Lord Garrin pressed two meaty fingers against his temple, sighing in discomfort on the day that they departed from the village. Flora couldn't help from smirking as he flinched at every bump from the carriage. If only the oaf hadn't spent the entire night drinking his wits away. Almost all of the men had spent the night in that tavern, probably on the floor. She couldn't imagine why any of them thought that spending the night other than resting would be a good idea. Flora made a mental note to not address anyone, because they would probably be cranky as all hell.
The main good thing that had come out of the night spent in that village, was the knowledge of Flora's prediction being spot on. It made Flora extremely proud, and she felt like she was finally getting somewhere with her abilities. Prince Andrei never addressed her about it in the following days, so Flora had no idea how he had reacted to the news. He must have heard the information from the scholar. Garin had the opportunity to bestow upon the other men the wonderful news of how they nearly avoided death. At least the scholar was helpful in some way that night. Once the guards and nobles heard that their extra two days of toil and misery had saved their lives, they had a renewed sense of energy about them... that was after they had fully recovered from their hangovers of course.
Unfortunately for Flora and Amelia, the trip continued with Garin filling their ears with the very specific magic research he was currently working on. She felt like she could probably recite a dissertation about the magical properties of quartz accompanied by the hair of a goat. Garin of course reminded them quite frequently that he had many other studies in the works, but they would always lead back to his quartz. A few times he tried to sway the conversation towards Flora's spiritual magic, but she shut that down very fast. After the first time Garin suggested it, he received a glare from Amelia so fierce even Flora couldn't help but shiver.
When the last day of their journey neared, Flora was giddy with anticipation, half excitement and half nerves. She was so ready to be done traveling, but she wasn't ready to be presented to the Leostan emperor. Flora glanced at the scholar, somewhat wishing for more of his chatter if it meant she wouldn't have to face any other royals. She had to admit though, the man had a wealth of knowledge and she had learned quite a lot from him, against her will, but there was interesting information to pick out. There was one thing she was dying to know more about that she was willing to risk the silent afternoon for. Lord Garin caught her staring at him and raised his eyebrows in question. "Lord Garin, can you please tell me more about 'seeing' auras and energy?"
The man shifted on the bench, eager to dump his knowledge on someone who asked for a change. Garin smiled as he asked, "what would you like to learn about your highness?"
Flora had been thinking about it for a few days but had avoided asking him anything for fear it would turn back on her. With the last few hours of the journey upon them, she felt more emboldened. Tilting her head to the side, she feigned as if she had only just now thought of her questions. "You said that you can see energy around people while touching them, but how do you know that that's what you are seeing?"
Garin scratched his scruffy beard. "I'm not sure what you mean your highness."
"You 'see' the energy, but how did you figure out that was what you were seeing?"
Lord Garin's face scrunched up in preparation for a speech, the joy oozing from him. "Yes, yes. Well you see your highness, when I was a young lad," he gave her a joking look as he chuckled. "Many, many years ago, I had this weird sensation that other people didn't have when touching others. It only happened a few times since I was from a village with very few of those with magical abilities, but when a scholar from Risten visited, he knew right away that I had the sight. His name was... what was it again... it started with a R?" Flora looked away as he struggled to regain his thoughts. "Well anyway, he invited me to study at the University, and there I trained for many, many years to master the ability. It took quite some time, but I figured it out and loved the idea so much that I stayed and became a scholar there myself."
"Could anyone train themselves to see someone's energy?"
The scholar gave her a look almost of pity. "Unfortunately your highness, you need to have the innate talent in order to master it, but some people are more inclined than others in being able to distinguish the different aura's. Someone might have just a touch of the sight, which you could train mind you, but it wouldn't be as obvious as someone like me per se."
"Well how do you know that someone has it if it isn't that strong?"
He sat back on the bench, enjoying the fact that someone was actually asking questions about his area of expertise. Lord Garin had proved that he was willing to force information on people, but someone asking him questions probably made him feel god-like. "Yes, yes. If the ability is not as strong as someone who would have obviously noticed it, you could possibly test them in some way. There are methods of doing so, but that involves a lot of trial and error to get the right test to work, and that doesn't guarantee that that person would even have any positive results, so it's not something that scholars actively try to find out if there aren't any signs of the person having the ability. For example-"
"Wait," Flora interrupted him before could go off on another tangent, "why are there so many tests? Wouldn't you just need to know if the person saw anything while touching a magic user?"
"No, now the 'sight' isn't always about seeing physically, it's just the most common form in which the ability manifests." Flora furrowed her brows in confusion. Were they talking about the same thing? Garin reveled in the chance to fix Flora's confusion. "Yes, yes. It is a bit confusing, but the 'sight' is just a general term in regards to those who can perceive the magical energy surrounding someone. It could be any sense really, taste, smell, sight, hearing. For example, Prince Andrei's 'sight' manifests through touch instead of sight."
A clang went through Flora's brain. "Prince Andrei?" Had he had the 'sight' all along? Could he have figured out her ability beforehand? Maybe not the particular ability, but definitely the type of magic she possessed. Oh gods, did he tell someone about her? This conversation with the scholar was more useful than she thought it would be. Her head snapped up as she realized she hadn't been paying attention to anything that Garin was saying. Oh well, he had gone off on another tangent and was long gone from their past topic.
Flora tuned out Lord Garin for the rest of the day. She stared out the window, watching how the landscape continued to tilt upward towards a enormous mountain in the foreground. Since entering Leosta, the terrain had gotten more windier, slithering from rolling hills to jagged peaks. It was quite fitting that the cruelest country out there lived in a harsh environment to match them.
Flora squinted as something shimmered in the mountain. It was a bit before she realized what it was. The light was coming from a castle, no, as they approached it, castle was not a fitting word. The monument that was slowly coming into full view was nothing short of a sprawling palace. Flora had thought that the Pranian castle was a marvel of architecture and grace, but this, this outpaced her castle by lengths.
She forced her mouth closed as they neared the gates to the city sprawled out beneath the palace. Since the sun had disappeared around the other side of the mountain, the city was sparkling with light cast from lanterns hung from every surface. The towns people didn't wave like they did in Prana. Instead, they bowed deeply when the party went by and immediately resumed their business when they were past them. The ripple effect from the crowd of citizens sent shivers down Flora's spine. What was this? Flora had read up on Leostan customs, but this was just all too strange.
Large, golden gates clambered open as their party approached the entrance to the palace grounds. Behind the gates was a sprawling village, presumably the servant's and some noble's living quarters. Did the servants not live in the palace? Maybe it was just for the higher-class citizens? Behind the smaller buildings was a towering structure made from the same rock of the mountain behind it, sleek and pitch black. The palace was placed so it seemed almost as if it were a part of the mountain itself. It was built to accommodate the mountain, not to dominate the land, but to cohabitate with it instead.
The carriage neared the main pillar at the center of the palace, the front lined with intricate paintings placed on the front entryway. Like the rest of the palace, the stone was obsidian colored, but the painting on the rock was done with dark tones that melted into the black background. If one didn't look to hard, it almost looked like one solid color. The decorations were more of a harsh beauty than the bright and flowy colors she was used to in Prana. Flora thought that the designs were fitting for the Leostans, that was if they were all like Prince Andrei, elegant and cold.
A click sounded as the door to the carriage swung open. The driver reached out a gloved hand to help Amelia and then Flora out of the box. As her boot touched the ground, she squinted in the dark, looking for the prince, but she didn't see any sign of him. Flora turned back to the driver and asked, "where is his highness?"
The driver acknowledged her hastily but turned back to start unloading luggage off of the back as he responded, "his highness has gone ahead. There should be someone to guide you."
Flora frowned, but as if summoned by the driver, a servant girl appeared next to Flora. She bowed deeply, and even though Flora knew that it was customary for everyone to bow in Leosta, it was still a shock to not see a woman curtsy. Even more bizarre, the girl was not in a dress and apron, but instead wearing a loose pair of black pants and a plain black tunic. She looked like many of the Leostans she had seen before, dark brown hair that was almost black, a broad frame, and eyes that tilted upward as she stared at Flora. "I have been asked to take you to your quarters your highness."
"Am I not to meet the emperor upon arrival?" Flora was perplexed; it wasn't late enough to warrant avoiding an introduction, but maybe it was due to Leostan custom, or maybe it was because the emperor was too busy at the moment. The girl looked Flora up and down with a displeased look. Flora in turn looked at her travel worn clothes. Ah, the servant clearly didn't think that Flora was presentable to any royalty with her current appearance. Her face heated at the thought that she was unworthy. Sure she was a bit dirty and wrinkled, but she was a princess after all.
Shrugging it off as best as she could, she followed the girl through the winding halls of the palace. It was designed with so many sharp twists and turns that Flora began to worry that she would never be able to find her way around the place. It almost seemed as if it were created that way to make traversing the halls confusing and difficult. Of course, this too made sense with what Flora knew about the Leostans.
After a time consuming walk, they had finally arrived at Flora's new chambers. Though she hated to admit it, Flora was worried with her room being so deep into the castle. She felt a bit trapped knowing it would take forever to find out how to escape. The girl opened the first door to a small sitting room with a small coffee table surrounded by a sofa and chairs. The walls were decorated with dark blue tapestries and silver cords. Even the carpet was a shade of silver, plush enough that Flora's foot sank into the fibers.
The next room was her bedroom, adorned with much of the same color scheme, except there were silver tapestries to brighten the walls against the palace's black stone. There was a singular window facing the village on the castle grounds where Flora could see the lanterns sparkling in the windows. The girl grabbed an orb and lit it, presumably with magic of some sort. It was bright enough to illuminate the whole room with a soft yellow glow. Flora could better see the four poster bed adorned with a stunning blue comforter and bright gold pillows made from soft silk. A canopy of chiffon hung around the edges of the bed, obscuring the entirety of it.
The servant turned toward Flora and said curtly, "they should be bringing your luggage up here soon. Your hand maiden's room is right next to yours on the left. You are to be dressed to meet the emperor tomorrow morning." She trudged on lifting the lit orb towards Flora, pointing at a spot on the top. "If you want to turn this off, you push right here with your finger. It should last as long as you like." The girl looked expectantly at Flora to see if she needed anything else. "If there is nothing else your highness, I will be taking my leave." She bowed once again and left Flora and Amelia alone in what was to be her new home.