Chapter 14: Lost Amulets and Dear Friends 

Flashback Part 2

~~

The bodies started to come in. At first, it was small creatures, mice and toads and the like, found dead in the palace dungeons. The palace physician theorized about a plague affecting only animals, and deemed it nothing to worry about. Less than a hundred were dead.

Abigail tried to ignore the disgust swirling in her stomach, the fear as she heard the whispers around the castle. Surely Luna wouldn't... But then she risked a glance at her sister on the way up to their respective chambers after dinner.

Luna winked at her. "It's such a lovely day, don't you think?" Then she caught sight of her sister's expression, and her lips twitched upwards. "Oh, don't be so sad about those poor animals. They were easy to catch, anyway." Luna beamed, then strode away.

Holy gods.

Luna- she-

Abigail swore under her breath, and ran up the marble steps of the staircase towards father's office. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of her, panting and panicked, but laughed when she told him she thought someone in the palace had been poisoning the animals. She wouldn't dare mention Luna, not without hard proof, but she could hardly do nothing.

But father had only smiled and chalked it up to an over worried imagination, telling her that there was nothing to worry about. She had gone to the physician with similar concerns, and he had said the same thing. Then Eliza's father, General Barclay. None had believed her.

After a few weeks passed, the animals found dead grew larger, hounds and even horses. It wasn't enough to arouse anyone's serious suspicions, for only a few dozen had died over a quarter year. Instead, it was just chalked up to a series of unrelated incidents.

But Abigail knew better. The night after her favourite riding horse had passed, she found a horseshoe under her pillow. She cried herself to sleep that night.

She couldn't help but act cruelly to Luna from that point forward, and couldn't bear to pretend that everything was fine when Luna was a murderer. Too often now, Abigail would find the disapproving stare of her brother on her when she lost her patience towards the youngest Valadon sibling, and would hear her mother speak to her friends about how Abigail was such a poor role model for Luna.

She didn't risk telling Jay what was truly going on. Though a skilled swordsman, he hated confrontation. He always preferred to keep the peace and mediate between the two sisters during their fights then pick a side and decide who was right or wrong. He just wanted everyone to be happy.

Abigail loved him for it. But what was happening was not for his ears. Not yet.

And she couldn't help but despair when the incidents piled up, when her brother looked at her with no less love, but less respect each and every time.

But those bad days were few and far between, a couple days a month at most. For the most part, she loved her family, and they loved her. And then Aunt Mara's visit to Moonlight City came - and with her baby Jessica and Hayden Lochan.

The boy her age was a welcome distraction from the darkness that seemed to surround the castle of late. She just didn't expect to confess what was going on to him. And she didn't expect him to believe her.

~~

"So, I've heard something of an illness affecting Alurian animals?" Hayden was leaning back against a bookshelf in the ancient palace library, his eyes still red-rimmed.

Abigail couldn't believe that he had trusted her enough to tell her about his brother, about what happened to him. It meant a lot, having a friend who trusted her that much. Even though she had only known him two weeks, she trusted him as much as she did Eliza or Jay.

"Oh, yes." Abby said, debating the merits of telling him. Eliza had laughed at the idea, telling her that Luna was sweet and she was looking for excuses where there were none. But Hayden - could he possibly believe her?

He snorted. "Well, that's a rather disinterested tone for something that could affect the well-being of your kingdom."

"Like your interest is something different than that of an academic nature. You're hardly one to judge."

Hayden threw his hands up. "You've caught me. It's a fascinating mystery. I think-" he stopped dead, his eyes caught on something on her face. "You know something, don't you. About why the animals are dying."

    Abigail brought her eyes back down to her book. An Alurian History of Cattle Ranching? Why would anyone read this? "It's like you said, a mystery." The next words came out of her mouth unbidden. "And you wouldn't believe me anyway."

    "I assure you, I would." He squeezed her hand. "I know you're not a liar, Abby."

    No one else called her Abby.

    The kindness in his eyes... She couldn't help but tell him. "It's my sister. She's been killing all the animals. I don't know why, or how she does it. But it started two years ago, after we had an argument. I said something cruel and I woke up to find my cat dead on the floor. I know it sounds insane, but I swear-"

    "I believe you."

~~

And so when Hayden Lochan left, she wrote him letters telling him everything that was going on in the castle. Just knowing that someone out there believed her, made her feel a little bit less alone. For the first time in years, she wasn't just screaming into a void. She had a friend on the other side.

Hayden returned to Alura for the Moon Festival Masquerade a year later, a handsome stranger. Then came the feelings that she had tried so desperately to quench, the promises they made to each other... The animal deaths had stopped for months now.

For the first time in a long time, things were looking up.

But then they came back crashing down.

~~

    Abigail Valadon would remember that day for the rest of her life. It started normally - she ate breakfast in her room after a late night spent shopping in the Garment District with Eliza, then agonized over writing her latest letter from Hayden - why was writing to him so difficult?

    She remembered what Jay had said about reading more, and had read a transcript of a local newspaper, talking about Mordan's failure to capture the vigilante known only as the Shadow, considered by some to be the world's greatest thief.

    It was only after she left the confines of her room that she discovered that something was terribly wrong. Father was not holding court, as he usually did on Saturday morning. Jason was not in the library or the training room or even his own chambers.

    The halls were utterly bare of people. Not even the usual whispering servants or babbling courtiers were present. Abigail's heart sped up. Something was not right.

    It was by a stroke of fate that she passed her tutor Drusilla in the hall. The woman's already pale skin looked near gaunt. She was muttering under her breath, carrying a handful of scrolls, and not paying any mind to her surroundings.

    Abigail had never seen Drusilla looking anything near worried. She looked now to be seconds away from a mental breakdown.

    Yes, something was certainly wrong.

    "Miss Drusilla - are you alright? Is something wrong? Where is everyone?"

    The woman looked at Abigail, her worried eyes softening into something like - pity? "Oh, darling, I've been trying to find you. You must come with me now."

    "Why? What's happening?"

    "It's your father."

    Abigail stumbled, feeling her heart drop into her stomach.

    ~~

    A few minutes later, the young princess of Alura was sitting in a velvet armchair in her father's chambers, trading anxious glances with her brother.

    This was Father as Abigail had never seen him before. He was white as a sheet, his brow dotted with sweat, and his eyes glassy and bloodshot. His head was propped up against a pile of pillows, and he groaned at the effort of trying to raise it.

    How had this happened? Father had been just fine yesterday, laughing and joking around with the rest of the family at dinner. He had even offered to personally oversee Jay's magic training yesterday - since it was only a matter of time before the Crown Prince received the family powers.

    "I believe it to be an infection spreading rapidly," Arghun, the royal physician was saying. "In fact, I've never seen anything like it. No infection should shut the body down completely in under a day."

    "What do you mean, shut the body down completely?" Jason asked, voice cool and collected.

    Oh, Delos. Jay. If anything happened to father, Jason would be next in line for the throne of Alura. Abigail had every confidence that her brother would be a wonderful king - he was too sweet and smart not to be - but he was only sixteen. Not near old enough to be a king.

    But no, he wouldn't have to. Father would be fine.

    The physician swallowed, hard. "I mean, my prince, that your father has less than a day to live."

    Abigail's vision went blurry, and through the wetness in her eyes she could see her hands shaking, rather than feel them. She bit her lip so hard it bled. Mother's face had gone pale, and Jason muttered an obscenity under his breath.

    The one with the most dramatic reaction, by far, was Luna. The youngest Valadon sibling had stormed out of the room as soon as the verdict was delivered, and Abigail could hear muffled sounds of crying fade away as her sister ran.

    Jason moved to follow Luna, perhaps comfort her in some way, but Mother put a hand on his shoulder. "Leave her. You know Luna, she'll need some time to herself."

    Father jerked upwards, and coughed onto the silken bedsheets. What came up was blood, dark red blood, staining the sheets and dripping onto the wood of the bed frame.

    "Give us the room!" Arghun demanded, and any other time, Abigail would have snickered at his willingness to command the most powerful family in the country.

    Now, however, her anxiety swallowed up any other thoughts.

    She nearly jumped when her father spoke, his voice gravelly but still there. "No. Jason stays. I have something I wish to tell him."

    Abigail wanted nothing more than to remain by her father's side, but she would honour his wishes. She and her mother nodded and walked out of the room.

    Queen Mellisa gave her daughter's hand a comforting squeeze. It was the most affection she had received from her in years. "Why don't you go and find your friend Eliza, dear?"

    She could only nod mutely, her thoughts a nervous mess. What would she do without her father? And why couldn't she shake the feeling that something else was going to go terribly wrong?

~~

    Eliza was less able to distract Abigail then the latter had hoped. For one, the King's imminent death had set off a crying fit in the future Lady of Lys. Abigail knew exactly why.

Several months ago, her dear friend had received word that her mother had died in a difficult pregnancy. Neither her, or the baby could be saved.

    All Eliza had to remember her mother was a glass and diamond amulet, carved with the greatest memories that mother and daughter had shared. It was her friend's most prized possession, and she put it on every morning.

    Every morning until this one, when Eliza had woken up to find it missing.

    Seeing her friend in such a distraught state couldn't help but make Abigail equally miserable. "I'll help you find it," she said.

    Eliza glanced up at her through tear-filled eyes. "Really?"

    "Of course. I'm your friend, so I'll always help you."

    The two girls scoured the empty palace for signs of the Barclay amulet. It wasn't in the library, or any of the guest chambers, or any of the places that Eliza remembered visiting last night.

Abigail couldn't help but be grateful for the task - it took her mind off everything that had happened that morning. But after an hour or so, when her and Eliza had searched every place that the amulet could possibly be, she felt an urge to return to her father's side.

Though she had prayed to Delos and Diamara that it wouldn't be the case, it might very well be the end for him.

Her papa.

So the two girls returned to Abigail's bedroom to grab their things and then head off to the King's chambers. And that was where everything had gone downhill.

The princess was sitting on her plush bed, absentmindedly flicking through different books - she couldn't recall which was her father's favourite, but she hoped that her father would enjoy it of she read to him-

A scream cut off her thoughts. Eliza was going through Abigail's drawers - she did that often enough, looking for knick-knacks that she could take. Abigail didn't particularly care when her friend took things, since the Valadon had everything she needed and then some.

But Eliza had always been rather demure and quiet. Certainly not the type to scream, unless something was terribly wrong.

"What's the matter?"

Eliza stared directly at the princess, her dearest friend since birth. Her eyes were lined with wetness, but there was a fiery rage there that Abigail had never seen before.

"What do you think is the matter?" Eliza spat, her voice cold.

This was nothing like her friend. Not the girl who was loath to raise her voice, who Abigail was quite certain had never thought anything mean about anyone else during life.

She darted a glance at Eliza's hands, and nearly gasped at what she saw. The glass amulet, shattered nearly beyond recognition. A few pieces laid in Eliza's hand, with some scattered in the drawer. Glancing around the room, Abigail could spot a few peeking out from her washroom.

Wait.

What was her friend's lost amulet doing in her room?

"You did this," Eliza hissed. "You broke the one memory I had of my mother. Why?"

"Eliza, I know what it looks like, but I swear I didn't-"

"Save it. You know, I defended you. I told my father and Governess Drusilla that there was no way you'd insult people during tutoring, that someone must have been conspiring to make you look terrible during that state dinner."

With the look of disgust that Eliza sent her, it took all of Abigail's strength not to burst into tears right then and there. "But now I know that I was wrong to defend you, to trust you'd understand how important this amulet was to me and respect me for once. But I guess you don't pay a passing thought to anyone below your station, do you? Luna was right about you. All this time, I didn't believe her, but she was right."

As Eliza turned on her heel and stormed out of Abigail's chambers, the princess made one last, desperate plea: "Please Eliza, I'm your best friend! I would never do this to you."

Eliza didn't even bother to look back. "Don't ever call yourself my friend again."

The tears came unbidden now.

It was only several minutes later, once they subsided, that Abigail recalled what Eliza had said: 'Luna was right about you.'

It was her sister. She was responsible.

White hot fury shot through her veins.

So making her lose the respect of her family wasn't enough? She had to tear Abigail away from her oldest, dearest friend too? She could feel her blood boil as she thought of every cruel little thing her sister had done over the past few years, how she had manipulated people to disrespect her.

And it wasn't what she had just done to Abigail. She thought of the poor innocent creatures who had died, the cats and dogs and horses, and even the criminals in the dungeons, who had reportedly killed themselves in record droves.

She'd be lying if she said it wasn't personal. It was. But Luna Valadon was a monster, of that Abigail was certain.

And so she ignored the warm embrace of light, that female voice that whispered promises of peace, serenity, and calmness in her ear. The voice that pleaded with her to wait.

Abigail Valadon strode out of her room, fuelled with hate and anger, and made the biggest mistake of her life.

~~

I know I said that this was only going to be a two-parter, but I still had so much more to say and a lot more characters to incorporate. Next part is when everything comes to a head and we find out just why Abigail ran away from home.

I hope you enjoyed young Abigail, Hayden, Luna and Eliza. Tell me what you thought the best scene was, and what you think will go down next chapter.

See you next week.