by Laura R Cole
*
Natalya watched in horror with the rest of the room as the baby Phoenix flashed bright blue. She rushed forward, but was pushed out of the way by many hands.
A crash sounded to her left and her eyes flew to the remains of the broken window. She dashed to the edge, careful not to cut herself on the jagged glass, and peered below. Lord Telvani’s body was falling limply to the ground, gaining speed as it got closer and closer to the ground far below. Her eyes widened and she turned back to the others in the room, trying to tell them that he had just jumped, but no one was paying any attention to her.
She looked back out the window with trepidation, not knowing what kind of awful sight she would see, only to find that he was gone.
The room was finally quieting down, Princess Phoenix still safely encompassed in her mother’s arms. Natalya wedged her way back into the throng of people around the King and Queen and spoke up loudly.
“Lord Telvani just jumped out the window, but he’s gone,” she said.
Several guards ran to the window, their metal gauntleted hands crunching into the remains of the glass pane as they leaned out. One barked orders for a search to be started and many went rushing out of the room.
“Is she alright?” Amelia asked the Queen, who was still intent on staring into the baby’s tiny face.
She didn’t answer right away, her eyes so intensely upon the child that Natalya had to blink a few times to right her vision. She could have sworn the Queen’s eyes had turned completely white for a moment.
“I don’t think the light did anything to her,” she finally answered slowly, “Perhaps it was simply a means of distraction so he could escape.”
“How could he have survived the fall?” Natalya blurted out before realizing that she was being completely disrespectful to the Queen. She hurriedly curtsied and added, “Your Majesty,” hoping that she wouldn’t get thrown out of the woman’s presence before she had asked about Alina.
The woman didn’t seem fazed in the least, however, though she did glance over at her as though seeing her for the first time. Natalya quickly looked down.
“You came with Phoenix?” she asked her rather than answering her question.
Natalya didn’t look up from the spot she had resolutely decided to stare at on the floor since the realization of who she was talking to had sunk in. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
A gentle hand hooked itself on her chin and angled her face upwards, welcoming her to look at the Queen’s smiling face. Before she knew it, Natalya found herself entwined in a one-armed hug, pressed up against the baby Phoenix’s cheek as the woman – the Queen! – embraced her.
“Thank you!” Queen Layna gushed, tears of joy running down her face. Natalya, caught up in her emotions, felt tears welling up in her eyes as well and she hastily rubbed them away.
“Of course, Your Majesty,” she glanced around to find where Hunter was standing silently behind the others and she pointed to him. “Hunter did too.”
The Queen released her, following her pointing finger and proceeded to hug Hunter with as much gusto. His surprised expression was priceless, and he held his hands out awkwardly at his sides, unsure of what to do. Natalya noticed that Amelia was watching the proceedings with a disgruntled look, and she could imagine the older woman clicking her tongue at Layna to act more like a Queen. She giggled.
The sound drew attention and she cleared her throat, rocking back and forth on her feet, but Hunter gave her a relieved look as it also drew the Queen’s attention off of him.
She moved towards the Queen again, intending to bring up the subject of her sister, when the aides and guards suddenly swarmed around and Natalya found herself ushered rudely out of the Queen’s presence.
She tried to catch the woman’s eye as she was being led away, but the Queen was too focused on Phoenix to see. She sighed and allowed herself to be escorted down the hallway to the front door. She had gotten so close, only to be thrown out of the palace.
But her escorts didn’t pause at the front entryway, but rather turned sharply to the right and up a flight of stairs. Natalya’s brow furrowed in confusion. Finally, they came to a stop before a large wooden door. The man opened the door and waved her inside.
“Your rooms, m’lady,” he said formally.
“My rooms?”
He looked worried. “Are they not satisfactory?”
Her forehead scrunched further and she glanced quickly into the lavish room. There had probably been more money spent on the curtains than on her family’s house. “They are wonderful, but I don’t understand? I expected to be asked to leave? But please, can you tell me when the Queen’s open court is? I really need to speak with her of a matter of great importance.”
“You won’t be bringing anything to her open court,” the man stated and Natalya’s heart sank. But he continued, “The Queen regretfully has much too many issues that need her attention immediately due to her absence and Lord Telvani’s betrayal, but as soon as she is able she will no doubt be down to see you personally at which time you will be able to bring whatever issue you have to her attention. If you would like, you may inform me of your grievance and I will do my best to alleviate it sooner.”
Natalya’s jaw had dropped. Queens didn’t just put up peasants in the palace and then visit them in their rooms. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally finding her voice. She gave him as many details of her sister’s kidnapping as she could and he promised that he would set someone to the task of looking into it right away.
She spent the next few days basking in the lap of luxury, content in the knowledge that the Queen’s sources were looking into her sister’s abduction for her. After all this time, she would finally be reunited with her family.
As she was going through the closet of fine clothes that had been brought for her, a knock sounded at the door. Natalya rushed giddily over to answer it. Since the first day when she’d been told that the Queen would come see her personally, every time someone knocked she got butterflies in her stomach.
It was Hunter.
“Enjoying your accommodations?” he asked her playfully and she realized she was still holding one of the fine dresses she’d been admiring.
“Very much, though I haven’t yet had the chance to speak with the Queen. Have you?”
“Briefly,” he admitted, and Natalya couldn’t help a pang of jealousy from welling up within her, “But only because I am leaving.”
“You’re leaving?” Natalya asked, forgetting her jealousy as it was replaced by a feeling of sadness. She had grown rather fond of his companionship. “Where are you going?”
“I can’t stop thinking about the woman we left in the prison of the tribes,” he answered. “She’s just as much, if not more so, responsible for the Princess’s safe return.” The jealousy was back, though for a different reason, but Natalya ignored it. He continued, “The Queen agrees that the tribe needs to be looked into further so I’ve agreed to put together a map and do some preliminary information-gathering until she can put together a more formal inquiry into the matter.”
“Oh,” she said shortly. She was rather hurt that he would abandon her quest for another. Especially to go rescue some mystery woman. She shook the feeling aside. Hunter had no reason to care about her or her sister, and yet he had allowed her to travel with him all this way and gone with her on the perilous journey to save the Princess Phoenix so that she could bring the matter to the attention of the Queen. He didn’t owe her more.
“But when I get back, I promise I’ll do whatever I can to help reunite you with your sister.” He looked down at the ground for a moment, for some reason unable to meet her eyes. “After you speak with the Queen, promise me that you’ll contact me?”
“How will I do that?” she asked, confused.
“The Queen is giving me a mirror which will reflect a spell that will allow her to be in constant contact with me during my tr
avels. She’d agreed to let you use it.”
“Alright,” Natalya agreed, though still confused, “I promise.”
“Thank you. And I really do want to help find your sister if I can.”
She smiled at him genuinely. “Then I wish you the best of luck, and a swift return. But before you go…I have one question for you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“So was I right about the goodness of the Queen?” she asked smugly.
He snorted in response, shutting the door behind him. She’d known her unwavering faith in the woman would rub off on him eventually.
She put away the dress she’d been holding and went into the bathing room where somehow the servants always knew just when she’d get the hankering for a bath. Sure enough, there was steam rising off the freshly-draw water. She striped off her clothes and sank into the delightful bubbles.
Relaxing into the warmth, she let the water soothe away the last of her stress. Soon the Queen would be here to listen to her story personally and she would find her sister.
She would be reunited with Alina at last and they would be able to return home together.
