Another dress flew, and Trine reached up and caught it, without much effort. Taking a look at the dress she had caught, Trine smiled lightly as it was one of the normal ones that she had put out, hours before. Celeste must not have been looking at what she was throwing around, because Trine knew that Celeste wouldn't throw away such a dress.
"My Lady, why don't you vent your anger outside in the training grounds, when the meeting finishes? That way, I can get you dressed and ready before you miss too much of the meeting." Trine suggested, flattening out the dress of all the cresses and dirt. Celeste stuck her head out from behind her walk-in-wardrobe, and looked at Trine with slight praise at the suggestion. "Now that is why I love you so," Celeste beamed at her maid, and caught the dress that was thrown at her, which narrowly missed her head.
The gown is of purple jacquard pattern with ice blue. Gathered and long and trailing sleaves and ornamented with silver lace. The effect was enchanting. Celeste pressed it against her body, seeing where it would be tight, and how long it would be on her. Trine leant against the window and inspected her fingers. Poking her head back, Celeste started to pull off the outer garments, heavy as iron; it was a wonder why they even wore the heavy dresses in the first place. Trine came into the walk in wardrobe, and helped Celeste into the tightening corset, for the dress, which would be a level three. Celeste's breathing lowered at the tightness against her chest, level three out of five, five being the tightest possible.
The purple dress came on next; it wasn't as hard to get into, which was a first for Celeste. Once dressed, Trine called for the hair designer, and he set to work on Celestes curls. Celeste looked in front of her, into the mirror with a gold trim with sliver leaves on the base. The hair designer was named, Elrond, and he asked her what she wanted, Celeste suggested that her hair to be pinned back. Elrond nodded his head, and started to brush her hair. Celeste looked into her reflection and sighed deeply, Heart-shaped face, deep green eyes, light blonde hair, thin lips and a rather long nose.
Taking a seat, Trine started to read out the topic of the meeting, which were battle plans, "Not that we need them" Then the rise in deaths "At last, something useful" and the arrival of the prince's Oren and Malki. Celeste's head snapped up at the mention of the prince’s, "They're here NOW?" she squeaked in shock, looking at Trine in the mirror. Trine's smile weakened at the thought that came to both of them, Oren was known for his way with women, especially the prettier servants in Celeste's family. It was sickening, he had his night, left them pregnant, and went onto the next one, 30% of the Rosenforth's servants had been used. Celeste knew that Trine would be next, Owen liked the young pretty ones, and Trine was one of five who were still in that category.
"Lady Celeste, don't worry about me I promise that I won't fall under his spell. I won't look at him either, that's how he draws them in." Trine tried to sound brave, but her voice shook which gave away her fear. Celeste watched her friends face, knowing how scared she was inside. Celeste then flicked her hand at her hair designer, who bowed at her and took his leave. Trine hesitated slightly before stepping forward, "I won't let him take me." Celeste heard the emotion, and smiled lightly, knowing that she would be protected.
The door burst opened, unannounced and without any means of which, both girls had no time to look presentable "My Lady! You must hurry, You have been summoned!" The messenger squeaked, his face red from all the running. Celeste picked up a glass of water from beside her, and gave it to him. He thanked her for it, and started to drink it, while Trine packed a small purse of basic essentials for Celeste. The essentials consisted of a couple of coins, a small knife and a small clump of clovers. Trine gazed at the messenger, something wasn’t quite right about the man, his messy blond hair looked out of place, and the dark green eyes, seemed to be hiding a secret. But she didn't have any time to voice her opinion on the strange looking messenger.
Celeste placed the purse inside her dress, against her chest, and hidden enough so she could lean over and it not to be seen. It was cold against her skin, just resting on her heart. "Celeste, may the Light protect your soul," Trine quoted, placing one hand on her chest and the other on her forehead. The messenger shifted from foot to foot, very impatient at all the distractions. A quick nod from Trine, and Celeste was pushed towards the door by the messenger, a sharp pain hit the back of her head, and she saw a quick black and white flash. The room was dark, only lit by a very small candle, hunched over a table; Akil scribbled a note, the quill scraping against the parchment.
Celeste blinked hard, and was in slight surprise that she was already out of the door, and halfway down the first hallway. The guy was a little ahead of her about a meter to her right. Bright wall paintings caught Celeste's eye, a smile crept on her face as she recognised some of the scenes that were surrounding her. The messenger was holding the note in his left hand and his other hand in his front pocket. Firelight played across his face, somehow darkening it more than it should have.
A constant throbbing started to drill into Celeste’s head, and she pressed both hands on her temple, trying to dull the pain. Celeste couldn’t comprehend what she had just seen, it was too hard for her to understand, but a part of her knew something was very wrong. Each flash was breif, only a few moments long. Akil mockered her only hours before, with his hands on his hips.
The messenger stopped at a mural, a colourful display showing the castle on its best angle. Celeste stopped walking and moved so that she was leaning against the opposite wall. The castle mural showed each of the towers, the top of the buildings, which the Great Wall of Protection didn't hide, and the bell tower the four walls of coloured glass. Celeste knew it wasn't accurate anymore, but it was still a good picture, even with the aging look.
Celeste closed her eyes again, as a wave of sickness hit her head like someone was punching her. The messenger had a note in his hands, and was being addressed by Akil, who was brightly lit despite the only source of light bring a very small candle on the table. “Raymond, swift speed is in order, the young lady needs to be the first of her kind, you understand the importance of this letter?” Akil asked as he watched the young man, all emotion drained from that well known face. Raymond bowed his head, and pressed a hand to his heart, “I understand only what you tell me” Colour flooded back into Celeste’s vision, as she blinked repeatedly to try and get rid of what she had just seen. Theses visions weren’t hers, yet it was like she could see everything as if she had been really there. Celeste gasped when she noticed that the colour underneath her nails went from a pale pink to a bright purple colour.
Raymond didn’t seem to notice Celeste’s dismay, or even the small cry of shock she made when she saw the skin around her hand had become sickly white. He raised his hand to the wall, his left hand feeling for something against the wall, while his right hand held a small key in the shape of a sun. Placing the key into the hidden lock, Raymond turned it once, to the left, and then to the right again. A very quiet click was made, signifying that the first lock was unlocked, and Celeste decided to keep her eyes closed, her head resting against the wall behind her. It was cold, like ice, and Celeste could feel the pulsing start up in her head again.
“My lady, you don’t look so well,” Raymond stated, as he came over to take her hand, so she would be able to open the door he had just unlocked. Celeste tried to back away from him; his every move seemed to cause the pulsing which then turned into the visions. To be far away from him, was her only option as of yet. The closer he came, the worse the pulsing became. As he stepped forward, just one foot, and took her hand, Celeste’s breathing suddenly stopped and the new vision hit her hard. Raymond covered his face with his hands, the effort to keep them up was too much, his hands suddenly fell limp beside him. Celeste flinched, he didn't look any different, even the clothing was the same, but his face was a sickly green. A sword was pressed against his neck, small drops of blood... “Celeste? Is that really you?"she recognised the voice, despite the throbbing and pulsing that was starting to really affect her thinking. The voice was the one who whispered in the darkest hour of night, the one who could strike fear into many hearts, and the one who was the most evil creature in the entire world. The King of Nightmare’s himself. “There’s a good reason for this...” Raymond cowered, his breath rasping and so loud. Cold sweat trailed from his face onto his shirt, which by now was pretty wet. The sword, the size of an average arm, and covered in silver, wasn’t being held by anyone, no one was there, except a pair of glowing red eyes, beside Raymond’s head. Celeste covered her mouth and ears, trying to stop the whispering, and the ghastly feeling that the worst was yet to come. Black and white compared to colour... It was a completely different playing field. “It isn’t real, none of it is real.” One moment was all it took, the quickest movement, just a flick of the wrist. The sword was a blur as it came down hard on Raymond. His lifeless body fell forward, his head crashing to the ground. “This is result...” the red eyes, seemed to be laughing, and a cold feeling grow on her skin. Celeste had no idea that she was crying, until she was completely out of the vision. Raymond was hovering around her, not knowing how to comfort her, since she recoiled from his touch, scared at what she had seen. Celeste shook in sheer terror, hiccupping loudly as her breathing became rasping and hard.
A door burst open and heavy footsteps came towards Celeste, she couldn’t even look up to see who it was, and she was shaking so much. Raymond stopped hovering and flinched. “What did you do to her?” the voice asked, as Celeste nearly heaved when another vision tried to come at her. Raymond was struggling to contain the outrage at the thought he would even touch her, “That is outrageous, I can’t believe you would think that!” Akil noticed Raymond’s tone and stopped the other questions that were on his lips. “Help me, please help me!!” Celeste cried, covering her eyes and started to rock on her heels. Arms wrapped around her frail body, and gently, pressed her head against his chest, stroking her hair ever so softly. “I’m here Celeste; no one’s going to hurt you.” Akil whispered softly into her ear, and kissed her forehead gently. Somehow his presence seemed to dim everything, to get rid of the growing fear that was entrapping her very soul. Celeste tried so hard to get rid of it, but it just kept coming back, worse and worse. “Shh, you’re okay; nothing’s going to harm you.” Akil soothed, his voice softening like the sun rising over the horizon, a slightly warm feeling of happiness crawled over her.
The tears that were still falling against her face weren’t freeing cold anymore, they were now slightly warm. Celeste snuggled closer into his clothing, her face growing warmer with the contact. “Raymond, please check if we have company.” Akil requested one of his arms loosened from his embrace to point to his left. Raymond muttered something before walking over to the door that Akil came out of, opening it, and checking to see if anyone was there. Celeste could feel the hysterical terror slowly disappear, and her tears dry up. Akil sighed heavily, Celeste moving with his chest against her head. She suddenly felt how wet his shirt had become with her tears and a trail of guilt crept into her heart, as she remembered how much his clothing meant to him, quite a lot more than most people, and as he said “Presentation was the key to success.”
Celeste tried to suppress the giggle that was threatening to come to the surface, by snuggling deeper into his shirt, but the thought of Akil trying to dry in shirt only minutes before the meeting, just made her erupt into soft giggles. Akil heard her giggle, and placed a finger under her chin, tilting her face up so he could see her face. “What do you find amusing, dear?” He asked, trying to hide the smile that played on his lips, he was glad to see she wasn’t crying anymore. Akil wasn’t that good with criers, especially young ones. Celeste noticed that he had changed from his historian robes, to a pure white robe that ended to his feet, with a blue cloak and a hood. Akil looked different, his face seemed to grow 10 years younger, and the authority was the only thing Celeste recognised in his soft face. “I’ve wet you’re shirt, and I know how much it means to you.” Celeste murmured pushing herself away so she could blow air onto her tear stains. Akil shivered violently at the cold air, and pressed a hand to the patch where her teas had fallen, so she wouldn’t do it again. "It’s only a shirt, Celeste, besides there is only one of you.” He smiled, his face softening into a relaxed ease.
The guilt grew when Celeste realised how awkward it must have been for both Raymond and Akil, to comfort a distressed girl. It took another moment for Celeste to take in the situation; she was in the presence of two unmarried males, without a Chaperone. Raymond turned from the door to look at both of them, his eyes betraying the smile that was forced upon his face. Celeste couldn’t look at him, the idea, or even the thought that she had seen his death was too hard to bear. “I’m sorry—" Akil pressed a finger to her lips, stopping her from saying the next couple of words. “No, do not be sorry for what has transpired here. Don’t look at me like that; you know it’s the truth.” Akil squeezed her arms gently, his tone trickling into his voice of command, as Celeste had called it. Celeste shook her head at him, and waited until he moved his hand away from her face to speak again, a little reluctant at first. “I’m sorry for being hysterical, especially when both of you are inexperienced in such matters.”
Oblivious to Celeste and Akil, Raymond lent his back against the door and pulled out a handful of tobacco leaves. No pure being of good ever tasted the leaves of the tobacco plant, that horrid stuff belonged to the Dark Ones of Chaos, who lived off the stuff. Raymond’s face was darkening, the pale skin was starting to change colour, and his hands were slightly shaking. Placing the tobacco into his mouth, Raymond began to chew, very softly as not to alert the others attention, but with that chewing the disguise was slowly deteriorating.
“Now that has been settled, I think lunch by the river would be the perfect reward for the great service I have done to you.” Akil teased, brushing away the hair that stuck to her face, where the trail of tears had ended at the bridge of her nose. Celeste took half a step away, his arms still supporting her enough so she wouldn’t fall. Her hands felt slightly crapped, she did have them in fists while she cried so that was probley it. “So two out of three main meals. What next, Raymond here for breakfast? You do tease so cruelly.” She complained childishly, laughter erupting from his face. Half of her wanted to tell him, to explain what she had been witnessed to, but the other half knew that he already understood what had happened.
Raymond watched this with a disguised look on his face, if only Akil was somewhat years younger, they’d be a perfect match, or if Celeste aged quite a few years, either way. His attention on Celeste was putting all his power into his mission and not into his disguise, which was now coming off in drops of water, puddles of black had already surrounded him. Placing both of his hands together, Raymond murmured a few words, and blew out a black mist. The thin trail of mist went straight for Celeste, who had no idea what had hit her a moment later. Raymond turned on his heel, looking out of the door waiting for the first distraction to run into him, when he spotted the advancing guard he yelled out, “Sir, someone’s coming!”
Celeste went to turn her head to see, but a quick flash of black and white hit her vision, trying to warn her of something. She looked up at Akil, whose face had five different expressions on his face, before settling with a weakened one. His arms that held her tight loosened a bit, the dizziness and throbbing started to crawl back again. Celeste gasped and hung onto him tightly, trying to stop him from losing all contact with her. Akil had somehow stopped the visions when he held her, but the moment he didn’t it came straight back again. “Celeste, I need you to do something that you’re really not going to like.” His voice seemed to tremble, but Celeste hardly noticed. “I need you to trust me.” Celeste nodded her head, not really understanding what he wanted out of her, but the moment his left hand lost contact with her, she grabbed at him again, stopping the visions again. “Celeste, please trust me.” He pleaded, his voice now trembling as well as his bottom lip. Celeste touched his face one last time, before she released him.
Akil reached out and caught Celeste, as she suddenly lost all consciousness. Her eyes rolled back and the pressing feeling of darkness started to creep its way into her body. Akil started to lower her to the ground, watching her glow black before her whole body was consumed by a black mist....
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Thanks for reading, hope it was a good Chapter
I thank you in advance for reading/reviewing/critiquing.
