Knowledge: The Fifth Division Saga: Book 1 (21 page)

Ash wished he could help her, but the one way he could think of was strictly forbidden. But didn’t she deserve to know? Weren’t the Archives created for this very purpose? To provide knowledge to those who seek it?

“I think I might know a way.” He whispered.

“You do?”

The hopeful look on her face nearly made him take it back, what if she got let down? But the words were already said, “Maybe. It’s a long shot but…there are records of every Nostosian ever born. I’ve never seen them but they might…”

“They might explain what’s wrong with me!”

She bounced up and down excitedly and Ash silently prayed that they gave her the answers she desperately searched for, because it was his neck on the line if they got caught.

*

“What did you tell Caspian?”

“That I was taking Iris to the market for some girl time.”

“And what does Iris think?”

I smiled slyly, “I told her I would give her a cookie if she locked herself in her room for two hours and didn’t tell a soul.”

“That’s it?”

“No, she demanded an extra cookie. White chocolate macadamia nut. That kid doesn’t come cheap.”

He chuckled softly as he led the way through the bustling marketplace. As always, when I walked though town with Ash, people stared and whispered. I scrunched up my face as we hustled through the packs of Elementals, their voices seeming louder than usual and I swear people were surrounded in various colors of the rainbow. That or I was going crazy. I began to think the latter option to be more plausible.

Ash kept glancing back at me as we wove in and out of the crowd, as if worried I might collapse at any minute in another fit of hysterics as I had earlier that day. Once the class was released, Caspian and Roman hurried out in search of me. I had been expecting this reaction so I managed to meet them on the front steps just in time before they caught Ash and I together. I waved away my bizarre departure as lady issues which sent them both running for cover without looking for any other explanation.

We made our way to Center Hill, the apparent epicenter for all things Nostos. Ash said the creepy little chant for us to enter and we plunged ourselves into the darkness. We tip toed through the dimly lit halls. Neither of us spoke for fear of someone hearing us, even though Ash seemed fully convinced that nobody would be there. We didn’t want to take any chances.

He led me down a different hallway than the one we had traveled to reach the Court. This one tinged darker and, if possible, drearier. The tunnel twisted and with every turn we took, I got the feeling we were winding our way farther and farther into the belly of a monstrous beast. But I had to know, I had to. Living with cloudy answers wasn’t good enough, not anymore. Plenty of teenagers whine about not knowing who they are or what their purpose is, but with me, it was the literal truth. A voice on the edge of my consciousness urged me to look deeper, to think harder to be able to see what I currently remained blind to. But alas, the answer remained shrouded in a mystery I could not solve through problem solving and theories. I needed tangible clues. 

We finally turned one last corner and Ash quietly twisted the handle of the door that lay right in front of us. Proudly displayed on the door, a golden plaque read
:
Archive
s
. He pushed the door open with an audible creak that made both of us wince. Shadows spilled out from the room. Ash glanced back at me, raised his hand, and his pointer finger lit up like a struck match. With him lighting the way, I followed the flames into the blackness.

*

Iris was
starving
.

Okay, not actually starving but almost.

She stared at the clock that mocked her from the nightstand beside her bed, reminding her that she still had over an hour before her time ended  and her promise to Mira expired, allowing her to wander about the palace to her heart’s desire. She normally didn’t walk around a whole lot, she preferred to stay in her room and play with the unique dolls the palace staff had provided for her. But as soon as Mira had made her swear not to leave her room, BAM, it was all of a sudden
way
more difficult to stay put.

She looked around the room, trying to get her mind off of her roaring stomach. Mira had already given her the correct payment: two delicious, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. They satiated her for a while, but they had been rather tiny little cookies. A growing girl, such as herself, needed much bigger cookies to keep her satisfied. But she chastised herself, knowing that Mira wouldn’t have asked her to remain in her room for this long if there wasn’t a good reason.

And she supposed it wasn’t
that
long…

Her stomach growled again, this time even louder. She checked the clock. One minute had passed.

“Ugh!” She exclaimed, and hopped off her bed. She just needed some dinner, that’s all. Just a sandwich…and some apple slices…ooh and maybe (if she sweet talked the chef) another cookie! She was sure Mira would understand, right? I mean, a girl’s got to eat. Iris would simply run as fast as she could to the kitchen, grab a tray of food, and run right back upstairs. Easy peasy.

She carefully opened her bedroom door, snuck down the hall, and made her way to the kitchen.
Besides
, she told herself as she entered the dining hall, already licking her lips at the delicious smell of mashed potatoes and chicken that wafted from the kitchen just beyond the next door,
she said to just make sure one person in particular didn’t see me. And what were the odds that…

            
 
“Iris?!” Caspian stepped through the kitchen door into the dining room with a tray of food in his hands. Apparently Caspian decided to come get his dinner now as well.

            
 
“Oh poop.” Iris squeaked.

*

            
 
“There is no ‘Daily’ filed anywhere in here,” I said, frantically leafing through the different folders and coming up short. I had already checked the ‘D’ cabinet twice and my last name was nowhere to be found. If we weren’t trying to be stealthy, I would have exploded into a cloud of profanities by that point.

            
 
“Mind if I give it a shot?”

            
 
“Do you possess some sort of super ‘file finding’ power?”

            
 
“No, I’m just more calm and collected at the moment.” He shifted over, his finger still providing the only light in the room. Using one hand, he picked through the drawer, folder by folder, opening each one and examining the contents before placing it back in the cabinet and moving on to the next.

              Fifteen minutes in, and only halfway through, I grew impatient, “This is useless! Why are you going through each one? My name isn’t here. It’s over.”

            
 
“If there is one thing I know, it’s that people make mistakes. Maybe your name was misplaced.”

              I fell silent and let him continue. He had just about reached the very back of the cabinet and I prepared to stop him again, when he suddenly tensed up. His eyes widened as he skimmed the folder in his hand. He frowned after looking at the paper for a second and then handed it to me, “Are you sure your last name is Daily?”

            
 
“Uh, yes?”

            
 
“Because the Courts have been telling everyone it’s Durrant.”

            
 
“Okay?”

            
 
“And that’s what your name is filed under here.”

              I switched my gaze from him to the folder, clasping it in my hand. The folder contained but one piece of paper with just a couple of words written in curly script reading:

Name: Mirabelle Adette Durrant

Kingdom: Boni Coniugator

Parentage: Rain Mariza Durrant (U) and Xavier Kelman Mayne (U)

Siblings: Caspian Daemyn Durrant (U) and Iris Cynthia Durrant (U)

            
 
“
Boni Coniugator
?” I whispered, confusion coloring my voice.

            
 
“
Adette
?” Ash sniggered and I whacked him in the gut, causing him to tilt off balance. His torched finger skirted dangerously close to a pile of loose papers. I yanked him back up before he fell any further and the two of us shared a nervous giggle. Catastrophe averted.

            
 
“Seriously, though. What does Boni Coniugator even mean? There isn’t a fifth Kingdom is there?”

            
 
“No, there are the four: Elemental, Wielder, Shade, and Seer.”

            
 
“Huh.” I stared at the name on the paper, “What is up with this Durrant thing? Last time I checked, that wasn’t my name. It’s all so weird.”

              A new voice trilled through the stiff archive room air, sending panicked chills down my spine, “Well, I for one think it ‘weird’ to find my own son raiding a private storehouse that he very well knows is off limits.” A tall, regal woman stepped through the shadowed doorway of the room. She gleamed silver in the darkness, like the moon. Her voice held such authority that I immediately felt the urge to bow down at her feet and beg for forgiveness.

              Too bad I’m not really the begging type.

            
 
“And who are you?” I lifted my nose in the air, trying to appear more confident than I really felt. 

            
 
“She’s the queen.” Ash replied bitterly before the woman could respond.

            
 
“The Elemental Queen?” I tried to speak quietly but the smirk on her face indicated that she heard me.

            
 
“The one and only. Seline Brentwood, the Moon Queen.”

            
 
“Brentwood?” I said dazed, but everything had already clicked together in my mind, even if the pieces didn’t actually make any sense.

              The glimmering woman smiled knowingly at me, a patronizing air emanated from her that I did not like, “I see Ash has not told you of his heritage? Child, you should really get to know the people you affiliate yourself with.”

              I caught sight of a small fire light in Ash’s eyes, “My heritage is of no importance.”

            
 
“I fear there could not be a more incorrect statement.” She stood the size of a normal woman but her presence enveloped the whole room. “You know better than to sneak into these archives, I cannot continue to hide your mischief from your father forever, you know.”

            
 
“Go ahead and tell him, then!” Ash snarled, the fire on his pointer finger growing brighter with every word, “But you won’t, will you? No, because it’s not as if either of you have ever cared about what I do or what will become of me.”

              The woman’s voice turned to ice, “Don’t be melodramatic, child. You know full well that we do care.”

            
 
“Only because you’re worried I’m going to blow up the Kingdom!” Now he was really going.

            
 
“No, because you’re our son.”

            
 
“I’M NOT YOUR SON!”

              His whole left hand burst into flames and his black eyes lit up like a bonfire. His breathing grew ragged and just by the look on his face, I could tell he was beyond reason.

Suddenly, my constant headache erupted and I could
feel
Ash’s anger and visibly
see
the red fury surrounding him like a cloak.

             
Like an aura.

              But no time could be wasted on what I saw. I glanced down at my own hand and witnessed a strange white glow radiating from my skin, showering off of me like sparkling dust. In an act of pure instinct, I grabbed Ash’s arm and held on tight. I shut my eyes and tried to think calming thoughts. I cannot describe what made me do it, some crazy impulse I suppose. Holding him physically hurt, his skin hot as a stove and I could feel my own flesh blistering. But I did not let go.

            
 
“Ash, calm down. It’s okay. Calm down. It’s okay.”

              I could feel it all, the hurt and anger. The betrayal and guilt. Everything so confusing and explosive; I could hardly decipher any of it. I had no idea how I could tap into these emotions, or how I could see his furious aura, but at that moment discovering my identity was insignificant.

            
 
“Ash, listen to me. Its okay. Calm down.” I pushed the white light from me to him. I’m not sure how I did it; but I watched the sparkling energy flow from my skin to his, showering him with the brightness.