Rachel takes a step back, and Phoebe gapes at the Queen. All I can think about is how my Dad went through that maze...and got out. He knew he would die but he did it anyway. My father wasn't reckless. Every decision he took was with utmost precision. Then why would he risk his life like that?

"Take some time to think about this. Alyssa, take the sisters to the chamber on the top. The one with the blue door." Queen Alaena orders the fairy. "The Council of Elements will reconvene tomorrow morning. Thank you all the Masters and Mistresses for your advice."

The guards and advisors bow to the Queen, as they rush out of the room. Alyssa has already taken my sisters and Coco. But I don't move an inch.

"I want to talk to you." I insist on Queen Alaena. I notice Samuel turn his face to us and then glare at me.

The Queen gives a slight smile and assures him. "Go, Samuel. I will speak to you later." The Lord gives a stern nod and goes about his way.

She points to the chair in front of her, as she sits on her seat. "What is it that you'd want to talk about, Caroline?"

"Your Majesty-" The Queen shakes her head as she interrupts me. "Call me Alaena."

"Ok, Alaena. Why?" I asked her. Alaena furrows her eyebrows.

I calm myself down. "Sorry. My father was cautious. And smart. Why would he do something like this to become something he was so against for?"

"Against for?" Alaena repeats.

I nod in response. "Yes, he was against the whole idea of monarchy. I don't know why it didn't come to me before. But I don't understand why would he want to be a king when he hated them?"

I know why I didn't think of that before. I was too encapsulated about finding my Dad's truth that I forgot to ask the important questions.

Alaena hands me a glass of water and starts speaking as I drink it. "Caroline, your world is different than ours. I have read so many books about how the kingdoms in your world only had one ruler. And how they did what they wished. That is not Manelysse. We have four rulers who are chosen by the spirits of nature. We are not chosen because it is our birthright. Our land has stayed peaceful for so long for a reason. As for your father, maybe he saw how our system was better than his world's."

I gulp the water. My mind becomes clearer. "Is it worth it? Risking your own life to rule a land?" I ask her.

"I do not know. Maybe I never will. But this is my destiny nonetheless. Is it yours?"

*

I thank Alaena for her explanation and walk out the door. I notice Alyssa standing in the hallway. Waiting for me. She doesn't say anything, just gestures to follow her.

I enter the large chamber after climbing up some stairs and observe my sisters sitting on a large bed. Alyssa leaves us alone as I join both of them.

"Well, today is great, isn't it?" Phoebe jokes but nobody even cracks a smile.

"Now what do we do?" Rachel asks us, with a voice full of regret.

"I'll go. In the maze." I tell them.

"No! No! We listened to you last time, and you got us into this shit. This time, I ain't gonna follow you into another hell-hole." She scolds me.

"You don't have to do anything. Dad did it, why can't I?" I argue back.

"Because you are not Dad! You may look like him, and be smart like him. But you are not him. Just because you both have the same power connection or something doesn't mean you are closer to him than us." Her last word comes out as a grunt.

Jealous. My popular, cheerleader sister is jealous because our dead father preferred me over her.

I turn my back to her and start exiting the room.

"Carry! Where are you going?" Rachel shouts after me.

"Where I want to."

*

"Destiny...destiny...destiny..." The same whispering had entered my ears when Alaena asked me that question. The whispering I had heard in the forest while drinking water. It is now calling me. Again.

I head downstairs and simply follow the voice. I go through grey hallways and finally reach a large marble door. It opens without any help of mine.

"Destiny..."

The word keeps repeating. It feels like the calming crash of waves against the rocky shore.

"Destiny..."

The female voice is smooth and mysterious. It feels almost like a song.

"Destiny."

I look down and realize that I am on the edge of a lake. It is like a large blue gem in the middle of a grey forest. The voice has now stopped. All I can hear is the sound of the crickets.

What the hell am I doing? I finally come back to my senses and run a hand through my silky ivory hair. I don't even get how I got here. I begin to turn around, but something stops me.

It is like I am being controlled by somebody to not move. I resist, but the smooth voice starts speaking. "Are you going through the Naemisera?"

I don't respond. One thing every mythology has taught me is not to ever talk to an angelic and smooth voice because there is a ninety-nine percent chance of you getting murdered. I pay attention to the slight movement of the water.

"I am not an enemy, Lady Caroline. I was a friend to the former Master of Rains,"

Dad. She is talking about dad.

I take a deep breath and question her legitimacy, "What is my dad's name?"

The voice releases a low laugh. "There is no need for these questions, milady. But I will answer for your satisfaction. Your father was Kristofer Skye, the Water King of Manelysse. He had hair of silver, and deep blue-indigo eyes found in the rarest of regions, just like you. There is no reason for me to lie, milady. In fact, I know things that you may not even know.

"What do you want?" I ask her, keeping one of my eyes on the lake itself.

"Turn around Lady Skye," She urges me.

I hesitantly turn my foot around and am surprised to find a silver ring with a gem of sapphire and obsidian fitted across each other, on the ground.

I pick it up, as the water touches my fingers. I look closely at it. Even in the darkness, I can see the tiny droplets of water trapped inside the sapphire with the help of the moonlight. The black gem has a touch of smokiness to it, and it looks as if it was made for the night.

"What is this?" I ask the voice.

I notice a whirlpool forming in the lake, and back away. The whirlpool produces a spirit of blue, with sapphires as eyes, and seaweed as hair. Her lips look frosted as the snow itself. The only thing covering her body is the water itself.The spirit looks estranged, to say the least.

"Are you going through the Naemisera?" She asks me again.

"Maybe," I tell her, without lying a bit.

"I was told to give this ring to someone. Someone of great wisdom and intelligence. A true spirit of water. There is water in your veins. It runs freely in your blood. Whatever you do, do not forget that because those who do can never come back. Queen or not, understand your ancestry. Understand the reason your father died for. The true reason."

My eyes widen, her eyes reflect my image at me. What reason is she talking about? Did he...No...no, that is not possible.

Before I can ask her anything, she starts disintegrating into tiny particles. Only those regretful words come out in that voice.

"And no, it wasn't your fault."

*

I clutch the ring in my hands and run back to the hallway. There, I bump into Alyssa. "Caroline, what are you-"

"Take me to Alaena. Now!" My loud voice makes her shudder in shock. But she grabs my hand and takes me to the topmost floor. She then leads me to a door, painted with swirls of grey, white, and sky blue. I knock on it as loud as possible.

The door opens after a few moments with Alaena in a light grey frock, with all her ornaments removed. "Is there anything urgent?" She worriedly asks us.

I stare deep into her stormy-grey eyes and reply, "I want to go through the Naemisera, now. I want to do the four tasks. I want to be the Water Queen of Manelysse."

*

Caroline is shocked to know about the maze and the risk her Dad took to go through it. And now she wants to go in as well. What was this spirit that changed her view?  Will she be able to fulfill her destiny? Find out in the next part.

New chapter/ part released every Friday.

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