The Heir Of Dreams And Curses

Where I finally take a look in the mirror

I slowly opened my eyes and heard Nia mutter, "The crown. But he couldn't know it."

"What?" Raegan asked. Her voice sounded pretty shaken. 

"The crown the Prince wears," Nia said, looking a bit more composed. "The flower crown. It's magical. One can't be killed while they're wearing it. Of course, they feel all the pain either way."

In that moment, I looked down and noticed the wound in my chest was healing. The arrow fell off from my body. I opened my eyes fully, very slowly.

"Ouch," I said, in a tone that must have sounded very impertinent. "At least I saved Ed's life. I could never hope to live with him dead, so it would have meant my death either way."

"Are the two of you..." Jeff sighed. "Well, nevermind. Can I approach the rebels?"

We all looked at him in surprise. Jeff was brave and stubborn, but not particularly impulsive.

Even the rebels had a stunned look on their faces. I took my time to really look at them. A red rose was pinned to their tunic, making them look a little extravagant.

"If you think you've got what it takes to deal with them," I replied bitterly. "Because apparently I haven't."

Jeff looked down the window. I could see he was using magic as a shield to protect himself from the attacks.

"Foreigner!" a man spat at him. "You and your friends are the reason we're rebelling against the Prince."

"Really," Jeff said conversationally. "And I thought you'd look for any chance to rebel against the Crown. For example, what made you attack today?"

"A knight wants to approach the palace to talk to you," a woman said. "She's in charge of telling you the news from the Aether realm. We thought we'd show you that we don't take these things lightly."

The knight made her way through the crowd. It was Nia.

"Let her through," Jeff said. His voice was more commanding than mine. "Let her tell us the news from our realm."

"No," Raegan growled, walking towards the window and looking down at the rebels. "Not before I show them what happens to whoever messes with my best friend!"

I heard people in the crowd snickering and making jokes about Raegan and I.

"I am Raegan McIntosh," my friend said. "It might mean nothing to you, but in our world it means a lot. Daughter of the High Priest of the New Faith, descendant of the founder of the New Faith, I founded my own sect, the Traditionalists. I am a skilled Jurist, and I am the Prince's best friend! Now, don't mess with him. Or me."

Raegan made a few gestures, and the ground started splitting under the crowd's feet. I realized that Raegan wasn't manipulating the earth, she was not able to, but her spell was as forceful as to break the dunes apart.

It was scary, but nobody got seriously hurt. And by the way, they way the man had aimed at Edgar's heart hadn't been gentle either.

After everything had cooled down, and a few people in the crowd even had the decency to look ashamed, Raegan went to talk to the angry mob.

When she resurfaced, half an hour later, I asked her how it went.

"Those rebels acted like violent jerks," she scoffed. "Nobody, and I repeat, nobody can lay a finger on my best friend and expect to meet no consequences. However, their leader was suddenly ashamed of their behaviour and bought me a beer."

"You drank a beer with the leader of the angry mob?" Jeff asked, eyes wide open.

Raegan shrugged. "I had never tried the beer from this realm before."