"You"ll what?" Jeselle rubbed her throat and glared at Will."Naturally due to the situation, I should request an audience with your father. Surely he knows of our meeting here?" Will cast a smile towards Jeselle. "Maybe he was the one who sent you here?"
Jeselle"s eyes dropped. Her glare became thicker with hatred as she watched both Maya and Will walk from her. Never before had she suffered such embarra.s.sment before.
"What did I miss?" Maya asked as she playfully looked up to Will.
"Not much, just a young woman trying to seduce your man." He playfully b.u.mped into her. "Don"t think too badly of her, not many know of the way I was raised. They can"t use the same pleasantries with me as they would someone who was raised here.
Maya nodded. She knew all too well the type of women that the world she lived in produced. The royal world was something she had experienced long before Will had come along. When she had originally lived in a small village with her family, there would be women lined up on the road whenever someone of higher rank came around. They would throw themselves at the man or woman if it gave them the chance to live a life of luxury.
They walked in silence until they came to the gates of the gates if the courtyard for the second time in two days.
Will nodded to a knight that stood watch at the gate. "You wouldn"t happen to know where I can find the Duke of Bloomstar would you?"
The guard saluted to Will with his fist to his heart. "Yes, young lord." Will motioned for the knight to put his hand down. "He is in the guest quarters."
Will thanked the guard for his help and the two continued to the entrance of the castle.
"You wouldn"t happen to know the way to the guest rooms, would you?" Will asked Maya sheepishly. He felt foolish asking her how to get around a place he was supposed to have grown in. "Maybe not knowing my way around is a good thing." He thought to himself as he recalled the Will from the other timeline.
How many times did that other Will walk the corridors of the castle? Would he have memorized each room which resided in the large structure? Will thought of all the secrets which the walls of his family home held.
Maya chuckled lightly at Will"s incompetence while in his own home. "Follow me." She nodded to the double stairway which led up to the living area.
They walked the winding stairwell and went on to a large hall. Doors lined the hall, but not pushed together. They seemed to have at least ten steps apart, which made Will wonder just how s.p.a.cious they must be inside. On the side of each door there held a lantern which burned a different color flame. Will guessed that such a design was to show the various kingdoms who"s representatives were residing.
The corridor twisted and turned. Will and Maya had to climb another set of stairs before they finally came to a turquoise flame.
Will remembered from his uncle and Leo that the color flame from back in the old times was turquoise for Bloomstar. There only seemed to be one torch with the specific flame they were looking for, so he knew they had finally made it. The door wooden door they came to stop at was the same color as the flame beside it. Little gold specks cast a glint from the door as if it had stars twinkling in the dark set door.
Will gave Maya a small half smile. "Here goes nothing." His smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared. He was business only from that moment on.
Will knocked on the door a few times and waited for someone to come to the door. When no one came, he knocked again.
Minutes pa.s.sed, yet no one came to the door. Will knocked harder, he was obviously becoming annoyed with waiting.
"When are you going to give up?" A voice sounded from behind the door. "You and the young Miss are annoying me. I"m not entertaining guests today." The man could obviously see who was knocking on the door. Will could guess that the man"s mirror acted as a viewing gla.s.s.
"I think you can make an exception." Will was almost at his wits end. He could only take so much disrespect in one day.
"For a Prince? I think not." The man sneered through the door. "Maybe I"ll entertain you if you brought your daddy."
Will could tell that the man had been important to the kingdom in the past by how he belittled him. "I guess I"ll have to let myself in then." He lit a full hand of crimson and gold flame. "I guess my aura regenerates more quickly than I thought." He thought to himself as he brought his hand to the locking plate of the door.
"You can"t unlock my door with that flame, kid." The man laughed from the other side of the door. "Your father ensured that only the flame of my family can unlock the door."
Will was somewhat surprised when he heard the man. "You still have the element of flame?"
"Before your father went into seclusion, he gifted the kingdoms the flame. I was given the element as a gift so we would accept trade with Ebonhart." He said matter of factly. "Most of the gold that lines these walls came from Bloomstar, kid. I would do your homework before insulting someone." The man laughed arrogantly from behind the door. He knew Will had no choice but to turn away.
Maya grabbed Will"s sleeve. "We should leave." Her tone was dark. "He"s bound to come out eventually."
"There"s no need for that." Will smiled as he took her hand in his.
"Turquoise, right?" He spoke clearly through the door.
"What?" The man asked, clearly not expecting the question.
Will looked at his crimson gold flame within his hand. He concentrated on the color of flame until it turned the correct color. He then placed his now turquoise color flame to the plate. He heard a metallic click from the locking mechanism and the door swung open.
Will stepped through the threshold and smiled at a lanky old man who was clearly dumbstruck. "You must be the Duke of Bloomstar, thank you for finally inviting me in." Will made a point to keep the turquoise flame lit in his hand.
"How did you get that flame?" The man asked as he walked over to Will. His domineering presence was enough to make Will annoyed.
The Duke was wearing robes of turquoise and gold. On each of his fingers there laid a gold ring. This man was clearly not used to being crossed. He reached for Will"s arm and tried to snuff out the flame.
Will"s arm jerked back, and when it reappeared, his silver and gold sword appeared at the man"s chest.
"Clearly you and your family are in need of a lesson in manners." Will sneered as he pushed his way into the living area.
He entered a very s.p.a.cious room which seemed to be a greeting hall of sorts. A rug of turquoise and gold lay on the cobblestone floor. On every wall their lay a lantern with the same color flame ad the one at the door. Gold lined the walls, giving the greeting area a lavish appearance.
"Y-your father will hear of this!" The Duke stuttered as he tried to step back from the sword. "I"ll forget this ever happened if you bow before me and apologize for this insolence!"
"I should be telling you the same!" Will"s eyes lit up in anger. "First your daughter tries to seduce power from me, now the arrogant father thinks me to be a servant!"
"You turned down my daughter"s request?" The Duke"s look turned dark. "I requested your father to give her the flame. He told me you were the only one who could gift it. You would go against your father?" He sneered at the foot of the blade.
"Why would I give her an affinity?" Will mocked the man. "Or rather, why should you keep yours?" Will raised his other hand to the man. A thick stream of flame went from the old man to Will"s palm.
The Duke staggered back as he felt the power draining from his body. His eyes widened from shock as the last wisp of turquoise left him.
When the flame in its entirety entered Will"s palm, he absorbed it into himself.
"W-what have you done?" The Duke stuttered as he lifted both of his hands. Try as he might, he could not summon up his flame. His shocked expression turned to outrage as he took something from within his robes. Will saw clearly that the man had a palm sized Crystal within his hand.
The Duke held his hand out to Will and began to summon the flame from within. "You didn"t think you could keep such a marvelous invention secret from me, did you?"
Will raised his hands in mock surprise. He allowed his sword to return to pendant size as he stared wide eyed at the man.
"You know," the man said smuggly. "I was here playing the part of an ally so I could get my hands on these little gems." A cold gleam was cast in his eyes as he stared greedily at the Crystal. "With these, who needs a relationship with your kingdom? Your father was so weak, he couldn"t even get over the loss of a child. Such a failure doesn"t deserve such a reputation!"
"You were only here to get crystals?" Will asked quietly. "Even if you have them, it takes a wielder to fuel them." He looked at the stone within the man"s hand.
"And a wielder I was!" The man shouted as he looked arrogantly at Will. "And a wielder I shall be again." He smiled at Will with such greed it made Maya step forward.
"Will is not someone you can bully around." She said as she summoned her aura.
"Maya." Will turned to look at her. Without allowing the Duke to see, he gave her a small wink. "You should go and get help."
Maya understood at that moment that her help wasn"t needed. She turned to leave, but then she heard the old man laugh. "Do you really think your guards would lay a hand on me? I"m who pays them!"
Maya turned to him with a look of disgust before leaving the room entirely.
"So you have been here for a year, pouring all of your energy into this Crystal?" Will asked in order to bring the man"s attention back to him.
"Not just this one." The man said smuggly. "I have enough Crystals for an army! All full of a years worth of my power, and more to come after you give me back my power!" The Duke looked deranged as he spat more and more at Will.
"What"s your plan? To come back and take over Ebonhart? What if your power isn"t good enough to take us over?" Will questioned.
"Your words ring true, that is my intention. You have a king with no power, and resources that can turn the tide of leadership!" The Duke went on. "As for if I have enough, that"s why I have you, right?" The Duke turned for a moment and grabbed another Crystal from a table. "You will be our battery!" He pushed Will into the hallway, out of the small estate.
"I thought your plan was only to take your power back, how do you plan to leave alive with me?" Will prodded the man.
"I had originally intended to let you go, but this is just too good of an opportunity!"
The Duke pushed Will in front of him and held the stone to his back. "If you try anything, the power within this Crystal is enough to kill you in seconds." He spoke darkly.
As they walked the corridor, Will kept his attention to the stone that was pressed against his back.
They walked out of the corridor and into the entryway within fifteen minutes. Will intentionally walked slow.
"No matter how long you stall, there is n.o.body who can help you, kid." The duke said lazily. "With this stone, I can ensure we leave the kingdom without so much as a scratch."
"Duke Weinried! What is the meaning of this?!" The king sounded from the bottom of the double stairwell.