Kartiel's Curse [Chapter 15.1]

Author's Note: I decided to follow the advice of this novel's reviewers, and change things as I go along to avoid the story from stalling. Here's the list of things I'm retconning, changing or just plan out elaborating on. Some really should have been taken care of chapters ago, but we'll just pretend I slipped them in somewhere.

Also, if you haven't noticed, the novel's new name is Kartiel's Curse! You'll find out the reason why when you scroll down the list of changes. 

➸ The world is Seraphinity. The region is Partex, and it's surrounded by mountains. (The characters wouldn't most likely know this, but they live on a continent like Pangaea.) Rey is the capitol of a kingdom called Inden. Inden is a leading member of the Rexun Alliance, a group of Partex's kingdoms united in a similar way to the EU - they have similar policies, share resources when they can, and help people from partner kingdoms easily move into other ones.

➸ Orpheus is feared because he's been frequently seen by Kartiel's side, and because of his apparently large well of knowledge on the inner workings of Rey. Also, he definitely gives off the dark and mysterious vibe if you're just spying and not chatting with him.

➸ The hatred of Telorum really began during the reign of King Kartiel III, when he refused to join the Rexun Alliance. It is said that in a fit of passion, King Kartiel swore that the alliance would someday fall. He wasn't liked as much by the future members of the alliance back then, and the prevalence of magic makes things like that very, very possible, so it's considered to be a solid threat. It's called "Kartiel's Curse" and everyone believes it will be fulfilled by one of his descendants. The whole swearing revenge thing makes the current King Kartiel seem like the most likely candidate.

➸ For pretty much as long as it's been around, Telorum has been known as worshipers of the fallen, which never helped their standing with other kingdoms.

➸ Telorum also has an abundance of dark magic users. There's been a few scattered throughout every kingdom in Partex, but Telorum has an disproportionate amount. If each kingdom typically has about 2% of its population be dark magic users, Telorum has nearly 30%. Which doesn't seem like a lot, but there's many forms of magic, and for there to be such a high percentage, something must be going on in Telorum.

➸ Healing magic is pretty rare.

➸ There's actually a holiday celebrating the death of King Kartiel VIII. I think Cass and Aspen were there to see it. It's not exactly like there's a big party, but it's clear the Rexun Alliance sees it as a good thing.

➸ Cass is now going to be able to think about what's going on during the memory-dreams, though she still won't be able to alter them. Hopefully this will help with the overuse of Cass's inner thoughts.

➸ Lira and Rodet aren't dating anymore, but have known each other since they were little, and everyone thinks they are.

Words: 1,292

Last Line(s): She thought of the man with the beautiful blue eyes and windswept light brown hair.

Orpheus cleared his throat.

“I can show you around the castle and some of the capital now, if you want,” he offered. 

She gave a small nod.

Chapter 15

The castle was quiet.

Orpheus led her down the empty staircase, their footsteps cutting through the silence as they descended to the floors below. Her guide said nothing as they passed underneath floating lantern after floating lantern; their warm light cast soft glows on his hooded face. Cass noticed this detail and then promptly ignored it, her mind wandering back to the memory she had dreamed of the night before. She absentmindedly fingered her locket. 

“You already saw the throne room last night,” Orpheus suddenly said, a gloved hand pointing in the direction of the impressive doors. Even though it was no longer the middle of the night, its only guards were the two golden suits of armor. “We can go in there again, if you want, but there's not much besides the throne.”

“...Is he in there right now?”

Orpheus shook his head. “He's in the middle of a meeting with the council discussing your arrival – they'll probably ask if you can show up in one of their meetings, just to make sure you're...”

“Trustworthy?” she guessed.

“...A security risk,” he finished. 

He twirled a strand of black hair around his finger, turning from the main hallway to one that branched off on the left. Before she could ask when a meeting like that would happen, Orpheus was already heading down the adjacent hallway. She hurried on after him, gaze traveling to the decorations. The armor remained present, but the elaborate tapestries were slowly replaced by enormous portraits. Cass couldn't help herself; she came to a stop underneath the one closest to her and stared up at the three displayed.

All of the other portraits were of kings by their lonesome. This one appeared to be of a royal family from many years before. The king and queen's hair was gray with age, and each had wrinkles around their eyes as they smiled at the world beyond the canvas. The queen was holding onto the arm of a prince who clearly didn't want to be in the picture from the frustrated expression he had on. He couldn't have been much older than her, with lanky limbs and even a bit of acne. The amount of detail in the painting was astonished. If she hadn't known any better, she would have guessed that it was a photograph. She could even make out a slight glint on the chests of the three. When she stared at the spots for long enough, she could finally make out what they were wearing.

They were wearing the three lockets.

The king proudly displayed Aspen's silver locket. Cass's hand went back to her locket as she looked over at the queen and prince. The queen was wearing one of the golden lockets—it stood out from the fabric of her dark blue dress. The prince's locket was harder to spot among the golden embroidery of his royal clothes. Her gaze traveled down to the golden plaque underneath, but it provided little information on who they were. All it displayed was the year that it was painted, and the name of the king: Aldonius III.

“You're wearing the queen's locket,” Orpheus suddenly said from beside her.

His voice tore her out of her contemplation, and she hurriedly turned to face him. But there was no need to worry about seeming like she wasn't paying attention; he was looking up at the portrait, too. His head was tilted just far enough back for his hood to begin sliding back, revealing the more hidden features of his face. His violet eyes lingered on the queen, and his lips were drawn into a thin line.

“They were the first owners of the lockets,” he said. “Kartiel's told me the story before. The queen had an ailment that normal healing magic couldn't solve, so the king gathered the best enchanters in Telorum and asked them to help her. The lockets were just normal pieces of jewelry before then, but the enchanters said that it had to be something that the queen held dear. The queen agreed to give up her necklace if the others in the set were enchanted as well. They worked hard on them, but it was difficult creating the right enchantment.”

Her gaze traveled back to the queen. “Did they do it?”

“Eventually, yes,” Orpheus confirmed; his voice was surprisingly somber. “But they had to cast countless enchantments before then, so the lockets were gifted with an entire range of new, untested spells. You're using one of them right now.”

She turned. “I am?”

He nodded. “The locket's translating everything we're saying. It's how you can understand what I'm saying, and I can understand what you're saying, even though we're speaking two different languages. It's a commonplace spell now, but it was revolutionary back then...” 

She glanced at the locket dangling above her chest, then back over at him.

Orpheus raised his hand and pressed it against the golden frame of the portrait. His voice was little more than a whisper when he spoke a few moments later. “One day, the king and queen went out. They left the prince in charge of the castle. They said it was just supposed to be for the morning, but neither one was ever seen again after that day. The two and their lockets vanished into history, and the prince took the throne and became King Kartiel II."

She stared up at the prince—at his forced smile, at the way he was rolling his violet eyes, and at the way he held onto the hands of the king and queen. His grip seemed so tight. Even though he didn't want to be in the portrait, it looked like he didn't want to let either of them go.

Almost like he was scared to.

“How old was he?” she quietly asked.

A moment passed.

“...The records don't say,” Orpheus admitted, “but the common belief was that they disappeared on the day of his eighteenth birthday.” 

Her free hand clenched into a fist, nails digging into the palm of her hand as she tried to fit the sudden, inexplicable urge to cry. “It's the day Telorum's misfortunes began,” she said. No memory came to mind as she spoke; it was just something that she—that Kartiel—knew deep within.
She turned back to Orpheus, and was surprised to see that he was watching her. 

“I keep forgetting you've been getting his memories,” he simply said. He pulled his hood back up and started walking down the hallway once more with a swish of his cloak. 

Cass glanced one last time at the family portrait.

Then she was following after him, gaze hopping from portrait to portrait of somber king. Some of the details might have been different—King Kartiel IV's small beard, King Kartiel V's blond hair, the healthy sprinkling of freckles on King Kartiel VII's face or the way that King Kartiel VIII's black hair was cut short—but the family resemblance was clear. 

And then there was the current king's, hanging on the wall beside an impressive set of doors. It was strange seeing the serious expression on his face beside the joking one of his father. He fingered his locket just like she was doing now, and the way the light shown on him seemed to highlight the scar running up his cheek. 

“He looks so sad,” she commented. It was more to herself than to Orpheus, but she could hear him stop in the middle of opening the door.

“Yeah,” he softly said, “he does.”

She turned to look at him, but Orpheus was already slipping into the room. She looked up at her future contracted for a handful of moments before following Orpheus into the mysterious room.

And then she gasped.