The Elementals

Chapter 2

My body jerked itself upright, my head banging against a wooden plank which hung low overhead.

"OW." I groaned, rubbing my forehead.

It was another nightmare. Another painful reminder of the night I was taken. Tajla all but erased that one part from my old life, that and the mark where the soldier's hand laid as he put me into that forsaken slumber. The Queen, my new mother for all intensive purposes, had brought me here; along with others who were slumbered, to learn to control our abilities. To help us harness the power that Xalei had given us, to fix what her and her ancestors before her broke— our island.

There was a stir above, the cot shaking with the ground. It was Tessa, another of the children that were taken that night. Unlike I, she held no memories of the village we once called home, she held nothing. No memories of her mother, her father, not even her little brother Kaylen. It was all foreign to her. The Queen had ensured that all of our memories were erased from our previous life, all but my own. It was the mark which scarred my chest that brought back the fragments of that night, the mark that no matter how much healing the Queen authorized would never go away.

I brought my hand up, gently placing it against my bare chest letting the cold of the scar fuel the memories. It was dark, the orange glow of fire hauntingly bright. There was a catch in my chest, a pain of knowing what had happened to my actual mother. She was gone, so was Molina; my aunt. Each passing breath was filled with the pain of their loss, my chest getting heavier. I tried to forget, tried my hardest to ever forget that they existed; unfortunately, that part of my memory was no longer mine to control. It now belonged to a part of me that was forever ingrained within my being; the part of me that knew that this life was not the one that I was supposed to live. My destiny was changed, and my soul knew it.

Throwing my legs over the edge of the bed I reached over and flipped open the small leather bound book which lay on the small wooden table adjacent to my bed. Bringing it to my lap, I reached inside of the spine and pulled out a small stick of charcoal; bringing it to the page and writing the horrid memory which still continued to play within my mind.

January 9th,

It was happening again. The dreams were back, and they weren't the only thing that was returning. Memories of her, my mother were returning as well. I can't keep lying to Tajla; I can't keep lying to the council of elders. It's pointless, something so mundane; it's tearing me apart.

I put the charcoal down, my fingers rubbing up and down the body of the utensil. The noise from above growing louder by the second, I raised my chin towards the white barrier. "Hey Tessa!" I shouted, "Keep it down would you, some people enjoy their ground beneath them!"

My voice was carried by the wind, through the vents and into her room where it echoed ever so slightly. A few minutes of silence passed. More than likely the act of her complying, until there  was a knock at my bedroom door. It was a gently but stern knock; the knock of Tessa Nightingale.

I strode calmly towards the two towering white oak doors; their frames embellished with the purest gold and the brightest silvers. Twisting the cool knob I pulled open the weighty door and there stood Tessa, her ink black hair tousled as if just awoken from her slumber.

"What have I told you about those whispering winds?" she quietly growled. "I specifically remember telling you after the incident with the castle worker, that there would be drastic consequences to you interrupting me in the midst of my... morning practices." Tessa tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as her eyes darted back and forth down the corridor.  

"You've been fancying the castle workers more frequent as of late, are things alright...?" I asked.

"Things would be a lot better if you would stop interrupting my morning rituals." She huffed, slamming my chamber doors shut.

I looked down at my journal, flipping back to an earlier entry when I first started remembering the awful things that my mind kept hidden. The pages were worn, the charcoal writing smudged from my fingers repetitively brushing against the parchment. I must've read these pages a hundred times over, comparing them to the current ones; each entry different but all in line the same.

I was taken.

I was not the son that everyone thought I was, and I would never truly be that person. The Queen was a tyrant, her word was law and anyone that went against it... well they were usually never heard from again. The royal court was filled with children that were stolen from their homes. Tessa, Katherine, Christian, Chloe, not to mention me. We were all stolen from the outlying villages, our names had been changed and we were no longer the kids from the villages. We were now royals, heirs to the throne of a tyrant.

Closing the journal, I placed it back on the table. Moving towards the doors and pulling them open, I walked into the hallway; the sun reflecting off the golden window frames blinding me momentarily. Blinking I started towards Katherine's chambers, passing by several guards and noticing a look of confusion amongst them. It wasn't until the third guard looked at me strangely that I asked, "What's the matter?"

He looked me up and down, biting his bottom lip. "Sire, you're still wearing your nightwear."

I looked down, and sure enough I was still in my cotton whites. Excusing myself I rushed back to my chambers, shutting the doors with more wind than physical strength. Removing my top I threw it across my bed and reached for another from the closet, the yellow fabric soft against my fingertips. It was different from the shirts that my mother used to make me; and even after all these years it was a feeling that I was not quite used to.

Pulling it over my torso, I also grabbed a pair of tan trousers from the same closet.

Fully dressed, I pulled on a pair of slip-ons and returned to my venture towards Katherine's chambers.

As I walked further down; statues of knights, paintings of the Queen as well as past Kings, and lanterns littered the corridor. They were well placed, not to cluttered and overly decorative. While each painting was a different size than the other, it was always the ones of the reigning Queen that were nearly double the size as those of her predecessor. Outright narcissistic that woman is.

I finally came to Katherine's door, the towering white oak doors similar to mine stood there solid. The only difference between our doors—between the doors of all the heirs— were the colors that were associated with them. Katherine's colors were silver with a splash of blue. An aquatic theme present in the way that sirens decorated the frame of her doors. I gave a quick knock, waiting a moment before I went to knock again. On the third knock I finally got an answer, "Come in." 

The voice was melodic and carried a tune that was easily noticed as Katherine's. I pushed open the doors and the smell of lilacs filled the air around me. Tessa might have been the heir for geokinetics, but Katherine was one of the best gardeners that we had on the palace grounds. Even without Tessa's powers, she was able to grow flowers better than Tess ever could. 

Katherine looked toward the door and came rushing from her bed, her nightgown trailing her as she strode. "Aaron, brother." she said grabbing my hand. 

"Hello sister, how are you this morning?" I asked as she pulled me to the window across the room. Her room was always sparkling clean, which was something I admired. I was unable to keep my chambers as clean as hers due to my issues with my dreams and my abilities. Aerokinetics are quite loose with their abilities as they're constantly surrounded by their element. 

"You've got to see this." She said dodging my question. 

We made it to the window, and through the iridescent glass I saw what had her stirring.