SHARDS (Not Edited Yet)

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

16

A loud knocking at my door jolts me from my slumber. Quickly I climb out of bed, something seems off. Then I notice that my gash doesn't hurt anymore, I nearly pass out from shock. The deep, swollen wound I had yesterday is now nothing but a thin red line running down my lower leg. Another round of nocking tells me this isn't a dream. I opened my door, Elena appears on the other side, a bag clutched tightly in her hand, what smells of freshly baked pastries wafting off of it. For a moment I'm confused why she's knocking on my door at seven in the morning with a bag of pastries. As realization struck my eyes widen, I slap my hands to my face "Oh my gosh I forgot!".

Elena just laughs at me as I run around the room to get myself ready for our journey to the library. Five minutes later stand in front of Elena, "Ready?" I ask. She quirks an eyebrow, smiling "Really? You're asking me that?", I blush a deep red, she just laughs. As we walk down the hallways we chat about our families, our favorite colors, and foods. I learned that her family actually grew up in the castle, her dad and twin brother work in the kitchens and her mom is the queen's personal maid, she just does cleaning around the castle wherever it's needed since they rarely get any guests. I push the doors to the library open, leading the way into the room. After a few steps I realize that Elena isn't following me, she looks very confused and shocked at the same time. "What's the matter?" I ask. "How did you know that those doors lead to the library?" she asks slowly. "I don't know, I feel like I've been here before in a dream though," I say, Elena nods but I can tell she's deep in thought.

The library was enormous, thousands upon thousands of books line the shelves, the smell of leather and old parchment paper fills my nostrils. I squeal in delight and hop up and down for a few seconds before rushing to the nearest shelf of books, running my fingers along each spine. Being a popular kid in school didn't allow me to bring books to school because that was considered 'not cool' so I barely had any time to enjoy myself.

Thankfully I was able to stalk up on books at my house though, my dad knew how much I loved books so he'd bring home a new one every once and a while.

There were books on dragons, mystery novels, both fiction and nonfiction, romance, medieval castles, and tons on each of the elements. There was even a book called 'How Earth Works' which I found a little weird. Another was called 'Elexsiah' with a picture of the creature that had been chasing us earlier at the school, I made a mental note to check that book out whenever I finished exploring.

One of the books up on a high shelf catches my eye, I scramble up on one of the rickety ladders, snatching the book from the shelf. It was obvious that it had been a few years since this book had been held by someone. With a quick blow, most of the dust that had gathered their floats lazily in the air, I swipe the remaining grim off, revealing the title of the book. 'The Royal Family Tree', a picture of a woman stands in the center, the water element in the top left, fire in the bottom right, earth in the top right, and wind in the bottom left.

I nearly drop the book "Is that royal tree you got there?" Elen asks. "Um yeah," "Come down and let's take a look, we can munch on some pastries while we're at it". Safely off the latter, Elena and I sit down on a very cushy couch. Elena sets the bag down on the wood table in front of us, I grab a cinnamon bun, Elena grabs a plain croissant.

She flips to the first page of the book, a large picture of a woman. Her golden blond hair falls down to her elbows in soft curls, she has a petite figure but still has good muscle in her arms and legs. A little crown resting on her head, which went along well with her sky blue dress. She had this look about her that I could see she was very headstrong and stubborn, but she was also gentle and kind. A caption to the right of the drawing read,

Artemisa Valoise, present queen of Bavaria Kingdom, her husband is the deceased King of Bavaria Kingdom. Her two daughters Fheya and Elsi Valoise both currently eighteen years of age. She has ruled since her husband, Rian Valoise's death in an attempt to take the throne twelve years ago on a full moon.

Elena turns the page, this time of a man, his shaggy jet black hair covers most of his face, but I can still see his electric icy blue eyes, which seem to be staring straight through the paper, right at me. His skin is almost silvery-white, his sunken cheeks and deep shadows under his eyes almost make him look like he rose from a grave. The caption read,

Sargon Valoise, brother to Rian Valoise, accused of an attempt to steal the throne from his brother, years after being exiled from the Bavaria Kingdom, along with his newborn baby girl. The name of his daughter is unknown, his wife had died giving birth to the girl. If the girl is still alive today she would be seventeen years of age. Sargon Valoise has not been seen since the attack on the Bavaria Kingdom.

I was shocked, Elena gasped, her face had paled up, she looked like she was about to throw up. "I thought he was dead, he should be dead," she whispered, "Why should he be dead?" I ask but she doesn't respond. "The book never lies,", "What are you talking about the book never lies?" I ask. "This isn't good, I must tell the queen at once," before I can ask anything else she yanks on my arm and runs at full speed towards what I assume is the queen.