Candescent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (3 page)

I
t was the day of the party before I knew it and that meant I would have to confront Pete again. The past days I felt guilty not saying anything to him and was hesitant in even making an appearance to the party.

I stood before my long mirror dressed in a fancy gown. It was red velveteen, tight at my hips and extended out as a hoop skirt that gave the appearance of an upside-down rose. I looked down at my gloved hands and back to the mirror. I put on my mask, touching the silver dragons. I couldn’t even tell it was me behind the mask. I hoped Louie wouldn’t find me. I walked to Louie and Monty’s house since it was not far. The only downside was that the neighbors that spotted me all yelled out, hollered and commented, but they all knew where I was going. I was going to the hottest party of the summer.

At the door, a built man dressed in black stood quietly with a clipboard containing the list. It pained me to see him dressed the way he was, standing in the heat. He looked cool to me, surprisingly free of sweat. He glanced at the list after I said my name to him and he opened the door for me personally, something I didn’t see him do for the people before me.

Inside it was busy with people as far as my eyes could see. The decorations seemed too flowery for this party, but the way each person’s mask caught the light of the chandelier above made it all seem worthwhile. There was a soft yellow glow emitted from the candles scattered throughout the house. The music played so loud I could feel it pounding in my chest. People were packed around me, using what space they could to dance. In awe of them, I simply stared at all of those who wore the long extravagant gowns and held themselves in a pose with their partner without stumbling in their high-heeled shoes. They moved around swaying in such a way I felt that ghosts surrounded me, while only seeing their eyes behind their masks had me convinced they were not. I walked through the crowd unsure of where to go, when a hand tapped on my shoulder.

“I knew I’d find you.”

Instinctually I thought it was Pete, when I suddenly caught sight of the marvelous green mask that covered half of Monty’s face.

“How’d you find me so fast?” I found myself yelling over the music and the people.

“Your mask,” he pointed to his own as though unsure if I heard him or not. I nodded in response. “How are you doing? You need anything?” Before I could reply, a hand tapped his shoulder and he excused himself to talk to the masked person. He at last turned back to me. “Meet me on the balcony later,” he said and walked away.

I made myself comfortable eating appetizers and drinking my cup of fruit punch. Pete eventually spotted me in the crowd and called my name until I turned in his direction as he made his way to me. I saw the glimpse of a golden mask not far behind. He smiled and kissed my cheek at once. Apparently what happened a few days before didn’t bother him now as he gazed at me through his blue mask. He was probably just happy that I came.

“I’m glad to see you Chenille.”

He kissed by face again and this time wrapped me in his arms to dance. The face behind the golden mask studied me. Around me voices rose in commotion as Pete’s father entered. The people at the party appeared to know who he was, or at least his authority, because they all cleared the way for him. I looked up at Pete alarmed.

“What is your father doing here?”

“He’s meeting with my uncle, nothing important.” He assured me.

He held me a bit tighter and I closed my eyes, feeling the daggers from behind the golden mask settle on me from behind. When I opened my eyes, the golden mask disappeared in the crowd. Before I could utter a sigh of relief, the golden mask reappeared, this time in front of Pete’s father. They were talking. The golden mask nodded in my direction, no Pete’s, and Pete’s father glared in his direction with sudden fury. Someone called Pete’s name and before I knew it, he broke away from me to see why he was called.

“Chenille!” I heard my name just barely over everything around me and caught sight of Monty behind his green mask, gesturing for me to come.

I made my way through the crowd, stumbling over the long gowns that trailed on the floor. When I met up with Monty, he grabbed my hand without a word and led me through more people, up a winding staircase until we were at the French doors that led to the balcony. He took a key from his pocket to open the door. I was impressed. He obviously planned this. He opened both of the French doors and led me onto the balcony. We were alone with nothing but the warmth of the summer air on our backs.

“What’s all this?”

He still held my hand, saying nothing to me but pulled me to the banister. From this view, it felt like I could see everything from where I stood. The whole city seemed to play out below us and we were perched above it all.

“I wanted to show you this.”

“Why are you doing this?”

He shrugged. “I’ve never seen such a sight before. I thought you might like to see it too.”

“It’s very nice.”    

He reached behind his head to untie the ribbon that held the mask to his face to take it off. When he had done so, he placed his mask down and drew himself to me so close, so fast, that I just stayed frozen in place. He laughed in response. I hoped he could not see my embarrassment. Even with the mask covering half of my face, I was so sure he would not see the color pooling beneath it.

He reached behind my head to untie the black ribbon and stayed, fumbling with the string. Of course I knotted it too tight. I remained motionless while he did so, breathing his scent. He smelled like how Fitzray had in my dream. Perhaps he was nearby when I was dreaming. Perhaps I smelled him in the dream.

“You’re very quiet.” He remarked shyly, still manipulating the knot.

Shaking away my thoughts, I glanced up at him wondering why he had pursued the idea of potentially fighting with a knot. The very idea frustrated me.

“Why do you even bother,” I asked bluntly, wondering why he didn’t back away and give up.

“I almost got it.” I felt the pressure release from the back of my head as he stepped back, holding the mask by the ribbons. “Now look again.”

I did as I was told and could see the whole landscape below without the mask obstructing my view. I held onto the banister, still looking out. 

His hand touched my shoulder and I turned to face him. “I’ll be right back.”

Before he left me, his hand brushed the side of my neck. One of his fingers touched the chain of my necklace and he reached behind with his other hand to take it off. I took his hands in mine to stop him. I knew he didn’t like the necklace either. I knew he didn’t like what it represented. Respectfully he turned his head, heading inside. “That necklace is nothing but trouble,” he called, pausing to glance at me before he took another step.

I wondered if he was referring to the charm’s power or what it represented. I knew it was trouble if Louie was around.

“What trouble?” I called.

He paused to catch the childish cock of my head. When he saw me, he only shook his head and proceeded to walk inside.

“Chenille!”

I froze hearing the yell. I took a couple of steps in Monty’s direction and heard the yell again. Never had I heard my name said with so much power or fury before. Pete was in the doorway, the white shays blowing in the breeze beside him. His mask was off, uncovering hatred and so much anger that I cowered in his presence, something I had never done except in a dream. He rushed up to me and I stepped back, careful not to back up into the railing. I quickly put my hands up in defense.

“What’s wrong Pete, why are you so angry, so angry at
me
?” 

“Don’t act like you don’t
know
!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You told!”

“What?”

“You told! You told him! You told him about my eyesight! Traitor!”

“I don’t understand! I didn’t say anything to anyone!”

“Then how do you explain how my father knows? I told you-,“

“And Louie and Monty both know too,” I interrupted.

“And
you
told my father.”

“How do you know it was me?”

“He told me.”

“Your father told you it was me?”

“No, it was Louie!” I felt relief come over me, but his glare remained icy in my direction.

“What about Louie?”

“Louie told me you did it. Louie told me you told my father about my eyesight. It was you!”

“No, I didn’t tell! How could you believe Louie? How do you believe a word he says?”

His fists remained at his sides, his breathing heavy. I looked to Monty for support, wishing he would speak up and tell Pete that I was with him the whole time and that I was nowhere near his father.  Unfortunately he remained where he was, astonished by Pete’s rage, not wanting to interfere.

“Louie lied to you.” I said, anger surfacing in my tone of voice now, but I tried to appear as calm as possible. My face softened. “Don’t you trust me?” I pressed.

Louie emerged from behind the white curtain, his face exposed. The golden mask was in his hand at his side and he smiled at this. I knew he wouldn’t help me. I knew he had planned this. He hated to see me with his cousin so much that he told his uncle his son’s dreaded, dark secret. He must have told Pete’s father that I was the one who knew it all along and that I told him. His plot was to destroy our friendship and shifting my gaze away, I knew he had.

“It’s over!”

Pete’s hand wrapped around my silver dragons, his voice rang in my ears, playing back like a broken record. I remained stunned for as long as time would let me. His grip became tighter and he pulled the necklace toward him, straining the metal chain until it broke, pulling my neck with it. He looked down at the necklace, meaningless now, and back to me. I looked to Monty and Louie for help, finding that Monty was just as astonished as I was and Louie was still smiling, watching his plan succeed. I knew Pete had greater thoughts. His hard stare turned to the balcony.

“No. No,” I was whispering. I knew he could hear me. I knew he saw my face filled with desperation. “Spare my dragons,” I found myself saying, as though I had no control over my words, as though I was in a nightmare. I reached out to take it from him, but to my despondency, he pulled his hand out of my reach and turned away from me.

With a last glance down at the charm, he turned his harsh gaze back toward the balcony and threw it in that direction. It sailed over the balcony, out of my reach, and I launched to try to save it.

“No!” Through the drowned out voices, I was unsure if I had spoken or not.

“Chenille no!” It was Monty. He tried to stop me from diving for the precious charm, and when that failed, aimed to be my savior. “It’s just a stupid piece of silver!” he cried out.

This stupid piece of silver would cost me. Louie watched his plan make a turn for the worst. I knew he never wished
this
for me. But even his attempts would have failed, if he had even attempted at all, just because I knew they wouldn’t believe I would do such an insane thing. I jumped, reaching to get my charm and in doing so, sent myself into the balcony. I looked down, where my dragons were heading, and where I was heading, to my death below.

* * * * *

W
hen I woke up recovering from reincarnation, I found myself in the body known as the Queen of Catastrophe. I was alone, hooked up to monitors, probably that reported my brain activity in hopes for reincarnation. I was hooked up to IVs I assumed contained fluids for hydration and a combination of vitamins and minerals to keep my hair and skin healthy. The curtains in my room were a light snowy color, keeping out only a little bit of light, but the warmth felt nice. The room was an obvious basic white color, that of a hospital. The only thing that stood out in my room was the vase at my bedside. A heavy blue and white artistic vase held a bundle of multicolored flowers. I waited to feel my blood warm and the feeling came into my legs, so I stood up, detached the machines, and left my room. Surprisingly, no one had noticed me, though doctors buzzed around creatures with trauma, rushing from room to room. It was easy to leave without being noticed since Caspian wasn’t around or at least not in my sight.

I took a shortcut through the City, eager to get home. Even though I was at the palace in no time at all, I had taken more time to look at it, wondering what my fate would be when Pete confronted me. I walked to the door noticing how unkempt the gardens were, how the weeds were taking over and killing several climbing roses that wrapped around the columns in front of the palace.

I stepped into disturbing silence. There was no activity, nothing at all to report. A coat of dust would have convinced me that nothing had changed since I left, but everything was clean and in its place. Pete must have heard me stepping onto the marble floor with all of the silence, but it wasn’t he who appeared at the top of the staircase, it was Fitzray. He was not a boy, not my boy. He would always be the son of Luna Silver. He was a man now, the same age as I had seen him last when Pete threw him over the Bridge of Secrecy. His green eyes widened and he seemed lost for words.

  “Chenille?” I barely heard him, but I nodded in response.

“Who’s there Fitz?” Pete called.

Fitzray gave him no response, simply stared at me. Pete appeared at the top of the stairs, stood beside his brother starting to shake his head. He looked the same. He hadn’t changed since I left.

“Chenille. Chenille.”

He started to walk down the stairs slowly, smiling hesitant and then more boldly by the time he reached me. He embraced me, calmly held fast to my arms and rested his chin on my head. His grip only became softer and he stepped back to look at me, proceeding to guide me up the stairs to our room. Fitzray watched us cautiously as we disappeared down the hall, the door closing behind us.

Pete sat down beside me on the bed smiling. He threw his cape off onto the floor and pressed his hands to my shoulders. He edged slightly closer to kiss my forehead and released me. He leaned back into the pillows and shook his head still smiling, now starting to laugh. At first, I thought it was insanity, but then I realized he laughed playfully, something I had never heard before.

“I thought you were gone for good.” He remarked and started to laugh again. I didn’t find what he said funny at all.

He continued to laugh to an almost suspicious extent, being there was no need for his strange humor and I got up cautiously. I realized he smelled sweet and started to back away.

I was sure he had been drinking the juice of a plumeberry, a berry whose juice is abundant with the toxicity of the plume plant. Such juice causes numbness due to excessive release of endorphins and encouraging erratic, non-judgmental behavior. Too much of the juice could make someone pass out for a couple of hours and by then the toxins would have inflicted a lot of damage. An average plumeberry had enough toxicity to cause its victim to want more as well. People and creatures referred to it as the vampress poison flower because it possesses the effects of real vampire poison no vampress has.

Pete didn’t go completely off the edge, but it was plain to see that he was drunk from the stuff. I started to walk out of the room when he stopped me.

“Don’t let my behavior fool you. I’m just the same.”

I barely glanced back at him. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

I closed the door behind me and turned, hoping to see Fitzray in the hall. He wasn’t there. I walked quietly to his room, or at least what I assumed was his room. When I peered inside, I saw it was strangely dark. The heavy curtains kept any light from coming through. It was clean, which made it difficult to tell if it was one of the many guest rooms or not, but then I noticed a stack of hardbound books on the desk located in front of one of the dark curtained windows. When I stepped inside to investigate, the door closed, startling me. The only light that came from the hall was gone now.

I felt a grip on my arms and was harshly spun around to face what I could not see. I was positive it was Fitzray, now feeling his embrace and the repetition of kissing on my face.

I broke away from his grip to feel my way around the room until I saw a faint ripple in the wall suggesting a curtain. I pulled it aside to allow the light to flood into the room. I examined the books on his desk and then turned to a servant who knocked on the door.

“Dinner is ready,” she paused to curtsey, “my Queen.”

I turned back to Fitzray. “There are a lot of things I wanted to see.” I eyed the books again.

“You can see everything after dinner.” I considered not having dinner, even after Fitzray insisted.

I took my seat at the table with Fitzray and Pete. There was an awkward silence until Pete looked at me, compelled to speak.

“We need to have a meeting with our Allies. You know, one of those annual things. We are scheduled to leave in a couple of days.  I suggest you come with us, even though you’ve just recovered from reincarnation. It’s important that you meet our Allies.”

I hesitated and my eyes flew to Fitzray as though I instinctively searched for an answer from him, for his glance to assure me. His eyes were not directed toward me though, until the silence forced him to look at me curiously.

“You can come with us.” I could hear a hint of insistence in his voice. He wanted me to come and I didn’t blame them, either of them. I wasn’t even sure how long I had been away from them. They were uneasy inviting me, but what would I do at the palace alone?

“I’ll come.” I said quietly. Pete smiled to himself as he stared down at his food. He was pleased with me and I was glad I had agreed.

“I’ll have a servant pack some of your things.”

“That’s not necessary. I can do it myself.”

Pete looked up, stared at Fitzray for a moment as though telling him something. “You should get some rest then. You’ll need your strength before we set sail.”

“We’re traveling by boat?”

Fitzray nodded in response and then calmly put a hand on my shoulder. “Go on upstairs.” He insisted.

Without question, I did as I was told, retreated to my room. I rested, regained strength I had lost, and braced myself, awaiting to see the new world, and what the world had become in my absence.