Aamirah was tired of everything. She was tired of having someone around her every minute of every day. No privacy, no time to just be by herself, all because she was born with her light eyes. Everyone else in her family had dark emerald green eyes, as a matter of face, everyone in her community had darker eyes. She was born with light peridot eyes. They shined like a light was coming out from within her. Those eyes were the signifier of the Heir of the Celestial power.
She had bodyguards with her every minute of every day. Her brother, Aylward, was her main protector. He would only trust another guard once Aamirah was asleep. He was the only one that could anticipate her tricks while she was awake. Aamirah was always testing her boundaries so she could get a few minutes to be by herself.
There were too many people around all the time. There were too many lessons to learn how to harness her powers. There was too much pressure to be the divine leader of the light mages. She was only 16, almost 17. What did she know of leading a kingdom?
She was slowly learning how to control her powers, but she was afraid of how much harder it would be when she ascended to full power at 18. She was starting to break under the pressure, not to mention the fear of the King of the dark mages. He had been too quiet lately, which usually meant he was planning something. With Aamirah so close to ascension age, everyone was on high alert. That meant extra security and absolutely no time alone.
She just needed a break, a moment to breathe, a quiet walk to contemplate her future. After her brother came to make sure she was asleep and changed guards, she slowly made her way to her window. She was on the second floor, and with was relatively easy to sneak out. Her window opened to a balcony. Just big enough for two comfortable chairs with a small table in between.
She had many memories her and Aylward having breakfast while they talked about their dreams and the reality of their futures. To the side of the balcony was a foldable ladder, in case of emergencies. She had never given it much thought before she started planning her midnight walk. As quietly as she could, she unfolded it and quickly climbed down. Once she was safely on the ground she took off at a run, toward the barrier between the Celestial Kingdom and the human realm.
As she stepped through, she came out on the other side from a giant, old, awe inspiring oak tree. She took her time, walking around, then sitting and enjoying the night. She spread out a blanket she had with her and laid down to listen to all the night songs of the human realm. Mixed in with the different sounds, of the insects and wind, were footsteps coming close and fast. She turned her head expecting to see Aylward coming toward her with angry strides….
………she was wrong.
Taken
July 11, 2001
Aamirah woke up confused and sluggish, trying to figure out where she was. She sat up, looked around, and she spotted two men guarding the door. One of the men opened the door and spoke to someone waiting on the other side. He quietly shut the door and once again took up his silent watch next to his partner.
Questions were flying through her head. Where was she? Who took her? What did they want? Does Aylward know she was gone? Was there any way to escape? The questions flew through her head on repeat. She had balled herself up in the blankets provided, knees to her chest. She was rocking back and forth trying to calm her mind and her nerves. It was not working. She felt the panic rising as she waited to see what fate awaited her.
She nearly jumped off the side of the bed when the door slammed open. She stared, eyes wide, as a royal guard marched into the room. He walked in behind the guard. He was tall with very pale skin and hair as dark as a raven’s. The aura surrounding him was dark and ominous. His eyes were a steel gray, with dark lashes that cast shadows and made them look a little sunken in.
All at once Aamirah realized who the man was. Her captor was the destroyer, the bringer of darkness, the man that wanted to obliterate the Celestial Kingdom and enslave the humans. Her captor was the Dark King, Hadeon. The dark mage she had been training to overcome. She had never seen him face to face. She had only seen pictures of him during her lessons.
Prophecies had told of his ruthlessness. She spent her whole life preparing to be able to hone her powers to defeat him, but that could only happen once she turned 18. She still had a little over a year before she had any hope of being able to get herself out of this.
Anger, white hot anger, burned through her. Anger at this dark mage, anger at herself, anger at the circumstances. She waited quietly, if not patiently, for him to talk. He stared at her with a hint of amusement, like she was a wayward and willful child, he walked slowly toward her. She backed up as far as she could on the bed, until she hit the headboard. He stopped a foot away from the end of the bed and continued to stare at her.
“Get up,” he snapped at her. “Stand over by that mirror.”
She got up and quickly walked over to the mirror. Shock and fear made her temporarily quiet and obedient. He came over and slowly walked around her.
“You are sure she is the one?” He asked a small mand that Aamirah had not seen standing behind him.
“Yes, sire. Lady Aamirah, Heir of the Celestial Power,” the man says confidently. “Look at her eyes. Light in color, with light shining through. This is the girl the prophecy spoke of. She will produce an heir with unimaginable power.”
Aamirah looked between the men with dawning horror on her face. She had never heard of such a prophecy.
“NO!” She screamed at them. “No, this will not happen. I will not let this happen. No!”
Fear and shock gave way to anger and determination. She would do everything in her power to stop this.
She whispered to herself, brought her arms slowly out to her sides. The air crackled with an intense, invisible energy. The men in the room started fidgeting with nervous energy. They watched the girl become bathed in a powerful light that seemed to be radiating from her cored and spilled out all around her. She gathered the energy in front of her, like a ball of lightning, and pushed it outward, as hard and far as she could. All of the men in front of her fell, their magic not capable of defending them from the power of hers.
The small man that was talking to The Dark King fell. The only one that was left standing was The Dark King himself, but he even looked a little battered from withstanding the magnitude of her attack.
Aamirah fell, she had never used that much power at once. She watched Hadeon as he slowly, and cautiously, walked around her.
“It is you,” he said with a slightly greedy smile. “I thought he was just trying to hold off on me killing him.”
Aamirah finally gathered the last of her energy and ran toward the open door. Just before she made it, she was hit with a small arrow. She was falling through the darkness. Tiredly, she realized she was hit with a dark spell, and she had no energy left to fight it.
Expecting,
October 18,2001
Three months and one birthday later, Aamirah was still held captive in the Dark Kingdom. Seventeen years old and six weeks pregnant. Emotional couldn’t have begun to describe her state of mind. She was angry and scared, obviously, but she was also hopeful that she could still find a way out of that mess, especially since she had someone else to keep safe.
She was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed and her arms wrapped around herself. She was still stuck in the same empty room, the only thing in it was her bed and a chair next to the door for her guard. She was rocking back and forth and sang a soft lullaby from home. She was planning, she kept thinking of ways to keep her baby safe. If the prophecy was true, her baby would be more powerful than any mage known. To keep The Celestial Kingdom, and the humans, safe she must whatever she could before the baby was born. She hadn’t ascended to her full powers of The Heir yet, so it would be hard. It would take all her extra strength, power, and life to bather her child in the protection of the Celestial Power. She would make sure her baby would be safe until the time when her brother, Aylward was able to find him.
Months go by and her days were always the same. She woke up, ate whatever food was provided, took a heavily guarded walk around the mansion’s grounds, saw the doctor, listened to the incessant drone of Hadeon during lunch, had lunch, then she would spend the rest of the night reciting every protection spell she knows to the babe in her belly.
Night after night she repeated the spells, her own hedge of protection around his innocence, fueled by her undying and unconditional love. She could feel the power of her love infusing her protection spells. She had never heard of that happening before, maybe it was because this type of precedence had never occurred before. She never questioned why; she was just glad that it was helping to make her spells stronger. Her guards and her captor thought she was just meditating, slowly breaking away from reality. She was afraid of what would happen if they knew what she was really doing.
Hadeon had planned this perfectly and was able to carry the plan out perfectly. Aamirah was pregnant and would give birth before she turned 18 and ascended into her full powers. She would never have a chance to use her full powers to save her son from the evil king. She would soon have a chance to get word to her brother and tell him of his nephew’s existence, so that he would have a chance of saving him from Hadeon.
Almost Time
June 18, 2002
It was almost time. Aamirah could feel it. She was holding her protruding belly in a tight hug and sung the same lullaby she always did. She was swaying slowing, dancing around and hugging herself. All her love, devotion, and happiness she has had with her while she was carrying her baby was funneled into her lullaby and hug. It had surrounded her baby, like it had been doing her whole pregnancy.
She was sure her baby was a boy. She had been having small prophetic dreams of him. She had his name picked out and managed to have Hadeon agree to let her name him.
Hadeon’s greed and eagerness for the baby’s power shined through more and more each day. It was barely concealed by the time of the baby’s arrival. It sat there, on the surface, and waited to take over the innocence of the baby. Aamirah had managed to get enough protection for her son to keep in the light mages way until he was 18 years old and ascended to his full power. Her brother would have 18 years to look for him, but Aamirah hoped that he would find her baby boy much sooner.
She sat down and started her round of protection spells earlier than she usually did. She would need to use more power after dinner and needed some time to recover. It was time to set her plans into motion, she was almost out of time.
Later that evening, she sat down with a pen and paper and begun writing:
My dearest Aylward,
It seems my willfulness has finally gotten the best of me. I need you to know that none of this is your fault. I made a stupid, dramatic decision that changed the fate of us all. I can imagine the panic that ran through you when you woke to discover me gone. It weighs on my soul every day. I am so sorry Aylward and I love you, for always.
Once you get this, I will no longer be here. I tried, but I cannot prolong the inevitable. The Dark King, Hadeon, kidnapped me that night. I was made to produce his heir. He will be a truly powerful mage and Hadeon wishes to syphon that power into himself when the baby ascends. I need you to find him and keep him safe.
Hadeon does not know the baby’s true potential. I have seen it. He will be so much stronger than any mage before him. He will have strong dark magic, but he will have even stronger light magic. He will have the power to combine the kingdoms if he wishes. He is also the next heir of the Celestial Power.
I have spent these months casting as many protection spells on him as I could. He will be protected in the light until his eighteenth birthday. Once he turns eighteen, at his ascension, he will be vulnerable to being turned dark. He needs to be away from Hadeon by then.
I am attaching a memory spell to this letter. When you find him, help him access it. He is my world and I will have left a piece of my heart behind, in him. Find him, protect him, teach him, and please tell him how much I love him. It is infinite, this love of mine for my son. I am so sorry. I will love you for always.
His name will be Amory
With all my love, Aamirah
The Letter
June 19, 2002
It had been almost a year since Aamirah had gone missing. No trace of her anywhere. Of the main suspect is The Dark King, but there was no evidence of any sort. Aylward couldn’t just storm into the Dark Kingdom and start a war, even if he wanted to.
He walked from the family home to the Castle of the Celestial Kingdom, thinking of anything that might have led him to finding his sister. The kingdom was upside down ever since her disappearance. That was what happened when your queen-in-training disappears without a trace. Where was she?!
“AHHH!” Frustration and anger never helped a situation, but Aylward couldn’t help but feel them over and over each day. He walked faster with his head down, so he didn’t scare anyone off with the anger that showed on his face. He was almost at the caster before he almost knocked over.
A strong determined wind came out of nowhere. He looked around and saw that it was only affecting him. It was swirling around him getting smaller and more concentrated. Finally, the swirling centered around his hand. As he held his palm out, a mini tornado spun in his hand. Suddenly it stopped and dropped into the palm of his hand, while he just stared at what was left there. A letter.
He looked at it and realized it was Aamirah’s writing. He read the first paragraph before his legs gave out. He stumbled over to the caster steps and started reading again once he was sitting down. Tears were flowing out freely as he read her last words to him. Anger and grief were burning through him. He sat on the caster steps for a while, trying to compose himself, before he got up to go inform the elders. He got up with fierce determination. Aamirah’s son was out there and he needed to find him.
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