One would think that after growing up among the imperial family, Blaze would be immune to the grandeur of their court. But it had been a long time since Blaze lived in the main palace, and everytime she visited she barely resisted the urge to stare. It hadn't changed much in the past years. The same pure whites and ruby reds adorned the walls and furniture, accented with pink and gold, the colors of the sunrise. The same red, gold, and white uniforms were worn by every guard. The paintings were gone; too painful a reminder, she supposed. She could understand the sentiment, but it made the palace feel harsher without the cool greens and blues to break up the unending red.
Gardon walked at her side, attentive as always. Blaze reminded herself to thank him later for trusting her so implicitly about Black. Close at Blaze's other side, the aforementioned wolf kept his head down, his ears pinned back with clear discomfort as they were escorted to the throne room doors. Black's hands fiddled with his sleeves, and he jumped at every loud sound. Blaze almost considered telling him to wait outside with Gardon, but he'd already agreed to come, and she knew the empress would demand to see him anyway. Best to get it over with quickly.
Taking a deep breath, Blaze nodded at the guards, and they pushed the doors open. She strode through, careful not to show her nervousness, and raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight. On the other side of the door was a sunny pavilion, alived, of course, to welcome in the maximum of morning sun. Black trailed through the door after her, shoulders hunched and tail low. Gardon waited outside—or rather, inside—with the other guards.
The "throne room" was in practice more of a back porch to the palace. Though sturdy curtains could be drawn if more privacy or a break from the elements was needed, usually its sides were open to let in the cool ocean breeze. A pointed gold roof protected everyone inside from the bright sun, supported by red pillars, while beneath was a carefully swept wooden floor, raised on stilts above the ground below and surrounded by elegant railings. At the far end of the pavilion was the woven silver throne. It was accented in gold, like most of the palace, but it was also set with blue gems that contrasted the hot colors of the other seats. The gaps in the throne's woven mesh were filled with blue-tinted glass that caught and magnified the sun's light. A rapier with a silver-blue blade and a gold handle hung diagonally from the back of the throne.
The empress's advisors were seated to either side of her in plush red chairs, much more comfortable looking than the cold metal throne. Several small tables sat beside each seat, most of them with glasses and jugs of water resting on top. To either side of the door Blaze had just stepped through were more plush seats, these intended for visitors. Blaze opted to stand instead.
"{Guardian Cahya,}" Dwi addressed in Indonesian, her voice carrying over the pavilion with practiced dignity. She was wearing a long, slim black dress with gold accents, a gold belt, and a purple choker. A silver crown with a blue jewel in its center rested on her head, and matching silver rings hung from her ears. A white cape with gold accents and a green broach completed the ensemble. She looked every bit an empress. "{What brings you here?}" As if she didn't already know.
Blaze bowed, trying not to show her irritation. She straightened and raised her voice to address everyone in the pavilion. "{The Sol Emeralds vanished without explanation before sunrise, Your Majesty.}" There were several gasps and murmurs from the advisors, but Blaze kept her eyes on the empress. "{The moment they vanished, this wolf appeared in their place.}" Blaze gestured to Black, who lowered his head as the gazes of everyone in the room turned on him. His markings had shifted to an aggravated red. Blaze tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he didn't meet her gaze.
"{You did not tell me of this earlier,}" the empress said, voice sharp with irritation.
"{My apologies, empress.}" Blaze bowed again. "{I wished to question him myself before intruding on your time. He says he has no memories, and…}" she looked at Black. "{…I am inclined to believe him.}"
One of the advisors scoffed. "{How do you know he didn't steal the Emeralds? A stranger appears at the same time the Emeralds are lost, claiming he has no memory? It's far too convenient to be believed.}"
"{Why would he remain at the scene of his crime?}" Blaze argued. "{The Emeralds are not here; I can feel them, far away. How do you suggest Black took them that far, while he remained here?}"
"{Perhaps he had an accomplice,}" another advisor suggested.
"{What if he's a spy from the other world, come to steal the Emeralds?}" someone else said worriedly. "{He's certainly too short to be a Solian.}"
"{I saw the Sol Emeralds leave,}" Blaze pointed out, tail lashing impatiently. "{No one else was there but me and Marine, and she was asleep. I or the temple guards would have noticed had someone else intruded in my room. There is something more going on here than a simple theft.}" Tamping down her frustration, Blaze knelt before the empress, bowing her head respectfully as she finally spoke her request. "{With your permission, empress, I will leave in search of the Emeralds, and in search of answers.}"
"{No.}"
Blaze looked up, eyes widening. "{No?}" she echoed, dumbfounded.
It was one thing for Ebon—for the empress to claim the Sol Emeralds weren't their concern in a private conversation, but another entirely for her to publicly deny their guardian permission to do her duty. But looking at Dwi's face, it was clear Blaze hadn't misheard. Her expression was icy.
"{No. I do not give you my permission.}"
The advisors whispered amongst themselves, clearly as taken aback as Blaze.
"{You said yourself you do not think the Emeralds were stolen. Do you believe they are in the hands of someone else?}"
"{No,}" Blaze admitted reluctantly, unsure where this was going. "{They feel distant, but not like they are being abused.}"
"{Are they threatened?}"
Blaze's mouth drew into a thin line.
The empress looked down on her coldly. "{Then there is no reason to pursue them. As long as they are not being used by those who might threaten us, those relics are of no concern. I do not need you stirring up more trouble for our empire, princess.}"
Blaze bristled, anger burning hot in her chest. "{I am not intending to 'stir up trouble', empress. What I ask is permission to do my duty, what I have been trained to do.}" What you trained me to do, she wanted to say, but didn't.
"{Your duty, Cahya, is to prepare yourself for the throne,}" the empress snapped back. "{Your duty is to your people first, and what your people need is a future empress, not a collection of glowing rocks that cause nothing but pain!}" The empress's voice rose at the last word, her temper breaking through the cracks in her carefully regal facade.
The hot anger was growing in Blaze's chest like a wildfire waiting to be unleashed. "{The Emeralds have always worked to protect us! They cannot be blamed for our problems!}"
"{Can't they?}" Dwi growled. She was standing now, tail lashing as she and Blaze glared at each other. Old rage, built up over years of repression, filled the air between them, hot and blinding, muddling thought till all that remained was scathing words and bared teeth. "{Do you remember why I sit on this throne, child?}"
"{Your Majesties,}" one of the advisors (Aurora, a distant part of Blaze's mind recognized) interjected, her voice soft and calm and falling on deaf ears. "{Perhaps we should take a recess to think over Guardian Cahya's request—}"
"{They didn't kill her!}" Blaze yelled. Fire was flaring around her, but she couldn't make it stop, years of anger and frustration surging in her chest. She would not stand by while her aunt slandered the Sol Emeralds—
"{Then tell me, who did!?}" Dwi shouted back.
Abruptly the rage building in Blaze's chest broke, and she stumbled back. The flames died, and for a moment she and Dwi stared at each other. Something painful twisted across Dwi's face, and she started to speak, but Blaze didn't listen. She spun around and stormed out of the pavilion. Gardon was saying something, but he sounded far away. Blaze ran through the palace, the colors blurring around her, and out into the fresh air. She didn't stop running until she heard the gurgling of water and the faint music of Fairies. Only then did she finally collapse onto the cool grass, struggling to breath. Her vision blurred, and furiously she swiped at her eyes.
Who did? The words echoed in her mind, and she snarled, digging her fingers into the grass, trying to drive the question from her mind. Now was not the time, she couldn't stop, she couldn't let the pain and the guilt and the grief catch up—
Something warm nuzzled against her with a low, rumbling sound almost like a purr. Blaze scrubbed her eyes clear and looked up to see the Ifrit looming over her. They weren't the most emotive creature, but she thought she read concern in the way they cocked their horned head.
"{I'm fine,}" she muttered wearily. The tempest of emotions within her was dying down amidst the soft gurgling of the water and the chirping of the Fairies.
Blaze took a deep, steadying breath and sat up. Around her was a lush stepped garden, abundant with the flowers the Fairies loved. The Fairies themselves, looking like indistinct balls of light, bobbed among the plants. At the garden's center and highest point was a red pavilion, big enough for the Ifrit to curl up inside. Around the pavillion was a moat of clear water, which fed the seven channels that ran all the way down to the larger moat the surrounded the entire space. An elegant bridge was the only path in and out of the garden.
Blaze hadn't consciously decided to come to the Jeweled Scepter's shrine, but it was a good place to deal with any unruly emotions away from prying eyes. It was sheltered from the rest of the palace compound by a grove of fruit trees on one side, while on the other was the ocean. It was a beautiful, tranquil place.
"{Are you alright, guardian?}" a soft voice asked.
Blaze exhaled and climbed to her feet. She smoothed out her tailcoat and turned to see the tender of the shrine, an orange betta in priestess's clothes, standing on the bridge and looking at Blaze with concern. "{I'm fine, Coral. I'm sorry for intruding.}"
Coral didn't look convinced, but she seemed to accept Blaze wasn't going to talk about it and let the subject go. "{You're never intruding.}"
Blaze returned the smile. "{Thank you, Coral.}"
Coral crossed the bridge into the garden and knelt, letting the Fairies play in her hands, while Blaze sat back down in the grass, letting herself breathe. The sleep she'd missed the night before was catching up with her. Beside her the Ifrit huffed and stirred, shifting like they couldn't get comfortable. Their fiery tail lashed restlessly, though they were careful not to hit any of the smaller beings around them. The Fairies played around their protector's feet, singing happily with voices almost too small to hear.
"{The Ifrit seems restless,}" Blaze observed.
"{They woke up before sunrise,}" Coral told her, tail fin twitching anxiously as she watched the Ifrit fold and unfold their wings, curling their neck back to sniff at the sky. "{They've been restless ever since.}" She glanced at Blaze. "{Did something happen last night?}"
"{The Sol Emeralds disappeared,}" Blaze told her bluntly.
Coral straightened. "{Do you think they were stolen, like the Scepter?}"
Blaze shook her head. "{No, they weren't taken. I saw them leave.}" She huffed out a frustrated breath. "{But I don't know where they were going, or why they left.}"
Coral looked at her sympathetically, then turned her gaze to the Ifrit again. "{At least that explains their restlessness. First the Jeweled Scepter, now the Sol Emeralds. It's… troubling, isn't it?}"
That was an understatement. "{I don't suppose you've come up with any ideas where the Jeweled Scepter might have been taken?}"
Coral shook her head. "{If it was stolen by pirates, we'd know by now, don't you think? It was taken so easily, it's almost as if…}" she trailed off and bit her lip.
"{As if someone in the palace compound took it,}" Blaze finished for her, and Coral nodded reluctantly. Blaze sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "{That's what I was afraid of.}"
The Ifrit rumbled, swinging their head around to nose at Coral. Once they had her attention, they pointed their head toward the sea. Coral frowned, wrinkling her brow.
"{What is it?}" Blaze asked, leaning forward.
Coral hesitated. "{They say… I think they're saying the Scepter is beyond the sea. But that doesn't make sense, does it?}"
"{Nothing can be beyond the sea!}" An all-too-familiar voice declared loudly in heavily accented Indonesian.
Blaze and Coral whirled around to see Marine charging across the bridge. Trailing after her were Gardon, Black and, surprisingly, Aurora, the empress's echidna advisor. Blaze felt a twinge of guilt as she remembered she'd left Black behind in the throne room. She'd have to apologize for her outburst later.
"{Nothing can be beyond the sea,}" Marine repeated as she joined them, crossing her arms imperiously. "{The sea's endless. Everyone knows that.}"
"{Not necessarily,}" Aurora said, her voice soft and calm as always. Blaze remembered that tone well from the years she'd spent being tutored by her. "{Some stories say there's a land that lies beyond the ocean.}"
Marine scoffed. "{That's ridiculous! Right, Blaze?}"
Blaze and Aurora exchanged looks.
"{Maybe,}" Blaze said noncommittally. "{Was there something you needed, Aurora?}"
"{Just your time,}" Aurora said. She gestured towards the beach. "{Walk with me, Your Highness?}"
Blaze stood and brushed the grass off her clothes. "{Of course.}"
She followed Aurora down to the shore, leaving the others to listen to Marine as she enthralled them with a tale of some famous sailor or other. Their voices faded in the background, drowned out by the shushing of the waves.
"{What did you want to talk about?}" Blaze asked once they were out of earshot.
"{I heard you've been researching our history,}" Aurora said. The sea breeze rustled her pink quills, blowing them across blue eyes as she looked at Blaze. "{From the time before the empire.}"
Blaze nodded hesitantly, unsure if she was in trouble or not. Even four years after she'd stopped being Aurora's student, she still struggled not to think of her as her teacher. "{Yes. I… had some questions after my last visit to the other world.}"
"{Did you find any answers?}"
Blaze hesitated. "{Some,}" she said evasively. "{But mostly it's just old myths.}" I hope it's just old myths.
Aurora smiled. "{Well, all stories are rooted in what was once truth.}"
"{Aurora,}" Blaze blurted out, unable to stop herself. "{Is it true you came from beyond the sea?}"
Aurora didn't answer for a long while, instead looking out over the ocean. Her white and gold robe fluttered in the wind. Blaze waited, wondering if she had overstepped. Finally Aurora turned back to her.
"{I know there is a land beyond the ocean,}" she said, and Blaze sucked in a breath. "{It's a harsh land, and there is a reason we have forgotten it. But if you want answers, that is where you must go.}"
"{How do you know?}"
Aurora didn't answer.
They walked back to the others in silence, and Blaze thought Aurora was going to leave without saying anything more when Aurora took her arm. She looked Blaze in the eye, expression intense. When she spoke, it was in the old Echidna language she'd taught Blaze as a child. A language the others wouldn't understand. "{If you go, Your Highness, it will be a dangerous journey. You must be prepared.}" She let go of Blaze's arm and her eyes shifted to Black, who was crouched in the shade of the pavilion while Marine used him as an elbowrest. He didn't seem to mind. Aurora looked back at Blaze. "{Watch the wolf closely. There is more to him than you know.}"
Blaze only nodded.
Aurora smiled at her, the expression strangely melancholy, and switched back to Indonesian. "{Good luck, Your Highness. Please return safely.}" Then she turned and walked away.
"What was that about?" Marine demanded in English.
"She was just giving me advice," Blaze answered vaguely.
Marine squinted at her for a moment, then shrugged and continued regaling Black with tales of her adventures—and unlike most of Marine's audience, he actually seemed to be listening past the first ten minutes. Few people had that kind of patience with Marine's chatter. Blaze watched with a fond smile, then looked out towards the sea. Somewhere beyond the horizon, the ocean ended. Somewhere beyond the horizon lay a land Blaze had never seen. If you want answers, that is where you must go.
Out there was the Sol Emeralds.
Out there was the Jeweled Scepter.
Out there was answers.
Blaze looked over her shoulder. The palace loomed over the trees behind her like a watchful dragon. The empress had forbidden her to leave. But her duty as guardian was to protect the Emeralds, no matter what. What was she first? Princess or guardian? Blaze, be careful. Take care of him. That had been the last thing the Emeralds said to her. Never had she been without them by her side, warm and fierce and always ready to leap to her aid.
Blaze drew herself up. Her hands balled into fists at her sides, fire crackling around them. Even if it meant treason, she would find the Sol Emeralds. She would bring them home. Whatever it took.