Silver: The Lost Royal

41 | Two Truths & A Lie

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Drinad ~ dree-nad
Nasmavwer ~ nas-mav-wair
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IT took several tries for Karyn to stop reaching back in for her powers after locking them. Yet she still struggled with the emptiness. A struggle so visible, that Marcela had to ask about it during one of their training sessions.

"Karyn, you've joined the network already, and that's great, but I can't help but feel you can't reach me because you don't have a settled mind."

Karyn sighed. The Emeraldine had perfectly summarized her situation.

"Is that where you lock your powers?"

Marcela followed Karyn's gesture to the emerald-studded bracelet on her wrist. When her eyes came back to Karyn, she replied with an affirming nod.

"How do you cope with it? Since I've locked my magic, I've had to keep reopening it because I can't help the emptiness."

"I know the feeling. A feeling so hollow, it eats you up and leaves you feeling like... nothing."

"Did you feel like that for all your years on earth?" Karyn asked, unable to comprehend living with such a feeling for such a long time.

"On Earth it was different. As I've said before, magic moves to and fro within Wlerden. As we are now, we are always giving and receiving magic from the land when we don't have our powers locked. It's how the Prides thrive. But on Earth, the land is dry and perceives nothing which is why we need this jewelry. Because magic is fluid in motion, it always seeks something to move into. Should we be on Earth without these jewels, we are at risk of losing our magic. One can say it stores and keeps our magic with us."

"If it stores your magic, does that mean someone can take it from there?" Karyn asked.

"A wielder can pass magic on to their child, and that requires a process. It can be temporary but once permanent, the wielder goes through a rite of passage to be part of the Court of Pelandiars. While the child goes through a ripening process to prepare for the gem. That said, one can also lose their magic if someone takes the gem without their will, but that is dangerous. Once the wielder is not willingly giving the magic, it's as if their heart is being ripped out. No one has survived it. It happened to the Pearli, and they found him in a devastating condition. And what's worse, the person couldn't join the Court, so we have no way of knowing who took it and what had happened. That's also why your father is not in the Court because he didn't go through the process after giving you the gem," Marcela explained.

"But you shouldn't worry about that. With us by your side, there's no way we will let someone take it from you. Right now, all we have to do is get you to Urden before we go ahead for you to reclaim your rightful throne." Marcela's face lit up with a radiant smile, exuding an infectious sense of joy. But, Karyn found it difficult to mirror her counterpart's enthusiasm, as a bitter and troubling thought consumed her mind.

Marcela's smile faltered. "What's wrong?"

"It's just... I wonder if they'll let me rule over them," she whispered, looking at her hands. Marcela smiled at her and put her hand out to raise Karyn's chin.

"I don't know how it was at Emerfield, but I recall you being a young, vibrant child. You were always concerned with the workings of the kingdom, and you wanted to assume your role as soon as possible!"

Karyn's eyes rounded. "I did?"

"Yes, of course. Even Gema was quite jealous of you."

"She was?"

"Not because you were the princess, but because you were so keen on being a Wielder, being a queen, and taking charge of your responsibilities at such a young age, while all she wanted to do was to be away from the White Castle. She was such a rebel back then," Marcela laughed, prompting Karyn to do so.