Anya turned around to look at Sapphire and then asked, "what about the key?" Sapphire responded, "I don't have the Key. It is in the white tiger clan. Grandma felt that your father's trusted guard could defend it better than she could. It also meant that if someone wanted to obtain both, they would have to fight two clans." Anya realized that she would have to travel for that and right now was not the right time. She said, "let's worry about that later. For now we can take care of Agatha." Then Sapphire said, "No, we have to begin the process as soon as possible. Grandma would want that before she leaves." Anya felt like it would take away from the mourning of Agatha, but Sapphire insisted by saying, "this is how you will honor her." Then Anya agreed.
Sapphire took Anya to her hut. Under her hay bed she had a small key. It was so tiny that anyone would miss it if they weren't looking for it. Then Sapphire took her hand and began to walk toward the lake where they found a tall willow tree with a thick trunk. Sapphire felt the trunk around until she chipped off a piece revealing a small key hole. Once Sapphire twisted the key in, a door popped open. You wouldn't be able to tell there was a door there and the willow branches did a great job in covering them both from prying eyes. Sapphire took the piece she chipped off and placed in a small bag she carried around her waist. Then opened the door.
To Anya's surprise, there was a staircase leading down a tunnel into the ground. There were clear crystals sticking out of the walls. Sapphire pulled Anya by the wrist softly to move her to get inside. When they were both inside, Sapphire pulled the door closed and locked it so no one followed them if they were looking. From the inside of the door there was a balloon looking item. She squeezed it and it let out a gas on the outside. Anya asked, "what was that?" Sapphire giggled and said, "It's skunk essence. We have strong noses and it will make anyone stay away."
The tunnel began to light up in the darkness by those crystals that made it look like they were traveling into another portal. Anya followed Sapphire down the spiral staircase into a room. It was there that she saw lots of books and items stashed away. There was a box on the top shelf that Sapphire reached for and opened. The box was lined with a red velvet fabric on the inside. It had the two horns that Anya saw in her dream. She reached out to touch them but paused before making contact. She was hesitating. Anya pulled her hand back and said with a frown, "I'm not seeking for power, I only wanted answers and to fulfil my mother's wish and Agatha's." Sapphire smiled and set the box down.
To Anya's surprise, Sapphire took the horns and placed them on the small lumps Anya had. The horns melted into her scalp and her own horns grew a little. Sapphire said, "the test of the heart had to be done before you received your mother's blessing. If you would have touched the horns, they would turn into dust and disappear. A dedicated follower had to bestow them on to you after watching you reject the power the horns represent." Anya asked, "what if I had failed, what if someone else was more worthy?" Sapphire shook her head and said,
"No, Grandma would still be awake. She started your heart test the moment she found you. If you were not worthy, then she would have instructed me to wait until you are worthy. Because she didn't say anything to me this whole time, she had confirmed you were ready. As for someone stealing your blessing, only your relative can have a dedicated follower bestow the horns on them, but the effect is only temporary. It's like a power boost that begins to wither away in time. Yours binds to you and is permanent. That is why your horns just grew out a little bit more"
Anya reached to touch her horns and feel them. They were not sticking out and more visible. They were no longer lumps, but two inches big. She then asked Sapphire, "how big do these things get?" Sapphire went to grab a book and opened it to show her an illustration of the horns. The biggest ones ever recorded were up to nine inches. It said that it was only an estimate of how big horns grow. The larger the horn, the more magical power one can use. Only those with royal bloodlines of the Bicornis can use horns of another to boost powers.
Anya looked around and asked, "are all these books about my bloodline? And does that mean I am a Bicornis race?" Sapphire nodded and said, "yes, but before you can master your magical powers, you need to learn all kinds of things. We still have to retrieve your father's blessing from the tiger race before you reach the vault." Her father also left her a blessing. That was news to Anya. All she knew was because of some dream that she had. Then she asked a rhetorical question, "Isn't it my luck that I met your grandmother because of a string of luck?" She wasn't expecting an answer. "No, the guardians are the ones who orchestrated your return. They saw how bad things were getting and called you back at the right time." Anya tilted her head, 'Guardians?" she asked. Sapphire grabbed another book and opened it. In it was a picture of cats. Anya wanted to laugh a little because back home they are not even close to guardians.
She read the description on the page;
"Felion guardians, also known as cats. They observe and report to the royals. Their duties consist of companionship, gathering unhealthy energies and disperse them throughout the environment to be cleansed by nature, and to call on the royal bloodline for help. Their duties are passed on through many generations and their connection is wide."
Anya turned the page to keep learning about them, but pages were ripped out. She looked at Sapphire for an answer. Sapphire replied,
"They were torn out by your great grandparents. The information on guardians was top secret that it's only bestowed on the most loyal subject through conversation. They cannot be written down because there was a time someone used the information. To protect the guardians and the royals, they decreed to remove all knowledge of them except for the basic duties. No one is to pass on any information about them that is not wearing the royal seal. Grandma has the royal seal, but she didn't want to entrust me with something so big unless I was of full age."
Anya raised her brows and asked, "you're not full age?" Sapphire giggled, "I'm only one hundred and fifty years old. The full age for us is five hundred." Anya's jaw dropped a little. She forgot that the beast people lived a very long time. Even Agatha was one thousand years old. She lived twice her adult age. If humans discovered how to live this long, they would rush the markets to buy every bottle. Then Anya realized she didn't call herself human. She had accepted that she was no longer who she thought she was and now she had a journey of her own. Then she recalled the jingle bell and the meows that brought her here. Those guardians really are crafty.
Anya asked, "did you already read all of these books?" Sapphire said, "All but those on the top shelf where your mother's horns were. You can only read them, they are locked until you touch them. Anya asked, "have you tried to read them?" Sapphire shook her head, "No, before grandmother could take on an apprentice, she has to test our loyalty and trust. Everyone before me passed the loyalty test, but failed the trust. She brought us individually and had us read all these books, then told us those were the only ones we cannot read because they carry secrets only the royals can know. She didn't tell us about the magic repellent on them. You should have heard how she found each one on the ground to be tempted to read. The books release a charge so strong that you get blown off your feet and throne across the room. I was the only one that didn't succumb to the temptation." She puffed her chest out in pride. Anya asked, "but wouldn't the ones who knew about this place and the books tell others?" Sapphire put the book down and grabbed a bottle from a drawer to show Anya, "She gave them this, it's a recovery potion mixed in with forgetting one." After giving them the position, she would tell them to forget everything they saw and read in this room. To also forget the location of this place. She told me because I spent years in this room without being tempted and explained how it works once I become of age to take on my own apprentice"