♛
Hirayafils ~he-rah-yah-feels
Dwin Rhiena ~d-win-Rye-eh-na
Dwin Rhiea ~ d-win-Rye-ee-ah
Jrin ~ j-ree-n
Eñaria ~ en-yah-ria
Dwinastia ~ d-wi-nas-tee-a
♛

"WHAT do you think of this dress, papa?" the little girl exclaimed, her voice bubbling with excitement as she twirled in front of him. Her golden blonde hair, a riot of curls, bounced merrily around her head, framing her face in a halo of joyful chaos. Her usually pale cheeks now flushed a rosy pink from her enthusiastic sprint from the bedroom, glowed with the energy of childhood.

The dress she wore, a vibrant shade of sunny yellow adorned with delicate floral patterns, bore the unmistakable marks of her afternoon adventure. A muddy stain clung stubbornly to the hem from her playful escapades outside, where she had likely chased hirayafils or leaped into puddles, lost in the wonder of her imagination.

As her father glanced at the dress, a brief frown creased his forehead at the sight of the stain, a remnant of her carefree playtime. However, that fleeting worry melted away as he met her radiant smile, gleaming with innocence and joy. At that moment, he couldn't help but soften; her happiness was the heartbeat of his concern. She was lively and healthy, and for him, that was the only thing that truly mattered in the grand tapestry of their lives together.

"You look stunning!"

"Like a princess?" she asked with glee.

"Yes, not just any random princess. My princess," he said, and his daughter pushed her bottom lip out.

"But I don't want to look like your princess," the little girl said, her lips curling in mock disgust before they morphed to form a smile. "I want to look like the princess. And I want to dress like her on her birthday!"

The little girl followed her wishes with another twirl on her tiny feet. A sight that brought out a warm laugh from her father.

"Yes, Dwin Rhiena is coming soon. Now why would you want to look like the Princess? She's been gone from Wlerden for a while now. You wouldn't know what she looks like."

His daughter's smile widened. "Because I saw her papa. In my dreams!"

That was enough to turn the man's smile sour. He rushed over to the little girl with fear but urgency in his eyes.

"Taralita, what did I say about telling people your dreams?" he warned.

"That I shouldn't tell them because they would take me away from you," Taralita said, her gaze downcast as small beads of tears formed at the sides of her eyes.

The man's smile returned as he lifted his daughter's chin.

"You are already my princess and that is enough. You don't need anything more, my dear, and don't let anyone make you think otherwise."

With that, he brought her head closer to lay a gentle kiss on her head. His mouth lingered as he used the act to calm himself and also curse whoever it was that had to die and cause such haunted power to be bestowed upon his daughter.

It was only when his daughter was in a better mood and they had concluded on what Taralita would wear for the occasion of the Princess' birthday that he finally made his way out of her room and down some stairs. He ended up in his study, but as he walked in, the sight he met stopped him dead straight.

The study was a large one, which he preferred. He loathed small spaces and if he was going to spend so much time in a place; he didn't want to do it in one that would be uncomfortable.

There was a large shelf of books he had never opened off to the right. A large window with drawn curtains was opposite the door. The chair he usually sat in faced the door, while the chair his guests sat in backed the door.

Everything was always in its rightful place. Everything belonged there. Everything except the three men in his study.

They wore casual clothes, but nothing about them came across as casual. Not the rigid posture of the two men standing or the contrasting relaxed one of the man sitting. He wasn't supposed to receive any guests today. So who were these strangers?

"Who are you?" he asked sternly, his brows dipping.

One of them, a tall dark-skinned man with bulging muscles visible through the outline of his fitted shirt. The second, much fairer with an angular jawline and a slimmer build. The third stranger was the only one sitting relaxed in one of the plush chairs reserved for his guest. He had his hair styled slicked back and his steely blue eyes swept over him, a thorough evaluation that seemed to linger at every detail, from the top of his hair right down to the polished tips of his shoes.

In that moment of scrutiny, the man felt an unsettling mixture of intrigue and caution. Then, the stranger flashed a smile—charming, perhaps even disarming, but something in the curve of his lips hinted at underlying intentions that were anything but benevolent. The man had learned over the years not to let appearances deceive him; he recognized the thin veneer of friendliness that often masked ulterior motives.

"Sahsa! So nice to see you again!" the man with slick hair spoke.

"Do I know you?" Sahsa asked.

"You don't know me, but you know my name. Damier."

Sahsa's lips turned down to a sneer. His hands clenched at his side.

How had the wretched man found him?

Sahsa was a man who liked to keep done deals in the past, especially when those deals cost him more than he gained.

"I had paid you what I owed. There are no differences between us," Sahsa said through clenched teeth.

"Now that is not the way to receive an old customer. Please come sit. You are the owner of this office, after all."

"I'm fine here."

"No. I insist. Plus, I'm sure you won't be able to take the news of our offer while standing," Damier said with a cheer in his tone that made Sahsa's ears twitch.

Sahsa glanced at the two men that stood behind Damier and he wondered if they were some sort of bodyguards. But what would Damier need protection from? He wondered if the men knew the shrewd ways of Damier, who seemed to be their master of some kind as they stood while he sat.

He did a quick scan and saw no sign that they were Red Guards. The authority Sahsa despised not just because they kept trying to meddle in his businesses, but also because they captured and imprisoned Endoni and Avnars. Avnars like his daughter, who was only some steps and stairs away playing with dolls and dresses.

Sasha approached his desk with rigid movements, as if each step required immense effort, and settled into his chair with his frown unyielding.

"Why are you here?" Sahsa asked.

"There's a group that's going to come and meet you. All you have to do is send them to us," Damier said and stretched his arms out before resting one on the top of the second chair.

"What group is this?"

"The ones we are looking for. That's why you have to send them to us."

"How will I know—" Damier slammed a picture on Sahsa's desk to silence his incoming question.

"How did you get this... to look like this?" Sahsa said as he picked up the paper with his eyes darting from detail to detail.

"You need to bring her and any other person she's with to us."

Sahsa looked over at the picture. There was an elusive quality about it, something just beyond his grasp. It felt as if he was peering through another person's eyes, seeing the world as they did while wearing an unusual cap or perhaps a sleek helmet. The more he studied the picture, the stronger the sensation grew that he was not merely an observer, but was rather entwined in the scene. Finally, tearing his gaze away from the captivating picture, he shifted his focus back to the peculiar men lingering in his study, their presence pulling him away from the fearful atmosphere of the picture and back to the tense one around him.

"And what's this in for me? I don't do free work," Sahsa said and flung the paper back on the table like it meant nothing.

"Ah, I also knew you would ask that. What's it in for you?" Damier hmmed, placing his index finger underneath his chin and feigned thinking, but it didn't last long. "Your daughter."

Sahsa shot up to his feet.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he questioned, with his lips curling in anger and voice rising an octave.

"It means exactly what it does, Sahsa. You get this group to us, you get your daughter back."

"But... but she was... was in—"

"I also don't like free work Sahsa. So..." Damier rose to his feet and the two men behind him shifted aside. "If you wish to have your daughter alive and back in your arms, get us this group as soon as they come to you."

With that, the three men left. Sasha didn't waste a second processing Damier's words as he rushed up the stairs and to the room he left earlier and busted in without knocking.

"Tara! Taralita!" he called out but found no sound of the four-year-old. Her toys and dresses were still intact. It was as if she simply left with no sign of forced entry or exit. Sahsa sank to his knees to find a paper tucked underneath one of his daughter's many dolls. There was a number on it, along with a text.

Contact us with the time and location.

♛ ♛ ♛

IT had taken them three and a half days to reach the city of Drinad. Even though they had been on a train moving at an insane amount of speed, she had to stop herself from looking out in order not to get dizzy.

As tired as she was, she was also comfortable. Being on a train that had no Red Guards on it made her feel like she was in some sort of bubble, away from her new world and all its worries, but she only realized it once the bubble had burst.

Drinad was an advanced town, and a big one according to the map they had gotten from the train. The structures here were higher than the ones she had seen so far, and the glass shimmered much brighter under the sun. There were fewer cracks on this side of Yhulja because it was closer to Whiscanter than Belian.

Marcela had warned her about 'bright spots' on the floor where the reflective property of the glass was so strong, it was as if one was looking at the sun which would be extremely harmful to one's sight.

It was only after that warning, that Karyn noticed no one looking at the floor while they walked. Not even to glance if something was in their way. It seemed like an unspoken rule.

"So," she began, her voice cutting through the cacophony of bustling footsteps and distant train announcements. "How do we get to this duo?" she inquired, glancing at Zack. They stood just outside the train station, a stark contrast to the sea of hurried commuters flowing around them like a river—faces blurred and bodies jostling, all lost in their own urgent journeys.

"They are going to find us," Zack said, looking around. For what? She didn't know.

Marcela scoffed. "Are we supposed to be standing here like sitting ducks?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, sitting ducks don't stand."

It was Marcela's turn to roll her eyes. "You understand my point."

"Of course not," Zack answered her earlier question. "We're going to find a motel to stay and we'll see how things progress from there. Dohlia did say she would tell them about us and what we look like, so they should reach out to us."

"What if they get the wrong people?" Karyn asked, which prompted a smirk from him.

"They never get their people wrong," was his response.

"We should get going then. Being on the train was cool and all, but I would love to sleep in a proper bed this time."

True to his word, they got a message soon. Though Her Sense had been crawling at her, prying at her to keep watch over her shoulder for a figure watching her in return. This was why she wasn't surprised when they received some documents with a note that read, Play your designated role.

"The fiancée? Who am I engaged to?" she asked out loud when the three of them converged in the room she shared with Marcela.

"Me," she heard and looked up to see Zack standing before her, clutching a stack of papers in his hands. His dark eyes roamed over the pages with an intensity that made her heart race. He had his lips pressed into a firm line, leaving her uncertain about what he felt. There was an air of neutrality about him; he didn't appear angry or upset, but there was no hint of satisfaction either. She had tried but failed to decipher what he was thinking.

Sure, it was just a role to get through the border, but it made her wonder why. In the little time they were here, had this duo studied them? And more so, did they have any concrete reason for assigning them the role?

"I don't like this," Marcela stated, her lips sporting a frown.

"You don't like this or you don't trust this?" Karyn prodded. She began understanding the Emeraldine, who was becoming more and more vocal.

"Both. Are we going to accept what this paper says and go ahead blind? How do we know they're not tricking us?"

"You're starting to sound like Jamie," she noted.

"And what reason would they have to trick us?" Zack asked.

"I don't know the fact that we never met them to start with."

"They don't reveal themselves to just anyone."

"It would be good to know who's helping us, at the least. And what about this Sahsa?" Marcela asked.

"It says here we should contact him when we reach Vunmarc for better means of transport, should we need it," Karyn said, reading the last part of her statement from the paper.

"I've heard of him."

"Of course you have," Marcela muttered.

"He runs The Jrin. A set of underground tunnels that go all the way through Vunmarc, Dhandria, and Yhulja. It's a massive network. No one knows exactly how he got access to all, but if there's anyone who can get us to Dhandria without going through the border, it would be him."

"Tunnels," Karyn said. The word tugged at her heart, dragging out unwanted memories she couldn't forget. The last time she had been in one, she watched her sister, her lifelong friend, disintegrate into sparkling dust. Sparkling dust that lay in a pouch deep in her rucksack.

"And how is he able to get people in and out without interference from The Red Guard? What if he's working alongside them to capture the endowed?" Marcela asked, her frown deepening.

"I know of Sahsa and I know he won't sell away the credibility he has worked so hard to get over the years to some Red Guards. Not only Endoni go through his tunnels, you know."

Marcela dropped the paper, folded her arms, and glared at Zack, who kept on reading the documents unfazed by her glare yet, a slight frown settled on his brows. Karyn could tell something was stressing him, but what?

"I don't trust this, and I don't trust you, Zack."

"That much is clear," Zack replied monotonously.

"I'm going to contact Jamie and Gema," was all the Emeraldine said before she left. Leaving Karyn with an excellent opportunity to get into Zack's current train of thought.

She headed over to him with a smile. He kept on reading the paper until she took it from him and placed it down, prompting him to sigh.

"The engaged couple, huh? Why do I feel you don't want that?" she said, reaching out to hold his hands in hers, intertwining them and tugging a little. This made him take a lazy step towards her, closing up the little space between them.

"That's not it."

"Then what is. You know you can tell me things. You've been a pillar to lean on for me during this entire journey, and I value that. Now I know you have the right to your secrets, but I want to do for you what you do for me."

He gazed at her warm brown eyes before he leaned in. Pulling one hand away from hers to grip her waist. She didn't oppose and granted him access to her mouth. Her hands disappeared into the mess of dirty blonde that lay atop his head.

"If we are engaged, we need to at least look the part," he said once they parted, his breath fanning her lips.

"Oh! Do we not look too in love to be engaged?"

"For starters, we need eñaria bands."

"What are those?"

"Purple rings indicating someone is engaged."

"Oh. Is there another one for marriage?"

"Yes, blue hildnan bands. Purple for engagement, blue for commitment, or rather, marriage."

"That's beautiful. Well, I suppose if we are to play our part, then we should go get one."

"Now?"

"Yeah. What better time," she said, and something she said must have been funny as Zack let out a laugh. She could see the tension release from his shoulders.

"You can be spontaneous at times. Doing things I wouldn't expect and from nowhere."

"Like what?"

"You just reminded me of the first day at Emerfield. We missed an entire class because we were going on tour."

She couldn't help her laugh. "It was a necessary means to an end.", she said, her mind also going back to the memory. "So what do you say? How about we get engaged?"

♛ ♛ ♛

VUNMARC unfolded before her, a reality even more enchanting than she had imagined. The golden sky had wisps of yellow clouds floating in it, each punctuated by whimsical gaps that scattered the sun's rays in a mesmerizing ballet of light, illuminating the landscape below like an extravagant dance hall. Leaves rose and fell from the ground and there were fist-sized holes in the ground that spat out leaves at random, taking her by surprise. It was as if the very ground had a personality of its own, playfully interacting with the world around her.

The air was thick with the inviting aroma of Vunmarian Incense, a fragrance she had first encountered during her earlier projection. Zack had shared that this incense was a prized specialty of the local people, crafted from a unique blend of botanical ingredients that thrived exclusively in Vunmarc. It was one of Vunmarc's known trades to sell it to other regions where it had high value because of its expensive cost.

It was present in every house in Vunmarc, thus the reason it blossomed everywhere.

Crossing the border had been an uneventful affair and had passed as soon as it had started. Karyn was nervous at first, but with Zack's ever-constant presence and his hold on her hand, unrelenting, she remained grounded. Despite Marcela's distrust, all had gone well. The same was true for Jamie and Salome, but the same couldn't be true for Gema.

Last Marcela heard from her, she had made it to Drinad, but that was it. It had been radio silence from her end ever since.

The border city of Dwinastia, where they were now, was not so far from Dhul, Vunmarc. Karyn and Salome were eager to visit Zack's hometown. Although he was reluctant at first, Jamie had agreed and offered they could lie low there while trying to reach out to Sahsa.

"That is so pretty," Salome started as they made their way to Dhul on a bus. Wide brown eyes marveled at the purple ring that adorned Karyn's ring finger. She had been using the guise of the role they had to play, but deep down, she couldn't find it in herself to take it off, despite having no need for it, as their rouse was over.

"Are you two engaged now?" Salome asked, and Karyn glanced at Zack. Despite his closed eyes, she knew he was awake.

"I guess we are. Well, so long as this is on."

"But isn't there supposed to be a ceremony or something? I mean, I know it's all..." the young girl paused and looked around before she scooted closer to Karyn. "To cross the border," Salome whispered, then with a normal-leveled voice, "Still, you could have done something."

"We were out of time. We could only search, get it, and move on," Karyn said, a part of her thinking deeper into the young girl's words who hmmed and relaxed back into her chair.

She had never thought about it that way. Sure, they had no time, and they weren't engaged, but it wouldn't have hurt to do something along with it. She didn't even know what she was expecting. Did she think he would go over some grand gesture and declare his love for her? He had only revealed some days ago his pessimism about their future.

You'll end up marrying some rich affluent man worthy of being king.

As much as she didn't want to, she couldn't help but recall his words lingering in her mind like a haunting melody. Marcela's earlier comments replayed, amplifying the weight of her reality. The notion that she would have to marry someone from Whiscanter loomed over her like an unyielding storm cloud. She could already feel the looming presence of public scrutiny, an invisible chain that would soon bind her once the public became aware of her identity The fleeting moments of freedom she cherished—the freedom to feel deeply, to let her heart guide her—were threatened by the knowledge of expectations she would soon have to meet. She didn't need anyone to spell it out for her.

The weight of her future, like a heavy burden on her shoulders, pressed down on her. She knew what lay ahead, or rather, had a sense of it, but deep down, she knew she wouldn't just take it as it was. Since the start of this journey, she had been reacting. The rough texture of the journey her choices set her upon, along with the twists and turns, all led her to this moment.

It started as a quest for answers. Answers to her parents' murder. Answers that possibly lay in her memories. The ones Kara held on to, but now she was grasping just how dire the situation was. Wlerden was supposed to be her home, but ever since she stepped foot on the parched lands of Cathurva she had been a fugitive, hiding, and sneaking around like a petty thief when all she was was simple magic.

That was something they should be proud of, not hunted for. The various Prides were all based on magic, so why was that glorified but its people hunted? The bitter taste of injustice lingered on her tongue, fueling her determination. She despised disparity in any shape or form. If she was going to be—No, when she was going to be Queen, she would take it with all she could. She would lead with all she could, fostering as much hope as she could.

Like her parents, she would rule unlike never seen before and she would make sure of it.

♛

ITNC: As Gema grapples with the consequences of her recent decisions, Karyn gets an insight into Zack's enigmatic past.

♛

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~
The Sparkling Authoress,
Mis. A
❤️