"... Iyad, you've never been here, have you?" The queen asked curiously as we— by we, I mean my father, the queen, me, and Millie— walked down a sprawling stone staircase. After leaving the room, I thought that I would be able to see more of the building we were in; presumably the palace, but that wish was never fulfilled.
Instead, we coiled around some tight hallways. I stared at the paintings that hung on the walls, oil masterpieces depicting elven soldiers fighting bloody battles in the midst of war. My body shivered while looking at the portraits— they seemed much too real to be paintings.
Uhh… wasn't this place supposed to be pretty?
Beautiful, of sorts? It's turning out to be eerie…
Maybe it was Cuswoth… hell, there he was, already corrupting my mind!
"No, Amir here is my first child, so there was no reason for me to attend the dowsing. Ma'am, you've had three children, right? Does the experience change every year?" My father scrunched his eyebrows as the sound of his clacking boots echoed throughout the spacious stone stairwell. His body had calmed down after he drank the supposed "calming potion".
I suspected that the effects were inherently spiritual.
Not magical… spiritual.
Peering at the queen, I waited for her response. She had a listless look that I was familiar with— I'm not sure why, but her type was all too common for women in royal families. They never showed much emotion, and every single movement was controlled. Nobody knew their real personalities— even they had long forgotten.
This queen was somewhat like that.
But I could see hints of genuine consideration in her eyes.
"No… it's usually the same every year. Obviously the kids get older, but the original evaluations stay the same. It isn't like they would risk switching a parable… no, they're strong enough just the way they are." The queen seemed to be talking to herself, trying to reassure herself on this matter.
Parable? Switching? Strength?
It went hand-in-hand with power.
Evaluation?
I wasn't stupid, now was I?! I could infer some things… a dowsing ritual? This was more like a ceremony to gauge our future potential! Although I'm not sure whether it was exactly like that, I trusted my predictions..
My father nodded, not striking up any more conversation.
Clack. Clack. Clack! Clack!
The pattern continued, with the striking of my father's boots almost identical to the clacking of the queen's heels. How she could walk down this amount of steps using heels, I didn't know. Because of the dark and damp environment, Millie had already fallen asleep, but this time I didn't blame her.
I wanted to take a good rest as well…
It was probably getting dark outside.
Mother will get worried, you know!
Hah…
"Your child is staring at me." The queen said without any warning.
My father glanced towards her questioningly. His suspicious gaze already spoke for itself, but he chose to open his mouth anyway! Could I perhaps have been right all along? My father really was incompetent! This wasn't how one should act in the presence of royalty!
"... Is he? He's on the other shoulder." My father said sheepishly.
Scratching his temples, he waited for a response.
Any response.
In a few seconds, it came.
"No… not staring at me. He's thinking about me, it seems. Who could've thought a four month old child had the capacity to string together thoughts like that? Perhaps he has the makings of a genius?" The queen murmured with care while glancing upwards, probably doubting herself in retrospect.
Me, a genius?
No.
I was just an amnesiac in the body of a child.
That doesn't sound very cool, though.
"... A genius?" My father chuckled. "He just sits there limply while Millie grabs all his toys during lunchtime. I'd say even Millie is more of a genius than him! Although I'm not doubting your words…" My father added hurriedly. While I didn't appreciate this kind of insult to injury, it couldn't be helped.
"I've been alive very, very long." The queen replied simply.
Tap!
We had reached a door.
It was bland— just a normal wooden door with some engravings on it. The engravings ranged from beautiful to straight-up peculiar, like fruits and flowers hanging from a tree, all the way to a hand flipping a coin in the air.
Squeakkk!
With a higher pitched squeak than our humble old cottage door could have ever mustered, the door opened as a flood of sound and chilling air hit my face. I scrunched my nose up and closed my eyes, sneezing, though my father and the queen were unaffected.
I watched Millie rub her eyes, waking up.
She still evidently ran off of her own sleep schedule.
"Bah? Mah?" She said, glaring at me.
Raising my hands, I pleaded without words.
Ignorance! I'm ignorant! I have no idea what you're saying!
We walked into the room, and everything fell quiet.
All the mutterings ceased.
There were at least a hundred elves in this room alone, all dressed in formal attire of dark colors, like they were heading to a funeral. Instead of it just being adults, there were adults who were accompanied by their children— I guess that made sense, considering everything else that I had heard.
The room itself was breathtaking.
All the people were squished onto the outside ring of the three rings, or "levels", I suppose they could be called that. The outer ring was plain, though the wood was of pristine quality. A single level below that, a circular bed of vibrant plants formed a court of colors.
And then, I saw them.
The statues.
All the statues were of elves, of course. They were all made of stone, stone that was covered with leaves, moss, and vines that wrapped around the bodies like a spiderweb. It only added to the artistic brilliance, though! Each statue depicted vastly different figures. One of them was a clown, wearing a jester's outfit, in the process of laughing, flipping a coin in the air, and pressing down on his hat.
Another was a dark-skinned elf (I could tell he was dark-skinned simply because the statue was darker, although that could have been a wrong assumption), wearing what looked like sunglasses, resting atop a boxlike wooden chair.
He had a sword in his right hand.
I should have been laughing.
But somehow, the statues gave off… a presence.
Of life, a ward of spiritual prowess.
I'm not sure if anybody else could sense it, but I felt a slight trembling in the air. Looking to my side, Millie was the only one showing any reaction. Her eyes were closed, and her chest was moving up and do…w…nn… oh.
She was asleep again.
Hell, how was that even…
You know what?
I'm not going to ask that question anymore.
Snapping back to reality, I surveyed the middle level.
A fountain of water, basking in the radiant glow of a skylight, spurted from an unknown source. A small container had been built around it, sculpted out of marble. Several marble "hands" were depicted, reaching for the crystal blue water that shone even in this dark room.
"I greet her majesty, Queen Remi Alpin, who stands before us today as one of the primary mediators of the great dowsing! In Serynth's name, I implore Her to bestow us with Her utmost blessings!" A man who looked rather middle-aged, with a heavy beard and a bald head, bowed before the Queen… Remi.
Remi Alpin, what a wonderful name!
Heh…
It was somewhat nostalgic.
I felt like I'd heard that before.
… No matter.
Following in the man's footsteps, everyone else in the room, from men, to women, to children bowed before the Queen as she smiled silkily, clapping her hands once… except my father. Without her having to speak, everyone lifted their heads, but they did not dare rise before her.
"You may all rise." She straightened her gaze.
Turning towards Iyad, she whispered something.
My father nodded, and even though I strained my ear to hear what she had just said, I couldn't catch it! Damnit!
"Everyone, please make your way to the outermost layer on the northside if you are not already there! Organize yourselves in order of your ranking, and make sure all your children are close to your body. The dowsing will start shortly."
The hustle and bustle overtook the room again as at least fifty or so people began to round up their children, moving towards the north, which was the side of the room most populated by light.
"Iyad, head to the south." The queen nodded in the opposite direction.
Nodding, my father scooped me and Millie up, heading towards the southside, when I saw some familiar faces!
It's unfortunate that my joy couldn't escape my throat, because I was just ecstatic! Color seemed to fill the surroundings as the loving, sweet, and kind faces of Sara and Cidris had appeared in front of me. Oh, my saviors! Don't leave me with this father of mine!
Pff… hell.
Picking Millie off of his right shoulder like she was a fruit, my father's entire demeanor changed within a second. He now returned back to his confident poise and stoic look mixed with a devilish glint.
It's probably because of Cidris.
No… it's definitely because of Cidris.
But why wasn't anything happening?
I saw Queen Remi making her way down to the layer of statues. She seemed to stop at each one of them… I tried to look but was immediately snatched away by Sara, who had grabbed my cheeks, bubbling with happiness.
"Oh Am-Am, did your father scare you? And I'm sure Millie slept a lot, right? It's natural for her, Cidris says… goddess! Both of you absolutely shouldn't be together as a duo!" Sara chided my father and Cidris, who had already greeted each other, now at the stage of talking about nonsensical, random things with each other. Truly best friends!
Hmph… I personally agreed with Sara!
I'm your newborn kid!
Treat me better!
And stop roughing around with each other! Both of you are grown men… if
you're going to do that, why not just pin Cidris against the wall and make out already? Gross… act like normal friends, would you?
Giggling, Sara took me in her arms, along with MIllie, who had her hands wrapped around Sara's neck. She seemed much more at peace in her mother's gentle arms than my father's rustic, sculpted body.
"Ohh, look at that!" Sara clapped as she pointed at the fountain.
With a shoom, water burst from the ground, crashing into the ceiling.