Betrothed To Your Enemy

The Moonstone

"The Moonstone is a magical opal that has plagued our kingdom for centuries.  You are from Corona.  You are aware of the Sundrop I presume?"

"Yes, I am.  The princess is the living embodiment of said legend," Cassandra answered.  "If I did not no the princess so well, I would not have believed it."

"Well, the Moonstone is the counter part of the Sundrop," Quirin said.

"So it has opposite powers?"  Cassandra's eyes grew wide.

"Theoretically," Eugene replied.

"The point is that, because the Sundrop now lives within a human, the Moonstone has chosen it's own bearer.  We didn't realize it was choosing someone until..."  Quirin drew in a deep breath.  "My wife was the one who studied the Moonstone and was able to give us most of the information we have from her research.  She was the one that told us that Sundrop was what kept the Moonstone in balance.  I-we all-begged the King Fredric of Corona to not tamper with the flower and warned him of its potential of the catastrophe it would cause.  Obviously, your king didn't listen and put kingdom has suffered the consequences since."

"This is the true reason why Corona and the Dark Kingdom is constantly at war or fighting?"  Cassandra asked.

"Yes," Edmund confirmed.

"A year after the princess of Corona was born, my son was," Quirin began again.  "He was born with a blue streak of hair, which obviously isn't normal.  For years, my wife researched trying to find the conclusion.  I suppose we all knew the answer, but no one wanted it to be true.  Our son was the chosen by the Moonstone.  Why we weren't certain."

"Varian is the Moondrop-or whatever it's term is?" Cassandra gaped.  "Does Varian know this?"

"I believe he's pretty much figured it out after today, which we'll get to in a minute," Hector answered.

"Well, it makes since that Varian would be the one picked.  After all, he was the only baby ever in contact with the stone.  You see, my wife, Ulla didn't realize she was pregnant for a long time when she was studying the Moonstone.  The radiation must have reached the womb.  However, there was never really a response from Varian from the Moonstone.  At least, not until Ulla's death a couple years ago."

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure.  She had been growing weaker and sicker over the years.  We theorize that spending so much time in the Moonstone chambers eventually killed her.  After all, if it truly does the opposite of the Sundrop, it will destroy.  Kill."

Cassandra stiffened.  The was harsh silence for a moment.  This was just so much for her to take in.

"After Ulla's death, Varian began to complain about a voice in his head every time he passed the door.  He was creeped out, but we didn't know what to do.  He just lost his mother and we couldn't tell him that he was the vessel for the Moonstone.  He'd panic.  I know my son.  Eventually, the voice stopped speaking, or he stopped complaining.  We-I-hoped that that would be the end of it, but I should have known it wouldn't.  Today he was upset."

"Yes.  That would be my fault," Cassandra admitted.

"It wasn't just the Goggles, I'm sure," Quirin he assured her.

"Yes, but he has multiple reasons to be upset with me, plus he was probably stressed about the engagement as much as I was.  I really messed up."

"I won't lie to you, but yes.  However, we're straying from the point.  He was upset again.  Feeling very strong emotions, which must be when the Moonstone acts.  It must respond to his negative emotions if he's close enough.  Today, he was somehow able to enter the chamber.  I am unsure if he was close enough to awaken the powers just yet, but now we realize we don't know precisely what we're dealing with."

"Varian's reaction?"

Quirin sighed.  "As I expected.  Not handling the news very easily.  I know you and my son has had a rough start, but I'm going to have to ask you to help him and not be a stumbling block.  I want to request that you give my son a fair chance so that he can give you a fair chance.  I am aware that this was neither of you wanted, but I believe you can come together if you tried.  Can you do that?"

"Yes.  I will try," Cassandra sighed.

"That is all we could ask."

"There is one more thing," Edmund added.  "This information is still classified.  It is not yet ready to be explained to the people."

"I understand," Cassandra nodded.

"Good."