The Sapphire Pendant

Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Adeline

My father, Estelle, Angelica, Penny and I stood on the royal platform in the middle of the market day square.   Estelle in her sapphire gown with lavender accents and a ruffled skirt, Angelica in a matching gown, and Penny, looking bored, in a dusty dark blue gown with a tight laced bodice, full tulle skirt adorned with diamonds.   All of our gowns had the same flowing sleeves.  My father, wearing a blue velvet cape, made us dress in the same in the same color to showcase the richness of the Air Kingdom.  Dark blue dye was the hardest to come by.  Everyone in the audience had a blue dyed clothing article to show for in the Market Place.

All of my sister’s hair and mine were tied up above our necks.  In the mainland of Magic, when a women tied up her hair in front of a suitor was a sign of respect.  I hated this practice, when I put my hair up it showed too much of my cheekbones, my own personal insecurity.

Like my sapphire pendant, all my other sisters had sapphire jewels.  This was so when the Speak chose one of us it would embody itself in our jewels. 

Estelle and Angelica had sapphire studded cuffs, two for each of them, Penny had sapphire earrings, Selena had a sliver ankle bracelet with a sapphire jewel handing from it, and Alice had sapphire ring that she wore on her middle finger that was resized every year.

I swiveled my weight from my right leg to my left, not able to get comfortable.  I was unable to get closure on top of the wooden platform.

Everyone participating in Market Day gathered around the front of the platform to hear what my father had to say.

“Subjects,” my father started.

Everyone bowed towards us.  I rolled my eyes so minuscule that no one could have seen it.

“I am pleased to announce the arrival of our guests,” my father stated.  I braced for the shock that would inevitably follow from the audience.

“Introducing King Felix and his son Prince Joshua from Fire Kingdom,” he said clapping his hands.

I clapped politely along with the villagers, hunters, and royal guards.  I was laughing to myself at the obvious signs of alarm.  Everyone’s eyes widened the moment the king and the prince stepped on the platform.  The prince was decent, he had light brown hair and hazel eyes, but his expression read that he wished he was anywhere but here.  My father and King Felix did the warrior’s handshake by grasping each other’s wrist and shaking twice.

The audience kept clapping over and over.  My father smiled, raising and lowering his arms trying to quiet the villagers.  They ignored him, continuing to clap in a steady tempo.

“Quiet down now,” my father said laughing at their enthusiasm.  The audience refused to listen.

“Quiet,” he said with a little more force.  I saw that most of the subjects were still clapping distractedly.  The women in the audience were looking at the prince with approval and the men at King Felix with some kind of admiration.

“Silence,” Father shouted.  The audience quieted at once, but not just because he raised his voice.  I could tell my father had used the Speak.  The Speak is an ancient magic passed down from the generations of Air Kingdom rulers. 

A fit ruler for the kingdom got the Speak once present at birth or taken from the ruler if they overthrew them.  It was a rumor if the Speak was inherited or stored into a jewel of some sort. 

I knew that the true Speak’s magic was stored in a jewel.  My father’s Speak was stored in the sapphire stone that held his cape together.  It glowed faintly whenever my father used its magic.  However, in the wrong hands it will not work.