Before he can respond, I stand up, leading the way out of the tavern. With my cloak drawn over my face, I don’t get any second glances from the commoners we pass by. Aurelio instinctively loops his arm through mine when we reach an extra-crowded portion of the main street, which earns him a glare. I’m already struggling as it is to keep my cool with the prospect of meeting my sister. I don’t need him scattering my thoughts by touching me when it’s completely unnecessary. Even the slightest brush of his arm is sending my heart into pandemonium.
These feelings are highly unbefitting of a queen, I scold myself. Knock it off. You’re acting like a schoolgirl.
Further along the main street, the oak storefronts fade away, replaced by limestone and brick event centers, office buildings, and eventually, the Guilds themselves, which take up an entire block between the three of them. They begin the marble-limestone construction era, with the rest of the main street beyond them glittering bright white in the sunlight. I spot many adventurers wandering about, a few professors chatting together, and a group of merchants huddled by the front door of their Guild, casting furtive glances over their shoulders every so often. It’s an odd collection of some of the most standout personalities in the country, but it represents Celestia’s eclectic people like no other city block can. My people are as diverse as they are interesting. They make ruling them a rather challenging, but rewarding, lifelong effort.
At long last, I see the Holy Church of Celestia up ahead. The main street forks off into northeast and northwest diagonals at the front entrance to the building. Towering many, many stories above the rest of the city, the Holy Church is the only building allowed to be taller than the palace. Its ancient limestone construction mingles with marble the further up I look, each century’s worth of construction visible for onlookers to admire.
The Holy Church is a series of four rectangular wings conjoined by a series of towers between them. The wings of the Church point exactly in each cardinal direction. The spires of the towers end with a stone carving of one of our most ancient gods, including Atena, Zealeus, Persofina, Hira, Hodenes, and Aires. Their stone carvings have weathered over time, but meticulous care by the mages has kept them from deteriorating further. The roof is the same tiling found everywhere else in the kingdom, but the windows are different, as they are all made of spellglass and contain defensive magic in the event of a natural disaster or an attack.
I walk up to the front doors of the Church, craning my head back to look at the spire ten stories above my head. Even the doors dwarf me, being twenty-foot polished birch doors, a wood that comes from a faraway land. Two knights, dressed in perfectly polished decorative metal armor, greet me at the bottom of the steps leading up to the Church doors. The female knight addresses me first.
“Greetings, Queen Alessia,” she says, kneeling before me. “We have prepared for your arrival. Daelia is waiting with the Holy Mother inside the Prayer Hall.”
She gets up, following her companion to the front doors, where they whisper prayers to their goddesses and use magic to open the doors. Seriously, why do they keep these heavy doors around if they’re only able to be opened by magic? I’ve always wondered that, especially since we have the technology to make wood ten times lighter, but just as strong. The palace doors have all been replaced with the newly manufactured wood.
“That’s a different type of magic than yours, right?” Aurelio whispers, nudging my side.
“You’re talking about the magic they used to open the doors? Yes, that’s divine magic. It comes in the form of a blessing from one of our gods, usually a goddess. They have to say a certain prayer out loud to use specific spells. It’s a lot easier to use than my ancient magic, but far less effective.”
“I can see that. You barely bat an eye using their magic, and they have to summon all their energy and focus just to open doors,” Aurelio says, snorting. “That would be pretty unfortunate if someone with divine magic ever faces you.”
“Their goddesses’ protections can only take them so far. My power is only limited by my mind.”
“Now I’m intrigued. You’ll have to tell me more later.”
Aurelio loops his arm through mine again before I can stop him. Feeling the giddiness bubble up in my chest unbidden, I stare straight ahead, trying to focus on anything but the electrifying touch of Aurelio’s skin on mine.
The inside of the entrance hall is the same as I remember: a collection of ancient tablets, old statues, and public prayer books, containing all the stories of our gods and our religious history between their pages. A few commoners roam the hall, but mostly, all I see are mages, their traditional white robes fluttering in their wakes.
When the knights take us into the central hall, where the main staircase spirals all the way to the very top of the building, I spot even more mages on the staircases. Is it just me, or are there suddenly a lot more mages than I remember? It is the graduation season of all the commoners in public schools, so it makes sense that there would be an influx of graduated students into the ranks of the mage society, but these numbers are unheard of. Young men and women appear wherever I look.
The Holy Mother must have upped recruiting efforts after the recent population boom, I note to myself. Daelia came along during the largest generation Celestia has ever seen. It increased the capital’s population by double.
As if my thoughts summoned her, the moment we step into the northern wing of the church, a familiar face appears before me. Although that shining armor, pure white undershirt, and those travel boots are completely different from my dress, her blue eyes and dark, wavy hair are a mirror image of my own.
“Daelia!”
The excited shriek escapes my lips before I can stop it, and I take off running toward her. She opens her arms to me, and I crash right into her, nearly bowling her over in the process. She holds me up, laughing good-naturedly as she pats my head with her hand.
“I missed you too, Alessia. How was the coronation?”
“Boring, exactly as I predicted.” I stand back, squeezing her hands as I search her face. “What about you? How was your recent trip?”
“Boring, exactly as I predicted.”
We both laugh, our voices echoing off the stone flooring and the ceiling far above. I hug her again, then leave my arm around her shoulders as I turn to present Aurelio to her, unbidden excitement hurrying my words.
Is this how everyone feels when they present their significant other to the family? I wonder.
“Daelia, I’d like you to meet Aurelio Moonbreaker, the future king of Celestia.”
Chapter ten
Aurelio
Iwatch Daelia’s reaction carefully, my heart pounding in my chest.
Is this how everyone feels when they meet their significant other’s family? I wonder.
