Royal Blood

by Faith Soprano

  “Ever so kind of you to allow me not to marry a murderer from a land whose inhabitants own each other. However could I repay you.”

  The king was getting angry again.

  “How dare you speak to me like–”

  “Oh, Father, please,” Elloriann said in annoyance. “Please, let’s not do this. I’m no longer a child, and your royal authority means very little to me. What are you going to do? Lock me up in a cell in the basement and keep me there indefinitely? Until you find me a suitable husband? Or until one of us dies, perhaps?”

  The king’s face turned red with rage.

  “I could do that, you know. Other kings and queens have done it. I hear it does wonders for humility.”

  “It’s not humility you want from me, Father. It’s submission.”

  The king took a few deep breaths, waiting for his head to clear from the anger that was chasing away rational thought.

  “I could throw Carla in a cell instead.” The king relished the shock and fear that ran across Elloriann’s face before she hid them. Then he wondered when seeing his daughter in pain had become something desirable. “I could send her away. You’ll never see her again.”

  “And what would that achieve?”

  “You’ll get over her. You’ll cry for a while, you’ll hate me for a while, but eventually you’ll get over it and do what you have to for your land.”

  “Certainly. Because when you lost your wife you handled it so well that you ignored your own child for 2 decades.”

  Now was Talon’s turn to be shocked. This was a low blow. But then...he deserved it.

  Once again, they stared at each other in silence. Anger and defiance were filling the room.

  The king took deep breaths, attempting to calm himself. This wasn’t working. He was only pushing Elloriann further away, and this would not end well. He needed a different tactic.

  “We’re family,” he said as calmly as he could. “You can’t just leave.”

  Elloriann closed her eyes for a moment. She felt almost insulted by those words. Using familial relations to manipulate people was bad enough. Doing it when those relations were barely even real was just too much.

  “We’re not family, Father. Not really. I have a family – the people who raised me, the people who supported me in what I wanted to do, not just what I had to do for the future of Evlirone, the people who put themselves in danger to help me save Carla, the people who want me to be happy above all else. I have a family, Father. But you’re not part of it.”

  The king sat down. He looked down at the floor and swallowed around the lump in his throat. This stubbornness that Elloriann had – she got it from her mother as much as she did from him. Talon could see it clearly, and he knew he’d never win against it. When Elgadara set her mind to something, the only way to sway her was to show to her that she was wrong. Deep down, Talon knew that right now, Elloriann probably...wasn’t actually wrong.

  “You have to be queen someday,” Talon said feebly. “What will happen when I’m gone?”

  “You’ll think of something. You’re not the first or last monarch to have no blood relative to pass the throne to. You’ll find a way.” She turned toward the door but paused before walking away. “You could have had it, you know. I could have stayed, continued my duties as princess. And someday I’d become the queen. I’d rule Evlirone, I’d make alliances, I’d fight wars if I had to. If you’d only accepted Carla as my partner. If you’d allowed me to marry whom I wished. I would have done all I had to for Evlirone, if you’d only allowed me this slither of freedom.” She shrugged stiffly. “And now you’ll never see me again. Goodbye, Father.”

  42

  When Elloriann came back to her bedroom, Carla embraced her immediately, and held her for a long time to help her calm down from the experience.

  “How did it go?” Carla asked, leading Elloriann to the bed, where they sat down facing each other.

  “Much as we’d expected,” Ell said. “I might have been a bit more cruel than was necessary.”

  Carla smiled sadly, taking Elloriann’s hands in hers and running her thumbs against Elloriann’s skin.

  “So...we’re leaving?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you sure? I mean...maybe we should wait. Maybe he’ll reconsider.”

  Elloriann sighed deeply.

  “I’m not sure if I care. Even if he reconsiders, I don’t think I want to stay here anymore. Besides...I’d like to think he won’t do anything cruel, but we can’t be sure. I don’t think you’re safe here. I’m not even sure if I’m safe here.” Elloriann sighed. She knew there was another option besides leaving, one she did not want to take, but she felt she owed it to Carla to tell her. It would be unfair not to. “If we wanted to stay, there is one other thing we could do. I could challenge my father to the throne. I'm a blood descendant of Evlirone's royal dynasty, while my father only got the throne through marriage. He was my mother's successor because I was too young to lead when my mother died. But if I try to claim the throne now, it could work.”

  Carla had never considered this possibility. She'd never known this was something that Elloriann could do because she'd never mentioned it before, and it scared her to realize that this was something that could actually happen. At the same time, if they were to leave now, she feared that one day Elloriann would regret not taking the throne instead.

  “Do you want to?”

  “You know I never wanted to be queen. I was glad that my father continued to rule even after I came of age, even though I could have claimed the throne years ago. I could do it now to protect you, myself, our future together. But I can't be sure it would go well. At a different time, he might have simply stepped aside. I'm not sure if he believes that I'm ready to lead, but he's also not terribly hungry for power. He might have been glad to see me take initiative and be queen, while he's still around and able to help me. But we're in conflict now, and I don't know how he would react. He knows about you now, about my intentions of staying with you, and he believes this to be a sign of irrational thinking. I honestly can't be certain how it would go if I tried to take the throne now. He's the one in power – everyone in the castle, everyone in the land answers to him. Which makes us vulnerable. If I do this now, I might have to take the throne by force, and I don't think we have the time to properly prepare for it. If he gets desperate enough, he might do something we won’t be able to fix.” She feared to hear Carla's reaction. She didn't want to pressure Carla into leaving, yet at the same time she really did not want to stay. “Perhaps, it would be worth it, if it was truly something that I wanted. But...I don't. I would rather leave here with you. Now.”

  Carla looked into Elloriann's eyes. They were sad and almost pleading. She didn't and couldn't know if someday Ell would regret this, if she would someday feel like she never should have left the castle, her family, the future she'd always expected to have, but in that moment, Carla could tell that Ell just wanted to go.

  “All right.” She brought one of Elloriann’s hands up to her lips for a quick kiss. “Then let’s pack.”

  43

  The rest of the day was filled with tears and embraces as Carla and Elloriann said goodbye to their friends and family. Everyone in the servant wing was sad to see them go, especially Elloriann whom many of them had known for many years.

  Stav cried as he squeezed Elloriann in his arms so hard she could barely breathe. Hannah gave them some canned food for the journey.

  They ate dinner in the servant wing for the last time. Everyone drank tea. Elloriann wondered if she’d still have this much tea wherever she would end up next. Carla wondered if Elloriann would miss living at the castle.

  After dinner, Carla went outside, into the garden, where Rich was working on young plants.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said.

  “Don’t be,” he replied. “I would have done the same thing.”

  Elloriann wanted some time alone with her family, so Carla had at least an hour sh
e could spend in the garden. She helped Rich with the plants for a while. She wanted to ask him something, but wasn’t sure how to phrase it.

  “Are you happy here, Rich?” she asked at last. She knew he wasn’t happy, but she didn’t know how else to say it.

  “I’m as content as I can be,” he said.

  “You’ve never thought of leaving?”

  Rich smiled sadly.

  “Let me show you something.”

  They walked across the field and into the woods. They walked in silence, and Carla didn’t ask where they were going. They arrived at an oak tree. Underneath it was a small hill covered in flowers.

  Carla inhaled sharply when she realized that it was a grave.

  “Is this...”

  “Yes. Johan’s grave.” Rich bent down to brush his fingers across the soil. “I’ll stay here for as long as I live. And, if I’m lucky, this is where they’ll bury me.”

  Carla embraced him.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said again.

  “Go out there, find yourself a new home, and be happy.” He smiled. “And keep her safe.”

  By the time Carla and Elloriann made it to Licky’s workshop to say goodbye to her, she already had some things prepared for them – a collapsible tent they could unfold anywhere there was a smooth enough patch of ground, thin mattresses and blankets rolled into small tubes, some basic survival tools.

  “We can’t take all this,” Elloriann said. “We can’t carry it.”

  “Oh, but you can!” Licky said with excitement in her eyes. “Because you’re taking this.” She opened a door into one of the adjoining rooms, where a pedal car stood, awaiting the trip. It was one of the new models that had two sets of pedals and a large trunk. “I made this for the traders so they could transport heavy goods. You can fit a lot in this.”

  Carla and Elloriann stared at it for a moment.

  “Are you sure?” Elloriann asked. “You don’t think my father would be angry that you gave it away?”

  “I can cover its cost,” Licky said with a shrug. “I do actually get paid for my work here, but since I don’t go anywhere, most of my money never gets spent.”

  “This is very generous,” Carla said. “Thank you so much.”

  “Not a problem.” Licky smiled, but her face saddened a little a few seconds later. “It’s sad that you’re leaving. I loved having you over. But I understand. If I could get rid of what’s limiting my freedom, I wouldn’t hesitate.”

  Carla and Elloriann took turns embracing Licky. Elloriann felt especially guilty about leaving her behind. Wherever they’d end up, others could visit. Licky could not. Elloriann knew they would most likely never see Licky again. This goodbye had a good chance of being forever, and it made Elloriann’s heart ache with loss, guilt, and finality.

  Now that they had the pedal car, they could take a little bit more than they’d originally planned. They packed everything that Licky had given them, some clothes and personal care items, some seeds from Rich, some food from Stav and Hannah, some water for the road.

  The last thing they packed was the nectarine tree. The pot was too large and heavy, so they had to remove the tree from the pot and wrap its roots with a little bit of soil in a damp cloth, hoping that it would survive that way for a little while. They planned to give it a new pot wherever they would settle, but if it started to die on the way there, they were prepared to sell it to a trader or gift it to the nearest flower shop or nursery that could keep it alive.

  They took one last look at their bedroom, saying a silent goodbye to the bed, the looms, the stove, the time they’d spent in that space.

  In the early hours of the next day, they drove out of the front gate. The guards didn’t stop them. The king had considered trying to physically prevent Elloriann from leaving, but he knew it would make no difference. She’d made up her mind. Sooner or later, one way or another, she would leave. He could hinder her, he could even hurt her. But he couldn’t stop her. And even though he hated that she was leaving and abandoning her royal duties, a part of him was glad that his daughter was doing something that would hopefully make her happy.

  When the pedal car was outside the castle property, Carla and Elloriann turned around and waved, knowing that everyone who knew them would be watching from the windows.

  Then they settled into their seats once again and started paddling, moving farther and farther down the road, leaving the castle and its little world behind, and heading into an unknown future – maybe difficult, maybe dangerous, but one that they would build for themselves.