Trystan crashed into the training arena; his limbs pin-wheeling. I opened my mouth to yell at him and stopped. His face was white with fear, terror. I felt my limbs freezing with apprehension.
"Trystan, what's wrong? Where's Twyll? Is she hurt? Did he touch her?" I shot out a volley of questions. By now everyone had gathered and were staring expectantly at him.
He looked crazed and scared. So scared. I felt my heartbeat quickening as a metallic taste spread on my tongue. I felt my eyes twitching and I knew what was coming but it still didn't prepare me for the oncoming wave. His anger and fear washed over me like pure acid and I had to lean on Shalom to control it. I gasped in the air as Trystan's emotions raged a war on my senses making me fall to my knees. My vision was tinged with red and tears streamed down my cheeks. I could vaguely make out Shalom's shouts and Bren's strong commands through the haze. All of a sudden my mind cleared and the fog lifted. Trystan was on the ground, his shoulders shaking and Bren was panting heavily. I was kneeling on the ground and my tunic was stained red. Shalom was cradling me against his chest and the pain in his head was slowly ebbing into nothingness. I dragged a finger across my cheek and it came away wet and red. Blood. I dragged myself to Trystan, Shalom tried to hold me back but I pushed him away. I cradled Trystan's head against my chest and held him close. His terror wasn't as acute but it was still there. Bren must have put a damper on him. I let my energies pass through his nerves and calmed him.
"Starr, Starr Freesia..." Trystan murmured under his breath and my body seized. You could hear a feather drop in the silence that commenced.
"What are you saying, boy?" Bren hissed out.
"Twyll's aunt knew Starr Freesia. She asked Twyll to seek her out."
"That's impossible. Starr Freesia died centuries ago, it's impossible."
"But she didn't," Kyan interrupted, "She disappeared, It's a possibility that she could be alive. Think about it," Kyan started pacing back and forth. "A stoechían's lifespan is dependant on the energies they wield. The stronger the entity the longer the lifespan. Starr Freesia was the first Crystal Heir. She could wield the energy of a Core Crystal, for all we know she could've been immortal."
"Do you know what this means, Kyan? Starr Freesia is a very old wielder that can help us understand how the Tem could have been created," Karsyn breathed with a heartbreaking amount of hope in her voice.
Shalom winced at her. Hope was a dangerous thing. Volatile. It could be built up as easily as it could be torn down.
"This also means that the Twyll is descended from the greatest wielder in history and the reason why she is a target for The Dictator. It's concerning,"
Trystan was just quiet.
"This is very bad, I have a very bad feeling and it's very bad but I already said that," Kyan hyperventilated.
"All we can do right now is try and gather as much information as we can. Agreed?" Bren called out tiredly. A collective sound of agreement came and they all separated to get ready for the ball tonight. Trystan stayed behind and gazed out the window. Bren walked up next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Everything will be fine Tryst, it always is,"
He just made a noncommittal sound, shifting into a butterfly and flitting off.
"Moody little boy," Bren murmured under her breath.
...
Twyll stared at the pink monstrosity in front of her and groaned. The pink chiffon gown was sleeveless and had giant pink and orange chiffon roses across the skirt and bodice. The neck was covered with peach netting and the hem was a hideous lace. The dress was bright, loud and generally offensive to the senses. She looked out the window and dreamed of the muted gold dress with its geometric designs and sharp edges. Saira had a carefully blank expression on her exotic face as she arranged her mask choices in front of her. The mask selection was as hideous as the dress with pink foil and flamboyant feathers in every orange and pink shade. The eye holes were bordered with rhinestones and glitter that threatened to blind oneself if not careful.
Feeling disheartened she looked out the window again and searched for a tiny wisp of crystal energy and concentrated on forming a link. It was quite impossible but she managed to get a weak connection to cadence.
Cadence?
Twyll?
Yes, it's me. I was wondering if there was a way you could have the dress that I had chosen for the ball to be delivered.
Wait for a second, how are you? Are you alright?
Yes, yes, I'm fine. So, can you?
Can I what?
Send over my Ball dress? With the knives.
I'll try my best Krásná.
See that you do.
She then whipped around as a carefully packed parcel appeared at her window seat. The package was wrapped in brown paper with neat edges and a small note. The note said the address of the package and nothing more. She tore open the paper and gasped at the black netting and gold triangular patterns that melted into the black bottom-up. The skirt pooled at her feet and created a rippling gold effect. Her fingers snagged on the delicate hilts of some of the sharpest knives shed ever held. She dragged her hands a little further up the slit in the dress and felt the soft, embroidered fabric of her Bavmeč. She smiled, a little surprised that she even could smile. She slid her hands across the waistline of the bodice and brushed a small piece of paper; it was a note addressed to her in slanting handwriting:
Thought you could enjoy at least one
thing you can have power over
-Your predestined soul mate ;)
Twyll swallowed a laugh and tucked the paper back into the seams. She turned to Saira and gave her a cool smile.
"I will be wearing this outfit tonight and not that humiliating monstrosity," Saira just nodded and Twyll could have sworn that her stiff lips loosened into a small smile, but what did she know?
...
Shalom looked over at Karsyn.
"I can hear you worrying from over here Shal," Karsyn called out, one hand carefully braiding her hair into a small knot on top of her head. Her skin glowed with health which he was sure was some concoction that Kyan had made in his lab. Karsyn looked more like a skeleton these days. Her eyes were shadowed not the bright pink that had been enhanced by some kind of lens. Her hair was not the silky mane that you could see but a brittle, faded pink. The makeup and enhancements were like a façade that she could remove whenever she wanted to while Shalom was the permanent façade of being strong. He couldn't shed that because he was scared Karsyn's would crumble along with him if he did.
He smiled and coughed out a weak laugh.
"It's nothing Krásná. You look radiant," He complimented and reassured.
Karsyn's smile stuttered before recovering back to its fake shine as if she was holding up an illusion that she couldn't afford to drop.
"Thank you,"
And that was it. They didn't talk again. Then again they rarely did talk anymore.