The next morning, Meredith told Elodie to remain inside her room. Strictly warning her not to step out, not to cause any suspicion with her parents. She would have to explain why the Princess was in their house this early in the morning. Her head was spinning thinking of what lies to cover up for Elodie's presence.
As she sauntered to the living room, she found her mother and father walking outside the mansion with their Butler on their heels, carrying trunks in each hand. "Good morning, father, mother," she kissed them on their cheeks in greeting.
"Good morning, dear, how was your sleep?" Asked the stern-looking man, tall with his white beard and freckles. Eyes framed with antique oval-shaped eyeglasses. Dressed officially in his black suit attire.
"Very well, father. But where are the two of you heading this early? And the trunk? How long are you staying?" She curiously peered at them and then over their shoulders-where the Butler was loading the trunks in the carriage.
"Just some urgent matters that require our presence, but it is nothing to worry about. Look after your siblings and the house. We won't be back until the next two days." Explained her father. "Yes, father," replied Meredith, watching her father watching her with a look on his face as if he was suspecting something. Meredith held her breath. The old man raised his hand to press her shoulder before turning and entering the carriage.
Phew! She let out a silent breath and wiped her clammy hands on the sides of her dress.
"Mother, is everything alright? You look troubled," She diverted her attention to the woman before her. Her mother hugged her warmly. She then pulled away, tucking her daughter's hair behind her ear ever so gently. Meredith got her looks from her mother, auburn hair with blue eyes. But her freckles were from her father.
"Everything is alright, my love. Look after your siblings well." She smiled at her daughter. She was only a little girl a few years ago, running around the gardens and the house floors screaming, and now she was nineteen years old and, according to her parents, she was old enough to be entrusted with managing the entire household when they were away.
"I will, mother. I will look after everything. You have nothing to worry about." She promised, seeing her mother off. She let out a heavy sigh of relief after watching the carriage leave the premises. "Looks like God is on my side today." She murmured, heading inside with the Butler, who was dumbfounded at her words.
"Have my siblings woken up yet?" She asked, grabbing a strand of her hair and wrapping it around her pointer finger, playing around with it. "No, my lady. Should I wake them up now?" The Butler waited for her order. "No!" She blurted, making the Butler narrow his eyes at her odd behavior.
Meredith cleared her throat, "I mean, they have no session with their tutor today. And their horse riding session doesn't start until four in the morning. Let them have some more rest." She said with an authoritative tone. One that she used whenever her parents were not around.
"Yes, my lady. I will head to the kitchen to oversee today's housekeeping with the servants then. Call me if you need my assistance." He bowed slightly and then sauntered to the said kitchen, past the widely opened white mahogany glass double doors.
Meredith rubbed her chest, drawing deep breaths and releasing them. Nobody knew the Princess was around yet. And nobody had to know if her plans went right.
She shut her bedroom door and locked it. Jumped out of her skin to find Elodie wide awake, sitting on her bed with a fresh look and damp hair. "God, you are going to be the death of me, El." She rubbed her chest again, willing her drumming heart to calm down.
Elodie giggled, covering her mouth to muffle her voice, "Sorry. Why are you so anxious? Are your parents offended that I'm here? Wait here, I will go talk to them." Elodie rose to her feet, heading for the door. Not wanting to impose on her best friend any more than she already has.
"No!" Meredith held her wrist and yanked her back, causing her body to jerk and her eyes to widen in shock. "I mean, it is alright! Mother and Father are still up in their room, after all." She corrected her actions by letting go of her hand. But it was too late.
Elodie narrowed her eyes, searching for her face, "Are you okay? You are sweating, Mer." Meredith's hand shot out to wipe her forehead. She was indeed sweating, everywhere. "I-I'm just concerned about you…and…and the spell. Can we just get it over with?" She said suggestively, her face falling.
Elodie sighed and pulled her friend into her warm embrace, guilty of causing her so much worry. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mer. But you are right," she pulled away and rubbed her forearms, "we should get this over with. The quicker we do it, the better it will be for you and for me."
Meredith nodded with a smile, "I will go get the plants. Could you prepare things here? And please lock the door behind me." She said, grabbing her shawl and draping it around her shoulder. Elodie fixed her hair for her with a smile, "Of course. Go."
Meredith left the room, and Elodie let out another sigh, realizing just how much trouble she had brought to her best friend's door by coming here and asking her to participate in such a blasphemous thing. But she also knew she had no choice.
With another sigh, she started to move the chairs and the table away. She then folded and moved the rug to the side, too, and left the floor unoccupied. Once she had an open space, she was sweating profusely, and her hair was sticking to her face. She grabbed the spell book and a stone chalk from her bag, a chalk that was made from special magical elements which were rarely used.
Dropping down on her knees, setting the book at her front, she flipped the pages and began to draw a sigil on the floor. Her movements were swift but precise. As if she has been doing this her whole life.
A big circle with a pentagram inside it. Outside the circle, she drew the five elemental symbols: earth, air, spirit, water, and fire. She aligned each one of them with the direction of the pentagram points. And then she finished by drawing the infamous chaos sigil of the black portal in the middle of the pentagon. She then placed countless thin white candles around the big circle.
Once she was done, she stood up and admired her work with a satisfied grin. The sigil was the portal. And when done correctly, it was supposed to take someone exactly where they wished to go.
When Meredith returned to the room, she couldn't help admiring the sigil as well. The princess was perfect with everything. "It would've taken me at least an hour to get it right," Meredith uttered, placing down a basket of plants that she was hiding beneath her shawl. Mer was always impressed by the Princess's gift of drawing and painting without putting too much effort into it. It just came naturally for her.
Elodie chuckled and waved her off, "You are going to perfect it someday, even if I won't be here to see it." She encouraged her with a sad smile, with which Meredith returned with her own. She allowed herself a moment of feeling remorse for what she was about to do to her friend by hugging her.
"I'm going to miss you, Elodie." The poor Princess patted her friend lovingly on the back, "So will I." Elodie wiped her tears once they pulled back, and then they busied themselves by finishing the spell. There were some plants to mix for it to work.
After a while, they both drew down the curtains, which made the room dark, before they sat across from each other inside the circle sigil. Meredith has blank white paper in her one hand and a black quill in the other, "Where have you picked to ascend to?" she asked, her eyes looking everywhere but at her friend. The friend that she wasn't even guilty to shun away if it meant she could get a chance to have Prince Adrian-that if she played her cards right after the Princess was gone.
Elodie bit down on her lower lip in contemplation. She had thought about this for a while, and no matter how much she did, she couldn't find a better place she wanted to be like the nation where ice was their first representation. She always wished to visit the place, but her father would outright refuse her.
Saying it was far away from the Kingdom and not safe for her since their kingdoms weren't on good terms. But she couldn't find anywhere better than there. Somewhere where her father wouldn't dare to set a foot was quite promising to her. So, with so much finality and determination in her heart, she raised her head and opened her mouth, "Ice nation."
It was now that Meredith couldn't stop herself from glancing at Elodie with wide eyes, "Are-are you certain?" She couldn't understand why her friend would want to go to such a place. Where its people always freeze. No sun, even when it was summer.
Not that she was going to let her have her way with this anyway. She had a far better place for her since she wasn't ready to take a risk with Elodie. The Princess's fate was now in the palm of her hands, and she couldn't explain how excited that made her feel. Joyous that for once in her lifetime, she had an upper hand over her.
"Yes, yes, I am," Elodie replied with a warm smile. Unbeknownst to her, Meredith has some other plans for her in place. Evil intentions. "Alright," Meredith replied, smirking as she dipped the tip of the quill into a bowl that had a black mixture of the plants they had ground earlier.
She then started to write down on the paper. Elodie's complete name; Elodie Gilmore The third. Her age; 18. Her birth month; March. The date of departure; 31 December 1290. And lastly, it was the time to write the name of the place she wanted to go. Her eyes gleamed with pure evil as she noted down a place of her choice.
She then folded the paper, not letting Elodie see it. And then she placed it on the black portal sigil, which was in the middle of the pentagram. She then picked up a dagger, "Are you ready?" she asked with a fake concern on her face.
Elodie took a breath and then nodded. This was what she wanted, and it was finally happening. She outstretched her hand so that her palm was atop the folded paper. Meredith, on the other hand, grabbed her wrist with her free hand and cut her palm.