Fractured Crown (Book 1: Terra)

Chapter 19

So many questions, so many thoughts that buzzed in Iris's mind, that she found herself rendered speechless.

"Anahita?" she finally repeated softly, keeping pace with Al.

The First Rank nodded, and the two continued in silence for some time after, before Iris broke it once again.

"How..." she started but couldn't seem to finish that sentence. Was Anahita younger or older? What had happened to her? Did she know of Iris's existence? "How long until we arrive?" she asked instead.

"Not long," was Al's brisk response, and the two fast-walked towards what sounded to Iris like the faint whispers of water crashing – a waterfall. The autumn leaves looked trampled, and where the ground sloped, there appeared to be scuffle or skid marks. Iris was no expert, but there was clearly enough of a disturbance that something had happened on this small hill. She wondered if her sister had been involved.

"So, she's in charge of the water district? Lympha, right?" Iris asked.

Al grimaced. "Hardly. Well," he said after she cast him a bemused look. "She's meant to be. But the four of you were all separated at birth and well..."

"The four of us?" she sputtered. "There's another?"

Al looked at her, a mixture of embarrassment and wonder at her lack of knowledge. "Well, sure. Four sisters, four elements. All heirs to our planet, Caedus."

"And the queen," Iris said slowly, trying to make sense of what she was hearing. "My... our mother. She controlled all four elements? She had all that power? I thought you were either one or the other. And four kids? She had four of us? Was that purposeful? Did she dedicate each one of us to rule different elements or something? How does that work?"

Al winced, as if there was something he wanted to say, but was refraining himself. "Kind of. That's a story you may want to take up with the C.O," he said, before adding. "Your highness."

"I don't see when Jasper would have the time to do that," Iris argued, though she was apparently meant to dine with him again very soon. "Can't you just tell me?"

Al hesitated, looking uncertain whether his duty was bound to the Commanding Officer, or to his princess, until eventually he shook his head and apologised.

"I truly think this is a matter to discuss with the Commanding Officer instead. And anyway," he gestured with a sweeping motion towards the brilliant blue water that cascaded over the cliff's edge and into the river below. "We're here."

Al was walking towards the far stone wall, closest to the waterfall, and Iris breathed in the scent of fresh, spring water mixed with a strange aroma she couldn't quite place. She bent and picked up a crushed leaf, taking a whiff and realising the source of the smell. It was a strange scent, like eucalyptus, but sweeter, and Iris wondered if Al was just as intrigued by the sights and smells around him, or if he'd been cooped up far too long underground to care.

By the way he was carefully feeling the stone wall, his eyes set on the thin sheet of water flowing down the wall's face, she guessed he was here purely for duty purposes, and didn't care much about 'stopping to smell the flowers'.

Frowning, she dropped the leaf and followed him, furrowing her eyebrows as she watched him step out into the water and... the water only reached the souls of his shoes. He appeared to be walking on water.

Was that yet another trick she was supposed to learn?

She was about to voice this thought, when he took another step forward, wobbling slightly, and Iris peered into the water, realising, to her humiliation and stupidity, that steppingstones lay just beneath the surface.