Elyon's POV

Chapter nine

I left Cornelia alone and went to the throne hall. I walked fast, afraid I might be too late when I come back. The thought of being too late made me run. I opened the big doors that were sealing the throne room. Once I was in, I thrust my necklace in the air. I placed my arms in its direction, palms up, and concentrated. I thought of the Heart of Candracar. The necklace, instead of falling, stayed still in the air. It shimmered with white light, and opened a light beneath it. Standing in the light, was Will.

"Hey, Elyon," She said once she knew the calling was from me. "What's wrong?"

"Um," I really should have thought of a speech. "Did you guys find the demon yet?"

"Nope," Irma said, appearing from behind her. "But we did find an apple."

Taranee appeared behind her, and elbowed her in the ribs.

"No," Will replied. "Why?"

"Well," I had no idea how I should break this to them. Cornelia owes me. "You guys wouldn't have happened to run over the cure, did you?"

"Um," Will said. "No, why do you need the cure. I thought you said there's no one in the suffering area."

"No, actually," I was thinking of something that might not involve Cornelia. Even though I know it was going to slip out soon. "There's still one more in that area."

"Who?" Hay Lin popped in. "And when?"

"Um," this was the moment of truth. "She really doesn't like to talk about it."

"She?" Caleb joined in. Caleb, uh-oh. Cornelia's gonna hate me for this.

"Yeah," I said. "She."

Seeing my disturbance and discomfort, Hay Lin said, "Elyon, what's wrong? Is it one of the maids?"

"Worse," I said, it's the moment of truth.

I took a deep breath.

"It's… Cornelia," I stared into their eyes, biting my lower lip, waiting for their reaction. The first thing they all did was widen their eyes, and gape at me. The first one to speak was Will.

"What?" she asked stupidly.

"If this is a joke," Irma said. "It's not funny. And I know what funny is."

"Elyon," Taranee said, blinking furiously. "What do you mean? If that were true, she would have told us."

"And she would have told us soon," Will said, so angry herself. "And yet she managed to tell you. Are you two secretly seeing each other so that she told you a week ago or something?"

"Guys," I said, trying to keep my calm. "Please, calm down. This is exactly why she didn't tell you."

"Calm down?" Taranee said ridiculously. "Calm down? Why shouldn't she tell us? Why didn't she trust us? And when did she tell you?"

"Oh," I said, folding my arms across my chest. "She told me about five minutes ago. And if you guys don't calm down, she'll regret the thought of telling me in the first place."

They all took a deep breath, and focused on calming down.

"Alright," Will said, following my advice. "When did that happen?"

"She said it was three days ago," I replied. "That means we still have time," – seeing Taranee's expression, I had to add – "we do have time, right?"

"Well," Taranee said, being all scientific. "I've been doing a little research. And the moment of death depends on how many mixed up emotion she has. My guess is not so much, since she has us sticking up for her."

I nodded, digesting that. But what if she had more mixed up emotion than we think? What if she was the strongest link to the knife? I didn't want to say what if.

"We have to hurry," Will said suddenly. "And find the cure. We'll contact you when we find it."

I nodded. The light under my necklace disappeared, and my necklace fell into my hand. I pulled it back on, and went to where I had left Cornelia.

I walked through the palace halls, admiring every painting, every portrait. When I reached the hall where I left Cornelia, I called out her name.

"Corny?" I yelled. "Corny, where are you? Please don't tell me you decided this time to live on a deserted island to escape humiliation."

Once she didn't answer with her usual laugh, I became serious.

"Corny?" I tried one more time. "Cornelia, I'm serious. Where are you?"

I entered a small hallway, and found something lying on the floor.

"Corny?" I asked as I walked toward the figure. Once I was closer, I realized that it was Cornelia lying on the floor, trembling and sweating.

"Cornelia!" I said, running towards her. "Corny! Wake up. Cornelia please wake up!"

I kept shaking her shoulder. I was afraid to touch her. Yet afraid not to. I laid my hand on her throat and checked for a pulse. There was one, but I barely heard it from Cornelia's ragged gasps.

"Cornelia, please get up!" I pleaded, my eyed filled with tears.

"Anyone help me! Please, is anyone there?"

A maid came running into the room. "What's wrong, queen Elyon?"

"Help me take her to the sofa," I said, pulling her arm around my shoulder. "We have to get her to wake up."

The maid hurried towards me. She took Cornelia's other arm, and we pulled her onto the nearest sofa. We set her on the pillows gently, and the maid ran to get some water. I kept on shaking her, calling her name, trying to wake her up. She didn't seem unconscious to me, though. Her eyes were half open, and she makes a small movement every once in a while.

The maid came back with a towel and a bucket of water with a large spoon in it. We tried keeping her cool by placing the towel of water on her forehead. She came around after a while, but she was still shaking and sweating so much.

"E-Elyon," She said, trying to catch her breath.

"Yes, Cornelia," I replied, my eyes streaming with tears. "I'm here. I'm here, Corny."

"T-The cut," She panted. "The c-cut, E-Elyon."

"The cut?" I asked. When she tried to move her hands on her shoulder, I understood. I pulled her blond hair way from her left side of the neck. The Band-Aids were bright red, and blood was streaming down her arm. I carefully lifted the Band-Aids of her neck. A crescent-shaped cut started from the center of her neck, and went to the side of her neck, descending down until it reached her shoulder, and a little space in her arm. Blood was leaking from every corner.

"Oh my God," I said with a gasp. "Cornelia, what happened to you? The cut…it's huge."

"It must have grown," She whispered. A stream of blood went down her mouth, until it reached her chin.

"Get me a towel," I told the maid. "Get me two towels."

The maid quickly got up, and went to the kitchen. She was back in two minutes, carrying two towels in her hand. She placed a towel on her mouth, and wiped the blood that was coming out. I pressed the other towel on her cut, and patted it gently to rub away the blood.

We stayed like this for ten minutes, my eyes getting more blurry with every tear. My necklace suddenly shimmered, glooming with white light. Will. I got up from where I was sitting on my knees on the floor, and when to the end of the room. I wiped away all I can from the tears, and tried pulling myself together. I pulled the necklace in front of me, and the light appeared again. Will was standing in the middle of the others, looking like she's got bad news.

"Elyon?" She said, her face filled with concern as she saw me. "What's wrong? What happened? Is everything okay?"

"No," I confessed. "Everything is not okay. Where are you guys? Have you found a cure yet? What's taking you so long?"

"Elyon," Hay Lin said. "Can you please calm down and tell us what happened?"

"She's getting worse," I said, my eyes streaming with tears. "She can't breathe, the cut's getting bigger, and she doesn't stop bleeding. Do you think you guys can hurry up a little?"

"Well," Taranee said, apparently trying to calm down from what she just heard. "We found out that if there is no cure at all, the only thing left to do is destroy the knife, and let its dust fall on the victim. And the only way to get the knife is to find the demon."

"Well don't you stand there," I said. "Go. Now!"

They suddenly disappeared, and I was left alone. Remembering Cornelia, I ran towards her. I held her cold, pale hand, and cried a tear with every single ragged breath she took.