Children of the Slain

Part seventeen: Locust

"Sis, what's happening?" Evan asked one day, seeing that Amelia was standing on the balcony again. She had been doing this every evening for the past year or so, glaring up at the sky as if there was something there. Indeed, there was. At first, it was a single acridid that buzzed and fluttered about in the air. Evan furrowed his brows, wondering why his sister was so intrigued by this little thing.

"It's just a bug...," said Evan, folding his arms across his chest.

"Do you know what locusts represent, Evan?"

Evan hummed but shook his head. Amelia placed a hand on the sixteen-year-old's shoulder and sighed, thinking back to the Grimoires and what they had said about these little creatures. When the locusts showed up late in the Devil's War, it meant the end was approaching and one within the kingdom has turned against the royals. It could be anyone, and Amelia's mind was boggled at the thought that someone within their own would betray them.

"Locusts, when alone, symbolize falsity and evil altogether. Evan, you now know of the truth and why the skies have turned red. You know why the roses have died and you know why I am endlessly training and studying once again. I am preparing myself, and I believe you should too. Natalie is wallowing in her sorrows with Drake consulting her at the moment. Serena has stopped painting once she found out. Sophie works quietly in the kitchen because there is no longer anyone there. You should do something, Evan. Train with me so we shall live to fulfil the prophecy."

The youngest prince was speechless. He couldn't say anything to Amelia's proposal. To be honest, he didn't even know how he felt about Allan being possessed. He didn't see it coming seven years ago when Allan was found injured after Zachariah and Alexandria died.

"Whatever you say, sis. I just want the demon gone."

"As do I. Please, Evan, when the time comes, do not lose your life. I have seen you as my brother from the start. I love you with my entire soul and even if my expressions do not say it, your life means more to me than my own."

"I won't die. Not until you do."

"Now, that is not a pleasant thing to say. I hope you live forever, you little brat. Now, come. I will take you to the library. We can look at some books together."

"And study Draconian?"

"Only if you wish to. I shall fetch Neva and Taiga first."

The siblings met in the library once the two pygmy wyverns were perched on Amelia's shoulders. They flipped through book after book, finding that nothing really stood out to them, not even the Draconian script which Evan had asked to study. Of course, Amelia already knew the alphabet along with several others. It was a part of the guideline that Natalie had provided her with long ago before she began her training in magick. Several alphabets were required to perform spells and create sigils. Draconian included, although what Amelia was taught was more focussed around the Celestial and Demonic alphabets, despite the Elder Futhark being her forte.

The two of them remained in the library, giggling and pointing at different creatures for several hours before a bizarre humming sounded from outside the palace walls. Amelia immediately leapt to her feet, completely alert and Evan did the same. They practically dashed out of the library to the nearest window but found that they couldn't see a thing. Deciding that being elevated would give them the best view, Amelia headed quickly for the stairs and burst through the doors to her room, tugging Evan along with her to the balcony.

"Oh, for the love of the Gods above..." Saying Amelia was petrified was an understatement. She was utterly shaken, quivering to the core. If the fear which struck Evan in the heart didn't shake him, the swarm of locusts did. Tens of thousands eating the sky, causing the air to vibrate. Amelia quickly retreated to the hallway, pounding on the door to Natalie's room. She couldn't hear anything on the other side due to the nettlesome buzzing, but she knew someone was there because Drake's voice was something that carried through the door.

Leisurely, as if nothing was happening at all, the fifth heir answered Amelia's frantic call.

"We know," he said, but glanced back at Natalie who seemed more worried than afraid. Right. Natalie knew everything that was happening was going to happen. She was Fey, and so was Drake who seemed like the only one who was calm at the moment.

"The locusts... They're everywhere." Evan had wandered into the room as well. If Serena and Sophie were in the garden, they would have come running by now, as the sight was absolutely horrifying. As expected, they burst through the already open doors with irregular breaths and heaving chests.

"What the hell is going on?!" Sophie screeched. No one had seen the maid's daughter so frantic before, not even when her mother died. The most expressive Sophie had been was the continuous moping she had done after Amelia had insisted on a traditional Viking funeral. Sophie had refused to bury her mother at all because in the midst of her sadness, she believed the earth didn't deserve Ms. McKinney. Thus, she was sent to the Gods via the river.

"The locusts symbolize evil when they stand alone or in a cluster as massive as this. The evil is immense, I can feel it. The Grimoires say that when the locusts appear, it means someone has betrayed us. But who stood on our side along with us? Could it be one of us?"

"No. How could we possibly turn our backs on each other? We grew up together," Serena susurrated. "Amelia, Evan, the lot of us. Natalie, you and Drake were bound from birth. Sophie, we have all played together so many years before you joined us. It is someone from the outside who was bound to one of us."

Everyone lowered their heads in thought but Natalie who continued to stare out the window. The massive swarm of locusts seemed to turn the red sky brown. The noise was irritating.

Finally, the young princess spoke. "Everyone, leave the room. I mean this in the kindest way. You shall discuss this elsewhere... Amelia, stay."

The royals nodded and abruptly left the room and shut the doors, save for Amelia who stood in her place, gaze still cast toward the ground. She scuffed her flats against the marble floor and inhaled sharply, barely able to contain the aggravation. This endless humming and buzzing was grinding her gears like crazy, and if Natalie wasn't here at this moment, she would be flipping tables and turning chairs.

"Amelia, I would be in deep pain if I dare say this but it would spare all of us, or at least spare you. Listen to me... I do not wish for my words to be for naught. You know the rules of the Council."

"What, are you finally willing to spill a piece of the truth? I do not care what it is. It is about time we got some information from someone. I have been trying to decipher the prophecy for months yet it has been for nothing simply because I do not have Fey blood. I am a Valkyrie— not a seer."

"Stay away from Mallius." Natalie clutched at her chest, voice beginning to strain.

"Excuse me?"

"Stay away from him... That is all I can say, Meli. I am warning you."

"No! He loves me!"

"He pretends to love you because he relays information to Allan! We planned to use the army but he beat us to it! Mallius has spent so much time with Allan it is almost painfully obvious that they are on the same side!"

"Impossible! I shall take your advice with a grain of salt."

"You mean nothing to him..."

"I mean everything! I have power and I have money! I have authority! How could he not want me?! You lie, sister!"

"The Fey could not lie about something that would hurt them so much! Plus, no matter how much authority you have, you are still only the fourth heir! Allan is the first. He could take anything he wanted simply with a bribe!"

"Nat, I love you with my soul. You are a sister, yet I cannot believe you because I cannot find it in me to betray Mallius even if he has betrayed us. The day I take your word seriously is the day you can prove to me that he was only there to use me. I wholeheartedly believe that he truly loved me and Allan forced him into this position. He loves me."

"Meli, he used you..."

"Amelia Elwyn cannot be used." The fourth heir abruptly left the castle and didn't return, not several hours. She headed for the lake because that is where she found the most comfort when she needed it. The water understood her. The cattails and long grass understood her despite it all being dead now. Yes, this is exactly what she needed.

For someone to understand.