Thawing His Heart

Nuala walked side by side with her brother through an impossibly large hallway. She wondered if the Orikal purposely made the trip to see him impossibly long so that people would get nervous and turn around. She assumed it happened often since she wanted to turn around herself.

They finally walked into a huge room at the end of the hall. Nuala was glad Richella had picked out a blue dress for her to wear because the room was white from ceiling to floor. She was sure the white dress would have looked yellow in here. There was a glow about the room that made you feel like you weren’t real, but it was pleasantly warm. There was a man beaming at them from the other side of the room. They both quickly took a knee and waited for the man to speak to them.

“I thought I was losing my touch when I saw you coming to me. It has been eons since a member of the royal family came to me and now I get the pleasure of an audience with two” the Orikal spoke. It was obvious he was scolding them for staying away.

“I have a very important question to ask of you eminent one, if it be pleasing to you” Nuada quickly added the last part. He was out of practice addressing a person of higher rank.

“And if it’s not pleasing to me?” the Orikal answered as he stepped down from his pedestal.

Nuada froze and felt his heart drop into his stomach. He hadn’t exactly considered the fact that he might not get an answer. Half of him wanted to beg and the other half wanted to beat it out of the Orikal, but he knew both were guaranteed to get him nothing. He desperately looked at his sister hoping she would say something to put the Orikal back into a good mood.

“Just ask! You have not been to see me in more than a century. It is suitable to ask.” The Orikal said annoyed.

“I wish to know that my bloodline is pure.” Nuada said.

“That’s not a question!” the Orikal snapped.

“Is there any human blood in my veins?” Nuada quickly asked and fell to his knees hoping the added gesture would please the now pissed Orikal.

There was a long silence. All Nuada could hear were the footsteps of the Orikal pacing the floor. He wished with everything he had that he hadn’t mess this up. It was hard for him to keep his cool, he hated being so vulnerable to another’s will. A year passed in Nuada’s mind before the Orikal spoke again.

“So the prince wishes to know if his blood is fit for the throne, what does the princess want?” the Orikal asked. He had come much closer to them as Nuada waited for an answer.

“I’m here in support of my brother.” Nuala said and bowed her head.

“To hear the answer I could credit you for the same question, but I will not” the Orikal smiled and reached for Nuala’s hand.

“Thank you” Nuala said in her most unassuming voice.

“You have nothing to ask of me then?” the Orikal asked Nuala.

“With all due reverence, I have not.” Nuala answered.

“Then I must go about answering your brother’s inquiry. Though I had hoped to find an excuse to keep him on the floor for longer.” The Orikal replied.

Then the Orikal suddenly took a blade out from under his robe and made a quick movement past Nuada. Nuada instinctively reached for his weapon but then realized he was forced to leave it at the front gate. He felt the pain of a cut on his forearm and looked up from his stance on the ground. There was a wide gash in his arm and it was bleeding very quickly.

“What color do you see?” the Orikal asked.

“Gold” Nuada answered. He wanted to reach for the knife laced around his thigh but he had to let the Orikal play his games.

“Your blood is pure; there is no human in your past. I tell you, if there were, it would not be the frailty you think it would be. I see the royal bloodline is at the end of its purity, and about to enter an era of great power. For as it mixes with its people so will the people feel like one again.” The Orikal said in a flat monotone voice.

“Thank you your greatness, you have eased my soul.” Nuada answered again from his knees.

“This was not the proper question to ask however. You should have waited till you had a more pressing question, for there is one coming quickly upon you. I will take pity on you nevertheless because this next move is imperative to the future of our kind, and you. Will you hear me?” the Orikal turned very serious.

“Of course your prominence.” Nuada answered.

“Nuala, listen too for I feel he will have to be reminded of my words.” the Orikal continued.

“You know him well.” Nuala smiled and nodded.

“Prince Nuada, sometimes fear is what keeps us from our greatest accomplishments, and those accomplishments can be what we fear the most.” The Orikal said regally.

Nuada wasn’t sure what the Orikal was getting at. He understood his first answer perfectly. The end of the bloodline was with Nuala, since Nuada was sure he wouldn’t be having children, and Nuala would no doubt be mixing her blood with Abe’s so that was the mixing with the people. He was relieved however to hear her children would be strong. This latest advice took on a different tone. Nuada didn’t fear anything, and he certainly wouldn’t fear anything he considered an accomplishment.

“I wish to speak with your sister alone now.” the Orikal said dismissing Nuada with a wave of his hand.

Nuala watched her brother leave and ran the etiquette of being with the Orikal through her head again. She had to be sure she didn’t ask any questions. The answers her brother had gotten had brought up a million more in her head. Would she and Abe have children? Could they take the thrown? Were her people on the right track? But she wasn’t going to ask any now she had to think about them on her own first.

She got nervous when the Orikal didn’t answer for awhile. He had walked over to the other side of the room to sit in his chair. He bent forward and folded his hands under his chin.

“You know what I mean about what your brother fears the most?” the Orikal asked.

“No” Nuala made sure it sounded like a statement and not a question.

“He has a want in him that you have given him. He feels what you feel with Abe and he desires to have that connection himself. I was shocked to see it in him too, but it is there” the Orikal said responding to the shock on Nuala’s face when he told her.

“He fears it too. As he should, love is menacing, but I have seen him in love. It is the question that should have been asked. I will let him ask me when he wants to know if he has found his love, even though it will happen within the century, within the year if I have not lost all ability.” The Orikal stopped seeing he was going too quickly for Nuala.

She tried to think of a way to phrase her question in a way that was not a question, but the questions were circling in her head too fast to form any sort of sentence.

“He has met a girl, a Veela.” Nuala said.

“You always did have good manors and you are clever to not ask a question, but I will not give an answer. You have heard what I said here and you have good instincts. I know this girl and have seen her future, she is where she should be” the Orikal replied.

Nuala waited for anything more, hoping he would give her a few more words of guidance. He didn’t and she heard the door behind her open so she bowed as low as she could. She turned to leave.

“I might like to see this Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense someday” the Orikal said after her.

“You are welcome there” Nuala turned and bowed one more time.

As she walked down the hall she tried to imagine the Orikal at the BPRD. She tried to imagine him anywhere that wasn’t white and glowing, and failed. All she could imagine was the cluster fuck that would be if Red ever met the Orikal.