Chapter Twenty Seven

The Crown Princess of Exon

Author's Note: As I write and upload this chapter, do note that a sequel titled "The Empire of Exon" is in the works, and it's shaping up to be the biggest challenge yet. Bigger, better and more explosive in every way. But for now, do try and remember a little bit about the backstory of Deirdre. It's going to play a huge part in the next novel!

ELSA

Elsa could hardly believe her ears. Deirdre was the Crown Princess of Exon? Wait… "Was?"

"The Kingdom of Exon had a very radical stand against magic." Holli explained. "It was something that had been passed down for generations. They viewed sorcery and special abilities as a curse and something to be shunned. But Deirdre wasn't born with her powers. She led a relatively normal life of a princess, loved by her parents and having a common rivalry with her sister. When she was eleven, she was kidnapped by a cult of dark wizards who knew exactly who she was. They demanded an exorbitant sum from the King and Queen to have their heir returned safely.

"What Deirdre's parents did not know was that even after they had agreed to pay the ransom, the wizards cursed Deirdre with elemental powers out of spite. The young Princess knew that she could never reveal her powers to anyone, including her parents, for fear of being cast out. She isolated herself from the world, keeping to her library and room in the castle for most of her days to prevent herself from getting into any accidents."

Elsa nodded grimly. This part she could relate to. After all, she had lived most of her life trying to hide her magic from the world. But at least she had her parents to support her while they were alive, which is where she and Deirdre differed. That must have been extremely hard on her.

"So," Holli continued. "For the next six years, she hid her secret out of shame and fear, but on her seventeenth birthday, her younger sister discovered that Deirdre had powers, and exposed her to their parents. That was when Deirdre's life began to really spiral out of control.

"Shocked, the King and Queen decided to deny Deirdre the right to the throne. Out of fear of sorcery, they quietly arranged for their own daughter to be drugged and taken far away from Exon to be institutionalized in a foreign country. Her secret was kept from the public, and it became common knowledge that the Crown Princess had passed away and her sister was the new heir apparent. Meanwhile, far away from Exon, Deirdre was kept as a lab rat for various experiments on enhanced humans. That was where she lost all hope.

"Two years later, the Pilgrim and Prometheus infiltrated the institution and freed Deirdre from her prison. She burnt down the entire laboratory and escaped together with her liberators. The Pilgrim extended an invitation for her to join the League as the first member of the Elemental Sorcerers. Deirdre, having nowhere else to go and refusing to return to Exon out of hurt, gratefully accepted the offer and abandoned her past identity as the Crown Princess of Exon. Embracing her new mantle as the First Elemental Sorcerer, she became a ruthless sorceress and the Pilgrim's favourite, hence the reason why she was chosen to be trained as the Pilgrim's Apprentice."

"That…that's horrible." Elsa had her hands clasped over her mouth, eyes watering as she listened to the increasingly tragic story. But it wasn't just a story. It was Deirdre's life. First it had been Janus she had learnt about, and now Deirdre too.

"Yeah, but it gets worse." Holli continued. "Things were going great for Deirdre, having finally found her place beside the Pilgrim in the League of Sorcerers. But that all changed when the Pilgrim set her sights on you. Deirdre was cast aside and forgotten, just like she had been by her own parents. That must have triggered something in her, seeing you as how she saw her sister: someone to replace her yet again. And that's probably why she hates you so much."

"I-" Elsa paused to swallow the lump in her throat. "I didn't know."

"That's not your fault. No one really knew. Except me and a few others of course." Holli said sympathetically.

"I'm so sorry." Elsa said softly. "I never knew that there were others like me, with far more painful pasts. I thought I had it bad, until I met all of you. I'm sorry, what happened to so many of you… it's just wrong."

"And that's why you're the best person to make it up to Deirdre." Holli got up. "Even though she hates you and all, but you have the best chance of reaching out to her since in some weird way she sees you as a parallel to her sister."

"I will." Elsa stood up, placing the clothes back on the chair. "You go on ahead for breakfast. I'm going to go see if Deirdre is still in her room and try to talk to her."

It took all the mustering of Elsa's courage to walk over to Deirdre's room, and even then she hesitated as she brought her hand up to knock on the door. She pulled back for an instant. Deirdre was going to be furious to see her archenemy outside her door first thing in the morning. But it had to be done, Elsa thought as she pursed her lips. She had to at least try to make things right between Deirdre and herself. If she could try to make Deirdre see that she was not her rival or enemy, then maybe the fiery sorceress would take one step towards healing her deep seated emotional wounds. Even though Deirdre had almost killed Anna, which made Elsa exceedingly angry, this was still something she had to do now that she knew about the tormented sorceress' past.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked steadily on the door of Deirdre's room.

"What?" Deirdre grunted from inside her room.

"I just came to talk." Elsa said.

Silence. Then the door opened, and a sour face peeped out. A look of surprise was there and gone in an instant.

"What do you want?" Deirdre growled.

"Like I said, I just came to talk."

Deirdre sized her up and down disdainfully, and went back into her room, the door left open. Elsa cautiously stepped into the room and instantly could smell something burnt, and saw that the walls of the room were charred. She guessed that the fiery sorceress had taken to venting her anger on the walls quite often, as almost every inch of the walls was covered in black soot and flaking off.

She turned her attention back to Deirdre who was leaning against a chair, staring at her suspiciously. Taking a deep breath, she decided that it was now or never. "I ummn…" Elsa began. "Came to ask you if you were hurt last night. During…you know-"

"No," Deirdre crossed her arms. "I wasn't. Is that all you came to say?"

"Actually no. I came to apologize." Elsa said.

"Apologize?" Deirdre narrowed her eyes.

"I know you threatened my sister back in Srevnjor, and I was angry. But I guess I shouldn't have confronted you in front of everyone else. It's been a tough couple of days and I lost my temper last night." Elsa admitted. "So on my part, that was on me. I'm sorry, Deirdre."

The fiery sorceress arched her eyebrows. "Huh. I hope you're not expecting an apology."

"Not really, no."

Deirdre scoffed humourlessly. "Then that's all?"

"I know about Exon. The wizards' curse." Elsa continued. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Deirdre's eyes widened. "Who-who told you that?"

"It doesn't matter who-"

"Was it Holli?"

Elsa nodded slowly. "But it's not her fault."

"That tiny pipsqueak can't stop running her mouth." Deirdre growled. "I'll show her…"

"Deirdre!" Elsa said loudly to get her attention again. "It wasn't her fault. She just wanted to help you. And so she told me."

"And why would she tell you of all people?"

"Because she knows that you feel like I took your place." The second part Elsa said more quietly. "Just like how your sister took your place and left you with nothing."

"You're not supposed to know that. No one's supposed to." Deirdre dropped her eyes in embarrassment.

"Look, it doesn't matter. I know now." Elsa said firmly. "And I just want to say, I'm sorry. What happened to you was just horrible, and I never wanted to be the Pilgrim's Apprentice. That's on her. I'm a prisoner here, just like everyone else."

"Not all of us are prisoners here." Deirdre replied, her tone a lot less hostile than before. "For some of us, the League is all we know. It's our home." Elsa knew that Deirdre had most likely been brainwashed along with most of the others, like Jade and the rest of her friends, but maybe…just maybe there was a chance to free all of them. Maybe.

"I can't pretend to know what your life must have been like before we met." Elsa admitted. "But I'm just offering you my apologies…and another chance at friendship. We don't have to be enemies, you know."

"But…" Deirdre glanced at her but avoided eye contact. "I tried to kill your sister."

"I admit, I'm having trouble looking past that, but I'm trying." Elsa stretched out her hand. "But if I'm trying, then maybe you can try too. I'm not your enemy."

Deirdre paused, looking at her hand and back at Elsa. Reluctantly, she reached out and shook Elsa's hand. "I guess I'm sorry too about last night. It's just that I hate sisters." She mumbled under her breath.

"After what yours did to you. I know." Elsa said sympathetically. "That's horrible. But my sister isn't evil, cunning or cruel. In truth, she's better than all of us put together."

"She does sound nice." Deirdre muttered. She sounded a lot less sullen, which was a good sign. "I'm sorry about how I treated you, especially last night. Wasn't fair."

"All's forgiven," Elsa gave her a small smile.

Deirdre's lips crept upward slightly in what appeared to be a tiny grin, and Elsa's spirits lifted a little. Maybe things were starting to look up.