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C H A P T E R    N I N E

"I think that any time of great pain is a time of transformation, a fertile time to plant new seeds."

– Debbie Ford

The day looked bright and promising, unlike my future here in Mithalore. The storms had mysteriously ended as they came, and much of the ceremony decorations were salvaged. There were a couple hours before the ceremony, and I felt nauseous. My head felt like it was banging walls all day and my stomach just wanted to do anything but digest what I had for breakfast.

After finding out that my mother is dead and I have a box that belonged to her assasin, I didn't feel right at all. None of this did, really.

The foreign feeling continued to cling on like a dandelion petal latching on to an unworn jumper.

"Princess Willow!" Sir Jeofreys nasally voice pierced through the silent room. "Have you been paying attention? Your essay was wrong! All wrong! The Gothici Tempus era comes before Medii Aevi! You've mixed up all the facts!"

I sighed, finally turning away from the window and towards the unpleasant presence of my history, politics and law tutor. "Mithalore has a lot of eras." I said lazily. "I'm sorry if I got mixed up with two of them out of all thirteen."

"You shall not snide back young lady! You may be a princess but you needn't that attitude!" He sneered, opening a history book. "You'll have to submit your re-written essay by noon, I don't care if todays the Silver Moon ceremony or not, this sheet of paper will be on my desk before midday!"

I bit my insults back and nodded my head, "Of course, sir." I said scornfully. "It's not like I'm going to be your Queen after a day anyway." I got up, pushing the papers off my desk.

"If you'll excuse me now, I have a fitting scheduled, and you'll just have to make do with getting the essay by evening." I didn't wait for his reply, by then I walked out of the room.

●・○・●・○・●

I took a few breaths in as my maids adjusted my corset and carefully put on more layers of clothes. Queen Rosalie did an amazing job on the gown.

You're not doing this for yourself. You're doing this for the Ambers. And if I had to become an Ivory to do it, then I would, it was why I agreed to this, it was why I even accepted their ridiculous proposal.

I looked around my chamber, remembering my first day here. How unsure I was and how I wanted to be anywhere but here. But soon enough, the castle felt like a second home, the people here had grown on me, and sometimes I wondered where I would be if I hadn't met them. They weren't Ivories anymore, they were humans. Just humans.

"There she is. Woman of the day!" Conroy grinned as he entered the room.

"You know, I'm not completely dressed." I rolled my eyes as he sat on my bed and watched the maids work on me.

"But you're practically covered up in layers of clothes? How can this not be enough?"

"Oh, darling, I haven't even put the gown on yet."

Conroy just stared wide-eyed at me. "So these- these are your undergarments?" He averted his eyes from me and got up from the bed with a jump.

"No fool. Do you think anyone would have let you here if these were?"

He seemed to visibly sigh. "Well, you know what, I'll just visit Bree and pray that she doesn't take too much time and clothes to dress up with." He gave a mock salute. "I'll see you when you're done changing."

I let out a soft giggle, while the maids adjusted my sleeves. After a lot of persuasion, Bree was finally allowed to attend the celebration, though she wouldn't be celebrating, she would be standing outside and watching. A privilege Ambers never got.

"Where's Olive?" I asked one of the maids as they pulled my hair back and were pulling my gown over my head. "I haven't seen her all week."

The maids looked at each other. "Didnt you know?" one of them said softly. "She was evicted from the castle. Olive had debts she had to pay, but she never could, so the council took away her job and sent her back to her village."

"What?" I asked, standing up. I never was able to speak to Olive after our conversation near the library. "But, how come? Just for some silly debts? Don't they know how much she has done for me? Why wasn't I informed?"

Another maid gently put a hand on my shoulder. "Please sit down, Your Highness, the gown might tear apart." I reluctantly sat back down. "Olive was in debt to the council for seven years after taking so many loans for her children, that's the maximum amount of time you can be in debt before you're suspended from your job."

"She was a mom?" I asked, realising I knew nothing about her at all. I regretted not finding out about her sooner.

But then again, you only regret when all hope is lost.

A different maid this time nodded. "She has nine children, she took loans to pay for food and housing, in all her years working here, she never got a promotion, and the amount she made was barely enough for half her family. It was either eviction or death."

I looked at each and everyone of them, all fighting their own battles, debts, family, income... Yet, on the outside, they seemed like they were completely fine and loved their jobs, just like how I thought Olive did. Never did I imagine how risky it was here, how they'd take every mistake you've made and use it as an excuse against you. This was the job I'd always dreamed of, and now... I can't imagine how mother was able to get through with her job here.

You have to save us, Willow. You're our only hope.

"Did the council decide this?" I asked, broken.

They all nodded, and so did I, giving up. "Do you mind if you could get me dressed quicker?" I asked, in a whisper-like voice. Winning is death. Ivories always liked to win.

●・○・●・○・●

"Your Highness! My, you look stunning!" Henri complimented as I strided out of my chamber.

"Where's Patrick?" I asked folding my arms. I needed to know. I needed to know why. The sleeves of my gown grew tighter. "I need to speak to him."

Henri looked perplexed. "All right. But he's making preparations for your coronation tomorrow and I don't think-"

"I need to speak to him." I repeated. "Please, Henri."

Henri sighed, "Follow me." he said.

●・○・●・○・●

"Princess Willow! You really do look-"

"Why did you evict Olive?" I got straight to the point. "My maids told me today. She was my maid!" I needed to tell her. I needed to tell her that I was going to save her and the Ambers, I never should have let her walk away that day.

"I- But if they told you, surely they would have told you that she had years of debt to pay."

"They did, but why didn't you ask me? She is my maid and this is my castle and you are under me." I hadn't realised I was flaunting around my authority. At the time, it didn't matter, I wasn't going to be humble or kind, I was going to be brash.

"With all due respect, Your Highness, Laws exist for a reason-"

"With all due respect, Patrik, sympathy exists for a reason too! Couldn't you see that she had nine children and was just trying to afford for all their needs?"

"The economy is being affected as well, princess, if we had to sympathise with every Amber in debt, do you think we'd have rules for these things at all? Might as well give them half the kingdom for losing a leg and managing to work for us!' His voice rising with every word.

"I'm not saying that you should let all the Ambers off the hook, all I'm saying is that their unprivileged by birth because of your Ivories, and Olive worked here for years, don't you think you ought to respect her for her time of service for the castle and kingdom?" I question back enraged.

"She had debts, those were her responsibilities, if she can't fulfil them, then she can't fulfil any of the responsibilities in her job either." he said, his tone hinting that the conversation was over. "The ceremony starts in a couple minutes, I think you should cool down in the lobby. Henri, take her down." Patrik ordered.

I scoffed. Right now, I was seeing a whole new side of Patrik and the council, the exact side they were trying to hide this whole time. Following Henri out, I slammed the doors as loud as possible.

Henri flinched a bit. "Why all the commotion? Was Olive a friend as well?"

Friend. "No. She wasn't a friend." she was another undermined Amber

"You may not know this, but I know how it feels like to be an Amber too." I was surprised by how soft his voice had become, and how much more his wrinkles were visible.

"But how? You're an Ivory, you served kings, remember." I reminded him harshly. No King would have an Amber serve them directly. "What type of Ivory are you, Henri?"

"I used to be a Terra." He smiled sadly. "Used to go around sprouting weeds in my neighbours prized garden and thorn bushes around the school gates. But that was all a long time ago."

"How?" I asked, my anger deteriorating. "How come you don't have your powers anymore?" It isn't possible, once you have powers, it doesn't leave you until death.

"Lets just say that, too much power can lead to none." he changed the topic. 'Now, you have a ceremony to attend, so I suggest we get on the carriage as soon as possible."

●・○・●・○・●

The streets were filled, crowded with Ivories and Ambers alike. From the lavish to the poverty-stricken. There was a separation, a very visible one. They each kept their distance, but a few did not. Pickpockets. Today was their biggest opportunity.

"The Queen!" Some yelled. "Your Majesty!" I wanted to correct them, I wasn't Queen yet, but decided against it and simply waved. I didn't need to start arguments before I got the crown.

"Long live the Queen!"

"Queen Willow Vaclare!"

They all started to yell, one praise after another, like it was a contest to see who could win the Queen's heart. The only problem was that her heart wasn't here in the situation.

"What will I have to do in the ceremony?"

Henri gave me a look, pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose. "We went over this yesterday, remember? Just watch the dance, Patrik will make another speech and you just have to stand under the rain."

I frowned "Wouldn't that ruin my dress?"

"It'll ruin everything, but it's supposed to be like that. Tradition. The rain signifies our powers, capable of destruction and ruin. And the dance is what's supposed to keep the destruction away."

I was tempted to say that the dance doesn't work but mumbled an "Oh." instead. I felt numb, everywhere. Nothing of this seemed real. Like it was all a dream, a hallucination, but I pinched myself one too many times to know that this is all, in fact, real, and there's nothing I can do to escape what was destined for me. It was kept for me, and me only. And I still had to know if it was the same cause I wanted it to be.

The crowds kept cheering, but I didn't feel as happy as before.

●・○・●・○・●

"We're here." Henri announced and helped me out of my carriage, lifting my gown so it wouldn't get dirty. "Patrik and Katricia are here too." I hadn't seen Padgette or Katricia after their argument. The argument that cost me an early coronation.

I looked around the grounds, admiring all the hard work put in to make it look so lovely. All the Ivory 18 year-olds were seated on a table, and the parents stood outside the gates, which was also where Bree would be standing and watching the entire ceremony.

"Wow, I hope you're done changing, because I don't think this gown needs another layer of useless white cloth on top of it." Conroy's usual self popped up next to me.

"Queen Rosalie designed it for me." I replied, my eyes dancing among every Ivory in the ceremony ground. They all looked like they knew what they were doing, like they were told stories about this their whole life, like they knew what was going to happen and how it would feel. All I felt was numbness.

"Your Highness." Henri called, pulling out a seat of the table at the front of a large opening, lavishly decorated. "Your Seat." I walked towards him and sat down, He and Conroy stood beside me, Colonel Richett was a few metres away along with some other Pyro and Hydro guards.

"What are you thinkin' about?" Conroy smacked the backside of my head.

"Ow!" I snapped and hit his shoulder. "Don't hit your Queen!"

He rubbed his shoulder, wincing. "You're one strong Queen, that's for sure," he muttered. "I feel bad for those who get on your wrong side."

"Hey!" I snapped again and hit his other shoulder. "I'm going easy on you because you're just a child."

"Excuse me! Only children hit other people"

"I am not a child! And you started it!" I pointed a lazy finger at him.

"That's so not childish, at all." He commented sarcastically.

"If I may-" Henri interrupted. "I think it's best to keep the quarrelling to the minimum." I looked around and saw everyone's glance at us. I turned a deep shade of red while Conroy chuckled it off. "Oh look. I'm way more popular than you now."

That earned him another hit on the shoulder.

●・○・●・○・●

"People of Mithalore!" Patrik stood in the middle of the decorated opening. He was smiling and looked genuinely proud, but after what he did and said today, I knew there were a lot of him that he didn't want me finding, one of them being my dead mother.

"It is with immense pleasure that we begin this year's Silver moon Ceremony! As you all would have been informed by now, King Alexandro had been found dead a few days ago, killed at war, but, like the virtuous King is, he left the whereabouts of his long lost daughter, Willow Vaclare, who will be ascending the throne tomorrow!" Loud rounds of applause erupted. No one cried for their dead king, no one cared that they hid this from them for this long, they just listened to Patriks word. It was like they were designed to follow orders rather than make their own.

"According to customs, every street will be lit and music will be played. Performances will be done throughout the coronation and shops will temporarily be closed till the evening. We want all of Mithalore to welcome with glee, our new Queen, Queen Willow!"

"Stand up." Henri quietly whispered from my side, and I did, waving and grinning, praying that no-one could see how fake it all was. How I wish I wasn't here. How this was all for my own selfish reasons and for the Ambers, never for them.

"Now, let us begin the celebrations with our ritualistic dance."

And like Patrik summoned them, groups of women crowded the space, filling each spot. Each woman wore a silky gown, wrapped around themselves like a shawl with threads hanging on the ends. Though their dresses were plain and dull, their faces were splashed with heavy white paint and hair, adorned with jewels and pearls.

Patrik sat down on the same table as I, and the minute he did, music started playing and the dance began.

The woman in the middle led the entire thing, all the other following her dance steps. It looked like a very complicated dance with one too many hand gestures, but at the same time graceful and entertaining to watch. You could clearly see how much effort was put into the dance.

"Wow." I murmured, my gaze following the moves of the dancers. "They're very well practised."

"Please, they're just dancing." Conroy stated the obvious. "You should see us guards train."

"It's not just a dance!" I whispered furiously. "Each step has a meaning behind it and is done passionately, every gesture has significance and I don't think you are capable of performing even one step of the dance routine." I watched as they continued to dance, raising their arms to the sky.

I read all about the dance in the book Ryke sent to me. The dances the main attraction of the ceremony, something simple Ambers can't even do.

I looked to my otherside, at Henri, who was looking at the dance quite curiously. "My mom used to be a dancer." He whispered, as if reading my thoughts. "I used to watch her dance every year, thrilled that she would be able to dance in my Silver Moon Ceremony." Henri choked on his words. "But she died the same year she was supposed to dance for me. The King was generous enough to bury her in the castle cemetery, along with the other deceased lords and lady's. I've been working for him ever since then."

I felt like this was a part of him he never told anyone about, and I'm touched he shared this with me. I didnt expect that of him, I didnt expect Ivories to hold emotions so closely at all.

I'm sorry." I replied sincerely. "You should have been able to see your mom dance for your celebration, but at least you got to see her all the other times."

He smiled in gratefulness. "Yes, I did. Better than not seeing her dance at all."

There was still a question lingering in my mind. "How did you lose your powers?"

His eyes darkened. "The dance is getting over." He changed the topic. "The rains will come any time now."

I looked at the dancers, their movements were slower, and the dance was finished. I regretted not seeing the entire thing, but there was always next year, and the next.

If I'm even Queen for that long.

●・○・●・○・●

A huge wave of claps erupted again, I could feel the ground shaking with excitement. I looked towards the gates, where the most clapping was coming from. Between the parents and families, I saw Bree waving at me.

I grinned at her and waved back. Next to her, I noticed Queen Rosalie, with the Coslitus twins, Lucas and Pierre. My gaze lingered on Pierre, wondering what was going on in his intricate mind, until he caught me blatantly staring at him. I blushed and looked away.

"Children of Mithalore! The time has come." Patriks voice boomed from the centre space, which was deserted now. "Leading the ceremony will be Queen Willow!" Conroy pushed me ahead, almost making me trip on my gown. I sent him a glare and walked, boldly, towards Patrik, hoping that no one saw that ungraceful trip.

"Ivories! Please stand up to gain your powers!" Patrik lifted his hands and all Ivories rose from their seats. I wondered how Patrik was able to know when the rain would come. I looked up at the clear evening sky, not a single cloud in sight.

I looked beside me, hoping to get answers from Patrik, but he sat back down in his seat. All the Ivories were staring expectantly at me, eyeing me like a piece of meat.

'Close your eyes.' I saw Conroy mouth the words, and so I did. I let out a peek and saw all the Ivories my age, shutting their eyes tight, waiting to feel a drop of the Silver Moon rain, and I found myself waiting for it too.

I closed my eyes for what seemed more like hours than seconds. Nothing was happening, the entire crowd was quiet in anticipation. No movements or talking. Just the beating of my heart. Just silence.

I pictured mother and fathers faces if they were seeing this, there were shorthands seated at the corners, hopeful to not miss a detail. My every movement was being inscripted, judged, questioned.

That was the exact time I felt it. A tiny splash of water on the sleeve of my gown, soaking through the cloth. Then I felt another, on the bare skin of my neck, dripping down to my shoulder. And just like that, more drops fell. On my hair, my dress, till my shoes. Soon, it was raining as heavily as it was yesterday.

I opened my eyes. The once clear sky was filled with dark rain clouds, covering the setting sun, but what caught my attention were the bright colored flames that were floating on everyone's head. I found a few red colored flames, Pyro's, and I found a lot of greens, Terra's.

Everyone was screaming in joy and clapping profusely. The parents were overjoyed and crying in pride. This warmed a little bit of my heart, maybe the Ivories weren't so bad after all, at least not as bad as I thought them to be.

"Willow?" Conroy called to get my attention, I looked at him, he was wide-eyed and grinning from ear to ear. Henri was nostalgic, but smiling all the same. "Look up."

I lifted my head, promising myself that whichever power I get, I will not succumb to it, and use it against the Ivories nor the Ambers. Even if this made me an Ivory, I would still lead the Ambers to a life where they can live in peace.

Once my eyes landed on the flame, I smiled in satisfaction. A grey flame burned above me. I was a Spira. Immediately I looked over at Bree, who was jumping up and down in my excitement. "Spirarekinesis! Willow is a Spira!" I could read her lips, as she yelled that over and over again to everyone around.

"All hail Queen Willow! A Spirare!" Patriks voice boomed among the loud cheering.

I was breathing fast, This was it, the moment I was most afraid of. Being marked a permanent Ivory, but at the same time, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, everything I was working for led here, saving the Ambers, finding out about my mother and ruling a kingdom with old friends, I quickly glanced at Bree, and new friends, I looked over at Henri and Conroy. Things weren't as bad as it seemed.

None of this felt real to me, but it was going to. I'm an Ivory today and tomorrow I'm going to be Queen. I looked up at my grey flame and then back down on the aquamarine on my neck.

Suddenly the rains stopped and the skies were much clearer than before.

What Ivorial power would you want?

I'd want to be a Spira, mostly because air is my zodiac sign.