Amara of Xeris

Chapter 40

Dark, damp and gloomy were the only words that could describe the inside of the tower. Huge stained-glass windows let no light in, the stone walls and vaulted ceilings had spots of decay. The suits of armour that guarded the hallway felt strangely alive as if they were watching anyone who walked the tower halls silently.

"Have you heard the legends about the tower?", Victor asked.

"Yes, some say that this place is haunted by the ghosts of its prisoners.", Amara answered.

"It's a popular legend, an old one too. It was a thing centuries before I was born. I have never seen one though.",

"Do you want to see them?", Amara asked.

"No, I would rather spare myself the misery.", Victor said, "Now tell me is there anywhere specific you want to go?"

"I am fine with anything except the dungeons."

"But they are the best part of the building.", he joked, "What is the point of coming to Northern Tower if not to visit the dungeons."

"We could go to the rooftop. I heard the view's charming."

"Sure, but I'll warn you. You're not going to see much at night."

**********

Victor was right, the two of them couldn't see much in the dim moonlight, but the calmness of the night made up for it. The cool autumn air, the silver pond near the water, the plants barely visible in the moonlight. It wasn't much but it was one of the prettiest nights Amara had seen.

Amara looked up, "Had the stars always been so pretty?"

Victor looked up as well, "I don't know, I don't think I ever noticed them."

"When was the last time you visited this place?"

"About five years ago, a little while before my father's coronation.", he recalled, "I didn't expect to be here so soon." Amara turned to him, looking down from the rooftop of the tower, his gaze seemed fixed at a point further away from the ponds and the gardens. He was gazing at a small wooden platform surrounded by sand. His eyes were filled with an odd emptiness, a disturbed reaction.

"I can't believe they would build the chopping block here. It's a bit dark, isn't it?", he looked up, "A bit humbling even. That the most powerful meet such gruesome deaths."

"Have you ever seen an execution there? Outside the famous Northern Tower."

"About five times in my life. One of which I ordered myself.", he said darkly, "I didn't want to do this, but Uncle, left me no choice."

Amara decided it was better to not ask. "I think we should go inside now. It's getting way too cold to stay out here."

*******

"Don't go there, you'll just get lost.", Victor warned Amara.

"How big is this place?", Amara stared into the West Wing.

"Very, now don't wander off there.", Victor said, "It's the biggest part of the castle."

"Is it where they keep the Baelin Tapestry?", Amara asked.

"Yes, but it's not worth seeing?"

"What do you mean one of the most famous tapestries in the world isn't worth seeing?"

"It's not anything special when you see it everyday.", Victor said, "It's going to be a long walk, will you be able to keep up."

"I will manage.", Amara said following Victor across the long hallway. Numerous doors lined one side of the hallway while the night sky stretched into an endless expanse at the other. What was once a lively home had turned into a haunted, grey ruin.

The hallway stretched endlessly until the two of them reached a large, mahogany door. It was gigantic compared to the other doors and a symbol of an eye adorned the top half of the door. It felt as if it was staring at them, judging them.

"This is where they keep the tapestry.", Victor opened the door, "Come in."

The Baelin Tapestry kept in the West Wing of Northern Tower was a huge tapestry depicting the entirety of the famous Othreran epic, "Moneta of Xandris". Despite this information, Amara was still shocked by the size of the tapestry. It spanned the length of a ballroom and touched both the floor and the ceiling.

On it were scenes from the epic, the murder of Alita, the siege of Xandris, the gods picking their sides, the curse of Moneta and her final warning. In the middle of the tapestry was a symbol of an eye, the same one at the door.

"It is called the Eye of Fate, a symbol associated with Moneta, the prophetess of Xandris.", Victor explained when he noticed Amara staring too long, "No one knows why it is in the middle of the tapestry."

"The Eye of Fate? I've heard of it before.", Amara said trying to remember something, "They say that the tapestry can tell you the future sometimes."

"They say that Moneta's spirit lives on through the threads of the tapestry, like a ghost whose wish is to die.", Victor continued,

"My mother used to say that she heard her once. Before she married my father, back when she was the Oracle of Aresta, it told her that her firstborn child would be born on a day of victory."