The Shadow Court

Chapter 5 - Rose

"Where is he?" Callum asked the guard stationed outside Estella's room. "Is the King already inside?"

"Let him in." A voice spoke through the guard's walkie. It sounded like Mr. Stone.

The guard eyed Callum up and down, then brought the radio up to his mouth. "Sure thing, sir."

He swiped a key card through Estella's glowing lock and it flashed green for a moment before clicking. The door swung inwards and the guard stepped aside, keeping his eyes on Callum. Without another word, Callum dashed inside.

The King - or Arthur, since he wasn't in uniform - was looking over Estella's bed with a grim expression. Anthony was there too, hence the voice on the guard's walkie. The two looked very similar, Callum thought, with the exception of Arthur's clear ageing marks. Once upon a time, he would've had the same brown hair, steel grey eyes and olive skin as his son. The two were both in a deep, quiet conversation that Callum couldn't make out, but he assumed it had to do with Estella.

She was lying motionlessly across the bed with a pillow of short, caramel locks behind her head. Callum approached the bed slowly, then cleared his throat.

"Master?" He said. "You wanted to see me?"

Arthur didn't take his eyes away from the bed. "Ah, apprentice. As you can see, the process is almost complete."

Callum turned his eyes to Estella and indeed noticed a difference. A series of crooked purple lines, like veins, snaked just below the surface of her skin. They covered her entire body, safe for her forehead. Instead, a small purple gem seemed to pulse with light every now and then.

"Is she..."

"Awake? Almost." Said Arthur, narrowing his eyes at the body. He reached out his hand slowly and hovered it just above her forehead, where the gem was. A minute or so later, a shudder went through Estella's body and her eyes flashed open.

Callum's heart skipped a beat. "Woah."

Arthur retreated his hand as Estella sat up slowly, taking in her surroundings with wide eyes. Callum could tell that she was panicking by the way her eyes never seemed to stay on one thing for more than a second.

Anthony sighed with relief. "Oh thank god. I thought she wasn't going to take it."

Callum already knew what had happened to Estella, what Arthur had done, but he hadn't been expecting her to seem so... similar. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Estella's eyes turned towards him, but they were all spaced out, like she was looking through the wall. "That's just the thing. I can't see. Well, not in the way I'm supposed to."

"Ah." Arthur rubbed his hands together. "That means her ability has kicked in." He approached her slowly, with a look of envy written across his face. "Rose, how much do you remember?"

Rose. Callum suddenly remembered the main difference between Estella now and Estella then. This, was Rose.

"I remember..." Rose gave a little gasp, and the gem on her forehead flashed brighter for a second. "I remember being in pain. A bunch of teenage criminals, torturing me... My cousins joining in, tormenting me..." She hugged her knees close to her chest as a silver trail of tears trickled down her cheek. Then, her eyes drifted towards Callum. "I remember my brother, coming to save me."

Callum furrowed his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. He wasn't completely aware of Arthur's plan, but nothing he'd been told had involved this.

"We'll let you two have a chat." Arthur said gently to Anthony, then spoke in Callum's mind.

We need to talk.

Callum followed his master outside and the door closed behind them.

"Leave us." Arthur said to the guard, who walked away in a daze of some sort. No doubt thanks to a few mind tricks. "Now, about Rose."

"What happened? Is she really blind?"

"Yes." Arthur snapped, silencing Callum. "She's blind, but thanks to the abilities I gave her, she can see the souls within everyone around her. She can see individual colours for each soul, and feel the emotions within them. She has a gift that makes her an extremely valuable member of the Shadow Court. Now, this is where you come in."

Callum eyed his master curiously. "Am I to assume the role of her brother? She called me that earlier."

"Precisely." Arthur confirmed. "One of the memories that I implanted in her mind was a strong family bond between the two of you. You will act as her guardian, teaching her the ways of the Shadow Court. And when she's ready, you will release her on the brats she used to care about."

Callum nodded along. "I'll do it."

"As expected." Arthur said. "Just think, once the Heir of the Shadows has stretched her legs a bit, we'll be ready to rock and roll."

"Where's the queen?" Callum asked. "I would've thought she'd be here to see Rose wake up?"

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "She's a little... busy. As you know, her transformation into my apprentice was by far the most eventful out of you three. She's still getting the hang of her powers."

Callum turned to face the door. "How long do you reckon Rose'll take?"

"As soon as she realises that her old life is gone."

Callum sighed. So she really doesn't remember who she was...

"No." Arthur said, confirming his thoughts. "Estella is gone. The broken criminal she used to be has been erased from her memory, replaced by a warrior. As soon as Rose accepts who she is and stops trying to cling on to her old memories, she'll be unstoppable."