Winterfall

I managed to rest in my room for an hour.

Can I go now? I begged Theoden. I overall genuinely felt better.

Yes, take the skeleton key as it will be locked.

The skeleton key was an enchanted key given to me by my father that granted me access to any room in the castle. My father's office has been locked since the accident.

I grabbed the skeleton key that I stored in my desk drawer and left my room, locking it behind me. My father’s corridor was on the south side of the castle so it was a walk from mine. Taking about five minutes, I managed to approach his corridor.

My father’s corridor was dimly lit, filled with family portraits, musty scent, cobwebs and dust. The maids hadn’t done too much cleaning in this hall since he had passed. There really was no need, no one went in here.

His office was half way down the hall. Which was a struggle for me to walk down as the last time I walked down here, it was the day before their deaths.

Each step I took my heart pounded in my chest. I can do this. I told myself.

You can do this. Théoden responded back to me. You're halfway there.

Taking deep breaths, I pressed further. I was curious as to what was hidden in my father’s office.

Alright, here goes nothing.

I unlocked the brass door knob with the key and the door opened with a creek. Dust stirred in the air which caused me to sneeze. I snapped my fingers to turn on the magical lights. A few seconds passed before the lights flicked on.

His office was just the same as I remembered. A large desk in the middle of the room. A well crafted chair sitting behind it. Along the walls were rows and rows of books that were now covered in a thin layer of dust. Behind the desk were three large stained glass windows, featuring the kingdom in all its glory.

As I stepped further into his office my heart pounded even harder. If that was even possible.

Maria, calm dear.

I--I don’t know if I can do this.

I felt him siphon a bit of my anxiety and depression away from me while he gave me a bit of his happiness and hope.

You can do this Maria.

Thanks, Théo.

I felt my heart calm in my chest as I managed to press further into his office. Approaching his desk I traced my finger along the edge, stirring up the dust that had once collected.

My father’s desk contained four drawers on the left, one in the center, and four on the right. Which one is it in?

If I remember him telling me correctly, it is on the right side, three drawers down.

I found it odd he knew where to look, then again, he had a lot of closed door meetings with my father. I figured this was one of them. Perhaps, the one I almost walked in on. Considering how important that meeting seemed.

It’s locked. I told him as I tried to pull on the drawer but it failed to budge. Looking at it, the desk further, I noticed that this particular drawer had a key slot. The others did not. Once I made the discovery, I quickly used the skeleton key to open the drawer and was relieved when the skeleton key worked.

My fingers gripped tightly on the handle. I took a deep breath before I gave it a gente pull. At first, the drawer struggled to open but with another firm tug, it slid open.

I took one final breath before I glanced inside the drawer. Upon glancing in the drawer, I found a stained envelope coated with a silver draconic seal. Flipping the envelope over, my name written across it in my fathers handwriting.

Once his handwriting was spotted, I almost dropped the letter. I hadn’t seen his writing since he died. It was something I thought I was going to forget.

Taking a deep breath, I peered in the drawer one more time and saw a little black box. The box resembled that of the ring box that Theoden had shown me in our dream.

I reached for the box and held onto the letter at the same time. I was nervous to open both. However, curiosity got the better of me as I sat the box on the desk and slowly began to remove the seal on the envelope.

The letter unfolded before me, revealing my father’s handwriting. Upon the reveal, my hand began to shake as I struggled to stop myself from crying. Seeing his handwriting brought me joy and sadness all at once.

Breathe Maria. Theoden told me as I took a few deep breaths and began to read the letter.

My darling daughter, Maria Roza Silvermist, future Queen of Winterfall.

I write this letter addressed to you, in an attempt at shining light on a challenging time. Now, I know you must be feeling hurt, confused, and lost.

I can not tell you everything, as that is a rule with my ability. I can tell you this, inside the black box contains a Ring of Power Storage and Generation. This ring will allow you to better control that wild magic of yours. While giving your guard a bit of a break from managing your emotions.

The ring consists of many multiple gems in various colors: navy blue, light blue, yellow, green, red, purple, gray, orange, pink, forest green, and a diamond. Each gem correlates to an emotion, when your emotions run high, the gems will store power. The gems have three stages, uncharged, semi-charged and fully charged, giving a dull to dim in brightness.

The ring also consist of an enchantment to hide its power capabilities in an attempt to keep yours secret.

This ring should help you develop your skills. Skills that I know you should have by now.

I am sorry I can not be there with you to help you through your power development. I know you are in good hands with Théoden as your tutor. He will teach you well.

I love you my darling daughter. I am sorry we had to leave you so soon. We both love and miss you.

Your Father,

King Mikail of Winterfall.

I saw the tear stain on the paper before I felt it fall from my face. Even in the afterlife my father was taking care of me.

It’s alright Maria.

I took a deep breath and opened the box and gasped as I saw one of the most beautiful rings I had laid eyes on. The ring was that of a dark silver metal and the gems were well placed on the metal. I slipped it on with shaky hands and in minutes I could feel the magic flow from the ring and into my body.

I instantly felt my mode shift as a few of the gems began to glow.

It works. Good. He was worried that it wouldn’t work.

Théoden told me as I could feel he slowly pulled back on the siphoning.

How long did you know about this?

I asked as I felt the tears begin to slow and my heart go back to normal.

He mentioned something about a gift in the desk drawer a week before the accident. He told me to wait two years before I gave it to you. He wanted me to see how well your magic developed. To which he had confidence that it would within the two years. He gave me orders to wait a few weeks after your magic developed to give it to you.

He made you keep this from me?

I questioned him as I was curious and surprised that I was just finding out about this now.

Yes. Please don’t be mad at me.

I’m not, just surprised that I had no indication of this.

He wanted it that way, Maria.

He told me with a firm voice. He may have been my guard but he still had to listen to my father.

I believe it, he was good at keeping things hidden.

With his abilities, he had to be.

What do we do now Theo?

Well, we will test that ring out tonight. And continue to test it as the magic builds.

Are you sure we should be testing it now?

Yes, it is better to start testing now so we can know what it is capable of.

Testing the ring meant for more magic training. Magic I had limited control of as is and now my spells and abilities could be charged due to the ring. This piqued my interest but also scared me at the same time. I knew that Theo would have me test this on him and not knowing what I was fully capable of meant I could cause serious harm to him. And that is what scared me the most.