It's a new day and Elara woke up early to do three specific tasks--head to the sacred garden in the middle of the palace, bask in the rising sun's blessing, and have an hour-long purification bath. No, scratch that, have a two-hour long purification bath. She needs all that purifications to rid herself of the negativities of yesterday and welcome the remaining four days of her birthday celebration anew.
Negative energies are not good for the skin, so she told Bonna that she won't be meeting anyone for business until she's found herself a husband because her parents are not responsible enough to find one suitable for her.
Elara huffed some air. Remembering the words they uttered yesterday irate her but then again, negativities is not good for the skin.
Maybe this was a good thing, Elara thought. What if whoever her parents chose wasn't to her liking? What if he deceived them into liking him so he can marry her?
"Hmm..." El sounded, convinced that she had a point, "Maybe I should apologize to Mother and Father for storming out yesterday." She murmured and the servant helping her undress to change into a thinner robe for the purification bath thought she was asking something.
"Is something the matter, your highness?"
"Tell Bon to inform my parents that I want to have lunch with them after this," she said, tying the robe's ribbon loosely around her. The servant nodded then bowed before leaving with the princess' clothes on her hands.
Left alone, Elara walked past the intricately carved door with gilded knobs barefooted. When she heard the lock clicked, her robe fell from her shoulders and laid flat onto the cold marbled floor. She closed her eyes and stood still, feeling the mana surround her.
No one can enter the sacred garden other than those permitted to, like certain people from the Crystal Temple, the Archmagus, and immediate members of the royal family. It's a place in the heart of the castle with a huge round glass dome ceiling in the middle to reflect either the sun's rays or the moon's shine. At the center stands the Tree of Khron, a sacred tree that connects the three kingdoms in Galaxias together.
Legend says that Khron, God of time and space, eventually won against his stronger siblings on what seemed to be a never-ending war that lasted centuries and settled in Galaxias. Not wanting his beloved humans to die in a senseless bloodbath of who gets to rule who or who gets what, in his dying moments, his three last breaths had enough mana in it to grow three Grand Trees which later became the foundation of the three kingdoms in Galaxias. The Tree of Khron served as a gateway for the royal families to foster good relations with each other. As this is the very life source of Khron, it is believed that the death of one will sever the ties of the kingdoms and bring forth another century-long war.
Surrounding the sacred tree are huge marble pillars as tall at the tree itself. To complete the purification bath, El has to walk through the long pool of water leading to the little island where the tree stood.
Elara took a deep breath. One thing she's always been confident with was reciting Eqmes without breaking concentration. It's Khron's prayer in a lost ancient tongue. It's passed down from one mouth to another and there's no written text about it, many have tried to write it based on how it's pronounced but none was successful.
The pool was shallow at first with a few steps going into it, then it gradually deepens, reaching her neck. There, El will recite the Eqmes in mind for as long as she could, standing, naked. The water comes from the mana the tree releases and depending on some factors, it can go from calm to chaos in a matter of seconds then calm again.
When she was finished, she rang a small bell placed on a small table by the door. A few seconds after, a servant opened the door and went around her to place a new robe over her shoulders and tie her hair in a bun.
"Did you had a great time, your highness?" the servant asked as she guided El out.
"My mind's clearer now," she answered demurely. The servant is one from the Crystal Temple. She tends the grand tree and can't go passed the sacred garden.
"Must you really stay there for more than an hour?" Bonna nagged at the princess the moment the servant vanished behind her. Since she's practically naked with only a thin robe covering her, her friend wrapped her in a fur cloak.
"It was two hours, matter-of-factly." El annoyed Bon some more. She was still wearing her training clothes, so she must've come from the barracks where she trains regularly. And she hates it when her training's interrupted.
"I thought you'd be out not long after you sent the servant to tell me about lunch. I purposely delayed coming here because I know you might want to purify yourself longer," she placed an emphasis on the word purify, "that your mind clears up of any unwanted thoughts."
"You could've left," El said, linking arms with Bon.
"And leave you walking around for everyone's eyes to feast on?" To go back to her room meant walking through halls after halls. Before someone offered her something thicker to cover herself up, a few eyes would have already landed on her perfectly shaped body.
Bonna sighed and shook her head lightly. How is she going to have a family and live peacefully if her mana is being drained like this every time? She sighed again.
At least the rest of the day was uneventful. Elara apologized for her attitude yesterday and the King and Queen was more than happy to accept it. Afternoon came and the princess checked the dresses that arrived from her favorite atelier. Then they retired early to prepare for tomorrow.
*****
The morrow came and Bon was up early to take care of some documents for Elara. There'd be a hoard helping her to get dressed and ready so her absence wouldn't be noticed. After she's done with the papers, she'd have to get ready herself too. And as a member—unofficial—of the royal family, she's got her two maids of her own to help her minor errands when she's out and about, doing some work for the king and queen.
"I'd like to have my breakfast here in my study. The king and queen are busy and so is the princess."
"Yes, Lady Bon," one maid answered, and she nodded.
Since she didn't accept being adopted into El's family, the king was able to convince her to at least accept being appointed as a Lady. He wanted to give her a small piece of land and the title of a baroness but what's a land without a ruler since she's set on spending her life in the castle, helping El and her parents?
The king said that with their favor and her title as a Lady, she'd have a better chance of finding a good husband. Of course, the king added, he'd have to approve of any suitor she will have. There's no way he'd give away their precious Bon to just someone else. Maybe except for that one…
Bonna giggled. How can the king be fussy about her husband but told Elara to pick whoever she wants?
Really, she's so lucky...
After signing the last of the papers, she gathered it together with the ones she separated earlier, lightly hitting one side of it on the table to even everything out. Looking over the mantle, the clock's shorter hand pointed at nine and the long one pointed a little past seven.
Stretching to get the blood flowing through her veins again, Bon walked out of her own study where she bumped onto one of her maids.
"I'm sorry, Lady Bon."
"No worries. Are you okay? Why are you in a hurry? You could've been injured or hit someone else." Her voice was demanding but there was worry in her eyes. She had been a maid too, and she know how anxious one can be to wrong someone of higher status.
"Madame Reyn's assistant is here to get you dressed." Madame Reyn is the head seamstress and owner of El's favorite dress shop.
"Oh, okay," she uttered, walking back with her maid. "Did El already have breakfast? And the king and queen? Are things going smoothly in the ballroom?" It has been a habit of hers to check on everyone and everything that even though she's been told that there are people managing it, she'd still want to be informed. Who knows when trouble might start?
After hearing the all-clear from her maid, Bonna felt relieved. She's been on her feet since she woke up. It's her dreaded day, after all.
The day Elara chooses someone to marry.
What if she chose the wrong one? What if she chose the most deceitful of all? What ifs ran through her mind like lightning on a stormy night, always giving her a short fright.