Jacinda's Challenge (Imperial 3)

by M. K. Eidem

  "They will change our world," he found himself whispering, then smiled. "I can't wait."

  "King Jotham," Deffand's words drew his attention.

  "What is it?"

  "I was just informed that Madame Michelakakis and Princess Cyndy have left the Metaxas residence and are returning to the Palace."

  "Hadar!" William shouted again.

  "High Admiral, your limisin is currently pulling up."

  "Cancel it. King Jotham and I will be heading to meet the returning limisin."

  "Yes, High Admiral."

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jacinda and Cyndy were laughing as they walked through the corridors of the House of Knowledge.

  "Oh, that was wonderful, Jacinda. Thank you so much!" Cyndy hugged her new friend.

  "I didn't do anything but introduce you to my sister, Cyndy." Jacinda smiled as she returned the hug.

  "Whose husband just happens to be the Director of the Arts for the House of Knowledge!"

  "Sometimes, the ancestors decide to smile on us." And did they ever today, Jacinda thought.

  Arm-in-arm, they turned the last corner putting them just outside the guarded doors of the Queen's Wing. Looking down the corridor, they saw William and Jotham striding toward them, frowns marring both their handsome faces.

  "Oh!" The women waited and Jacinda's gaze traveled from William to Jotham wondering what was going on. "Is something wrong?"

  "Yes." They said together.

  "Peter? Brett?" Cyndy's fingers dug into Jacinda's arm, the fear easily heard in her voice.

  "No!" William exclaimed and was instantly at Cyndy's side. "No, Cyndy," he reassured her, his tone a great deal gentler this time. "They are fine. It is you we were worried about."

  "Me?" She looked up at him in shock. "Why in the world would you be worried about me?"

  William couldn't believe the honest surprise he heard in Cyndy’s voice. Did she really believe no one worried about her? Her next words, to his dismay, confirmed it.

  "You all leave after first meal. You go and live your lives and I don't see you again until last meal."

  "Cyndy..." William started, only to be cut off.

  "No one ever asks me where I've been. What I've been doing. So why ask now?"

  Jacinda was shocked at the way the tiny woman stood up to the High Admiral. It was the first real spark of anger she'd seen in her. Anger to Jacinda's way of thinking, she had every right to.

  "Cyndy, you're still recovering," William said trying to calm her.

  "So is Peter. So is Brett. Yet you always ask them about their day. Do I really matter so little?"

  "Of course not!" William instantly denied.

  "Maybe it would be best if we took this conversation somewhere more private," Jotham suggested looking to the guards who were doing their best to not listen. Nodding at them, they opened the doors of the Wing. Putting a hand at the small of Jacinda's back, he guided her into the Wing, giving her a hard look.

  Jacinda frowned back. What was Jotham so upset about? They'd taken no more than a few steps into the room, the doors closing behind them when they burst open again and Cassandra stormed into the room, anger flowing off her in waves.

  "Tell me I am misinformed!" she demanded, her eyes flying around the room, calming only slightly when they found Cyndy.

  "Cassandra..." William tried to calm his wife. Cassandra rarely got enraged, but when she did it was never a good thing.

  "Don't you 'Cassandra' me, William! Tell me that this woman," her arm swung out to point at Jacinda. "Did not take my sister-in-law outside the Palace walls! That she was stupid enough to take only Palace Guards!"

  "Excuse me," Jacinda found her own anger growing. "Just who do you think you are calling me stupid, your Royal Highness!"

  "You!" Cassandra walked right up to the taller Jacinda. "How dare you take her outside the walls! How dare you even think about it without asking permission!"

  "Permission?" The Queen's words enraged Jacinda further. "I wasn't aware that Cyndy needed your permission to do anything!"

  "You have no idea what she's been through!" Cassandra fired back. "How fragile she is!"

  "Fragile?" That word exploded from Cyndy, as she shoved a shocked Jacinda aside to stand toe to toe with the much taller Queen. "How dare you talk about me as if I wasn't even here, Cassandra! As if I should be allowed no say in my own life!"

  "Now, Cyndy," Cassandra’s tone immediately turned placating, which only enraged Cyndy further.

  "You might be the Queen, Cassandra, but you know nothing about what I've been through and do you know why?" Cyndy didn't give her a chance to reply. "Because you never cared enough to ask! To listen! Neither of you did!" Her gaze turned to the High Admiral, who was listening closely. "You listened to the others, but never once asked me! Why? Am I somehow less because I can't train your men!" Her gaze returned to Cassandra. "Or because I'm not as 'teachable' as Brett is? Maybe it would have been better for everyone if I had just died!"

  "NO! God, Cyndy! NO! How can you even think that?" Anguish filled Cassandra's face and voice.

  "Because that's what your actions say! Jacinda is the only one who actually sat down and talked to me! She listened, asked questions, and treated me like a living, breathing person with thoughts and feelings of my own. Not like someone that needed to be watched, placated, then patted on the head and sent on her way!" Cyndy angrily wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. She turned to Jacinda, who stood beside her, silently watching the drama unfold.

  "Thank you, Jacinda, for listening, for helping, and for being my first real friend here on Carina. I hope you will continue to be."

  "Of course I will be, Cyndy." Jacinda reached out, gently squeezing her arm. "Nothing's happened here that can change that."

  "Thank you." After giving Jacinda a quick hug, Cyndy rushed from the room.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Silence echoed through the room after Cyndy's departure, at least until Jacinda rounded on the Queen.

  "What in the name of the ancestors is wrong with you?!!" Jacinda found herself nearly trembling with rage. "It's one thing if you want to be condescending and a b’osh to me, after all you are a Queen and that's what you tend to do!" Jacinda sneered at the title. "But that amazing woman," she pointed to the door Cyndy had just exited through, "is a member of your family. Has becoming Queen so warped your mind that you've forgotten that family is the most important thing there is in this life?!!"

  Jacinda was about to continue when the devastated expression on the Queen's face penetrated her rage. She watched as Cassandra turned to William, who immediately swept her off her feet when she started to crumble to the floor. Giving Jacinda a furious look, he carried Cassandra out of the room, but not before Jacinda heard her whisper.

  "What have I done, William?"

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Jotham said nothing as he gripped Jacinda's elbow firmly as he led her from the Queen's Wing to the Royal Wing assigned to them. Deffand and several members of his Royal Guard followed. They would discuss what just happened, but right now he was more concerned about her leaving the Palace without telling him or with the proper security.

  "Do you want to tell me what you thought you were doing?" he demanded, the moment the doors to their wing closed, pulling her around so she faced him.

  Jacinda had remained silent as Jotham led her back to their chambers, still trying to understand the change in Cassandra's demeanor. There was no way she could have faked that, the Queen had been devastated. Jotham's words had her giving him a hard look.

  "What are you talking about?"

  "You left the Palace without informing anyone and without the proper security!" The fear that had gripped his heart when he'd first discovered her gone returned. He couldn't, wouldn't lose her.

  "We had security, Jotham. We had two guards with us."

  "Palace guards, not Royal guards!"

  "And your point?" she asked raising her eyebrow at him.r />
  "Do not play dumb with me, Jacinda! You know Royal Guards have a more specialized training in defense and security!"

  "Of course I do! My daughter is training to become one, but that doesn't mean that I need one to go visit my sister!"

  "You are here! You are with me! That means you need them!"

  "Jotham..." She put a hand on his cheek hoping it would calm him. "No one knows I'm here, let alone with you. I was never at risk and neither was Cyndy."

  "But you could have been!"

  "Jotham..."

  "I will not lose you, Jacinda! I won't! I won't survive it again!" His mouth crushed hers as he lifted her off her feet.

  Jacinda wrapped her arms around Jotham's neck, sinking into the kiss, letting him control it, somehow knowing he needed to. He needed to make sure she was with him, safe, whole, and alive.

  Breaking off the kiss, Jotham buried his face in the curve of her neck, his arms tightening around her.

  "Ancestors," he whispered against her skin. "Don't ever do that to me again, Jacinda. My heart can't take it." Lifting his head to meet her gaze, he let her see the truth in his eyes. "Promise me that from now on you will take guards with you. My guards! Guards that understand how vital you are to me."

  "Jotham, I'm here." She kissed his lips. "I'm safe." She kissed him again. "I will do nothing to put myself in danger. I promise."

  "Promise you will always take Royal Guards with you," he demanded stubbornly.

  A knock on the door stopped Jacinda from responding. Slowly, Jotham returned her to her feet then turned to open the door.

  Turning away from Jotham, Jacinda took a deep breath and lifted a shaky hand to make sure her hair was still presentable. It had been a morning filled with a great deal of drama and she needed a moment to catch her breath.

  Turning, she found Cassandra walking through the door, William at her side and knew she wasn't going to get it. Straightening her shoulders, she prepared herself for whatever was to come next.

  Cassandra watched Jacinda's shoulders stiffen, as if she were bracing herself for an attack, and knew that was her fault. Her attitude at first meal had created this situation, and while Jacinda would probably never believe it, she did put her family before everything else, and that included her pride.

  "I know I have no right to ask this of you, not after the way I've treated you, but could we sit down and talk? About Cyndy..."

  Shock kept Jacinda silent, but Cassandra took it as a refusal.

  "Please," Cassandra pleaded.

  "Cassandra..." William took a step toward her.

  "No, Majesty," Jacinda took a step toward Cassandra, then stopped realizing she'd been misunderstood when Jotham gave her a shocked look and shook her head. "What I meant was yes, please sit." Jacinda gestured to one of the couches. "I will tell you whatever you want to know if it helps Cyndy."

  All four of them sat, William and Cassandra on one couch, Jacinda and Jotham across from them on the other, the lines of support clearly drawn.

  "Your sister-in-law is an amazing woman, Majesty," Jacinda began.

  "I know that. I've always known that, and please call me Cassandra."

  "Why now?" Jacinda asked.

  "Because, although you couldn't prove it by my actions today, I'm not normally such a b’osh." She gave Jacinda a smile that held no humor. "I normally give a person a chance. I know what it’s like to be judged unfairly, without even having said a word. But with you..."

  "But I arrived on the arm of someone you consider a close friend, family even, and you protect your family."

  "How can you possibly know that?"

  "Because Cyndy told me. She told me what your father did... after your mother's death."

  "She told you about that?" Jacinda watched Cassandra reach out and grab William's hand, her knuckles turning white.

  "Yes, while we were in the Memory Garden. She told me a lot of things."

  "Please, will you tell me what she said?" Tears filled Cassandra's eyes. "Cyndy has always been like an older sister to me. She's the one that got me and Dad talking again. She was the only one that could pull me away from my studies. She was the one that encouraged me to go out and do field work," Cassandra reached out to rub William's ring. "I owe her so much... "

  "She sees herself as insignificant in our world," Jacinda told her bluntly.

  "What?!!" Three sets of eyes looked at her in shock, even William’s. While he had realized Cyndy was struggling, he hadn’t realized it was with anything like this.

  "That was my reaction too, but she feels that everything that made her who she was on Earth is gone here."

  "But I don't understand why," Cassandra began.

  "That's because you are more comfortable with knowledge than with people."

  "Cyndy told you that," Cassandra didn't make it a question.

  "Yes. She was trying to explain why you treated me the way you did." Jacinda just shrugged. " But Cyndy isn't like you, Cassandra, she's an artist."

  "How did you know that?"

  "Because I heard her sing."

  "Cyndy sang for you? Today?!!" Cassandra whispered.

  "At Palma's, and I have to tell you it was the most amazing thing I've ever heard."

  "She was famous back on Earth," Cassandra told them quietly. "She traveled the world and performed for thousands upon thousands of people."

  "And she gave it all up when she had Victoria."

  "Yes, I know she planned on going back..."

  "But Victoria needed her after the Regulians took her."

  "Victoria was so traumatized that it took all of us to get her back. But Cyndy was the most important one. She would sing to her when the nightmares came. Sometimes all night long."

  "She was her child and her child needed her. Her family needed her."

  "Yes."

  "Now they don't."

  "What?"

  "Victoria doesn't need her. Bret doesn't need her. Peter doesn't need her. She gave everything she was to take care of her family and now they don't need her. Not here. Not like before. Is it any wonder she's feeling lost?"

  "I never considered that... why didn't I ever consider that?" Cassandra's eyes turned to William full of self-condemnation.

  "It isn't your fault, Cassandra." William turned her so she was facing him. "None of us realized what she was feeling. We were too worried about getting her here and getting her well."

  "There's more that she's feeling," Jacinda told them quietly.

  "What else could there possibly be?" William asked.

  "Guilt."

  "Guilt? What could Cyndy possibly feel guilty about?" William demanded, but Jacinda just silently looked at Cassandra. She could see the thoughts flying through her eyes until understanding suddenly flared in them.

  "Oh my God!" Cassandra whispered. "Poor Cyndy."

  "Cassandra, what are you talking about?"

  "The bunker, Dad's bunker. He personally stocked it, but only for four."

  "Four?" Jotham frowned at Cassandra. "That can't be right."

  "It is because he meant it for his family, never himself. I always knew that. Four people. Four years." Tears began to run down Cassandra's face as she looked at Jotham. "They were sealed in there for nearly nine. If Victoria and I had been in there..."

  "You would have all died." Jacinda finished for her. "It nearly destroyed Cyndy when Peter sealed that door. You were out there. Her baby was out there. But then as time went by..."

  "She was grateful because it meant Brett and Peter had a chance to live." This time Cassandra finished the sentence. "It's how I would have felt if Peter and Cyndy had been outside and I was sealed in with William and our children." She looked to her life mate. "It would have eaten at my soul, but it's how I would have felt."

  "It's eating at Cyndy's."

  "How can I ever fix this?" Cassandra whispered.

  "You can't, only Cyndy can, but you can help her," Jacinda told her.

  "How?"

  "By letting her
sing." Jacinda turned to look at Jotham. "You should have heard her today, Jotham. It was as if when she opened her mouth the universe sang." She turned her gaze back to Cassandra. "She needs to sing, Cassandra, it's as much a part of her soul as her family is."

  "Then she sings." Cassandra wiped the tears from her cheeks, straightened her shoulders and started to rise. Then she looked at Jacinda and slowly sank back down finding herself at a loss. "I don't know where to start."

  "I'd say that's why the ancestors brought me here." Jacinda immediately replied. "Because I know exactly where to start."

  "I thought I brought you here." Jotham wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close as he kissed her cheek. He had never been prouder of her than he was at this moment.

  Jacinda just raised an eyebrow at him then looked at Cassandra. "What is it about you Royals? You always think everything is about you." Her lips began to smirk. "It's a good thing he's cute or I might have to rethink this whole thing."

  "Hey!" Jotham leaned away pretending to be upset while William and Cassandra laughed.

  "I don't think I've ever seen anyone put you in your place so nicely, Jotham." Cassandra looked at Jacinda with a new appreciation in her eye. "So tell me where we start."

  "Well first, we find a Pianola and get it moved into Cyndy's quarters. You've got to have one somewhere in the Palace."

  "I... William?" Cassandra looked to William and for the first time, Jacinda truly saw the bond between them, the connection. They truly loved each other and relied on each other.

  "There are several, all in the Public Wing, which is why Cyndy's never had access to one. I'll get one moved."

  "No. I will." Cassandra interrupted him. "It's not the job of the High Admiral to have furniture moved around the Palace."

  When William went to open his mouth to argue, Jacinda interrupted.

  "Excuse me, but I'm sure Javiera could see to that for you."