The Key: Book 2 The Rose Tree Chronicles

Chapter Twelve: The Facio Ritus

Rein scaled down the castle walls. The mysterious man watched as the tiny speck of light weaved about bushes and tall flowers, sneaking up to the ceremonial stand as quickly as she could without wings. Once Rein reached it, the mysterious man lost sight of her and had to find a new hiding spot. Fortunately, the city's residents were currently located in the Grand Master's courtyard, so sneaking about wasn't too difficult for him, though he did decide on a much closer refuge. He tucked himself away behind a tree and a few bushes where he could watch Rein execute her mission.

Meanwhile, Rein shimmied up one of the legs of the stand and used her sword to saw away at it. She didn't want to saw all the way through, of course; just enough to make the stand fairly precarious for when they brought out the empress. As Rein did this, Cloid and Lazar hung the cauldron in place and started the fire. By the time the blaze was satisfactory, Rein had made a slit in only one leg of the stand. However, it wasn't enough for Rein. She shimmied up the second leg on the same side of the stand and cut away at that one as well. All the exertion and anxiety sent her body temperature soaring. She paused and threw off her coat, then continued to saw madly at the wooden leg.

Still unconvinced in the surety of her plan, Rein untied the key from her back, hid it beneath her coat, and climbed up the stand to saw at the device which held the cauldron over the fire. Even though the flames nearly licked her body, Rein was thankful for the fire; it hid her light and made it more difficult for her to be seen. Rein finished executing her plan only moments before Jaska took his place on stage and announced the next event to all his people.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my children! The time has come for Mortalitas Justum!"

The crowd cheered as Rein rapidly made her way down the stand. In her hurry, her arm snagged violently on a splinter which caused her to lose her grip and she tumbled the rest of the way down into the grass.

"This is the most vital part of this magnificent holiday, and for the fifth Martalitas, the most vital part of the year. To acknowledge this, our sacrifice is someone quite special."

Rein found herself face to face with one of those eerie, tiny bears, which appeared much more unsettling up close. The two of them stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before the bear sniffed her. Rein pushed herself against the leg of the stand in a desperate attempt to back away from the animal.

"Nice... creature," Rein said. Perhaps flattery would keep it from eating her. "I—I'm a friend. If you don't be nice to me, I'll have to kill you, you know. You don't want that right?"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Jaska continued. "I give you our Facio Ritus: a naiad!"

The crowd cheered and Rein glanced over her shoulder to observe Cloid and Lazar carrying a large vase onto the ceremonial stand. The wood cracked, squeaked, and creaked; a good sign so far, but the tiny bear kept sniffing and pawing at Rein.

"Go away," Rein said. "It's going to fall, we don't want to be here when that happens."

That was when the tiny creature bared its many sharp teeth at Rein with a sinister smile. Rein was seconds from screaming, but right as the servants poured the empress into the cauldron, the wooden holder snapped. It crumbled into the ceremonial stand with a thundering BANG and CRASH, and the stand itself snapped and cracked where Rein had cut into it.

While the tiny bear was distracted by the clamorous commotion above, Rein jumped out of the way with the presence of mind to grab her coat and the key. Just as the stand collapsed into a pile of splinters onto the creature, she dove into a flower bed that was barely out of the way of the debris. Rein didn't waste time staring that the mess or the panicked residents of the realm. She quickly replaced her coat and kept an eye out for the empress. Rein felt lucky to catch sight of the empress as she poured out of the cauldron and into the creek in the center of the realm. The wingless pixie frantically fastened the key to her back and ran off with the hope to somehow keep up with Empress Renée.