Ardie's breath caught in her throat as she stared at the statue-- her statue.  Her smile, carved in gold.  Sunlight giving the statue's eyes radiance and light.  She reached out and laid a hand on her likeness.

"Crieff," she breathed. "Come look at this."

She waited for Crieff to come and behold this marvel of an artwork, but he never came.

"Crieff?"

She turned around and saw only Akhalia, leaning against a marble statue of a water elemental, her face impassive as she stared off into the distance.  "He's over there."

"What?" Ardie looked in the same direction and saw Crieff a little ways away, running as if his life depended on it.  "Why?  I don't-- I don't understand."

"I imagine he's a bit afraid," Akhalia looked faintly amused.  "He expected I didn't know what he tried to do to me, and just now he figured out I do."

Ardie bit her lip.  She had conveniently decided to leave out exactly why Crieff had been at the palace in the first place.  "Do... do you intend to punish him for it?"

Akhalia tensed.  She knew what Crieff had done was treason of the highest order.  She knew a real queen, a strong queen, a queen made for her title would not sympathize with Crieff.  Indeed, the only basis she had for believing he could be a good person was how Ardie seemed to care for him, and how evident it was he cared for Ardie.  She knew any other queen would not hesitate to jail him, but when she saw the anxious look in Ardie's eyes, she knew she could not.

"No," she murmured.  "No, I won't."

"Uh," Xavier, whom Ardie had completely forgotten even existed, broke in.  "Am I missing something here?" 

Ardie looked at the floor.

"It's just..." Akhalia cast a glance back at where Crieff had been.  He was no longer in sight, and Akhalia figured he was hiding.  "That young man..."

"Crieff and I met when he was trying to kidnap Akhalia," Ardie burst out.

"Oh."

Xavier shifted uncomfortably.

"And he thinks running away in full view of the three of us is somehow going to help him escape?"

"I guess," Ardie's mouth creased into a soft smile.  "He can be a bit of a goofball when he's scared."

"Should we go after him, or...?" Xavier tilted his head to one side.  

"...No," said Akhalia.  "I'll just leave him be.  If he wants to come back, he can."

"Actually... I would like to see if I can track him down, if that's all right," Ardie said, worry creasing her brows.  "I just want to make sure he's okay."

"Go right ahead, if that's what you want."

Ardie smiled at her before pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I missed you so much," she whispered.

"I know," Akhalia's voice cracked.  "I know.  I missed you too."

Akhalia reluctantly let Ardie pull away.

~~~~~~

Sorry guys!  I was SO busy haha 

Hi! I left the CB, so I wasn't able to participate in this, even though I had signed up, sorry! But I'm back, and I will try my best to participate in this! It looks awesome!

"Crieff?" Ardie turned the iron handle of the gate leading into the damp darkness of the woods beyond. She wondered why Crieff had climbed over the wall instead of using the gate. Oh! Right. He'd wanted to run away.

She noticed an unnatural silence in a tree nearby, then an even more unnatural rustling of leaves.

"Crieff!"

The rustling stopped.

"I know you're there."

"Oh," Crieff said through several layers of branches. "I didn't know I was that obvious."

She hid her smile. "Why don't you come back to the palace? Akhalia forgave you. She let me come back to check on you."

“She only did that for your sake, Ardie. She’s probably afraid that I’ll try to kidnap her again. She has no guarantee that I won’t.”

“But you wouldn’t do anything like that!” Ardie protested. “I’m sure Akhalia understands. She’s different from other queens.”

Crieff sighed. “Don’t you think it would be illogical for the queen not to–watch out!”

“Why would Akhalia need to watch out?” Ardie asked. “You would never do anything to hurt her. We both know that you’re not like that.”

“No, that’s not what I meant!” Ardie backed away as he jumped down from the tree, his eyes seeing something Aride had not. “I meant that YOU need to watch out. Someone is watching us.”

Ardie started, not seeing anyone. Nevertheless, she placed a hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to attack if need be and then run away, sparing any unnecessary bloodshed. From the corner of her eye, she saw Crieff do the same.

“Come out,” Ardie demanded. Her gaze criss crossed over her surroundings, trying to see what unwelcome visitor had arrived.

Both of them jumped when Gold appeared, almost directly in front of them.

Camouflage, Ardie thought.

“Two against one,” Gold said, still partially hidden in the shadows. “Definitely not fair.” They eyed Ardie warily.

Ardie recalled that Gold had tried to remove her magic before, resulting in them being knocked unconscious. She clenched her fist, nervously.

“What are you doing here?” asked Crieff. “We don’t want to start a war with the Ordinary Brotherhood.”

“From the looks of it you do,” Gold answered coldly. “She–” Here, they pointed to Ardie– “Belongs to us by rights.”

Ardie stepped backward. If she was handed over as an escaped prisoner (when she really wasn’t a prisoner at all), she doubted it would go well for her.

“You captured Ardie,” Crieff said, bitterly. “You have no right to claim her as yours, whatever that means.”

Gold said nothing. Instead, out of the shadows they drew some type of metal weapon.

Crieff whirled, clanging his sword against it. “Don’t you dare lay a finger on Ardie,” he said through gritted teeth. “If you use that weapon on her–”

“Oh? This is considered a weapon?” They held the object in midair before suddenly shoving past Crieff, directly towards Ardie, who instinctively unsheathed her sword, for protection.

But it wasn’t what she had expected.

“Just a bucket of icy water?” Crieff looked disgustedly at Gold. “I really thought that you’d be smarter than to–”

“Just water?” asked Ardie, weakly. Vaguely she remembered something Akhalia had told her. That all elementals could be killed by anything that destroyed their element. That water in large amounts could extinguish the fire inside her. That icy water in large amounts could deliver a long, excruciating death. She closed her eyes, shivering.

“What on earth–” Crieff started, the disgusted look rapidly being replaced by one of concern.

“It’s just water,” Gold said blankly as Ardie sank to the floor, her face turning the color of ashes. “If you’re really concerned about it, I do have a cure. Why don’t you talk to Akhalia about it and see what she’s willing to pay to save her dear Ardie?” Their eyes glittered coldly.

“No!” she protested, but her voice was fading away, like it was freezing. “Akhalia won’t pay anything for me, much less anything you want.”

“It’s simple, actually. She either gives me her kingdom and comes willingly to the Ordinary Brotherhood as a prisoner while I spare your life, or you freeze to death and I get my revenge on everyone who’s wronged me, which will happen eventually regardless of which option you choose.”

And with that, Gold disappeared into the shadows. 

***

Okay, so this was a pretty intense scene that sounds like it's leading to the climax. (I think we're getting close to it? Or am I wrong?) Is everyone okay with how the plot's turning out, because the part I wrote definitely changes a lot, or did someone have a very good idea for the end of the story?

Tag: @Forest Nymph

Thank you, Lyric, for complimenting my username, location, and age! I really like your name too!

Also, completely unrelated, but Tsuki, how exactly do you pronounce your username? I’ve been pronouncing it like ‘suki’ in my head, but I don’t want to be pronouncing it wrong, so if you could tell me how to pronounce it, I’d really appreciate that! Your username is really cool, btw!

~~~

“I never liked watching her go.” 

Akahlia stood beside a bronze statue of an earth elemental, watching the place where Ardie had disappeared into the forest with something like regret in her eyes. Xavier stood at her side and Pippin sat at her feet.

“I just got her back. I don’t—I don’t want to lose her again.” 

Xavier said nothing. He just took Akahlia’s hand and squeezed it, a gesture of his friendship, his support. Of course, Xavier knew what it was like to lose someone as well, Akahlia reflected; a deadly epidemic had taken his parents from him before his thirteenth birthday. It was an unnatural epidemic, one born out of the wizards’ greed and lust for power, their envy of the elementals’ raw natural power. That epidemic was the result of a magic trick gone wrong. 

It was Akahlia’s own parents who had found Xavier and taken him in. Xavier did not hate the wizards for his parents’ deaths. It wasn’t all the wizards who were power-hungry, after all. No, he did not hate wizards, but Xavier did hate the Ordinary Brotherhood, and anyone else who wanted to eliminate elementals, not because elementals were inherently bad, but because they were envious of their power, of their natural connection to magic. Elementals, as long as they existed, would always be more powerful than wizards, and some people hated elementals for it. 

“AKAHLIA!” 

At the sound of her name, Akahlia snapped to attention. She and Xavier both went into a fighting stance, their hands flying to their swords. But then they located the source of the scream. Crieff was running in the direction of the garden, stumbling over rocks and tree roots, a cloaked figure limp in his arms. 

Akahlia’s heart skipped a beat. “Ar–Ardie?” she whispered, frozen. 

“Come on, we have to help him!” Xavier cried, springing into action. He unlatched the garden gate just as Crieff approached.

Crieff collapsed, breathing heavily, on the stone path of the garden. Ardie tumbled from his arms, the cloak she was wrapped up in coming undone. 

Akahlia pressed her fist to her mouth, kneeling down beside Ardie, taking Ardie’s hand in her own. Xavier quickly confirmed Crieff was okay, if winded, before rushing to Akahlia’s side.

“She’s ice cold,” muttered Xavier, feeling Ardie’s forehead, then checking her pulse. “But she’s alive.” He did not think that adding “for now” would help the situation.

Akahlia’s throat felt tight, and her eyes prickled, vision blurring with the tears threatening to spill. 

Akahlia had been taught from birth what royalty should and should not do. She was not supposed to raise her voice, she was not supposed to curse. She was supposed to be kind, civilized, and sensible.

Ardie was dying, and Akahlia could not be bothered with what was proper right now. She cursed softly, and let her tears fall without shame. Then, she whirled on Crieff. “Who did this?” she growled, still clutching tightly to Ardie’s ice-cold hand. 

Crieff flinched at her harsh tone and managed to get out, “G-Gold! The Ordinary! They, um, poured water on Ardie, which is somehow hurting her? I’m not really sure how it works, but that’s what happened. And then they said that, er, they had a cure? And, uh, they would give you the cure if you gave them your kingdom and turned yourself in to the Ordinary Brotherhood.” 

Akahlia sat back, her hand still in Ardie’s. “The water — it messes with Ardie’s fire powers. If we don’t act now, it’ll be too late. Ardie will—” She closed her eyes, shaking her head softly, as more tears slipped down her face. She didn’t want to think about that.

“You aren’t seriously thinking about turning yourself in—” started Xavier, but Akahlia cut him off with a sharp wave of her hand. 

“Ardie is dying, Xavier. You would’ve done anything to save your parents, right?” 

Xavier bit his lip, falling silent. There was nothing he could have done to save them. But there was something Akahlia could do to save Ardie. 

At what cost, though? Akahlia would be putting her kingdom in the hands of the Ordinary Brotherhood. That wouldn’t turn out well for the elementals, or for anyone else. 

Crieff stood up. “Wait. If you’re going to turn yourself in, I—I have to do something, too. I...I love Ardie. Even if—” he swallowed, steadying himself “—even if she can’t return that, I love her. And I can’t just stand by while you risk your life to save her.” Crieff took a deep breath. “Look, I messed up. I was going to kidnap you, but I see how wrong of me that was. I was stupid, power-hungry, I don’t know. Just—just give me this chance. I’ve hurt too many people. Let me help one of them.”  

Akahlia gazed at him, and then shook her head. “No. I’m the queen. I’m supposed to protect you. I’m not going to put you in danger.”

Crieff opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it. He turned away, but even though he didn’t say anything out loud, his mind was racing. He wasn’t going to give up that easily. He was going to help Ardie whether Akahlia gave him her blessing or not. 

Akahlia, still knelt beside Ardie, released Ardie’s hand. She gently tucked Ardie’s auburn hair behind her ear, eyes glassy with tears, and then stood up. She placed her hand on Xavier’s shoulder. They looked at each other for a long moment, their eyes exchanging everything words could not.

You don’t have to do this. We’ll find another way, Xavier’s expression said.

I have to do this. I do love you, Xavier. And thank you. For being my friend. For being here for me when my parents could not be. For...everything, Akahlia’s said.

Fine. Just...be careful, Xavier’s said. 

Akahlia entered the palace to quickly pack for her journey, and then she disappeared into the night, leaving behind Crieff, Xavier, and Ardie, still shivering in Crieff’s cloak.

~~~

Wow, that was really fun! I hope I did this amazing story justice. I kind of dove into Xavier's backstory there. I really wanted to explore his character more, because I feel like he might play a more major part in the future? 

Tag: @Moon Wolf!