

“What are we to do now?”

I shrugged my shoulders, reclining into the couch, utterly confused and spent beyond belief. My mind ached with the weight of all my thoughts and I was exhausted by the constant torment of Mother’s hot-and-cold attitude, along with Marcus’ strange behaviour. I laid my head on the support, staring at the ceiling and traced the gilt above me.

I do not believe either of them love me much; they have not visited and Marcus is… Stop thinking, Eliza. It does you no good.

I felt like I was going insane. I desperately needed to do something.

“Come with me.”

Adrianne stood up, perplexed and I was starting to wonder if she thought me mad; I had snuck into my father’s study in the dead of night, stolen and counterfeited one of his most important documents, eavesdropped on two senior knights in said study, peeked at Marcus during his training, burnt the letter and most recently, forced her into receiving an Archaic Order, against her wishes. Out of all my deeds, my mother would have been most livid with the first, but each consecutive act that followed was increasingly more and more barbarian in nature.

I wish I had not left my room that night, nor receive that Order now that I know what it entails. The weight of being an heiress is big and for all my efforts, I could not handle the weight of being the first without difficulty; however much I wished it, that Order still would have arrived and I would have been in the same position still.

I picked up the Order and soon we were out of the bedroom. We walked down the hallway, now bathed in the sun with the precious stones above us glimmering beautifully, casting shadows of light on the quartz walls, like the glow of rippling water.

“Liz, slow down! Where are we going?” She tripped, catching onto another support beam along the way.

“Somewhere a little more private.”

At the hall intersection, we turned right, heading to the East Wing. Rooms passed by in a blur and soon enough we had to turn another right in order to go downstairs. Once we had reached another landing, I turned to the left staircase and then followed that until we were on the first floor. The corridor had the same quartz design as the one above and it took a while until we reached a door, covered in a silvery sheen, carved with butterflies.

“Is this…?”

“Yes.”

Pushing it open, I walked into my most sacred of spaces, the Butterfly Canopy; no one could enter this room at all without my permission, not Mother, not Father and not even Marcus. The door was designed to open only on the command of one person, with an ancient mystic property that even I did not fully understand - Father described it as a ‘soul key’ and explained the mechanisms, but I was simply content to know it only belonged to me.

Here, the room was a glass dome, elongated outwards and poking out into the southern outer courtyard. While it was mostly glass, the seating area was surrounded by a wall of rose quartz crystal and it had taken Father a good three months to find, excavate and move one so large to complete it.

Streams of sunlight filtered through the glass and the leaves of various trees growing here ‘til they dappled the floor with spots of yellow-green. The drizzle outside had dispersed into a fine mist and the light fog earlier this morning had finally dissipated to reveal the fresh world around us.

A heavy scent of rain permeated the air and with its crispness, my soul felt rejuvenated at the sight of my favourite flowers, trees, grasses and my dolphin fount all laid wondrously before my eyes.

“Woah, it’s… beautiful…” Adrianne trailed off, looking around the overgrown greenhouse and gently brushing the soft petals of a hydrangea bush between her fingers.

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I breathed in, content and finally I settled on a bench under a gazebo, overgrown with vines and just beginning to bloom with honeysuckle.

“Yes it is. This is the place I love the most and no one can see into it here.”

“How come? Does the little rabbit even know this place exists?”

“The door opens to me, Adri. It will not reveal itself arbitrarily to anyone and it acts as a massive terrarium you can walk into. Father described this place as having half of a soul key and I have the other.”

“What did you say? A soul key?” She turned to stare at me, incredulous.

I stared back, curious, “Yes…”

“How… is that possible?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know??” She appeared exasperated with my unawareness in that moment, walking away from me slightly to stand directly in front, “Did you learn nothing in your lessons? Soul keys are divine blessings from Oberon which were originally given to the Taero, you know, the Ancient Ones. Emperor Helios Tritone was the one who outlawed their hunting.”

I blinked.

“I recall something of the sort…” I paused, thinking, “but what does that have to do with anything?”

“It means, my foul little toad,” she said, flicking my forehead, “that soul keys are incredibly rare; it’s been four hundred years since Tritone wrote the decree, with five soul keys in existence. You cannot harvest them anymore; it would mean ripping out the heart and crystallising Taero blood while it is still alive, warm between the fingers. The alchemical properties are amazing.”

She paused, taking in a deep breath, “For your father to have obtained a soul key… He must have performed great feats in the Silver Wars and nearly died too, to be granted such a thing… Oh, how I envy you!”

I smiled, “Well, it does not change the blessing you’ve been given; we’re still friends and if you want to enter this place, just say the word. I’ll bring you here with me.”

Adrianne jumped for joy, bouncing around the garden and drinking in the heavenly atmosphere, laughing.

“Now then,” I continued, “before we lose ourselves in bliss, what do we do about this Order?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“We must find three others to join our quest, if we are to meet with His Majesty. The sooner, the better.”

She paused, thinking deeply. Her brow furrowed again and she didn’t notice a magnolia petal until it fell into her hair. She brushed it off absentmindedly, until her eyes lit up.

“What about Marcus?”

I deadpanned.

“Adrianne, I can’t tell if you’re joking or if you’re serious, but after what we saw earlier, I do not want Marcus anywhere near me. I don’t know what he means to do yet and besides, I’d rather not deal with a headache in the middle of a journey.”

“Hmm, if that is the case, how about inviting Moriarty?”

“What? He’s your brother; I don’t believe Lord Xandros would appreciate both his children leaving on an Order, even if it were from the Emperor.”

“It will be fine! He has our youngest with him and I do not believe Mother would object. Honestly, sometimes you worry so much, I start to question if you’re really here or not.”

I sighed, “Very well. Let’s go and ask later tomorrow, once all this has died down. He is a rather adept swordsman, so it would make it safer for us. Now who else?”

“...I have an idea…”

“But…?”

She grimaced, “You won’t like it.”

I gave her a look, crossed my arms and gestured for her to go on.

“We could… invite the young lady of the Triyaers to join us, maybe…?”

I stopped, my arms falling flat to my sides.

She did not just say that.

“What?”

Adrianne cringed again.

“I know, I know, you don’t like it. It’s a bad idea. You’d sooner burn the empire than go with her; let’s just forget I said anything.”

I opened my mouth to have a go at her, until I began to envision our journey. Although I had many bones to pick with her, I did not find myself as opposed to the idea as I first thought. In fact, this would be an excellent way of making her life absolutely miserable.

“Eliza, what’s with the face? You’re scaring me…”

I could not stop the grin from spreading on my face and soon I had begun imagining all the ways I could torment that detestable creature.

“Adri, that is a wonderful idea! It has been some time, anyway, so why not give her a surprise visit,” I cackled, enjoying the thrills down my spine, “and give her no choice but to join? Come, let us go see Mother and be on our way. It is high time we paid Lady Valkyrie a visit.”

Somehow, on that day, those flowers that bloomed in my garden smelled the sweetest to me and as much as I hated making Adri worry, I felt a delicious little thrill at her horrified expression.