The Magic of Aurelian

Eleonor

My things were packed and ready to go, but I wasn’t quite sure I was ready. Kiran was ecstatic when I told him I would serve as his advisor. He even gifted me a lovely leather bag of holding that I could either carry on my back or across my body. These bags can be quite expensive but are useful for us fairies when we fly long distances. Initially, I didn’t want to accept the bag but Kiran told me to think of it as a congratulatory gift for finishing at the top of our class and for accepting the new post of advisor.

He was busy giving final instructions to everyone as we waited to set off. He looked handsome in his new tunic, and for a moment, I envied the four young ladies we were going to visit in Emberhold the capital of the Fire Kingdom.

By week’s end, a total of 12 ladies had fit the shoe. Four in the Fire Kingdom, three in each of the Water and Earth Kingdoms, and two in the Air Kingdom. I wasn’t certain how I would handle seeing other women throw themselves at Kiran, but I knew my heart already ached at the thought of him falling in love with someone else. I know he won’t find Lady Ella, but he could still somehow find his perfect match in one of the other kingdoms.

“Eleonor, I am so happy you decided to accompany Kiran.” Queen Himari stood before me, looking as regal as ever. She pulled me aside to give us more privacy. “Before you go, I just want to ask you to take care of Kiran. He was quite heartbroken when Lady Ella left the ball, and I want to make sure he is well during this tour. He told me Lady Ella was from Glimmerlore, but I asked around and there is no Lady Ella in all of Glimmerlore. The Duke even swears no one from Glimmerlore was even able to travel for the ball as his wife is expecting any day now. Kiran was surprised when I told him, but he said he would make the best of this tour.”

“Don’t worry, I will take care of him, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you, Eleanor. If all goes well, I might have to offer you a more permanent position as one of our advisors."

She patted my hand and smiled as she walked off.

“Should I be nervous about my mother cornering you for a conversation?”

I laughed, and my heart stuttered as Kiran gave me his most dazzling smile.

“Not at all, she just wanted to make sure I took care of you during our trip.”

“I need taking care of?” His eyebrows raised, and he put both hands in his pockets as he spoke.

“Sometimes,” I gave him a shrug. I was obviously flirting with him, which I know was wrong of me, but I also couldn’t help it. “Are we ready to set off now?”

“Yes, but I have one more surprise for you before we head out.”

“Kiran, but you already gave me a gift. One is more than enough.” I sounded a little more annoyed than intended, but he really didn’t need to lavish me with gifts.

“This isn’t really a gift, and I promise, you’ll like this surprise.” He made eye contact with someone over my head and waved them over.

Someone stood right next to me and bumped my arm to get my attention. “It looks like you aren’t the only Lightstorm going on this tour.”

“Gabriel!” I exclaimed before jumping up to hug my brother. “I thought you went on a raid after the masquerade, how are you here?”

“We finished earlier than expected and got back home last night. One of the other guards had to drop out at the last minute, so Prince Kiran asked me to come along. I accepted as I thought it might be a good bonding experience with my older sister. Plus, I’ve been pretty much everywhere but the other kingdoms, so I thought it’d be fun.”

“This is wonderful.” My brother and I had a close relationship, but he was often away, so we rarely spent time together anymore. Kiran asking him to join us made my heart soar as I’d get two weeks with my brother because of his thoughtfulness.

“I take it you like the surprise?”

“Very much, thank you, Kiran.”

“You’re welcome, anything for you, Eleanor.” He gave a slight bow. “We’re about to head out, so I’ll give you two a moment while I finish up with the other guards.”

“Anything for you, Eleanor?” Gabriel didn’t miss a beat as he raised his eyebrows at me, “Since when are you and the Prince so close?”

“We’re friends. We worked together in school, that’s all.”

“You know, I might believe you if your cheeks weren’t so red right now. It seems there’s more to this than just friends.” My brother's attention to detail had always been impeccable, and it seemed it would be my downfall today. “Now I see why Aunt Jacinta was so insistent on my coming with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Aunt Jacinta and Uncle Callum were having breakfast with us when Prince Kiran’s messenger came over to offer me this post. She insisted I needed to come on this trip to keep you company…but she failed to mention that something is going on between you and the Prince.”

“Nothing is going on. I’m his advisor, that’s all.”

“If you say so.” He ran a hand through his strawberry blond hair and gave me a smirk that reminded me of us as children and all of the times he used to tease me.

“Gabriel Asher Lightstorm, you will stop this nonsense. Nothing is going on between us.” My brother is the best at reading people’s intentions and finding out people’s truths, so it was only a matter of time before we would have this conversation again. For now, I wanted to pretend that my heart didn’t cry out for Kiran. Now, if only I could bury those emotions away so that I could focus on my job for this trip.

“Let’s go, Eleonor, it’s time to head out. We can always continue this conversation later.” He chuckled and put his arm around my shoulders as he led me to the others. This was going to be a long two weeks.

The flight to Emberhold took longer than expected, and I was exhausted when we finally arrived. King Ignatius greeted us when we arrived, then we were led to our rooms to rest before dinner. They gave me and Kiran rooms right next to each other.

“I asked them to keep us close, I figured it’d be easier if we didn’t have to learn our way around a castle to find each other. I hope that’s alright.”

“Yes, it’s great. I’d easily get confused with all of these hallways.”

“I’ll come find you before dinner, and we can walk down together.”

I nodded and walked into my room. Everything in this wing was decorated in shades of orange and red. They took their claim to fire quite seriously when it came to decor, but I couldn’t blame them as we tended to decorate in shades of gold and white in our Light Kingdom.

There was an adjoining bathroom, so I took a bath to wash off the day. Once clean, I set out the dress I had brought for the evening and laid down for a nap.

A knock at the door woke me, and I opened the door to find one of the maids who escorted us earlier on the other side.

“Hello, Miss, the King and Queen have sent up a dress for you to wear this evening. I can also help you get ready if you like.”

“A dress?”

“Yes, they thought you might want to match with the theme for the evening.”

“Oh, of course.” My voice was laced with confusion as no one had mentioned a theme before now. The maid entered and had me sit as she started on my hair.

As promised, I waited for Eleonor to head down to dinner together. I was glad my mother had suggested I bring an advisor as I would be alone at this dinner otherwise, and my anxiety was already creeping in.

Eleonor’s door opened to reveal one of the maids, but she quickly moved aside to let Eleanor by. I was frozen in place as I gazed upon my friend. They had brought me an orange and gold tunic to wear, and Eleonor had on a similar dress. The colors suited her as her skin looked more radiant than ever.

“If you’ll follow me, I can lead you down.” The maid interrupted my thoughts of Eleonor, and I had no choice but to look away.

“You’re nervous.” Eleonor knew me well, “It’s just dinner. I won’t leave your side, and if it gets overwhelming, I’ll make an excuse for you. Remember, you have no obligation to the ladies. You’re just meeting with them.”

She was the calm I needed, and she reached out and gently squeezed my hand to reassure me before we entered the dining room.

“Prince Kiran, welcome!” King Ignatius was the first to greet us. “Miss Eleonor, it’s lovely to see you again. Come, let me introduce you.” A group of four women came up and stood before us. Everyone in the room was dressed in shades of gold, orange, and red. The women were all striking with their fiery and golden hair, but I couldn’t help but think that none looked quite as beautiful as Eleonor did. She had a softness the others did not possess.

“Here we have Lady Pyra, Lady Infernia, Lady Sepherell, and Lady Brynn.” He gestured to each woman in turn, and I bowed politely in greeting. I already knew none of them was the woman I sought, but I could be polite. We were led to the table, and luckily, Eleonor and I were seated next to each other. We were joined by the families of each Lady.

“Prince Kiran, your mother has been working hard over the years to bring together our five Kingdoms, and her efforts have not gone unnoticed. We have even had several graduates from the academy in Aurelian. A marriage between kingdoms would be a perfect next step in building alliances. Don’t you agree?”

The King smiled my way then smiled at the four ladies. I wasn’t blind to his intentions, but I also had no intention of forming a marriage of convenience with anyone here. Eleonor must have sensed my discomfort as she tapped my forearm under the table, bringing me back to myself.

“Yes, I don’t doubt allowing love matches between the Kingdoms would be beneficial.” My response seemed to satisfy the King as I agreed with him, even if in a roundabout way. I also wasn’t outright telling him I would or wouldn’t be marrying one of his subjects.

The rest of the dinner went better than expected. We were informed that we would be going to Emeberhold's Fire Springs the following day.

“Dinner went well,” I walked with Eleanor back to our rooms, glad to be just in her company for a moment.

“It did. You were very diplomatic tonight.” she smiled and covered a slight laugh.

I chuckled at her comment before clearing my throat. “I couldn’t have done it without you there…so, thank you. You helped calm my nerves.”

“You’re welcome,” she glanced down, seemingly embarrassed.

“Also, you look lovely tonight. The dress really suits you.” I didn’t mean for those words to come out of my mouth, so I bit my bottom lip to not say more. “Good night, Eleanor.”

“Good night, Kiran.”