COF 2: The Soul Spells

5 | Alkara (III)

They arrived at Toreza in less than an hour.

Without further ado, Cyrdel leaped from the sled and ran straight towards the stairs leading inside, Ravalee at his heels. The pair cleared the steps with large leaps and disappeared inside. Xanthy and the others dismounted. As soon as Xanthy's feet hit the cobbled road, large birds rose into the air and disappeared in a flash.

Xanthy turned to take in the new scene unfolding around her. Behind her was a large expanse of land carpeted with green grass. Hundreds of huge, white buildings peppered the landscape, some going farther than what Xanthy can catch a glimpse of. It was...very open.

When she whirled towards the place where the stairs Cyrdel and Ravalee took earlier, what was at the end of it left her jaw partially open. The Temple of Memory. Even though it looked like the one she saw in Diven, this one took her breath away with just its sheer size. Its columned walls seemed to go on forever on both sides, its triangular roof almost like a beacon for people from as far back as Helinfirth.

Brownies flocked the courtyard, dressed in all states of clothes from filthy to the most elaborate. Xanthy watched a group of people dressed in rich garbs of red and gold. Some brownies with styled hair wore floor-length tunics with glinting crests while children wore tailored suits and velvet dresses. These must be the nobles. Xanthy knew enough from her experience in the Commons and the Nobility.

Most of the brownies present have started to tackle the stairs, periodically raising their heads to the heavens like they're in some kind of a holy pilgrimage and that climbing stairs was an act meant for the gods.

Xanthy did her best to hold back her scoff.

The mass of breathing bodies seemed to intensify Alkara's humid air. Xanthy's vision swam with mirages as both heat and the sea of colors were close to overwhelming her. June and Nyxis stuck close to her as they went with the flow of people up the steps.

More and more brownies wandered into the Temple courtyard, coming from all directions where there's an established city. Most joined the flow, dismissive of the Temple's grandeur like it's everyday sight. Well, for them, perhaps it was.

She wasn't halfway through the foyer when a deep, loud voice echoed from inside the Temple, seemingly amplified by a spell.

"Announcing the arrival of the Royal family—Queen Delani, King Kaste, and the Crown Prince Cyrdel along with our future Crown Princess, Ravalee Vivenca."

Xanthy froze mid-step. A brownie family cursed at her as they had to sidestep in order to continue going up the stairs. Was she dreaming? Was this real?

She barely registered the Temple's insides nor the softness of the chairs as her rear sank into it with only two thoughts going over and over in her head.

One—Cyrdel was the Crown Prince of the Alkara.

Two—Ravalee was going to be bonded to him.