Soul Savior

Chapter VI: Escalation, Perhaps

 For the rest of the month that Cande's family had intended to stay, things between Cande, Cruz, and I remained mostly the same. It was rare to see one of us without the other two. The three of us were very much united, and we'd become very close very quickly. The adults seemed rather pleased by this development, as Cande's parents seemed to have stopped pestering my mother with their ideals.

One day, we were summoned to the room where Cruz and I had first met Cande. According to the servant who'd been sent for us, the king and queen of Aburriocioso had an announcement to make. Cande, however, had no knowledge of this announcement.

We quietly discussed what we thought the meeting could be about as we walked briskly. Once we got to the door we all got quiet, and entered with Cande going first, me going second, and Cruz going last. We greeted the older royals formally before taking our seats as we were instructed.

"When we came to Orozon, we'd originally planned to only stay for about a month. However, we've found that there are more reasons to stay in this country than we'd thought initially. Still, as the king and queen, we can't afford to stay here much longer." The king began.

"This is why we're appointing Princess Silvia as an ambassador for our country while the king and I return to Aburricioso. She will stay here to continue to learn and continue her friendships", the queen glanced at Cruz and me, "while reporting to us periodically. We shall announce when she is to come home, if Orozon will allow this, of course."

My mother nodded. "Of course, it would be our pleasure to continue to act as hosts for your daughter."

The three of us were immediately excused from the meeting as the adults would talk specifics about the arrangement. As we exited, we almost repeated our incident with Trinidad, were it not for the fact that they had knocked on the door before entering. Regardless, the look they sent us caused us all to shiver. Their cold, piercing, calculating gaze made me feel as if a bucket of ice had fallen over me, and disdain felt obvious over their face. I wasn't sure if their tendency to have their hood up, covering their face in shadows, helped in the appearance, but I still felt afraid around them.

Of course, I'd been taught to not judge a book by its cover, but this had all been a bit recent. Trinidad hadn't always scared me, in fact, as a child I used to visit their study and ask about the apparent miracles they could do.

"Cali?" Cruz asked, snapping her fingers.

I jumped. "Yeah?"

"You spaced, we're already in your room."

I glanced around, realizing she told the truth. "You're right."

Cande tilted their head. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Just minor stuff. Trinidad's just been giving me the chills lately."

Cruz scoffed. "They've been like that for about a year. Your mom is convinced that it's because of your father."

"Was your sorcerer friendly in the past?" Cande asked.

I nodded. "Trinidad used to be a relaxing person to be around, and knew how to act friendly and lively. For the past year though, they've been acting solemn, and almost spiteful. I guess it could be the stress of not being able to save my father, but... Still, the whole thing seems odd to me. Anyway, you didn't know you were going to be able to stay here longer?"

Cande shook their head, but had a big grin on their face. "I mean, I'd asked about it beforehand, but each time they'd make it seem like I wasn't getting anywhere with my requests. I guess they wanted to surprise me."

They moved to look out my window, tilting their head, and I assumed they were admiring the view. "I do love it here. Your country is so friendly, so lively, and so accepting. I could almost live here."

"Almost?" Cruz asked.

They turned around. "Well, I am still known as the princess of my country, so, naturally, I'd have to return at some point."

"Unless you marry here, like your parents probably want." Cruz pointed out, tossing themself onto my bed, miming out wedding vows with two of the plush animals that sat on the bed.

Cande's face became a bit pink as they glanced away, toying with the curtain strings. "Well, yeah, there's always that, I guess."

Things remained awkwardly silent for a bit, so I finally came up with something to break the silence.

"Cande, Cruz, what if we go to the Gem's Tears?"

"Oh, yeah! Good idea, we haven't been there in years!" Cruz jolted upright in excitement.

"The... Gem's Tears...?" Cande asked.

"You've never heard of it? It's one of the most famous places in our country." Cruz explained. "It's said that a long time ago, the spirit of the earth was shown the potential of humans while looking into an amethyst shard. She was so happy, she cried, making a river so clear you could see the shiny, colorful bottom. The river leads into a cave that's full of all kinds of crystals, and its limits have yet to be found. It's where most of our gemstones come from, in fact, the purple gems on your amulet probably came from there. The part that the river runs through, though, has boats that go through it, and they've set it up so that you can see the crystals as you drift through."

"Yeah, and if you're not into caves or boat rides, then, even though it's in the woods, there are other fun things to do in that area, and it's always nice to look at the river in the parts where the boats don't go through."

"That sounds incredible. When can we go?" Cande asked, smiling. I could tell they were excited to have learned a bit about our country's lore and our geography. In fact, I'd noticed that Cande was very fond of geography, and I considered compiling a list of geographical sites to take them to.

"Whenever you want." I shrugged, and Cruz nodded in agreement.

Before they could answer, there was a knock at the door.

"Yes?" I asked.

"The sorcerer and royal advisor, Trinidad of Orizon, would like to speak to Princen Cande." One of our servants called.

"What for?" Cande asked, furrowing their brow.

"They didn't give an explanation, your Highness."

Cande sighed. "I guess I should go. We can talk about this afterwards though, right?" They smiled weakly.

Cruz and I nodded. "Of course." I said.

"Good luck with Trinidad, don't let them scare you." Cruz offered as advice.

"Thank you." With that, Cande left to follow the servant to Trinidad.

"I wonder what they could want." I muttered, only receiving a shrug from Cruz.