Ritual

Chapter 12

"Hold on, are you telling me that's all you know about him?" I asked her, shocked.

"Well, yes, but I was going to spend some more time with him," she replied.

"Who are his parents?" I asked her.

"I haven't met them yet, but I'm going to, I swear."

"Are you even sure he's an illustrian? Is he noble?" "He is! Look at how he dresses."

"That's not enough."

"Ok, well, I believed him when he said he was."

I grabbed her by the shoulder and made her face toward me. "This is exactly why I'm so against him. You don't know him at all!"

"And what do you know about him?"

"Enough to know that he's not what he says he is. I visited the illustrian neighborhoods, and not one of them knows a person named Aizrill."

Esmee became upset. "What? But, that's impossible."

"If you want to ask him yourself and show you once and for all, go ahead, because I'm curious, too," I said, and gestured for her to come back to the party.

She sighed and went back to looking at the whole party below. "I think I'm going to stay here for the rest of the event."

"You know what? Me too." I said.

"No, you can't, you have to close the party. You're the king and this is your celebration."

"Oh, right, sorry," I said and made my way back. "Are you going to be alright?"

She didn't reply, and I didn't force her to. She was probably going through a lot at once. I left her on the battlements, and I went back downstairs.

Mr. Farko, Trystan, my two guard knights, and I sat in the solar room. I have just explained what's going on to Esmee, all from the book, the magic spell, and mother's resurrection. She sat afar from us on a chair, bewildered by all this.

The things we gathered from yesterday's hunt for the spell were laid out before us. Trystan had already plucked out the rose petals and put them inside a glass jar. The skull was completely removed and cleansed, eerily sitting on the table, looking at us with the look of death on its face, along with the two bones beside it. One of the bones was from the arm, broken into two, and the other was from the leg, kept in whole. The vial of hybrid blood was sealed tightly with a piece of fabric and laid out along with the others on the table.

"What things are we missing for the spell?" I asked.

Trystan flipped through the book. "An amethyst gem," he said.

"Ok, we're going to the gem merchants in Krurian, and get an amethyst from them," I suggested.

"Doesn't your mother have any amethysts on her jewelry or on that crown of yours, Your Grace?" Mr.Farko asked.

I looked at Trystan to confirm if there were any amethysts on the crown. He went around me, scanning the jewelry embedded in the crown. Once he had done a full circle, he shook his head. "No amethysts, Your Majesty," he said.

"I'll go and look in mother's jewelry." Esmee offered and quickly got out of the room.
"I'll help." I offered.

"No, it's alright. I'll be quick. I've been borrowing mother's jewelry all the time, I know her collection like the back of my hand. I'll be fine." she said.

"Ok, an amethyst is a-"

"It's purple, I got it," she said and shut the door behind her.

We waited for her to come back, and sat there for what felt like hours until Esmee came back. She came through the door to the sight of us all drinking the tea and eating biscuits that Mr. Farko had fetched for us.

She held a necklace with big purple gems that shone very brightly. "I found one, we don't seem to have many amethysts. There were other purple ones, but I don't think they were amethysts. I'm sure this one is, though." she said, and placed the necklace with the spell ingredients on the table.

I rose from my seat because this means that we have all the things necessary to conduct the ritual and bring back mother from the dead. I've been through and dealt with all the absurdity and befuddlement of magic and necromancy and hybrids, but it's only now that I've felt the fear and uncertainty that comes along with it; my belief collides with my logic, my faith in things turns into a hope that everything goes well, and then I start to question everything that's been done so far. I'm at a loss of confidence in everything and myself all of a sudden.

"Well, let's start then," I said, as I stared at all the ingredients, one brew away from being turned into some spell. I'm not even sure how this spell would turn out, or what we'd do after. My heart thumped in my chest and I felt every beat. My body stiffened as Mr. Farko and Trystan gathered the ingredients. They headed out of the room, leaving the book on the table.

Esmee looked at me, and I could see the fear in her eyes, with a hint of precariousness. She sat down with her fingers tightly closed to each other and waited for my next move. It just sank into me that everything was dependent on my choices now and that only made me more neurotic.

"We're doing this," Esmee said, looking for any assurance.

"Yes, we are. We're bringing back mother." I said.

I grabbed the book from the table and followed Mr. Farko and Trystan to the alchemy room. Esmee caught up to my side, and my two knight guards walked right behind us.

The halls were a long walk in the castle, and the walls were always adorned with paintings, usually unnoticeable because of the plethora of them all around the castle walls. I looked at them as we walked, and saw a portrait of mother, sitting up straight and staring right at me.