Elizah gazed out the window in her room as she observed the beautiful roses blooming in the palace gardens. The roses she had planted a few weeks had started to bloom and the palace began to look fresh. It was the first day of spring, a beautiful day, and was the start of Elizah’s favourite season. The healing season.

The gardens she had planted around the castle made her feel homesick now and then but they were the reminder of the life she lived before.

It had been almost 9 years after the release of the first amulet, and Jayden and Elizah had finally found a way to enjoy a peaceful life. With their decision to leave the amulets as something they will target later, they hadn’t bothered to search for where the remaining 5 could be, which was one major job off of their hands. But, there were certainly other difficulties in the road to peace. In comparison to the freedom they had earned, it was all worth it. Border disputes, trade wars, issues over taxes, and multiple assassination attempts on Elizah were common, but they were things that they managed to overcome.  Acceptance of their new rulers was one of the most difficult tasks for not only the people, but also the rulers themselves.

There was another important piece in the duo’s lives that had changed. They finally started to build a family together. Their children gave Jayden and Elizah a break from the busy life of the court, and someone to smile and laugh with.

There was a sudden wailing from one end of the room and Elizah couldn’t help but sigh with a small smile. Their youngest child, Emmeline was almost 3 years old and was constantly babbling and laughing. The girl had the bright green eyes of her father and his dark hair, along with the freckles of her mother and a laughing face. But despite her bubbly nature, putting her to sleep was always a huge task, with the child waking up and bawling within moments.

Elizah leaned over Emmeline’s cradle and reached over to lift the child when the doors of the room opened suddenly. 

“She’s wide awake again isn’t she?” Jayden said with a sigh as he came up to Elizah and she laughed.

“I thought you were training the magic students today. Hence, I said I’ll look after the girls,” Elizah said as Jayden picked up Emmeline from the cradle and she almost instantly stopped bawling.

“The magic students are busy with preparing for their evaluations, there was not much I had to do. So I thought I’d spend some time with my family instead. Especially with all the meetings later today,” Jayden said and he kissed Elizah on the cheek and she smiled.

“Well, you came just in time to put Em to sleep,” Elizah said with a laugh and was about to say something else when she heard someone calling out.

“Mama, Mama, Mama!” another young girl of about seven came running into the room with eyes wide.

“Yes Elya, what is it?” Elizah asked as she knelt to her elder daughter’s height.

“Papa taught me how he does magic. His flames are so big and pretty and warm. When can I do magic like that or like you?” Elyanna asked with her blue eyes wide and excited and she hugged a toy bear to her chest.

Elizah laughed slightly and patted Elya on the head before saying, “You’ll learn in time dear.”

“But I wanna do it now,” Elyanna whined and Elizah gave her a small smile as she pushed a strand of dark hair from Elyanna’s face. Both the girls had got their father’s dark hair, but Elya had her mother’s eyes.

“Why is that?” Elizah asked with a tilt of her head.

“Because papa’s so fun. I want to be just like you or papa. You make pain go bye-bye and papa makes things light up and even the cold really warm,” Elyanna said and she was looking up at her parents with true awe and admiration in her eyes. Jayden and Elizah shared a smile.

“One day you’ll be more powerful than your Mama and Papa and we’ll all be saying that you’re so amazing,” Elizah said and she took Elyanna by the hand towards Emmeline’s cradle.

“Do you want to hold Emmie?” Elizah asked and Elyanna nodded eagerly.

“Ella, Ella,” Emmeline said and Elyanna smiled proudly.

“She really likes me,” Elya said as she set Emmeline on the ground and Emmeline kept crawling back to Elya.

“You’ll always look after her, won’t you Elya?” Jayden said softly and Elya only nodded seriously and said, “Always.”

Jayden stood up and left the two girls to play with each other when he noticed Elizah back by the windowsill.

“Are you trying to scout for enemies that might steal our daughters away? I doubt that you’ll find anyone coming from that direction with all the rose bushes,” Jayden said with a small laugh, but he noticed Elizah’s glance was more serious.

“No. I was just thinking. Levi should be back by now, I’m just wondering what’s taking them so long,” Elizah sighed.

After Elizah and Jayden had been crowned, Levi had been appointed as the minister for external affairs, which meant they travelled quite a bit. Levi had once been in the army of a different kingdom, so they had allies in some other camps and this post made the most sense for them. Levi had left a few days ago to make connections with some allies they knew from before. 

“They’ll be back soon. Don’t worry, they are better at diplomacy than the two of us,” Jayden said and put an arm around Elizah.

Emmeline suddenly started to wail again and Elizah stopped her train of thought to pick up her younger daughter from Elyanna. 

“Well, it's time for Emmie’s nap, and I assume Elya you have homework for school to finish,” Jayden said and looked at his older daughter.

“Yes papa, I’m going to do it now,” she said as she groaned before turning and running to her room.

Jayden smiled as he watched her bump into someone at the door.

“I’m sorry,” Elyanna mumbled as she stepped back, and the man at the door smiled before lifting Elyanna off the ground.

“Elya, you have to watch where you’re going, otherwise you will fall, honey,” the man said as he pinched Elyanna’s cheek.

“Sorry Uncle Micah, I won’t do it again, I promise,” Elyanna said and bowed her head and Micah just smiled.

“There there, no need for formalities,” he said as he tickled her waist and the girl laughed. He set her down and she ran off again.

“Always in a hurry, that one,” Micah said and Elizah and Jayden laughed.

“What brings you here all of a sudden?” Jayden asked.

“Well, your majesty, I hate to be the wrecker of your wonderful time with your family, but we have a crisis as usual,” Micah said as he stepped in and sighed. Micah and Roxanne had moved back to the kingdom a while after Jayden and Elizah had managed to establish peace. Micah had gotten married in the meanwhile and also had a son. Now he was the commander of the troops and he helped keep peace alongside Jayden and Elizah.

“Tch,” Jayden grumbled as he walked up to Micah, “Let’s go then. I’ll come to check on you later then Liz.” 

Elizah smiled and waved before putting her daughter down in the cradle. She sat down again by the window waiting eagerly for Levi to return.

Elyanna sighed as she shut the door of her room.

She threw her bear on her sofa and flopped on the bed. She knew that one of the maids would yell at her for messing up the sheets but she could care less. 

It's not fair that I don’t have magic yet. She thought as she started to cry. Some of her friends already had fire from their fingertips and could grow plants, but meanwhile, Elya had nothing. 

She closed her eyes, and when she opened her eyes things started to spin. 

What is happening? She wondered as she tried to blink to clear her eyes, but the world was still spinning and glowing.

Slowly the spinning came to a stop and she heard screaming voices and the sound of swords clashing. She put her hands to her ears but she could still hear the noise get louder and louder. 

She looked around and saw a slightly older girl with short black hair and green eyes in tears. She was wearing clothes caked with blood and had stray scars on her cheek and arms, and a young man was lying in her lap.

“Myrick, please stay with me. Please,” she was begging as she began to cry.

“Emmie, I’ll be fine,” the man said gently, “Just don’t cry.”

Emmie? Is this Emmeline? But how, she’s just a baby? Elyanna thought and continued to watch. A sudden dark figure came up behind Emmeline. Elyanna began to scream. 

No, no no Emmie run Elyanna was screaming but Emmeline still got slammed in the head with a claymore.

Elyanna couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She was crying so hard now, and the scene in front of her suddenly vanished. 

Elya was back in her room now staring at her bedroom ceiling, but her tears wouldn’t stop. The scene she’d just witnessed haunted her, repeating in her head. She hoped that this was just a dream, but deep down she knew what this was.

She had finally gotten her magic. Although it could have been a joyous occasion, This was just the beginning of the suffering of being a seer.