by J A Armitage
Downstairs, Alex ran over to me the second he saw me.
“I’m so sorry!” I said as he ushered me away from the line of sight of the glass doors at the hotel’s entrance.
“It’s no problem, Your Highness. I was wondering if you would be leaving the hotel today at all?”
“I was hoping to attend to some business, but the reporters followed me yesterday. I think they must have had someone stationed at your other exit who signaled to the others.”
“I have a plan.” His eyes widened in glee as he pulled out a garment bag that had been hanging on a hook. He opened it up and held a traditional Badalah dress up in front of me.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll not manage to sneak past them in that if I couldn’t manage to do it in jeans and a t-shirt,” I mused, looking at the bright yellow garment.
“It’s not for you. It’s for me.”
I raised an eyebrow in query.
“I’m not sure yellow is your color,” I said.
He smirked. “I put this on. Cover my head with the veil and sneak out the back. As you said, they’ll have someone there waiting to signal the others. I’ll lead them on a merry little dance around town while you do whatever it is you need to do.”
He looked at me with so much expectation that I had to laugh. I had a feeling he was going to enjoy pretending to be a princess for the day.
“Thank you.”
Ten minutes later, I was peeking through the tiniest crack in the office door watching the reporters. Alex had left to sneak out around the back just a minute before, dressed as he said he would be in the yellow dress. Sure enough, the crowd of reporters responded to a signal and began to run off. When they’d all left, I stepped out.
“You know he was planning this all day yesterday,” the girl on the reception desk said with a grin. “He’s planned to visit all of Urbis’s landmarks and hit the shops.”
“I feel so terrible.”
“Don’t,” she laughed. “I’ve been trying to get him to take a day off for months. He’s going to have a whale of a time. Just make sure you do what you have to and get back here before he makes the big reveal.”
“The big reveal?”
“He’s planning to climb to the top of the Urbis tower and throw his veil to the wind.”
I laughed at the image. The Urbis Tower was a landmark I knew well. It was part of the Urbis governmental building, and one of the few parts of the building opened to the public. If he was going there, he’d have to get the train.
I headed out into the deserted street and whistled for Asher, who’d been waiting on my hotel room balcony for my signal. After pouring over the map last evening, I knew exactly where I needed to go. I also knew I’d have to go to the train station again. I dawdled for half an hour, admiring the fashions in the shop windows before heading to catch a train. The last thing I needed was to bump into any of the reporters who might be still at the station after following Alex.
The train to central Urbis was much more packed than the train I’d caught the day before. Hundreds of commuters squeezed together on the train. This time there were rows of seats rather than compartments, and as these were already full, I had to stand.
I kept my head down and my hood up, hoping that no one would recognize me. It was a stark contrast to a week or so ago when I’d hoped that the public would recognize me.
As we pulled into the station at the end of the line, the train car emptied of businessmen and women, who filed out to their executive jobs in the center of Urbis.
The central district of Urbis never failed to amaze me with its beautiful white buildings. The main capital building was the grandest by far, it’s majestic columned facade dominating the cobbled square right in the very center of the bullseye. As I stood looking at the main doors, the Urbis library stood to my right, and various government buildings that weren’t quite the main building stood to my left. Behind me were apartments in the same style that only the wealthiest of the wealthy could afford, and on a slight hill behind the main government building, the huge Urbis University could be seen. Standing in this square always took my breath away. My father and my mother were the wealthiest people in Badalah, but the combined wealth of the people that lived in a five-mile radius of this square was more than that of all the twelve kingdoms combined. At least that was what I’d been told when I’d last come here for a royal visit. I could believe it. The streets were pristine despite the thousands of feet that walked them daily. I turned to my right and headed to the Library. It was the one place I’d been the most excited to see on my last visit, but we’d been rushed through it by some diplomat eager to talk business with my father. I wasn’t going to be able to go inside now either, but I vowed to take a look after doing what I’d come here for. Behind the library was the records building. I stood in awe of it. In my head, I’d expected a mid-sized nondescript building, but this was equally as impressive as the library that stood in front of it. The words Urbis Central Archives dominated the white stone facade above the double doors. I made to open one of the huge wooden doors, wondering how I’d be able to move such a colossal door, but it yielded at the slightest touch, opening up to the place where the birth and adoption records were. If I was born in Urbis, a record of it would be here.
The inside was even more impressive as the outside. The circular building with its domed roof was full of boxes of records spanning the whole history of Urbis and its people.
“Hi,” I said to the receptionist behind a large circular desk. Above me, a bunch of papers clipped to a pulley system flew, almost knocking poor Asher out of the air. The whole place was a hive of activity with papers flying left and right on the pulleys’ wires. People like me sat in booths to give them privacy while workers in blue uniforms rifled through the boxes, pinning the required papers to the right wire to go to the right person. The scope of the place had me in awe, and I wondered why I’d never been shown here on any of my royal visits. “I’d like to see your birth records.”
Her smile widened. “Of course. Is there a particular year you’d like to see?”
I told her the approximate date of my birth and told her a little of my story, keeping out the magic part. She pulled a brass key out from somewhere under her desk.
“Please follow me.”
I followed her through the chaos of papers flying about over my head to a room with the year I’d given her engraved on a brass plate on the door.
“If you don’t know if you were born in January or December the previous year, you might have to change rooms. A junior archivist will be in shortly to help you.”
I’d expected shelves filled with records, but instead, there was a leather-covered table, two chairs, and wooden cabinets lining the walls.
I sat on one of the seats and waited. A couple of minutes passed, and a young man in a blue uniform strode into the room. He had an eager expression on his face, and on his lapel, he had a badge bearing the name Derek.
“I hear you are looking for information about your birth. What do you know?” He opened his arms wide, waiting for me to answer.
“Not much, I’m afraid. My name is Gaia. I was adopted in Badalah, but I was born here.”
He licked his lips and suppressed a grin. “You are Princess Gaia, aren’t you? I thought so.”
I gave him a smile.
“I’d appreciate it if you could keep my search discrete. The people of Badalah know I’m adopted, but they don’t know that I’m looking for my birth parents. I’m afraid I don’t know the exact date of my birth. It was probably late December, but it could have been early January. I came to my parents in the second week of January.”
“Came to your parents? Didn’t they adopt you in Badalah? Don’t they have the records?”
“I’m afraid not,” I said with a rueful grin. “I was kind of left on the doorstep.”
“And the king and queen took you in?” Derek asked with amazement.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds. My birth mother drop
ped me at the palace. Anyway. All I know is that I was born in the outer part of Urbis eighteen years ago. My name is Gaia, which was given to me by my birth mother. She never left a surname.”
“That’s going to be tough,” Derek said, clapping his hands together. “But, as luck would have it, I enjoy a puzzle. I can look through the records and see how many Gaia’s we had born in that time frame.”
“Thank you.”
He pulled a key from his pocket. It was attached to his jacket by a small chain. The cabinets were filled with boxes, each labeled with a date.
I was dismayed to find they were not in alphabetical order. It was going to take a significant amount of time to go through all the boxes of the months of December and January.
“Can I help?” I asked, standing up. Derek held his hand out to me. “I’m sorry. It’s not permitted. I’ll go through and bring you any of the documents I think might fit.” He pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and, after pulling them on his hands, started going through the first box. I was forced to sit still, twiddling my thumbs while he sifted through the first batch.
“Just how many people are born in Urbis every day?” I asked, trying to estimate how long it would take to go through the thirty-one days of December and the thirty-one days of January.
“We have hundreds of births registered here every day. Plus, the other registry offices throughout Urbis bring their birth, marriage, and death registrations to us daily. Don’t worry, I’ve been doing this a long time. I know how to sift information quickly.”
He wasn’t wrong. His fingers moved so quickly, sorting through the papers that they were almost a blur. From the first box, he pulled one file, which he let me look at as he moved to the second box.
The document held the name of the parents and the name of the Child. Gaia Louise Middleton. Her parents were Janet and Alfred Middleton from Middle Urbis.
There was no mention of a boy born to the same mother.
“If the baby has a twin, would they share a birth certificate?”
Derek stopped what he was doing and eyed me with surprise. “No, but multiple births are mentioned on each of the babies’ certificates so we can cross-reference. If there is a mention of it, it will be on the top right with a code or codes to match up the certificates. Are you a twin?”
“I don’t know...maybe,” I lied. No point making this more complicated than it already was.
I looked at the top right. No code. This Gaia was an only child. She felt wrong. I didn’t have a middle name. If my birth mother had given me my first name, surely she’d have mentioned a middle name too? Plus, the father was mentioned. Not once in the memory was he brought up at all. He certainly wasn’t at the birth. I had the feeling that he wasn’t in the picture at all.
I put it to one side and waited for the next file. After three hours and one room change, I had a stack of thirty-seven Gaia’s born within the time frame I’d given to Derek. Not one of them showed a code for a multiple birth.
“Is this all of them?” I asked as I handed Derek the last file back for him to file.
“I’ve never once in all the time I’ve been working here failed to find the information requested. Just because you don’t have a birth certificate doesn’t mean clues about your birth aren’t here.”
I didn’t have a birth certificate. It was like I didn’t exist at all.
“What clues could possibly be here?”
“Look around you.” Derek said as we walked back through the huge domed part of the main building. As before, it was a hive of activity with files flying around the room by the thousand. Asher sat on my shoulder for fear of being knocked out of the air. “We use the most sophisticated systems from The Forge to get information quickly. A group of mages works in the lower basement dealing with magical information, and we have staff from all the twelve kingdoms, each an expert on their particular kingdom. For example, over in that room there...” he pointed to a closed door, one of many that circled the large room we were in. “There is a collection of Atlantice shells dating back hundreds of years. And in a temperature-controlled vault, we have the seeds of every known plant in all the kingdoms. We have more seeds than Floris. I think if we have all that, we should be able to find out more about where you came from.”
However impressive his talk was, I was not a seed from Floris, nor a shell from Atlantice. I was a person without a history.
“Thank you, but I have to go home. I’ve been away too long.” I turned to leave, but he put his hand on my shoulder to stop me. “I’ll find something, Your Highness. I’ve not failed yet. I’ll happily post anything I find to the palace in Badalah.”
I gave him a smile. I’d met some of the best and some of the worst people on my trip. As I went to thank him, a thought crossed my mind.
“If you send me something, please put it in a yellow envelope.”
It was a weird request, but with the hundreds of marriage proposals coming via the post every day, a letter would get lost among them. This way, I could ask the palace staff to bring the envelope straight to me.
He didn’t even question me about it. “I sure will. It was a pleasure to help.”
Back outside, I treated myself to a stop at a cafe in the cobbled square in front of the library and sat at one of the outdoor tables. I ordered lunch and a coffee to collect my thoughts. The sun shone brightly in the sky, making me think of home where it was almost always sunny. I made to take my coat off, but the freezing cold that had been bothering me for days made a sudden reappearance. I squinted up at the sun, wondering if a cloud had passed in front of it, but there wasn’t a cloud to be seen. I pulled my coat around myself as a waitress brought my lunch.
Asher circled overhead, stretching his wings as I ate. Hundreds of people walked through the square, each of them dressed immaculately, going about their business as I mulled over the information or lack of information I had. I knew I’d been born in Urbis, and I knew I had a brother out there somewhere, but neither of us existed on paper. As I ate my sandwich, I watched the men go by, wondering if any of them was my brother.
I’d never really put much thought into having siblings, but now that I knew I had one, my heart ached to meet him. What was he like? Did he look like me?
My skin was significantly darker than that of my mother’s, though I’d looked pale at birth too. Now, I looked the same as everyone else in Badalah. All except for my eyes. Somewhere out there, there was a man with eyes like mine.
I was still thinking about him when the cold I’d been feeling turned bitter, like a gust of freezing air that drilled right down to my bones. My magical heat was extinguished inside me. A flash of purple and gold appeared in the corner of my eye, distinctive against the blacks, grays, and blues of the business attire. I turned quickly, feeling a strange pull of cold magic, but when I looked at the crowds of people, nothing seemed out of place. My heart raced with anticipation, but for what? Dropping my sandwich and leaving a few Urbis dollars as a tip, I called for Asher and began the trip back to the train station, eager to get back to the safety of the hotel. Everyone around me was wearing clothes fit for a summer’s day, and yet, the icy temperature had me shivering. This wasn’t normal. There was no doubt in my mind that the cold was made by a magical source, affecting no one but me. As soon as the train came in, I jumped aboard, in a hurry to get back to the hotel. The feeling of magic still gripped me, but it was nothing like the magic of Genie or my own magic. This one was cold and evil and had me shivering, desperate to outrun it. As the train began to pull off, I saw a flash of gold and purple. I spun my head around quickly to the people still on the platform.
My blood ran cold when I saw who it was that had been following me. The man in the purple and gold was my grandfather’s Vizier. The same sorcerer who’d tried to take the throne before my father saved us all.
He was supposed to be dead. No one had seen him in eighteen years, but as I looked into his eyes, cold and hard, I knew it was him. The evil Vizier was back,
and he was following me.
30th June
I’d spent the night in my room, not daring to come out. The reporters were back and were, in a way, more comforting than the thought of the Vizier. Up here in my room, the coldness had once again receded, but now that I knew where it had come from, the fear of it remained.
I sat on the bed unsure of what to do. The Vizier was back, and it seemed he was after me. He’d not got on the train with me yesterday, but he’d known where I was.
And it was him, I was sure of it. I’d seen photos of him before, shown to me by Genie, who had told me the story about how my father had defeated him so many times it felt as though I’d lived through it myself, despite it happening before I was born.
I’d learned precisely nothing on this trip, and yet, I’d managed to find more danger. I still didn’t know who my mother was, just that she’d never registered my birth. It meant that I’d probably never find out who my brother was either.
“It’s time to go home,” I said to Asher, who peeked out from under his wing and clicked his beak.
I’d set out to make things better, but I’d only made things worse. I missed Genie. I missed home, and however much I hated to admit it, I was scared.
After packing what few things I had, I headed downstairs to the reception desk. Alex gave me a wide smile when he saw me, but his face dropped when he spotted my bag.
“Checking out?”
“Yes, please. I do appreciate all you’ve done for me.”
The flashes from the photographers bounced off his face as they tried to get a shot of me through the glass doors.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it!” he said with a grin. “I’m only sorry that I couldn’t get rid of them properly for you. I could try again today.”
I pulled out my purse and gave him enough to cover my nights in the hotel and a hefty tip. He deserved every penny. “I doubt they will fall for it a second time,” I said wistfully. “Did you manage to get up the Urbis Tower?”
“I did! It was bloody marvelous!”
