Strangely, my father didn't visit me that night. I wake up well-rested, vaguely remembering a nice dream in which I was flying above Prague, but that's about it. I stretch all my six limbs and give Erik and Gotrid a morning kiss.
"Nothing?" Erik asks curiously.
"Nothing," I shrug. "I guess they need time to discuss the matter. Who knows how the Divementis make decisions and whether my father is an absolute monarch or not."
We get dressed up and have breakfast as usual. My appetite returns a bit and I eat without being forced. Liana comes to check up on me about the night and when I tell her that nothing happened, she runs off to take care of the morning agenda.
"What time does she wake up anyway?" I ponder.
"At least an hour before us," Gotrid guesses. "Don't let it bother you, hon. She must go to sleep earlier than us because she has no obligations in bed."
"I hope that soon she will have," I sigh, annoyed that Soren is taking his sweet time in asking her out properly. "It's not obvious only to me, is it?"
"You mean Soren?" Gotrid chuckles. "Nope, the whole mansion has been gossiping and speculating about those two ever since we came here. It seems our otherwise sharp Viceroy is dumb when it comes to romance."
"I heard that Soren did try to ask her out once already," Erik recalls. "Liana misinterpreted it, though, so nothing happened."
"That dumb," I roll my eyes. "How do you know about it anyway? How come I didn't hear any rumours?"
"Nobody dares to gossip in front of their Emperor," Eriks smirks. "I heard it from Miruel who was guarding her that day."
I puff, annoyed that I miss all the fun stuff just because Celestials are too shy around me. When we finish breakfast, we attend yet another assembly. The debate is much more productive today because everybody had some time to process yesterday's revelation.
"Vermiel, I'm afraid that I can't manage another day without flying," I tell the Guard Captain after the assembly is over. "I haven't been able to fly for several days now and I'm reaching my limit. Prepare the flock, we're taking off in twenty minutes."
"Is that wise, Your Majesty?" Liana overhears us. "We should be safe inside the shield, but outside..."
"Air is the Celestial element, we're unsurpassed when flying," I interrupt her. "The Divementis are dangerous, but they can't do anything to us high in the sky. Besides, I'm seriously getting cramps in my wings, you can't keep me grounded any longer."
Liana resists sighing and nods, approving in the end.
"In twenty minutes then, I'll join you," she says and goes to change her clothes.
We return to our suite and I insist that the maids put my new armour on me instead of a much lighter sporty robe.
"We have to get used to flying with extra weight," I explain. "Our wings need to get stronger. Dalia, can you tell everyone who's going to accompany me to put on their armour as well?"
"As you wish, Your Majesty," Dalia bows and runs off to relay my message immediately so that everyone has time to dress accordingly.
When we gather in the inner courtyard, I'm happy to discover that everyone present is indeed wearing their armour. I think that the guards would do so even without my order, but the same can't be said for a few councillors who also decided to join me. They look uneasy wearing all that extra weight, but I don't feel like being benevolent today. Their wings need to get stronger, it's for their own good.
We fly up and most Celestials get anxious when we leave the safety of the shield. They quickly conjure their own personal shields, but everybody truly relaxes only when we reach the clouds. Nobody feels like playing an aerial game, though, which is understandable given the circumstances.
They would like to let me fly to my heart's content, but it's obvious that flying in the armour is quickly depleting their stamina. Naturally, the guards are in a much better shape than politicians, but when even Gotrid begs me to land, out of breath, I mercilessly comply.
However, as we're descending, I suddenly feel that something is off. I'm not sure what that something is, but I decide to stop the flock anyway.
"WAIT!" I shout the command using both my voice and my telepathy.
"Love? Is something wrong?" Gotrid gets startled because he can't feel anything.
I take a deep breath and momentarily close my eyes to focus better. If there were monsters nearby, others would be able to feel them as well. Maybe there's a rift opening further away? Still, I get nothing, so it can't be a new rift.
"DESCEND SLOWLY," I shout another command.
As we get closer to the ground, my uneasiness only grows. It's as if something is hiding from my senses and I mean both my telepathy and eyes. We descend even further and the mansion below us starts to be visible. At first glance, nothing seems amiss. The mansion is there and the shield is intact.
Yet, it's as if there's a void below me. It's as if something is hiding right in front of our noses and we just can't see it. I recall the time when I met my father at the New York conference. I noticed him only because I noticed a significant lack of something. I focus hard on that ambiguous feeling and, to my surprise, I start to recognise it. It's not a void after all, it's a Divementis mental shield.
I try to see with my mind rather than my eyes and the ease of that surprises me. It's the same as when I became suddenly able to see my father's real formâa matter of not believing in an illusion and giving things a fresh unbiased perspective.
Themoment my thinking shifts, I can finally see it. There's a huge Divementiscruiser silently hovering above the mansion.