Transcendance

4

A servant was washing my hair in a basin. I hadn’t treated myself to something like this in a while. The Queen had ordered a spa day for us as the seamstress finished her final touches on our gowns.

“Thank you.” I told her.

“No problem, you have very clean and soft hair. What’s your secret?” She asked me, smiling.

“Just some argan oil and extra conditioner.” I chuckle. She casts a spell that dries my hair almost instantly and applies a warm oil to it.

“I think you need to show off these beautiful curls.” She spoke. “Does half up half down sound good to you?”

“Yeah.” She does an elaborate braid on half of my head before pinning it down with a few bobby pins and a butterfly clip. She then does my makeup. I stare at myself in the mirror. I look beautiful. I see Heather walk by in a lavender gown. My heart sinks a little as I think of the ball. The last ball I went to, Mina was almost killed by Amadeus and she ended up dying anyway. Some Agent I am.

“Are you alright, darling?” The servant asked as I noticed my face had wilted.

“I’m fine. Just thought of something I was trying to ignore.” I sighed, trying to ignore the feeling of guilt.

“Well, how about a spitz of perfume? That might cheer you up.” The servant smiled, holding a bottle of amber colored liquid. I nodded. It smelled sweet and wasn’t overbearing.

“It smells beautiful, thank you.” I smiled.

“My Lady, your gown is ready.” Another maid walks up to me. I found my dress in a bag. It was a salmon colored gown with an empire waist and a billowy skirt. It was off-shoulder and had loose sleeves. It had gold glitter on it. I put it on and head over to where the others are. Heather has a similar gown but in lavender. Kyra was wearing a dark green one with silver glitter. Jackson is in a very nice black shirt, pants, and boots.

“You look great, Erika.” Kyra says. We are then escorted to follow behind the Royal Family. In the crowd, I see various people in many colorful gowns and neutral colored clothing. I see another family that stands out nearby. They’re all wearing black. I recognize the woman as part of the entourage with Amadeus. She glares at me with red eyes. The man looks at me funny and then I notice the other man staring intently at me. My heart shatters as I realized he looked a lot like Brendan. Maybe a bit too much.

I quickly turn away. I never did see his body. Neither did his parents. No, that’s stupid. Granted, I survived but-

“Erika? Did you see that guy?” Kyra whispered as we headed to our seats. I nodded. Of course I had. I could feel him staring still.

“He looks like Brendan.” Heather whispered. I nodded at the suggestion. She was not wrong in the slightest.

“Do you think-” Jackson started.

“I don’t know.” We all sat down on the table. There was a magnificent feast in front of us but I had lost my appetite.

“I didn’t think either of you would have survived the blast but if you did…” Kyra sighed. “Maybe he did too.”

Not Brendan is speaking to the woman and the man. They start to walk over to us. I can feel my chest and arm muscles tensing up.

“These are your Agents, aren’t they?” The taller man spoke to the King and Queen.

“Leandrus, fancy seeing you here.” The King looked at him the way you stare at a dropped egg. “Who’s this man with you?” Leandrus? My mind flashes to the final battle with Amadeus. He had name dropped him as someone who wanted me dead. But why?

“This is Alaric, my right hand man.” He spoke. “Alaric” looked back at us with a quizzical expression on his face.

“Welcome to our kingdom, Alaric.” The Queen eyed him.

“Hello.” Leira looked miserable. I notice people clad in green walking to us.

“Well, I won’t hold you much longer.” King Leandrus looks at us then at Leira in a creepy way. They walk away.

“That Leandrus terrifies me.” Queen Mellaria shakes her head. “Did you see how he was looking at my Leira?” The people in green greet us.

“Good evening, my future bride.” One of them, a tall young man in green smiles at Leira. Leira looks awkward.

“Evening.” She says. Her mother nudges her. “Good evening.”

If looks could kill, I know Mellaria would of killed Leira with the face she made at her.

“It is lovely to see you." The other woman in a big green gown asked. "I trust that's the help for bringing Leira safely to my boy?"

Kyra's face twitched. Jackson rolled his eyes, Heather huffed and I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Yes. I hope we can trust these outsiders to her safety." Mellaria spoke.

I excuse myself to the washroom. I head out the double doors and into what seems like a magnificent garden. There's a cherry blossom tree with roses and peonies under it. There's a bench there as well. I let the water work then and there.

My heart felt so torn and shattered. Was it really Brendan? Or some cruel trick. Part of me desperately wished it was. I wanted to hold him in my arms, tell him everything I had wished to tell him long ago. But I wasn't sure. He didn't seem to remember us but he was curious about us. Maybe…I took a deep breath and walked out back into the ballroom and away from it, into the residential area. I headed back to my shared room with Kyra and threw myself into the bed.

I closed my eyes and drifted off. I was under a Willow tree at night, waiting for someone. I stared up at the sky.

"Come on, Aricame." I was feeling desperate. But why was I waiting on him? Who was it?