The missing link

Her mother's scent filled the wide chamber and Esmeralda knew at once her mother had come in.

"And if this isn't the traitor." Her mother's voice was thick, and there was this dangerousness that accompanied it.

"I saw it coming, I knew she was going to screw the plan." Margot's voice was loud, loud enough to cause a headache because she often sounded like a rusty Harp.

Esmeralda went to stand close to Greta. 

"Esmeralda. Child of the Mondes, what have you done?" Her mother asked, advancing into the chamber. Her cotton dress flailed behind her as she walked.

"Nothing." Esmeralda replied.

"I explained to you. I told you of the impending danger. You let him get to you, let him seduce you and now you've faltered and fallen for the wolf prince. Esmeralda! You fell in love with a beast." 

"You think he's a beast." Esmeralda voiced out.

"She defends him." Her mother said to Margot and Greta.

"I'll burn you, Esmeralda. You'll taste my fire. I'll tear you-"

"Mother." Greta screamed. 

"Give her some time. All of it is overwhelming. What if Ravina was exaggerating? The prince cannot love any woman. So how can she say they have a romance buzzing between them?" Greta's voice was thick like their mother's. 

Only that it was melodious and not frightening like that of their mother.

"Ravina said she saw them both. She said he was shirtless and that they were in an embrace." Margot blurted out.

"Were you there?" Greta asked. 

Margot snorted loudly.

"Ravina has done her own part of the work. I think it's time we let her go before she knows more than she already knows. She can hand us over to the royal family if she wants to."

"You're siding with your sister, I see it."

"They've always been best friends." Margot piped out.

"You shall hold your peace and swallow your words, because I will hit you if you don't."

"You won't dare." Their mother warned.

Esmeralda had caused this tension. She was tearing her family apart, making things difficult for Greta and Margot. She was the odd one.

"I'm not the villain here, mother. You know that too. You're hiding so much from us. You lie. You destroy. And you're about to kill too. You desecrate the gift of the Mondes."

Her mother raised her arm and brought it back down. Fire. She held the ball of fire in her palm.

"Do not force me to burn you. I'll leave you a scar that'll be a lifelong reminder of your foolishness and stubbornness."

Greta went to stand in front of Esmeralda. 

"This is it now, mother? All our lives we lived with the terror of your magic. We've known no peace because of the fear of being discovered as your daughters. Now you want to burn her?" 

Esmeralda hoped her sister was not making a mistake. She was ready to take the burn alone. She didn't want to turn her sisters against one another. Moreover, Greta used to side with their mother. Why the change of heart?

"Two against two?" Their mother asked. The flame in her palm lit up the chamber. And because there was not enough light, the fire cast shadows on the curtains.

Their mother marched forward.

*Greta, do not make me do this." 

Esmeralda wanted badly to disappear.The way her mother held the fire scared her. It was coming. Their mother thrust her arm but before she could say the magic words, Margot pushed her and held her arm sideways; blocking the energy flow that communicated with her magic.

"Leave." Margot yelled to Esmeralda.

Esmeralda hesitated. Margot struggled with their mother. The fire was dying. But if her mother brought the arm forward and said those words, the whole chamber would be set ablaze.

"Get out!" Margot yelled.

"Come back later. Her temper will cool after. The sight of you angers her." Greta said, pushing Esmeralda out.

Esmeralda walked quickly out of their mother's chamber. 

"I'll leave her if you don't get out of here." Margot yelled.

Esmeralda half ran to the front yard. 

Greta went back to Margot and their mother. Esmeralda drove away without looking back. 

The war with her mother had just begun. 

Ravina. The name bothered her. Was she Romanian too? 

When Ravina had entered the prince's suite, she had a knowing smile on her face, as if she had been expecting something like that unfolding before her eyes.

Was Esmeralda right? She didn't even know anymore. Everything was clashing. The prince, the plan, the situationship. Everything.

Was the prince worth saving? 

Margot had been the one to save her from her mother's wrath this time. It was surprising, because Margot was not on very good terms with her. Would they be able to pacify their mother? She hoped their mother wouldn't transfer aggression on her sisters.

Esmeralda needed answers. She made a detour when she got to the main way. She was going to the book tower, where she used to work before her mother got her a job at the royal fashion house.

She would ask people in the Romanica section if they knew anything about the Mondes war. She was losing her mind already. She was clueless but she wasn't helpless.

It was evening already, but she was determined. 

The library still had the pale white paint. She parked the car outside, as only staff parked their vehicles inside.

"Esmeralda, why?" Her old friend, LaToria called out. Esmeralda smiled dryly.

"You look stressed. Have you got the weight of Havana upon your shoulders?" LaToria asked playfully.

Esmeralda wished she wasn't joking, because it was true.

"LaToria, I'm quite in a hurry. I need your help. Who works at the Romanica section now?" 

"Oh dear, old Kentley is gone. He had an accident and lost mobility of his right arm and right leg."

"He is paralyzed?" Esmeralda asked. 

LaToria nodded limply.

"Oh, who works there now?" 

"His niece. Emilia." 

"Okay. I came to check out a few things. I shan't be long."

"Sure. It's good to see you, Esmeralda." 

"Uhum." Esmeralda muttered under her breath. 

LaToria was in her mid fifties with brown eyes and a small nose. 

Esmeralda walked briskly down the literature section. There at old Kentley's table sat a girl about Esmeralda's age or older. She had short and trimmed hair which sat on her shoulders. 

Esmeralda stood awkwardly in front of her desk.

"The reading hall is that way." The lady whispered, pointing upward behind the travels section.

"No. I didn't come to read. I came to check for a book about the Mondes war."

"There are several books on the Mondes war. Do you have anyone in mind? You can go through the shelves yourself. We close by eight thirty, by the way." 

Esmeralda went to the shelves she pointed at. There were several books on the war, and the only problem was that most of the books failed to address the cause of the war. Only a few even mentioned her mother, the enchantress.

Was the omission intentional? Esmeralda was tired of standing, so she went to the reading hall. A cold wind rustled the blinds in the reading hall and the book Esmeralda was holding flipped open and stopped right in the chapter that contained what Esmeralda was looking for. Who knew the wind was nice?

"There is unarguably no proof that the enchantress was on the offensive side of the war, but we have the war as proof. That is enough evidence."

Esmeralda drew her chair closer to the table. She wondered what the author was driving at.

"No one talks about the feud between the king and the enchantress. We only know the king declared an all out war on the Mondes. The principal cause of the war was the Mondes.

Without being sentimental, we shall look at the life of the Romanian's twenty years back.

They were the circus people that emptied the pockets of people with their magic."

Esmeralda nodded to herself, catching herself midway when she saw someone staring at her from the corner of her eyes.

"There were gypsies with black and white magic. The urge to manipulate others drove them to steal, to brainwash people and suck them dry. They were like thorns in our flesh; the gypsies. They were often disguised as frail looking old women so people could help them."

Esmeralda had no idea about this part of the story. She was glued to this book and she was going to read it thoroughly to fill in the missing links.

It was getting dark outside, but she didn't mind.

"They were dubious, and their manipulative mechanisms were quite formidable. When you fell for it, you fell really hard and never got back up. The people of Havana were getting sick of these wealth-sucking Romanians."

"It didn't seem like the complaints worried the enchantress. Her kind was superior, and I like to think she was obsessed with magic. She was magic-drunk."

Esmeralda wanted to agree, but she was yet to read the full narration. The author was trying hard not to slander the Romanians, and this was what Esmeralda loved about the author.

"The missing link is that some gypsies waylaid a traveler and ripped him off his wealth overnight. In daylight. No one said anything. No one reported the incident because no one was sure if the Gypsies had done it. Despite the fact that it was obvious, no one had the guts to point fingers at the enchantress and her people."

Was this it? This couldn't be the reason the king had declared war on them. It was enough reason, but it just looked petty to Esmeralda.

"We have closed for today." Kentley's niece announced. Esmeralda raised her head from the book and discovered the hall was empty. 

"Can I borrow the book?" 

"Yes, but you'll put your name down and your details." 

She led Esmeralda to her desk and gave her a book to write her details down.

"You can keep the book for a week. That's the maximum number of days. Seven days."

Esmeralda nodded and thanked her.

LaToria was gone by the time Esmeralda was walking out the front door. 

Esmeralda breathed in fresh air as she walked outside the library. She was going to read for herself what her mother had been keeping away from her. Why hadn't she come here sooner? It would have saved her the frustration and confusion and uncertainty.