viii.

The Windchimes

Of course that was what he wanted. But why? To Lunya it seemed as though Enirael’s life was perfect. After all, he was the prince of Cikal, with an army at his command. He had wealth and a palace – he had it made. So why was he even curious about the Windchimes? Did he want to be the Emperor? Was it absolute power that he desired?

Lunya looked at him straight in the eyes. He didn’t really seem like the type of person who would want something so ridiculous. He seemed more practical.

Eyes falling to the table, she noticed some apple slices. They caught her interest and she picked up a few, taking slow and deliberate bites to avoid talking.

The only reason this man had released her from her prison was because he was going to use her. He wanted her to find the Windchimes. But if she were to refuse this, would the prince throw her right in the jail that she came from? Not even wanting to think of that possibility, her mind continued think about the situation. After finishing her apple slice, she looked back at Enirael. That smirk never seemed to be absent from his face.

“I swear I will conduct myself in a humble and appropriate manner when I am in possession of the artifact,” he assured her.

“It is not always someone’s intention to act selfishly,” Lunya informed him calmly, “especially when in the possession of such a thing.” She stood up.

“Lunya!” he called, standing up as well.

“I need to think for a little,” she told him, beginning to turn around.

“Wait, Lunya,” Enirael told her back, Lunya glanced over her shoulder at him. The Prince’s hand was deep in his pocket.

“What?” she asked, watching him struggle with something in his pocket.

“I have something of yours that they took from you when you were imprisoned,” he explained to her, pulling his hand out of his pocket. Whatever was in his hand, her held tightly in his balled up fist. “But first, you have to promise to help me find the Windchimes. I need to find someone, and only the Windchimes can help me. Please, Lunya. I want to cause no evil or destruction.”

Lunya pursed her lips. If the situation were to get nasty, she could simply stop right, right? After all, she was trained as a thief. And she could back out if she changed her mind, as well. She glanced down at his fist.

“Fine,” she agreed. “But I can not guarantee success.”

A genuine smile spread across Enirael’s birdlike features. The news was clearly making him a very happy man. After giving a short nod, he began to extend his arm towards Lunya. She glanced down at the fist, wondering what wonderful surprise he might have hidden beneath those long fingers. To tease her further, he pulled away his fingers one by one, as slowly as he could. Once she saw what he had waiting for her, she left out a gasp, and ran forward.

Finally, his hand was wide open, and in his palm laid a very familiar necklace. Immediately, Lunya’s hand jumped to her throat, touching the empty spot between her collarbones. She had forgotten that they had taken away all of her personal items. For a moment she stood there, unable to respond. The piece of onyx at the center of the necklace seemed to have her hypnotized.

“Do you not want it?” Enirael asked, perplexed.

“No, no!” she cried, breaking from her hypnosis.

“Then take it,” he said, taking a step forward. In response, Lunya slowly reached for the necklace and pulled it from Enirael’s hand. The back of her neck tingled with a memory, and so she smiled.

The night when the necklace was given to her flashed across her mind. But this necklace wasn’t only a gift – it was a reminder. Keep the Windchimes a secret. Lunya glanced up at Enirael. Would this promise she has made betray Diam? Lunya’s smile faded. Should she agree to the task? Perhaps if the Windchimes were returned to their original home with the thieves after Enirael used them, it would be okay.

“What wrong?” Enirael asked, peering into her eyes.

Lunya pursed her lips again. I can back out at any time, she assured herself.

“There are a lot of memories attached to this necklace,” she told him sadly, clenching the necklace tightly in her fist.

“First love?” the Prince asked with a faint smile.

Lunya glanced down at her fist. First love? She thought about Diam. He was kind and always made time for her. Back then Lunya had fallen in love with him. Of course, Diam knew it, too. Sometimes she felt as though he felt something more than a simple sibling bond with her. Bit Diam was a leader, and he had many things to worry about. Love and thievery are normally not a good combination. So, Lunya had never thought about Diam as being her first love. But she supposed that would be an appropriate title.

“Yes,” she said, finally coming to her decision.

Enirael’s face showed the hint of another kind smile. “I could tell,” he said. Lunya nodded in answer, releasing her memories.

“May I retire to my chambers now? She asked.

The Prince nodded, still wearing that hint of what seemed like a sweet smile.

“Your maid will wake you up tomorrow. Sleep well, Lunya,” he told her, turning around to exit from a different archway.

“Sleep well, Enirael,” she said, leaving the dining hall.

The next day would prove difficult for Lunya. She had slept quiet peacefully, finding her chambers and bed to be most accommodating. When she had fallen into her grand bed, she had sunk into the sea of pillows. Clutching them tight to her body, she was ready to go to sleep in her dress and boots. To Lunya’s dismay, however, Elisa had squealed and squawked, forcing her into her bedtime attire – a simple white sleeping gown.

Once Elisa was content, she had left Lunya to sleep. And for the first time in four years, Lunya had dreamt. She had dreamt of the countryside, where she had lived for so long with the Band. Of the beautiful sunset she would watch every night, of the glorious smell of the flowers blooming in the spring.

So it was a surprise to Lunya, that after such a fantastic night of sleep, she would be forced awake in such a terrible manner.

The sounds of Elisa scurrying around in her room had not woken her up at first. But as soon as the maid started throwing open the curtains, letting in the dim light of dawn, Lunya began to stir.

“What is this?” Lunya cried, half asleep. She pulled the down comforter over her face, blotting out the little light that had filled the room.

“It’s time to rise, my lady!” Elisa chirped merrily, opening up a chest filled with dresses.

“What?” Lunya screamed angrily against the soft fabric covering her face. “Leave me be!”

Elisa paid no mind to the angered girl, however, and continued fussing about. The clattering sounds that the maid was making seemed to only magnify in sound. Oh, and the terribly singing! Was this woman crazy? She had to be. No one would honestly ignore the obviously livid tone in Lunya’s voice. No one that favored their life, that is.

Unable to take the sounds of the cheery maid any longer, Lunya sat up quickly, throwing the comforter away from her face.

“Ah, I see you’ve woken up, finally! How good. Now let—“

Lunya didn’t allow the woman to finish speaking. Instead, she hurled one of the massive pillows at the maid. Hitting her target, the woman stumbled to the ground, taken unawares.

“My lady!” she cried from the ground, shocked.

“Leave!” Lunya shouted. “Or I might be tempted to throw something heavier and sturdier at that small head of yours!”

Elisa’s eyes widened in fear, finally recognizing the dangerous anger in the young woman’s voice. Muttering a faint sorry, the maid got up quickly and vanished from the room, leaving Lunya in silence. Satisfied, Lunya fell back down against her pillows and threw the comforter over herself again, hoping to fall back asleep.

Lunya turned on her stomach, trying to get comfortable.

And then her side.

Perhaps the left side would be more comfortable. She adjusted under the covers, begging sleep to come.

She lied on the bed for a few moments, unmoving.

Then she gathered her legs to her chest, hoping this would be more comfortable.

Groaning in defeat, Lunya jumped up and threw the comforters and pillows away from herself. She jumped off the bed and headed out of her room, unsure of where she was headed. She didn’t have to worry about that, though, because Elisa was patiently waiting outside of her door.

“Awake?” said the maid, still wearing a kind smile. Lunya looked at the woman like she was crazy. “I’ll go draw your bath for you, now. You can pick out a dress from the trunk. They should fit you, and if they don’t, I can fix them so they do!”

The maid then made her way back into Lunya’s room, heading straight to the bathroom.

Rolling her eyes, Lunya made her way to the trunk, looking at the selection of dresses. They were all extravagant, and none seemed to fit her taste. After staring at the dresses for a few moments – although most of the time she was standing there was spent dozing off, wishing she were asleep – she settled on a seemingly simple beige dress.

“If you’re ready my lady!” Elisa called from the bathroom. When Lunya entered the bathroom, the maid didn’t leave. “I’m going to stay and help you bath, my lady. You seem quiet tired and unable to bathe yourself now, so I will take care of you. No worries!”

Elisa smiled and turned, allowing Lunya to undress in privacy. Discarding the veil-like slip, Lunya stepped into the hot bath. To her delight, it was filled with bubbles to the brim.

“You can turn now, Elisa,” Lunya told the maid, dunking her head into the water quickly. When she resurfaced, she pulled all of her hair out of her face. “I’m sorry about earlier,” she said, wiping some bubbled away from her eyes.

“No worries, my lady. You are not used to the customs here at the palace. I can handle a flying pillow every so often.”

The maid began to scrub her back and brush her wet hair. She applied soaps that smelled exotic and cleaned under her fingernails.

“Elisa, how old are you?” Lunya asked suddenly while Elisa was fixing her nails.

“I’m twenty-six, my lady,” Elisa replied.

“I’m twenty,” Lunya said softly, playing with the bubbles on the surface of the water. “Twenty.”

“Is that hard for you to believe, my lady?” her maid asked, standing up to switch sides.

“I feel like I am sixteen,” Lunya whispered, blowing bubbles off the palm of the hand that Elisa wasn’t scrubbing.

“Well that’s strange!” the maid chuckled. “You’ve had three years to not feel sixteen. Why are you attached to the age?”

Lunya pursed her lips, realizing she could not tell the maid anything. To the maid, Lunya was a normal noble girl. Not a thief or a supposed murderess.

“I suppose I am just silly.”

Elisa finished washing Lunya and then helped her slip into her clothes. The maid dried her hair thoroughly and then styled it into a simple bun. Lunya most certainly looked like a different person, someone she had never met before.

“You may now attend breakfast,” her maid announced once she had helped her tie her boots. With that, the maid left her. Lunya stared at her reflection for a few moments, trying to commit her face to memory. When her stomach began to rumble, she ventured downstairs.

The table where she had had dinner the night before was now covered in an assortment of breakfast foods. Enirael was already seated, eating a piece of bread while reading a handful of letters.
“Good Morning,” she said as she entered the room.

“Good Morning,” he said, not looking away from his letter. He was quite engrossed.

For a few minutes they sat in silence. This gave Lunya the chance to take in the grandeur of the selection. A plate had already been served for her, with a pile of bacon and cheese and many other things. She ate each of the items slowly, sometimes taking a piece off the bread on the table.

While she ate, Lunya tried to think of a way to request something from Enirael. She had been wanting to ask him since last night when he had asked her to find the Windchimes for him. Would he give her this one small request?

“Excuse me, Enirael?” she asked meekly. Enirael set down the pile of letters and looked up at her through a small pair of spectacles.

“Yes?” he replied.

“I was wondering if I could make a small request of you,” she said slowly, gauging his reaction.

“Why of course!” he exclaimed, a smile set upon his features. “After I asked you last night to fetch that artifact, it would only be fair of me to grant you this request!” Lunya smiled faintly.

“Well, you see, I had a friend in the Band. If I had him helping me, maybe we could find the Windchimes for you very quickly. Can you help me find him?” she asked.

Before Enirael could answer, however, there came a knocking at the door. Enirael glanced over at the door and nodded to the maid standing there. Following his silent order, the maid pulled open the large doors. A short, stout man burst through looking wild.

“Paner?” Enirael said, looking at the man curiously.

“Prince Enirael!” the man said through gasps, “I have found this young boy trying to break in to the palace, the fool!” It was only now that Lunya realized that this Paner was in uniform, dressed as a guard with a sword on his hip.

“Let me see the thief, then” Enirael said from his seat. Paner nodded and pulled the boy forward, allowing light to illuminate his guilty features.

Lunya gasped.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

What caused me to update this story? I don’t know. I had most of this chapter written, except for the latter part. I figured I might as well write the rest of it and post it since I’m sitting here sick, not in school. When will the next update be? I don’t know. But hopefully soon. I like Lunya a lot as a character, and I feel bad for abandoning her.

Thanks for reading,

Alex