The Prophecy of the Gems (3 page)

Her great-aunt Gina entered the room.

“Opal! Is everything all right? You look so pale …”

“I’m fine. I was just looking for something to draw.”

Although Opal tried to appear calm, she could not hide the tremor of distress in her voice.

At the very moment Opal touched the stone, he had started violently. A sneer twisted his evil face. Using his powers of telepathy, he immediately summoned the Council of Twelve. When he joined them in their vast council chamber, they all lowered their eyes in fear at
his approach. His voice was chilling. “What we had ceased to hope for has at last happened. I was able to intercept something of great interest.”

The twelve members of the Council understood what he meant, and their morose expressions betrayed a glimmer of satisfaction.

“Should we command the Knights of the Order to bring her to us?” asked a councillor.

“No,” came the curt reply. “I have a better idea.”

“Which one of them is it?” asked another councillor eagerly.

“The third one. Perhaps the most dangerous. She has within her powers that are as yet unawakened — I felt this when she made contact with her Stone. This happened too soon, in her case, and we can be glad of that. Another few days, and we would have lost the advantage!”

“Which Stone is it?”

“The opal, the purest of the three. But I would also say the most fragile, now that I know everything about her …”

JADE LOOKED STU\NNING
in the blue-green gown that had been specially made for her in the county of Tyrel. Her green eyes sparkled even more than usual, and her face glowed with pleasure. She moved about the ballroom like a queen among her subjects. All eyes were on her: she was the star of the evening, and she was in heaven. She danced, chatted with her guests and laughed in pure content. The party was even more of a success than she had hoped. The refreshments were delicious, the decor was sumptuous, and the splendour of it all was dazzling. “This,” she thought, “is perfect happiness.”

Against all expectations, Amber’s mother had managed to cling to life, and each extra minute she won from death was a small miracle. Ever since the moment, not long before, when Amber had raced to her bedside, her end had no longer been in doubt, yet still she lived on. The girl stayed with her day and night, without sleeping, eating only a few morsels of bread when she felt hungry. Today her mother was worse. She had been unconscious since that morning. Fortunately, she was still breathing, but with great difficulty …

The sun had already set. Her mother simply had to wake from this dreadful coma! “She’s going to live, she’s going to live,” Amber kept telling herself stubbornly. “There’s always hope, always! As long as she keeps breathing …”

“Amber …” Startled by her mother’s hoarse voice, Amber realised that she had regained consciousness.

“Mama! Oh, Mama …”

“I’m going to make it, Amber, I’m going to make it. What time is it?”

Amber told her, cheered to find her mother more
or less lucid, even though her eyes had begun to glaze over.

“That’s good, Amber. I only have to hold on a little longer. I will have carried out my mission. Soon I’ll be at peace.”

“Mama!”

“You’ll have to be strong. And accept what you are destined to accomplish.”

“Rest, Mama.”

“Surely you haven’t forgotten? Today you are fourteen years old.”

“It had completely slipped my mind.”

“Well, Amber, I wish you a happy birthday.”

Ever since Opal had found the stone, everything had gone badly. She had trouble sleeping and had been running a persistent temperature. She’d said nothing of this to Eugénia and Gina, fearing they would discover the cause of her illness. She had secretly concocted medicines from plants, but nothing had helped. She was still running a temperature and had violent fits of
nausea. She was afraid of giving herself away, of revealing that she had found that strange stone among Gina’s belongings. “I didn’t mean to do anything wrong,” she kept telling herself. Since her discovery, she had not spoken unless it was absolutely necessary, and she’d become even more withdrawn. “What possessed me that day?” she wondered. “I really don’t understand …”

“Opal, a little more cake?” asked Gina, forcing herself to smile.

With a start, Opal emerged from her reverie.

“No, thank you,” she replied coldly.

Although she knew that her great-aunt was trying to ease the tension in the air, Opal could not shrug off her guilt over what she had done.

Gina was so aggravated that her patience and tact failed her.

“For goodness’ sake, it’s your birthday!” she exclaimed in exasperation. “Eugénia and I tried to make everything nice, but you — you couldn’t care less!”

“Gina—” pleaded Eugénia.

“Let me finish,” continued Gina, growing angrier and angrier. “Opal, would a smile or a simple thank you be too much to ask? After everything we’ve done
for you? What have you got where your heart should be — a stone?”

Opal glanced sharply at her great-aunt. “Speaking of stones, you owe me an explanation,” she wanted to shout, but she remained silent, and bowed her head.

As he watched Jade, the Duke of Divulyon kept asking himselfbitterly “Why?Why her? Why now? Why must this be?” He knew his questions were useless and would change nothing. He himself was powerless, unable to affect or prevent anything whatsoever. Yet an inner voice kept tormenting him and cursing that prophecy. He would have liked to silence this increasingly painful voice, but he could not; he could think only of Jade. Sadly, he slipped his hand into the pocket of his elegant jacket and grasped the black velvet purse.

Amber’s eyes were red, her hair tangled and dirty, her lips dry, her every muscle stiff and sore. She neither
knew nor cared. She had to watch over her mother. Her brothers and sisters had all been sent to stay in other households. She was the eldest, however, and was duty-bound to remain at her mother’s bedside. The room was lit by the feeble gleam of a candle, its flame wavering and threatening to go out at any moment. “Like happiness,” she thought. “The other day I was sitting contentedly in that meadow and all of a sudden, life has become a ghastly nightmare.”

“Amber,” moaned her mother. “I’m in pain … such pain …

“Mama, don’t talk, save your strength. Rest. Sleep, it’s late. Soon you’ll be much better.”

“Yes, when it’s all over … when I’m not suffering any more … when I’m on the other side.”

“Mama, I beg of you, be brave!”

“I’m almost eager … to go … rejoin my husband … To forget the sorrow, the poverty, the feeling of having … done nothing … with my life.”

“Mama! None of that is true! You’ve done so many things. Look at me — you made me, and without you, I’d be nothing!”

“If you only knew …”

After Gina had recovered her composure, an oppressive silence reigned in the room. Around the table, they avoided meeting each other’s eyes. Eugénia and Gina consulted their watches nervously at regular intervals. Ordinarily impassive, Opal could not bear the tension. She wanted to go and shut herself up in her room, but she stayed miserably in her chair, feeling dizzy with fever. After half an hour, Eugénia gave a little cough.

“It’s time,” she announced.

Surprised, Opal stared at her. “Time for what?” she asked uneasily.

With a sorrowful smile, Eugénia acquiesced. “There is still one hour left, but I think we had better begin without delay.”

“Begin what?” asked Opal in bewilderment.

Gina cleared her throat discreetly. After apologising to Opal for losing her temper, she looked at Eugénia and repeated, “Yes, it’s time.”

Then Gina placed an object on the table. Opal turned pale as her blood ran cold. The black velvet purse!

“Gina knows that I found it, that I searched through her drawer,” she thought in a panic, “and she wants me to explain myself.”

Strangely enough, however, Gina did not seem angry.

“It’s a long story,” she said, “and we cannot tell you all of it. You must discover the most important part for yourself. Do not open this purse right away. In fact, don’t open it before midnight, because there might be serious consequences.”

Opal listened in confusion, but having already felt the power of the stone, she did not doubt the truth of what her great-aunt said.

“It’s already quite late,” reflected the Duke of Divulyon. “Only half an hour left.” He made his way towards his daughter, who was talking to her guests.

“Jade,” he said softly.

She turned towards him with a radiant smile. “Papa! I haven’t seen you all evening. The party’s going well, isn’t it?”

The Duke of Divulyon felt a lump in his throat.

“Yes, the party is a great success,” he managed to agree, “and you look lovely.” His words brought another smile to the girl’s face. “Jade, you have to leave your guests now. I must speak with you.”

Taken aback, Jade protested. “What? But it’s my party, Papa! My birthday! Whatever it is you have to tell me, it can’t be that important!”

“Yes, actually, it is.”

Jade did not hide her irritation and disappointment. Reluctantly, she took leave of her guests and followed her father, who led her to one of the private chambers of the palace, where he locked the door behind them. Annoyed, Jade sat down. The Duke of Divulyon sighed deeply. He had to begin, so that at midnight …

“Jade,” he said, “I am not your father.”

Amber’s mother summoned the little strength she had left.

“Amber — I can tell that you don’t believe me … but I am not delirious! Your real mother entrusted you to
me when you were born, so that I might protect you until you were fourteen years old. Amber, I have loved you as though you were my own child.”

Amber could not believe this. It was simply impossible. Her mother brought something out from beneath the folds of her tunic: a black velvet purse. She held it out to the girl. Intrigued, Amber took it.

“Do not open this purse before midnight. It is yours, and the contents as well. Your mother gave it to me … with you.”

Amber felt her heart sink.

“There are two other girls,” said Gina solemnly. “Your enemies. Never trust them. They, too, were handed over to others at their birth, to ensure their safety.”

“Their safety?” cried Opal. “What is threatening us?”

“You mustn’t know,” said Eugénia quickly. “Not yet.

Opal sat quietly. She knew intuitively that everything would soon change, but she remained
calm. She glanced outside at the dark and peaceful night. She was not afraid of the coming day, or of any day to come. She had only one question.

“Why did you wait so long before telling me all this?”

Jade had leapt from her armchair in astonishment, shouting, “What?” Then she began screaming, “I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it!” Her cheeks were crimson and her eyes flashed with rage. It took her several minutes to recover a semblance of self-control. Somehow she knew that she must take this situation very seriously: her father — or rather, the Duke of Divulyon, whom she had believed to be her father! — would never lie. Now she was pacing around the room, fuming with suppressed fury.

“I couldn’t care less about this velvet purse and those other two idiots! I couldn’t care less about my mother who abandoned me at birth and I couldn’t care less about knowing what you don’t want to tell me!

The duke tried to reason with her: “Jade …”

“I mean it! Why should this whole ridiculous story come crashing down on my head? I didn’t ask for any of it!”

“Jade,” interrupted the duke. “There’s more.”

“Now what! Another little surprise along the same lines? Well, no thanks, I can do without it!”

“At midnight, you are to meet the other two girls under a certain tree, which I will tell you how to find. You will not return until you have confronted many trials. Above all, do not reveal your identity to anyone, and keep the velvet purse carefully hidden. You will encounter many enemies along the way. Learn to recognise them and to be always on your guard.”

“What?” said Jade, almost choking. “But I don’t want to go away! I don’t want anything to do with a future as horrible as that! I want to stay here! Please, Papa — I want to stay here …” Jade burst into tears.

“Jade,” whispered the Duke of Divulyon, “I love you more than I would have loved my own daughter.”