Part Thirty-Five

After breakfast, the girls decided to play in the garden which Georgeanne was rather relieved once they were outside in the fresh air and away from the Queen. The moment Georgeanne fell out of sight of the castle, she collapsed to the ground.

When she saw her sister's face, Blue quieted. "Georgie?"

"I'm scared," she confessed. Blue scooted closer to her.

"Of her?" asked Blue. Georgeanne nodded. "Me, too," she confessed.

"Did you see how upset she was?" asked Georgeanne. "I hate to think what would have happened if Father hadn't come in when he did." Blue considered this and felt shiver dance down her spine. "How are we supposed to live here?" Georgeanne continued. "With her?" Blue didn't know what to say, so she said nothing. "I want Devon and Aggie to come take us away right now."

"But what about Father?" asked Blue.

Georgeanne's brow furrowed. "Can't they take him, too?" her sister asked hopefully.

"That would be lovely, but then that would leave the Queen to rule all by herself, and we couldn't let that happen."

"Agreed," replied the burgundy princess. "But still-." The conversation was cut short when they heard a noise close by. Georgeanne opened her mouth to speak, but Blue held a finger to her lips and shook her head. Together they crept slowly along the elephant topiary toward the sound. They paused before peering around one of the feet of the elephant and was met face to face with Devon.

The two girls shrieked and Devon quickly put his hands on their mouths. It took them a couple seconds to calm down enough that they weren't screaming, but when they were ready, they both nodded and Devon removed his hands. "You girls okay?" he asked.

"You scared us half to death!" said Georgeanne in a loudest whisper she could muster, her hands flailing in weak slaps across his forearms.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"What's with the sneaking around?" asked Blue.

"I just came to check on you both," he said with a grin. "It's my right as an uncle."

"Where's Aggie?" asked Georgeanne.

"She couldn't come," said Devon, and the princess didn't like the look on his face when he said it, or the quickness in which he answered.

"What are you hiding?" asked Georgeanne. He looked up at the question, the deception obvious on his face. Blue saw it, too.

"Yes, Uncle," asked Blue. "What are you not telling us?"

*******

He had to see the girls. With the way his sister was acting, he just needed to make sure they were all right.

Devon left his sister and mother to themselves and slipped away in search of his nieces. He found them in the garden, but instead of being loud and boisterous, they were quiet and contemplative sitting in the grass near the giant elephant topiary. He tried listening to their conversation for a bit, but the girls quieted, sensing they weren't alone. They crept toward his hiding place, and he met them halfway.

Georgeanne nearly screamed bloody murder - or would have if he hadn't covered her mouth with his hand. Instead she grumbled into his palm. Pulling his hand away from both their mouths - and then warding off his niece's slaps as penance for scaring her - they went straight in with the questions. He tried playing it off like nothing was wrong and even said as much since he was their uncle and all. But that didn't seem an acceptable answer. Georgeanne saw right through him. Perhaps he was so preoccupied with his sister that he misspoke or spoke too soon.

But surely he couldn't tell them about their mother. Not yet anyway. By no means did he intend to keep that kind of news from them, but in all honesty, he just didn't trust the state his sister was in. He didn't deny her the right to be angry. She had earned that right the moment she was locked away in whatever prison she was in. But she came out a little bit the sister he once knew, and a whole lot of something else that had grown toxic and vengeful, and that part worried him. He didn't feel safe exposing that to the girls. He wanted his family back, to be reunited, but he also wanted everyone to be safe.

And right now... he wasn't sure how safe his sister actually was.

Part Thirty-Four

Agathea ran up to her daughter who sat straight up in bed, face beaded in sweat, a frenzied look on her face. "Aiyana," she said sitting beside the younger woman, "are you all right?" Her hands gripped the blanket, and her mother touched her hand which twitched at her touch. Agathea pulled her hand away.

Devon walked in, his mouth open to speak but when he saw his sister, he dropped the sack he was carrying and rushed to the bed. Standing before the bed, he looked down at his sister. "Aiya," he said. She didn't move. He repeated her name. She looked up at him. They stared at each other for a few moments before her face changed, relaxing into something less angry and more sad.

Her mother patted her hand, and Aiyana released her grip on the blanket and placed her hands in her lap. "I worry for you, my child."

"I worry about me, too," replied her daughter faintly.

Devon stepped to the other side of the bed and sat down. "We are here for you," he said.

"I know," she replied.

Devon exchanged a glance with his mother before turning back to his sister. "Aiya... we need to talk about that place." She slowly turned her gaze to him. "We need to talk about where you were."

"Why?" she said. "I already told you."

"Not really," said Agathea. "You just said it was someplace dark."

"You said someone put you there," said Devon. "A woman." Her hands twisted together, each hand squeezing the other tightly. "Aiya-."

"Her," Aiyana growled. "It was her."

"Who is she?" asked Devon.

"She is evil," said Aiyana, "and she must be stopped. I will see to that."