"sleep with sugar. sleep with honey.
bathe in rosewater, that bathes the angels."
(the lullaby)

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Month: 2
Thethia: Royal Palace, Dressing Room

• Elianna •

Standing in front of the full-length mirror, Elianna dressed formally in her battle attire. She gathered her hair up and secured them at the back of her head with a tie. Her eyes stayed fixed at her reflection, bracing herself to set off towards the coldest Iftian tundra. Counting down the days, the suspension of hostilities would be lifted in eleven days and that would mark the start of the war.

This would be the first battlefield she would fight on but she always remembered the many stories that Jason told her of the times he was deployed to areas of conflicts at the borders between Kingdoms. Blood was bound to spill, lives would slip through the cracks of fate. Every move made on the chessboard was in whispered prayers of bringing the least amount of devastation possible.

In her hand, she held onto the war stone that Elizabeth had initiated to her the night before. It was a simple piece of amber with gold inscriptions carved upon it but her sister reminded her repeatedly of the greater consequences that were tied to immense powers. There was no way out of this balance in the realm, it was all a transactional exchange. She flipped the flat slap of stone back and forth until a small creak sounded from the door that was pushed ajar into the dressing room. Directing her attention towards the door, she saw Elizabeth appearing behind it while holding onto Arell's hand. Her sister asked, "Are you all prepared?"

Elianna nodded in response, glancing down to meet her son's reddened eyes that were filled with tears. She crouched low and stretched her arms out whilst speaking in the softest tone, "Come here, mea lux."

Unhesitatingly, the child ran into her hold and squeezed on her shoulders tightly. His silent cry left her utterly heartbroken and if she had a choice, she wouldn't have left him all by himself. It was all too cruel for this child to have to bid farewell to everyone he loved without the knowledge if they could all return to him. Brushing her hand against the back of his head, Elianna comforted, "Wait for us, mea lux. We'll come home, so please wait for us."

"Arell w-will wait," the child sniffled pitifully, grabbing desperately onto the thick material of her mantle with his small fists. "Arell will be a good boy and wait for everyone to come home."

"I know," Elianna exhaled a laugh despite the tears that already started to fall from the corner of her eyes. She positioned Arell ahead of her, kissing his forehead and his tear-streaked cheeks. No matter how long she held onto him or how many kisses she gave him, it was simply never enough. Since giving birth to this beautiful angel, she had never left his side and the thought of separation pained her. Resting her forehead against his, she whispered, "Deus te benedicat, mea lux."
(Translate: May the Goddess bless you, my light.)

Straightening herself to stand, she requested, "Elizabeth, please take care of Arell."

"Of course," Elizabeth smiled, opening her palm towards Arell and the child took it immediately. He was still a sobbing mess but he had a maturity that was rare in children of his age when he willingly allowed Elianna to go. Elizabeth smoothed her hand on the back of his head repeatedly, comforting him as they walked her out of the palace.

Elianna quickly hopped on a horse, grabbing on the reins firmly. Arell continued to stare towards her longingly before waving at her, motioning for her to leave. Elizabeth also reminded her, "You promised me that this won't be the last time we'll be seeing each other and I'm going to hold you on that, my dear sister."

"I remain hopeful on my return. After all, we had a deal," Elianna grinned cheekily, teasing her sister. "You should be getting ready to propose to Finneas, Elizabeth."

"Hush now!" Elizabeth turned red immediately, waving her hand dismissively. "Please be on your way now, Elianna. May your journey be safe and victorious."

Saying her last goodbye, she turned and went — to war.

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Month: 4
Iftia: War Zone, Arkus Perimeter, Camp

• Naailah •

Naailah lay in her bed, trying to seek some warmth from the sheets so that she would stop shivering from the freezing temperatures and her fears. The war was a living horror and with each report returning with mounting numbers of casualties, telling heartbreaking tales of fallen soldiers. She wondered how the families of those deceased soldiers would react, knowing that their loved one would never return home to them. Her foretells had also continued to haunt her with imageries of corpses, blood and Matthias.

He was almost beyond recognition and each time she held onto every single detail of everything he used to be, her heart wrenched. When he was still hers, his hazel eyes used to be a fervent melt of soft autumn tones, a beautiful coalesce of faded greens within tender tones of browns. Placing a hand over her mouth, she cried at the memory of all the beautiful feeling of his smooth wavy hair tangled between her fingers — with all the warmth when they refracted the sun's gentle light. In her remembrance, he was always smiling towards her with loving happiness.

Matthias was a kind soul who never had the heart to hurt a single soul, but seeing him soaked in the blood of others while he emerged from a ground filled with lifeless bodies through her foretells roused a surge of fear within her. Whenever he entered her space, she couldn't help but flinch at the stench of blood that stained his soul and the coldness of his eyes as though he was never warm. Curling herself up, Naailah tucked her legs closer to her chest and the chain tied to her ankle clinked noisily. It was always a besetting reminder of her unending nightmare and one that she would never be able to escape from.

If Silvestra continued to use her to turn the tides of the war, she would fall into the curse of her gift. Back in Rivia, the priestess often nagged at her, mentioning that her gift would be more of a curse than a blessing. As the oracle of the realm, she must assist the flow of fate regardless of the tragedy. Every gift has its consequences and her punishment for playing against fate was to fall into an eternal sleep — once fallen, never awake. Till then, there wouldn't be a difference between being dead or alive.

A sob escaped through her trembling lips and she pressed her hand harder against her mouth to stifle her cry. She had too much within this realm to bear to fall asleep for so long and the thought of never experiencing everyone's love again scared her. She didn't want to die in this cold, with a chain tied to her ankle and in this bed all alone by herself.

Her sadness must've reached Indira when a whimper sounded from the bassinet placed at the unreachable end of the tent. That was how they tortured her. Some time ago, they still allowed her to hold onto her baby a few times a day to nurse her. But when her health deteriorated and she could no longer provide enough for her baby, they stopped allowing her to touch Indira. A wet nurse was hired to feed Indira and it always felt like a blunt needle pushing against her chest, tormenting her with the fact that she had not only failed as wife to protect her husband but she also failed as a mother to care for her child.

Frustrated wails blared from the bassinet and Naailah began to sing. This was the only way she could calm Indira down and it always worked. She sang, "Sleep, take this child. To the gardens filled with stems of carnations and roses."

A small hiccup and the baby cries faded slowly. Even when her heart was torn, Naailah continued the lullaby, "Sleep, my baby. In a walnut cradle. In embroidered clothes and covered with pearls."

The air in the tent quietened down once again after Indira drifted off into a world of her own, leaving Naailah alone with all the demons that walked on the outside. However, those was hers to deal with. Continuing to wrap her baby in her love, Naailah sang the last verse of the lullaby while sadness and pain flayed her insides, "Sleep with sugar. Sleep with honey. Bathe in rosewater, that bathes the angels."

Closing her eyes, just like every other night, Naailah prayed that sleep wouldn't take her away from the realm and lock her within her eternal prison of darkness.

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Month: 5
Iftia: War Zone, Tivaet Perimeter, Camp

• Elianna •

Even when Elianna only knew that each night would be devastating news of more casualties, she waited patiently for Ilias to report back to her while she continued to channel her magic into the war stone. She finally understood the power of this small piece of amber when she witnessed the power it held to support the large strength of army surrounding the whole Tivaet Perimeter — it served as a reservoir of energy for all the soldiers.

At that moment, the flap to her tent was hastily raised and she jumped, jerking her head to see Alec as he frantically supported a limping body into the tent. The injured had his head held down but she recognised him immediately. Pushing herself to stand, she ran towards to help and worry overwhelmed her, "Rowan, w-what happened?"

"He thoroughly exhausted himself to prevent more casualties," Alec vexed. "We can't possibly go on like that, it was way out of hand."

"Quickly rest him beside the war stone," Elianna instructed, clenching her hands into tight fists when she felt anger emerging from the depths within her. Alec did as he was told and Elianna adjusted Rowan into a comfortable position, pulling a strand of magic from the stone towards his palm. Elianna stood again and commanded, "Alec, watch over Rowan. I'm heading out."

"Where are you going, Elianna?" Alec quickly asked, concerned.

"I'm just heading out to cool my head. I need to keep my emotions in check," Elianna lied blatantly but Alec wouldn't know what she had in her mind. She went towards the hanger and grabbed her daggers, sheathing them into the holsters tied to her thigh and headed out without speaking another word.

Elianna strode towards the tent at the other end and swung the flap open. Inside, a few panthers flinched in shock while Thunder spotted her quickly and jumped into his human form. Worry became a frown pinched between his brows as he asked, "Eli, what happened?"

She refused to say a word, simply gripped onto his wrist tightly and dragged him out of the tent with her. When she was sure that they were alone, she said, "I'm going to go get Naailah and Indira. Are you in or out?"

"What?" Thunder's voice was in a near shout and his eyes widened with pure shock. He reprimanded her harshly, "What the hell is wrong with you, Eli? You can't just barge into the enemies' territory like that! Did you even know what they'd do to you if you're captured?"

"All of us would die if we continue like that," Elianna argued back.

"If we could've saved Naailah and Indira from the start, we would've done so!"

"I'm only going to ask again. Are you in or out, Thunder?" Elianna asked impatiently.

"Oh, darned the consequences. I'm in!" Thunder rolled his eyes. He clicked his tongue unhappily, "If I die tonight, I'm going to ask the Goddess not to put my star beside yours. I'm so darned angry at you now, you don't even know."

"I'll insist to be beside you out of pure spite," Elianna replied curtly, nudging him towards the tent. "Hurry, Thunder! We don't have all day!"

Thunder hissed at her, "This is such a bad idea!"

"For all that's worth, I will not fear," she responded firmly with the determination that if she had to consume the whole Arkus perimeter in her shadows, she would fight till the end.

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