Fruit of the Elements

Chapter Five

The three of us, Kyle, Cailean, and myself, waited at the busstop that would take us up north towards the state border. My family lived in Manicks, Colorado and we were about 50 miles from the border between Colorado and Wyoming. Cailean said that the bridge to Aldell was on the border between the two states. It made sense that my mother, my real mother, had left me so close since she would one day need me, but it was also a bit of a surprise that I was so close to the bridge. There could have been so many times where someone could have taken me back home, and yet they didn't. While it confused me and made my head hurt with the thoughts that flew through my mind at an almost incomprehensible speed, I couldn't dwell on them for a long time. I had to think about what would happen when we got to Aldell.

How different is Aldell from Earth? What kind of a battle is this? But the most important question in my mind, what were my parents like? Was my mother beautiful and kind, who treated her subjects with grace and elegance? What of my father? Did he have such respect that he was loved by all of his people? I was so excited to see them I could hardly sit still, waiting for this bus that would take me to my family, the family I was always supposed to have.

With these thoughts rolling around my brain, I let out a shallow breath and grabbed my brother's hand for reassurance. He glanced down but didn't say anything, he just held on just as tight as I was and gave my hand a squeeze. A few moments later the bus pulled up to the curb and Kyle nudged me to force me to look up at the machine that would take me from everything I had known. When we got on the bus and took our seats, I turned to Cailean from across the aisle and asked him the question that had been burning in my mind for the past two days.

"What are they like?" I blurted out. It sounded dumb as soon as I said it.

"What? Who?" he replied, not understanding my question. Of course he doesn't know what I'm talking about... Jesus Lilli, English, it's a thing. After giving myself a lecture on composing sentences, I gave him a more thorough explanation that sounded like an actual question.

"Right, uh, my parents. What are they like?" I repeated hesitantly. I wasn't sure I even wanted to know right then; Cailean took another breath and looked at me full on. He looked like he was battling with himself on the inside.

"You know that your parents are the king and queen of Aldell, right? Well Queen Zara is very beautiful and everyone loves her. The King Ealdon definitely makes it a point to connect with the servants." I nod slowly, then proceed.

"Okay, what about their abilities? I can control the elements and stuff, what can they do?" I was almost scared to know about this, I didn't know if I'm like my parents or if I'm totally different, what if they didn't like what I can do? The 'what ifs?' swirled around my head at top speed.

"It's hard to explain with your mother, the queen, but your father is able to control metal."

"So he can just bend iron and copper and stuff?" it didn't exactly sound like a power befitting a king...

"It is more than that Princess, there are many materials, metals, in Aldell that are very much alive. The king is able to control and manipulate them however he wishes. He is able to somewhat neutralize them so that they aren't living, but able to be used in structures. But if you must know why he seems to have such an "uncool" power, he used to be blacksmith, as the humans would call it." Cailean said with his ever present half smile splayed on his face.

"What do you mean a blacksmith? I thought he is the king." my confusion was apparent and Cailean chuckled.

"Can you not put it together? He wasn't always the king, he actually isn't even royal. Queen Zara was born the niece of the former queen, Jacinda. Zara's mother and father died when she was young, so Jacinda took her in as her own. When Jacinda died and Zara had to find a husband, she noticed the royal blacksmith. That blacksmith was Ealdon. The two began seeing each other in secret and eventually fell in love," he paused to give me a look asking if I was still tracking with him. I nodded my head in a gesture to him to keep going with the story, Cailean took a breath and continued,