Part Thirty-Six

A bath had cleaned the nightmare-produced sweat that drenched her body. She sat in the tub scrubbing at her arms and legs with a sponge while her mother tended to her hair. As gentle as she tried to be, Aiyana ignored the pinches and tugs as Agathea combed out the tangles in the rat nest atop her head.

Her brother had left though he did not say where he ran off to. She was admittedly curious to his departure, but she passed it off as needing space from her. If she could accomplish that herself, she would. Within her twisted a darkness that she had never felt before. So much hate and anger... and violence... all of it directed at the woman that took her life away from her. The mere thought of her sent Aiayana to the brink of chaos.

She wrenched the sponge in her hands tightly, her knuckles showing white. Her behavior did not go unnoticed since Agathea could feel the change in her daughter's posture, saw the muscles in her arms flex and tense. Finished combing out the final knots, she started to hum a little song as she divided the hair into sections and began plaiting her hair. Slowly Aiyana relaxed, her posture slouching a bit, her grip on the sponge less lethal.

It was a song from her childhood - long before she met the King. The words were never important, but the melody was slightly hypnotic in a way and always made her feel better. "It's been a while since I heard that," she told her mother.

"It's been a long time since I sang it," she grinned. Finished with the braid, she circled it around itself, pinning it along the way into a large yet loose bun. "Now why don't we get you out of there before you get all pruney." She stood to retrieve a robe. When she turned back to the tub, her daughter hadn't moved. "Aiya?" she called to her. "Are you all right?"

Her voice sounded distant, her mind elsewhere than in the room. "I'm not well, Mother."

"Well then," said Agathea, "let's dry you off and get you into some clean clothes. And then maybe we can get some food into you."

"I don't like how I feel inside," said Aiyana in that far off voice.

"I know," she said with sympathy.

Aiyana turned to look up at her. "How?"

Agathea knelt down beside the tub and cupped her daughter's face in her hands. "Because you are my child," she said. "A mother's heart always feels what's in her child's heart."

Staring into her mother's eyes, feeling the love the woman had for her as well as her own love for her in return, Aiyana's eyes filled with tears. "Oh I hope you don't feel this," she whispered. "I, myself, wish not to feel this. I would scrape it from me, pull it kicking and screaming if I could. But I fear I am changed."

It was true. Seeing her eyes so close, the familiar twinkle she had remembered was no longer there. She thought back to her earlier words about the dark place. Perhaps the darkness took her light from her. "You have not," she told her. "You are still my daughter." She smoothed the hair from Aiyana's brow and smiled. "You've been through an ordeal. You just need time to mend. Then you'll be right as rain." The older woman patted her cheeks, planted a kiss on the top of her head, and stood beside the tub - the robe open. Aiyana looked up at her mother who winked as she smiled at her. Then the younger woman stood in the tub, the room filled with the song of the droplets dripping from her skin back into the tub. Carefully she stepped out tub onto the cold stone floor and slid into the robe. Agathea then turned her around and tied the robe closed. Pulling the bow tight, her daughter's next words set her off-balance.

"I am not well," muttered Aiyana. "I can't let my girls see me like this." The look on her daughter's face was worrying. "I need to do something about this part of me that has become all... twisted."

"Your brother and I will help you," offered Agathea.

"You can't," said Aiyana. Confused, her mother asked Why not? Her voice grumbled slightly as she said, "This is mine and mine alone. No one is going to take that from me." The grumble grew low as she said, "No one will take from me ever again."

"What are you going to do?" her mother asked.

Her head turned slightly until she and her mother were face to face. Agathea watched as her daughter's eyes that used to twinkle with love and light shimmer with shadow and vengeance. "Tenebrea needs to die," she said coldly. Her mother's grew wide with shock to hear the Queen's name said aloud. "And I will be the only one to do the honors."  

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."

Part Thirty-Three

The princesses dressed and headed to breakfast to find they were the first to arrive. One of the kitchen maidens told them breakfast would be ready soon and asked if they wanted a snack before then. Nodding happily, the maiden cut up some cheese and fruit and they sat at a small table in the corner nibbling on cheese and apples.

"Georgie?" said Blue but her sister did not hear her. "Georgie? Helloooo?" She barely blinked when her sister waved her hand in front of her face. Georgeanne had brought up a piece of cheese to her lips and bitten off a corner. She still held the cheese near her mouth, but she was blindly chewing the piece she had bitten off as if in a trance.

Blue clapped her hands together loudly.

Georgeanne blinked her eyes, her hands - cheese and all - falling into her lap. "What was that for?" she asked slightly annoyed.

"There you are," said Blue. "I'd been calling your name, but it was as if you were somewhere else." The look on her sister's face seemed embarrassed, and she went back to eating her piece of cheese. "Are you all right?" asked Blue. "You seemed a little weird earlier, too."

She arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Weird how?"

"I don't know," said Blue. "With everything that's been going on, I'm not sure what's weird and what's not." Her face grew stern in concentration as she said, "Do you suppose there's an acceptable kind of weird?"

"If there is," pointed out Georgeanne, "then there's an unacceptable kind, and I wouldn't care to think of what that might be like." Her sister nodded in agreement. Picking up a piece of apple, she looked around the room. "I wonder where Aggie and Devon are."

Just then the Queen walked in. She didn't see the girls at first, and from where they sat, she looked positively menacing. The girls were familiar with a similar look, but that was usually when they were sneaking out of their rooms and doing things that they shouldn't be. The look on the Queen's face, however, was much more than that. She looked as if she were up to no good and then some, and it made them both a little queasy. The Queen finally spotted them and walked over. "What are you doing?" she asked. "What is this?"

"One of the ladies in the kitchen asked if we'd like a snack while we waited for breakfast," said Blue.

"Would you like some?" offered Georgeanne trying to be polite.

The Queen looked down at the platter and turned up her nose. "Couldn't wait for your father and I to arrive?"

"It's only a snack," said Blue. The Queen glowered at her, but Blue didn't budge. "There isn't even that much on the plate to begin with." The girls looked up at the Queen, and she seemed so irritated with them that she could spit... or worse. Georgeanne thought she saw her mother's hand tense as if she were about to strike Blue when their father came in.

"Hello my dears," he said greeting the three of them. "How are my sweethearts doing?'

"Fine, Father," said the girls.

"What do we have here?" he said looking at the platter. Georgeanne picked it up again and offered it to the King. He scooped up a piece of cheese and a slice of apple. "Thank you, m'dear." Crunching on the snack, he looked at his wife. "Are you all right, darling?" he asked her.

Georgeanne saw her mother's hand slowly relax and couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if their father hadn't walked in when he did.

Part Thirty-Two

The sun shone through the window alighting the two princesses asleep in bed. Georgeanne was the one to wake first. Blue lay curled in a crescent moon on the other half of the bed. Georgeanne slipped out of bed and stood before the window taking in the warmth of the sun's rays. Her eyes then drifted to the mirror, something about it she couldn't let go.

"Georgeanne," Blue called from the bed, and her sister turned from the mirror and window to look at her. "You okay?"

She let out a breath she had no idea she'd been holding, and her body relaxed some. "Yes," she said. "I'm fine."

*******

The Queen stood before her mirror admiring her reflection as she was wont to do. She had dismissed her ladies after they had finished dressing her so she could be alone. Recent events spun through her mind with no logical answer as to why they had happened. On the surface everything appeared to have a resolution, but the explanations did not sit well with the Queen.

There was another answer. She knew it. She felt it in her bones.

*******

From someplace unknown, Aggie sat watching her daughter as she slept. Her emotion from the night before, although genuinely felt, worried her. There was an underlying rage that she had never know her daughter to have before. The heat of anger emanating from her grew almost to the point of scalding. They managed to calm her down, and eventually she grew tired and they put her to bed. Aggie herself couldn't sleep after seeing her daughter in such a state. Eventually she just got up and watched over her all night.

Devon walked in, saw Aggie playing mother hen and asked if anything had happened. "Not yet," she said though she had a feeling something would happen and soon. She watched her daughter, thought of the two little girls somewhere in the castle, and prayed that nothing bad would happen. But her daughter had come back changed somehow, and this part of her own little girl worried her and also frightened her some. She tried not to fret on it too much. It twisted her insides making her stomach ache.

But still, she couldn't help but feel she needed to prepare for something.

*******

Her dreams took hold. Nothing solid - more feelings mixed with a smattering of images. She caught glimpses of her life from before...

... before it was taken away from her.

She thought of her girls which filled her with a light that warmed her soul. But then the girls brought memories of her - the woman that took them away from her - and that light grew dim until it extinguished into something black and bitter.

Her body twitched and tensed until an angry heat jerked her awake.

Part Thirty-One

Blue ran from her room and headed to Georgeanne's room where she found her sister sitting up in bed, a single candle on her nightstand lighting the bedroom. Her back pressed up against the door, she stared at her sister from across the room. "You felt it, too," said Georgeanne. Blue nodded unaware if her sister could see her or not. Slowly she peeled herself from the door and crossed the room to the bed.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Georgeanne, "but it felt... angry?" She tilted her head in thought. "No. That doesn't seem to be the right word."

Blue leaned on the wooden frame at the foot of the bed. "Yes," she agreed. "It was angry, but it was also something else."

"Whatever it was, it was strong," Georgeanne stated.

"Agreed." Blue rounded the bed and sat beside her sister. "Do you think we should be worried?"

"Why?" she answered plainly. "I don't even know what that really was." She paused in thought a moment before asking, "B?" Her sister looked at her. "Were you scared?"

Blue thought a moment. When it had happened, it had woken her, and she felt the need to rush to Georgeanne to see if she had felt the same thing, but as to it scaring her? "No," she replied. "I was scared at all." Thinking on it some more, she added, "In fact, I felt-."

"Loved," said Georgeanne completing her sister's thought.

"Yes," said Blue. They sat in silence a moment, wondering how something so angry could also make them feel so loved. Georgeanne was about to say something when the door opened. Both princesses turned to find the Queen standing in the doorway.

"What is going on here?" she asked eyeing both girls suspiciously.

"I had a bad a dream," said Blue.

"A bad dream?" repeated the Queen.

"Yes," she answered. "And I came to Georgeanne to seek comfort."

Her wary eye turned to the other girl. "Is this true?"

"I had been soothing her nerves for the past few minutes before you arrived," said the princess.

"Indeed," said the Queen. "Are you feeling better now?" she asked Blue.

"A little," she said, "though I was thinking of sleeping here tonight if it was all right with Georgeanne."

"It is all right with me," said Georgeanne patting Blue's hand. They both turned to the Queen, and she couldn't help but ask, "Is that all right with you?"

The Queen stood, staring at them both. Feigning as sincere a smile as she could, she said, "Of course it is." She reached for the knob and said, "You two let me know if you need anything." The girls thanked her, and the Queen wished them pleasant dreams before closing the door. Back in the hall, she mulled over the conversation immediately disbelieving every word that had come out of their mouths.

Something was afoot. She could feel it in her bones. And she needed to find out what it was and soon.

Part Thirty

Aggie sat and watched her children embrace. It had felt like forever since they had seen each other, and to be together again was something special. Devon saw Aggie over his sister's shoulder. "How?" he asked walking a couple steps absent-mindedly towards the gazebo.

She sat happily inside the gazebo and smiled at her son. "I had nothing to do with it," she said simply.

"But I didn't-," he said and then caught his sister's eyes. "You?" he asked. She said nothing. "But how did you-?"

"She found me," said Agathea with a wide spread of her hands.

Devon looked back to his sister. "Where have you been all this time?" The woman's face changed, her eyes losing their sparkle a little. "Aiyana?"

"Someplace dark," she replied and then wrapped her arms around her. "And cold." Her arms fell loosely to her sides, her head falling forward some. "Alone. For so long." Devon turned to Agathea who rose from her seat and moved closer. "Mind plays tricks," Aiyana continued, her tone quiet and wan. "Things there not really there." A sharpness tweaked her eyes when she said, "And then she came."

"Who?" asked Agathea.

"She put me there," she said, then her mouth turned into a slight snarl when she added, "and left me there." The older woman was closer now, standing a little further from her children than they were to each other. "Alone," she mumbled. "But then..."

"What?"

"She came back," she whispered. "I thought I was dreaming. I did that a lot. The darkness melted the day together." She brought a hand to her head. "And then she was gone, but something was different. Something... pulled me away..." Her hand dropped and turned toward the gardens. "Where are they?" she asked. "The little ones," she said eagerly looking about.

Devon stood by her side. "Little ones?"

"I think she means the girls," said Agathea stepping up beside him.

He nodded. "They're asleep," he said. "I checked on them earlier."

"My girls," she said quietly. "My angels." Her hands slowly curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms. A small growl escaped her lips as she muttered, "How dare she keep from them."

Part Twenty-Nine

The girls slept soundly in their separate chambers, their bellies full from dinner and their walk with their father. Eyelids heavy, the barely made it into their nightgowns before collapsing into bed, their hand maidens tucking them in before leaving them for the night.

Blue dreamed of mirrors and doorknobs.

Georgeanne dreamed of dark rooms filled with forgotten things.

*******

The Queen left her husband asleep in their chambers. The day's events had left a bad taste in her mouth and a sour ache in her belly. Clad in her nightgown and black velvet robe, her slippered feet stepped soundlessly across the stone floor as she walked through the castle.

She thought best on her feet.

Moving like a shark through water, she passed the library and paused. She turned the knob and pushed the door open, remaining in the doorway. With her hands clasped before her atop her stomach, she entered the room recalling how the princesses seemed to have miraculously been here the entire time.

Spying the spot where the girls had been found, she recalled how Marcella said she had checked the room before but then immediately apologized for not being thorough and missing such an obvious display. Staring at the area which had long since been cleaned up, the Queen's brow furrowed.

The younger woman could be dim at times, but not that dim.

The Queen turned and left the library.

*******

Stealthy as shadow, he crept through the castle. A sense of worry had filled him after his run-in with the King. He thought he'd overdone it a tad with the roses, but the King seemed to love it.

The Queen... not so much.

He was on his way back to the gardens to clip some herbs and collect seeds and berries for Agathea when he couldn't help but check in on the girls. A few seconds at each of their chamber doors, he heard the calm rhythm of breathing and then slipped out of the castle and into the dark. He'd collected several samplings of bark, some leaves as well as a few flowers when his name sang through the air. He turned and saw the gazebo some yards off. But then a silhouette formed in the shadows and took a moment for his eyes to adjust. As it continued to advance, he stood ready and said, "Aggie? Is that you?" The silhouette then slowly stepped into a small patch of filtered moonlight which didn't completely illuminate the person, but was enough light just the same. His eyes began to water, a smile spreading across his face, as he stepped forward and hugged his sister.

Part Twenty-Eight

She moved through the darkness slowly, her hands out cautiously before her as she blindly followed her senses. Her mind had become obsessed with the idea of a door, and her gut led her forward away from the room that had been her prison for so long. Slowly and steadily she continued on, guided by the idea of freedom but more for another reason, another feeling.

Her girls needed her.

The floor below her began to ascend, the incline moving up and up, slowly at first and then grew steeper until she thought she could no longer keep her balance thinking she might slip and fall backward into the blackness of the room below.

Then her hands met something solid... or very near to it. Palms flat, she pressed, and what she thought was a wall started to give way, pushing in, stretching, bending to her insistence. The further she went, the more she felt swallowed up by some cold thick material as if she were walking through a wall of mud. Almost completely covered, she wondered if she would suffocate in whatever unknown thing she was being surrounded by. Preparing for the worst, she took a deep breath in before pressing forward with all her might.

And then it was gone.

She still stood in darkness, but she was someplace new. Even though she couldn't see anything, she knew she was no longer in the limbo forced upon her by her sister. With a wave of her hand, a soft glow filled the room. Squinting, she turned slowly, looking around her and realized she was in a section of a lower level of the castle used for storage. In every direction were odds and ends from various parts of the castle - the girls' cribs from when they were little to artwork to wooden trunks to all sorts of other things.

When she had come full circle, she found where she had come from - a standing oval mirror, the drop cloth that had been covering laying in a circle around its base. She stepped toward it, curious about its working, wary of touching it fearing it may bring her back to the place she'd just escaped. In the dim light, she caught her reflection and thought herself a dreadful sight. Tears tickled the backs of her eyes but did not fall. As she inspected her face, her hair, her manner of dress, she heard a noise from somewhere in the room. Quickly, she turned trying to hone in on the sound, preparing to pounce if necessary. A silhouette began to emerge from one corner of the room where various vases and bookcases were placed. Her eyes narrowed as she watched this silhouette take shape and then when it came into view. She blinked several time and almost pinched herself to see if she were dreaming.

"My darling Aiyana," said the figure standing before her.

The tears now fell as she stepped forward, falling into their arms, and with a contented smile, she said, "Mother."

Part Twenty-Seven

The girls leaned back in their chairs, hands on their bellies, delirious smiles on their faces. Servants began clearing away dishes as well as coming by with pitchers of water and wine for anyone who wanted more.

The King looked at his girls and laughed. "Are you all right, my angels?" he asked.

"I'm stuffed," said Blue.

"I'm over-stuffed," said Georgeanne.

Then both girls took a deep breath and let out a large sigh of contentment. The King laughed again. "But you've only had one piece of cake," he said. "Surely you have room for one more slice." The girls protested sweetly and shared a smile with their father.

Meanwhile the Queen did not seem amused at all.

"The lamb was tasty," said Blue.

"The cake was yummy," added Georgeanne.

"Then I shall pass the compliments on to the cook," he grinned. He leaned back in his own chair and brought his newly refreshed goblet of wine up to his mouth but paused when he caught sight of his queen. "My dear," he said to her, "what did you think of the meal?"

"Delicious as always," she replied, her mouth small, the corner slightly upturned in some version of a smile. The girls were too stuffed to notice though the King did. Instead of causing a scene, he raised his glass toward her with a nod, and she replied with a nod of her own. Left alone for a second, the Queen found the girls rolling a small orange back and forth across the table. The joy on their faces made her stomach ache. "Shouldn't you girls get ready for bed?"

Their heads swung in her direction, their smiles falling from their faces.  Even though the question was posed to them, it was the King who answered on their behalf. "My dear," he said with a sweet smile, the girls' attention fixated on him now. "They're much to full to sleep just yet. I thought perhaps we could go for a little stroll about the grounds to walk off such a tasty and yummy dinner." That seemed to make the girls happy.

"You go on ahead, my sweet," said the Queen. "I'm feeling a little tired from the day. I think I may enjoy one more glass of wine and head to bed early tonight."

"Very well," he said. He gulped down the remnants of what was left in his goblet and stood from his chair. "Shall we?" he asked his daughters. The girls rose from the table, and with their roses in hand, headed out of the dining room with their father. The Queen watched them go. Once they were gone, she poured herself another glass of wine, and after her first sip, her eyes strayed to the rose before her. With her free hand, she picked it up and held it before her. Glaring at it, she recalled her husband's voice from before.

Aiyana.

Her eyes narrowed and the petal tips began to darken until they were black, the color spreading from petal to bulb to stem. When the flower was completely black, she squeezed it in her fist, but the rose had become nothing but dust. Her tiny smirk spread into an evil grin as she drank her wine.

Part Twenty-Six

The first thing the girls noticed were the flowers on the table.  They left their father's side and ran to examine the flowers more closely.  As they marveled at them, the Queen entered and stood frozen in the entryway behind the King.

"What is all this?" she exclaimed.

"The gardener outdid himself," commented the King.

"You're responsible for this?" she asked of her husband.

He nodded, turning to his wife.  "I saw them earlier today and instantly became smitten.  I told him I wanted some for the dinnertable, but this is above and beyond."  His grin made her teeth ache, but she was obviously outnumbered in the flowers' adoration.

"They're lovely," said Blue.

"Simply breathtaking," added Georgeanne.

"Aren't they though," he said stepping up to the table.  There was a large vase in the center of the table with a dozen decoratively arranged within.  Along the table, there were smaller bundles and at each of the four table settings was a single rose wrapped in a white silk ribbon for each member of the family.  "Aiyana," said the King.  "That's what the gardener called them."

"Gardener," mumbled Blue and shot her sister a look who returned it in kind.  Then they both remembered the Queen was in the dining hall and changed their faces.  They, however, in focusing on their own appearances, did not notice the Queen's displeasure at not only the flowers but of their name.

"I love them," said Georgeanne.

"Well then, after dinner, why don't you and your sister take the smaller arrangements back to your rooms."  The girls hugged their father thanking him for his generosity, and then they sat down for supper.  Several servants came in to tend to their needs and Georgeanne noticed Aggie was one of them.  She was in disguise again, but it was the eyes... always the eyes.  The Queen and King carried on some small talk as they were being served, the girls being ignored by her as usual.  Aggie came by and placed a platter before Georgeanne.  Blue recognized her as well, but her sister gave her a warning look, and she started to fiddle with the rose by her plate.  Aggie then served Blue, and Georgeanne couldn't help but peek up from her plate to look at the woman again.

And then she curtsied and was gone.

The girls stared at each other while their father said Grace... and then they began to cut apart their meat and concentrate on having a pleasant meal.

*******

The woman paced in the dark.  She wanted to scream, rip her hair out, but that would achieve nothing. 

She wanted out. 

She'd wanted out for a while, but her sister's last visit sparked something inside her that fueled a fire in her that had been simmering for a while. 

The need to be free was driving her mad, even more than she had become being locked away in some netherworld prison.  She needed out.  Now more than ever.  But what could she do?  All that was at her disposal was weak magic and despair which clouded her mind and her abilities.  But she couldn't give in.  She had to do something.  The need for escape was making her skin itch with anxiety.

Her fists pounded the sides of her head for clarity, and in one brief moment, she thought of a single word.

Door. 

Part Twenty-Five

The princesses walked with their ladies behind them, but halfway to the dining room, they crossed paths with the King.  "Well, isn't this a lovely sight," he said, staring at both of his girls.  Arms outstretched, he approached the girls who went to his side as they always did.  Any suspicions or doubts floated away as they embraced.  "What have my beautiful ones been doing all day?"

"Oh," said Blue, trying to sound casual, "you know us, Father.  A little of this.  A little of that."

"We fenced a little," offered Georgeanne which normally they would be in trouble for if the Queen had heard since fencing wasn't for ladies - especially Princesses.  But their father didn't mind and encouraged pursuit of all their interests and hobbies.

"Who won?" he asked.

Both girls answered, "I did," and the King laughed.

He looked up at their ladies and said with a pleasant smile, "You can all go," and they curtsied.  "I shall have the honor of escorting my daughters to dinner tonight."  The ladies waited until he had turned, placing one arm around each girl before scurrying quietly away.

"Father," said Georgeanne.  "Why don't you have anyone with you?"

"What do you mean, sweetheart?"

"We always have our ladies with us," she said.

"A king doesn't have ladies-in-waiting," he pointed out.

She poked him in his side and said, "You know what I mean."

He laughed and said, "Well, your ladies are there to tend to you and help take care of you when your mother or I are not around."  Blue's face flinched at the mention of the Queen, but she regained her composure instantly. 

"You don't need anyone's help?" asked Blue.

"A king rules alone," he said.  "I have advisors, but in the end, I make the final decision."

"Advisors," repeated Blue.  "What about guards?"

"I have guards, yes."

"But they don't follow you around the castle," said Georgeanne.

"No," he said.

"Why?" asked Blue.

"Because this is my home," he said.  "They only need to be around if I leave the castle or if we have guests."

"Like the party?" asked Georgeanne.

"Yes," he answered.

"Will you have many guards with you at the party?" asked Blue.

The King stopped and stared at both his girls.  "Why the sudden interest in my entourage?" he asked.  The girls were quiet, looking at each other from the corners of their eyes.  "Girls?" said the King, his tone slightly serious.  They looked at each other again trying to speak without speaking, but they were both at a loss.  Just as Blue opened her mouth to speak, her sister cut her off.

"We had bad dreams," she said, and Blue stared at her sister.

His focus on Georgeanne, the King said, "Bad dreams?"

"Yes," agreed Blue trusting in her sister to guide her wherever she was going with this story.

"Yes," said Georgeanne, "and ever since, we've been a little... worried."

"About me?"  The King took the girls' awkward expressions as yes.  "Oh my precious little angels," he said kneeling before them.  "They were just dreams."  He reached up and touched their cheeks in the caring way he did since they were little.  Then he took one of their hands in each of his.  "I'm sorry that you both had bad dreams, but rest-assured that I will be fine.  My guards protect not only me but my family as well as all those that live within the castle walls."  He grinned slyly and said, "I also know a thing or two myself."  Both the girls smiled at him, feeling somewhat better themselves.  He leaned in close and said, "But do me a favor angels and say none of this to your mother for she believes dreams are portents, and I will never hear the end of it.  Agreed?"  The girls agreed, and they hugged once more before the King stood and still holding their hands, continued their walk to the dining room.

Part Twenty-Four

There was a knock on the door before it opened and one of Georgeanne's ladies informed her it was dinner time.  Blue told the lady that they'd be out in a minute, and without question, she closed the door.  Blue then turned back to her sister.  "Are you all right?" she asked.

Georgeanne in her fit of tears had slid from the bed to the floor.  It had taken a while, but her sobs eventually subsided leaving the her remaining tears to leak from her eyes as she sat on her knees not speaking.  Her sister just sat with her, keeping her company in her moment of need.

Her breathing slow and steady, she said, "I'm fine," her voice quiet but unshaken.

Blue reached out, her index finger curled, and wiped a fallen tear away.  The gesture caught Georgeanne's attention, and she turned her head toward her sibling.  "We should get you cleaned up for dinner then."  Georgeanne simply nodded and let her sister pull her to her feet.  She sat before her vanity, and stared at her reflection as she blotted her face with her handkerchief.  Then she powdered her face to cover up any evidence she had been crying. 

Standing behind her, Blue fidgeted with her hair to make it look a little more presentable.  Moderately happy with how it looked, she asked her sister for her opinion.  When she didn't answer, she caught her sister staring at the mirror.  "Georgie?"  She continued to stare as if her sister had said nothing.  Blue bent forward, placing her head just above her sister's left shoulder.  She looked from Georgeanne to the mirror and back again.  "Were you thinking of doing something with your hair?" she asked.  "I think it looks fine the way it is, but we could try something else."  Another knock on the door and both girls turned to see Georgeanne's lady, an apologetic look on her face, standing in the doorway.  "We need to go," said Blue.  "You know how M-."  She paused then said, "We shouldn't keep Father waiting."  Georgeanne laid the puff on the table and stood, smoothing her hands over her dress.  Blue left to talk with the lady at the door, and while alone, Georgeanne's mind began to wander again.  With her right hand, she reached out toward the mirror and tapped it with her knuckle as if rapping on a door. 

Blue called to her sister.  "Coming," she replied, taking her hand back from her reflection and turned toward the door.  Once there, her sister did not move.  "I'm ready.  Let's go."  Something had caught her sister's attention, but when she followed her line of sight, saw that she was staring at the mirror.  "What is it?" asked Georgeanne.

"Nothing," said Blue.  "I just thought..."  She shook her head and smiled at her sister.  "Never mind.  Must have been a trick of the light."  She stood beside her sister, offering her arm to her.  "Off to dinner?"

Georgeanne smiled back, looped her arm through her sister's and headed out the door.

Moments after the door closed, what Blue thought she had seen happened again as the mirror's surface began to ripple like water and after a few minutes smoothed again into flat glass.

Part Twenty-Three

The King stood outside his castle looking out over the gardens.  His hands firmly placed on the stone railing, he took in the loveliness of the sky and trees, the flowers and topiaries, but as beautiful as it was, it did nothing to brighten his mood.

He had been sombre as of late, and he wasn't sure why.  He had everything a man could ask for, and as king he was wont for nothing, but still... an emptiness dwelled within him that he could not pinpoint or comprehend.  The feeling within troubled him, and he sought out his physician in secret so as not to alert anyone in case it was simply all in his mind.  After every check-up, the physician assured him he was fine, and the King believed him.

Then what was this internal ache that troubled him so?

A gardener tending to roses near him caught the King's attention.  "You there," he called to the man who looked up at hearing the King speak.

"Yes, Your Highness," he said abandoning his tools and standing at his address, not forgetting to bow before royalty.

"The grounds are beautiful," said the King. 

"Thank you, Your Majesty," said the gardener with a slight bow of the head.  "I shall pass your kind words on to the others that help maintain the grounds."

The King nodded.  "Carry on," he said, and the gardener, after a small bow and polite thank you, fell to his knees again.  Noticing the flowers he was tending to, the King said, "Those roses are remarkable."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The roses were a swirl of blue and a deep reddish pink with green mixed in from the base of the bud to the tips of the petals.  "They were originally all green but over time, the red and tones emerged."  The gardener continued pulling weeds and pruning the bushes.

"Fascinating," said the King.  "Praytell, what is the name of their species?"

"Aiyana," said the gardener.

"They are exquisite," said the King.  "I would like to have some on the table during dinner with my family, please."

"Yes, Your Highness," said the gardener with a bow and by the time he raised his head, the King was gone.

*******

Both women stared at each other, neither of them smiling.  If it was possible, the temperature grew colder in their presence. 

It was the Queen who spoke first.

"It seems you have lost your manners, dear sister."

"The time for pleasantries is over," said the woman.  "What do you want, Belinda?"

"What makes you think I want something?"

"You never come to me unless there is something that you want, and seeing as how you are ever my only guest, I know that I am not mistaking you with some other creature."

"Creature?"  The Queen's eyes turned dark.  "How dare you take that tone with me?"

"I shall take any tone with you I wish," said the woman.  "Look around you, dear sister.  In what way can my means get any worse."

"Do not test me," said the Queen through clenched teeth, "else you may find out."  The woman held her ground, and the tension in the Queen's shoulders eased slightly.  "And I assure you that I want nothing from you.  I merely came by to see you because what kind of queen would I be if I did not care for the well-being of my subjects?"

"I am blinded by your graciousness," said the woman, her sarcastic tone not lost on either one of them.

Trying to remain calm, the Queen said, "Is there anything you need or want?"

"Why bother asking since we both know I'll receive nothing I either need or want?"

"I can only do what is within my power."

"Power," the woman huffed and looked away which sent the Queen into a rage.

"Do not turn away from me!" she screamed grabbing the woman's face and turned it to face her. 

Their faces inches apart, the woman didn't flinch or bat an eye.  "Or else what?"

"You know what I am capable of," said the Queen, the threat lingering between them.

"But do you know what I am capable of?" asked the woman.  The Queen released her, shoving her aside and walked away.  "Your threats mean nothing to me, Belinda.  I literally have nothing to lose.  You saw to that."

She walked to the outer rim of light and before stepping into the shadows, she stopped.  "What about the girls?" she said without turning around.

The woman stared at the Queen.  "You wouldn't hurt them," she said.  "You need them.  Like you need me."

The Queen turned then and stared long and hard at her sister.  "Perhaps," she conceded.  "But there will come a time where I won't need any of you, and mark my words, Aiyana.  When that day comes, I'll be sure to let you know."  Then the Queen disappeared into the darkness, and the woman listened to her fading ascending footsteps... then a click... and she was once again alone. 

Part Twenty-Two

It was dark and quiet as it always was.  Spending a lot of time alone there were moments where she thought she heard things, but unable to see much around her, she passed it off as a trick of the mind.  Still, a scurrying nearby, and she'd snap her fingers to bring forth a bit of flame to see by to find nothing there.  A wave of her hand, and the flame was out.  The flame used to be much brighter growing fainter as time passed.

Time.

Without sun or moon, it was difficult for her to count the passage of time.  How long has she'd been in this place?  If the stone walls could talk, they'd most likely be able to fill her in on all that she had missed since she'd been there. 

No windows.

No doors.

No signs of any kind of escape.

It was enough to drive any sane person mad.

There was a click in the distance which caught her attention.  Her head cocked slightly to the side when she heard a clack.  No, she told herself.  It's just another trick of the mind.  But the noises continued, a steady rhythm of... of footsteps.

And then they stopped.

Her eyes darted about the room searching for whatever had made that noise, but the shadows said nothing... at first.

A light from somewhere filled the room from its center, pooling outward.  The woman held her hands limply in fists at her chest as she searched for the light's source.  It stopped just before the walls, and it was then she relaxed letting her hands fall to her sides.  She eyed the remaining shadows, turning in a slow circle before stopping at one spot.

"What do you want this time?" she said to the darkness, her voice a little dry but strong.

The click-clack sounded on the stones as the woman stepped from the shadows.  Dressed in her royal finery, she stopped when she stood in the circle of light, a look of displeasure on her face.  "Come now, sister" said the Queen.  "Is that any way to talk to family?"

Part Twenty-One

Done with party preparations for the day, the Queen dismissed all of her servants so she could have some alone time to relax.  She retired to her chambers and told her ladies that she wished not to be disturbed.  Once alone she went to the window, closed her eyes, and took a big deep breath.  The chaos of the world would just fall away like fallen stone debris chiselled off an artist's sculpture.  With each breath, more and more faded away until nothing was left.

Except her two daughters.

She couldn't get them out of her mind.  Something felt off, and she couldn't put her finger on it, but when they couldn't be found...

The Queen opened her eyes and exhaled, her brow furrowed in irritation.  Yes.  That feeling when something was always afoot nibbled lightly at her gut, and it disturbed her.  It was possible that the girls had been in the library the entire time.  It was also possible that Naesa could have missed them in the corner they had been in.

But it was also possible something was going on.

She turned from the window and seated herself at her vanity.  "Knock, knock," she said and then the glass began to ripple like a stone being tossed into a pond.  When the ripples faded, she pulled up her sleeve and reached her hand toward the mirror - then inside the mirror - and pulled from it a copper doorknob.  "Nobody's home," she said, and the mirror became glass once more.  From the vanity, she moved to the closet and stared at the door.

There's no way, she thought.  No way at all.  But she had to be sure.

As if pushing a needle through fabric, she pushed the copper doorknob on top of the gold one already in the door and with little effort pushed until the copper one was the only one there was.  She then turned the knob and opened the door revealing a staircase where her closet used to be.  Crossing the doorway, the began to descend the stairs as the door slowly closed behind her.

Part Twenty

Georgeanne stood in her room at her window staring out at the gardens which were beautiful.  She imagined herself walking the grounds, but something compelled her not to go out there even though she felt drawn to.

After she and Blue had tidied up in the library, a strange feeling crept over her so she excused herself to her room saying she was going to lie down for a while, but once she got there, she found she could not rest.  Alone with her thoughts, she kept thinking of the wide open spaces of the outside though the closest she could bring herself to the outside was her window.

A light knocking on her door caught her attention, and she turned to see one of her handmaidens poke her head inside.  It was Ainsley, a quiet woman who rarely spoke unless spoken to.  "Feeling better, milady?" she asked.

She opened her mouth to speak but closed it finding she had nothing to say.  Still, she felt she owed the woman some sort of answer, so she said, "I imagine I'm not any worse."

"Are you up for company?" the woman asked, and Georgeanne was wondering if the woman was offering herself up.  Before the princess could question, the woman added, "Your sister is here to see you."

"Oh," she replied.  "She may enter."  Ainsley curtsied and opened the door to let Blue pass.  "Will either of you be needing anything?"  Georgeanne thanked her but said no.  The woman curtsied again and left, closing the door behind her.

"I thought you weren't feeling well," asked Blue.

"I'm not," Georgeanne replied.

"Then why aren't  you laying down?"

"Because I'm restless."

"You, too?"  Georgeanne looked at her sister in surprise and then back out the window.  "Neither of us were never very good at waiting."

"This is different."

"Waiting is waiting."

She turned from the window and stared at her sister.  "We aren't learning to fence or ride horses.  We're talking conspiracy here."

"Georgie-."

"That woman out there," she said with an erratic wave of her hand, "is not our mother.  Our mother... our mother... is out there somewhere."

"I know."

"We need to find her."

"I know," she said.  "But how do you suppose we do that?"  Georgeanne fell silent.  "Look, I know how frustrating this is."

"Do you?" she said, her eyes filling with tears.  "She was my mother.  Before all of this, she was my mother, and in being so I loved her blindly not as my Queen but as the woman that gave me life, that nursed me, that raised me.  And now I find out that not only is she not the woman I thought she was, that she's responsible for my real mother's - our real mother's - disappearance?  What else has she done?" 

Blue went to her, her handkerchief out and dabbing at her sister's face.  "You cannot honestly blame yourself for another woman's choices."

"But she was my mother," she sighed.

"You are nothing like her," said Blue.  "And we both know it's not her blood that courses through your veins.  You're made of something more amazing."

Georgeanne laughed a little.  "Flattery will get you everywhere," she smiled weakly.

"And honesty even further."

She brushed the remaining tears away with her fingertips as she seated herself on the side of the bed.  Her sister sat beside her.  "She was all I had for the longest time until we came here.  There were no other kids around and everyone was so serious all the time.  And then when father died-."  She fell silent, her spoken words falling in mid-air as her face grew worrisome.

"Georgie?"  She placed a hand on her sister's shoulder.  "What is it?"

"Father," she said, and Blue waited.  Out of everything that had happened, everything that they had learned, she had completely forgotten about the man she had called father, the Queen's first husband.  The world in which her and her sister lived had been thrown on its ear.  Nothing was normal or ordinary anymore.  Simple explanations no longer existed.  So she couldn't help but wonder who that man had been, the man who in her younger years she had called father.  Was he truly dead?  Or merely a pawn in the Queen's plan?

Too many questions and not enough answers.  She feared she couldn't take much more and wondered what was going to happen next.

Part Nineteen

Devon was suddenly at his mother's side.  "What do you mean she knows?"

Agathea lifted her nose in the air like a dog who's caught a scent of something.  "I'm not sure," she replied her eyes narrowing in concentration.  "She knows... something."

"But what does she know?"

The girls stood beside each other in silence watching their newly discovered family discussed their mother...

Stepmother...

The current Queen.

"It's difficult to say," said the woman.  "I think at the moment she is merely suspicious."

"We must get the girls back," declared Devon.

"Wait," said Georgeanne.

"What?" said Blue.

"Yes," agreed Agathea.  "The girls must go back."

"But I thought you were supposed to explain things," pointed out Georgeanne.

"And teach us stuff," added Blue.

"Yes dears," said Agathea placing an arm around each of them, hugging them to her.  "But right now, we must appease the Queen."

"Why?" asked Blue.  "You made it sound like she was a bad person."

"She is," said Devon kneeling before the two princesses.

"Then why would we need to appease someone like that?" said Georgeanne.

"Because to do anything now might risk your safety," he said.

The girls looked at each other then back at their uncle.  "Our safety?" said Georgeanne.

"All in due time," assured their grandmother.  "We'll explain everything in due time.  Right now, we need to get you back."

"Back?" said Blue in a daze.  Where had they gone?

"We hadn't realized you'd been gone so long," she said.

"But when will we see you again?" asked Georgeanne.

"Soon," said Devon.  "I promise."  He took each of their hands in his and gave them an affectionate squeeze.  "Now, hold on."

"What?" said the girls.

He leaned in close and said, "And whatever you do... tell the Queen nothing."

*******

Marcella entered the library.  It was a popular place to find the princesses on any given day, but she looked around and saw neither one of them.

Since her earlier run-in with the Queen, she had felt uneasy.  As always she wanted to make Her Majesty happy, and even though she hadn't seemed to be upset with her, the woman couldn't ignore the uncomfortable knot in the pit of her stomach.

The girls must be found.

When she left the Queen, she decided that she would conduct a search all on her own.  She had already checked their rooms, the music hall, the kitchens.  She even dared a peek into the royal suites of the King and Queen, but found nothing.  No matter where she looked, the girls just weren't there.

The increasingly fretful woman had gone so far as to re-check every place her and the servants had searched before inspecting every nook and cranny - even hopelessly lifting up the rugs for any clue.

Next would be the gardens.

Marcella crossed the room to the large window and stared out at the grounds which were so vast and lush.  The gazebo, the topiaries, the flowers - all beautiful in the sunshine.  It would take most of the day to cover that landscape, and she probably wouldn't be done before nightfall.  With a heavy sigh, she turned to make her exit and found the Queen standing just inside the doorway.

Her breath caught in her throat.

"You're Majesty," she said with a curtsie.

"Marcella, my dear," said the Queen, her voice like silk.  But her eyes, thought Marcella.  "Any progress?"

"No, Your Majesty," she answered reluctantly.  "I have been going back over every inch of every room personally but have found nothing."

The Queen raised an eyebrow.  "Every room?" she asked with just a small hint of suspicion in her tone.

"Wherever I was able, Your Majesty," she replied trying the best to hide the nervousness.

Before the Queen could respond, they heard a noise in the room... like a book falling to the ground.  Her Royal Highness eyed her Lady-in-Waiting who looked just as confused.  They both followed the noise to a corner.  Behind a large sofa they found the two girls leaning against the wall - as well as each other - asleep with an array of books about them.  The Queen picked up a hefty hardbound volume from a nearby shelf and let it drop to the floor.

The loud Thud! the book made woke the girls from their slumber, causing them to jump in alarm, their movements in a daze.

"Blue," said the Queen, her voice serious and irritated.  "Georgeanne."  The girls looked up, blinking their eyes and rubbing at their faces.

"Mother?" said Georgeanne groggily.  Unable to stifle the yawn that was starting, she held the back of her hand to cover her mouth as she said, "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" she asked.  "What are the two of you doing here?"  Finished yawning, Georgeanne dropped her hand in her lap.  That was when she noticed the spill of violet fabric beside her.  When their eyes met, Blue seemed just as confused as her sister.

"Have you been here this entire time?" asked Marcella.  The girls hadn't noticed her until she had spoken.

"Obviously," said the Queen before the girls could answer.  Turning her attention back to them, she said, "Do you realize everyone has been looking for you both all day?  You've made poor Marcella sick with worry."  They didn't know what to say.  "Now I don't mind you're love for literature, but I wish you wouldn't hide in the stacks like this and cause such a panic."

Not knowing what else to say, the girls simply looked up at the Queen and said, "Sorry, Mother."

"Well then," she said, "I must be off.  There are still preparations to oversee.  In the meantime the least you two can do is clean up the mess you've made.  I think it's the least you could do for the amount of worry you've caused."

"Yes, Mother," said the girls.

"Very well."  She turned to the woman and said, "Come along, Marcella.  You can come help keep everyone in line."  The Lady-in-Waiting shot one final bewildered glance at the girls before hurrying off after the Queen.

Once alone, the girls gawked at each other in silence too confused and afraid to say anything aloud.  Instead, after a few moments, they stood up and without a single word began tending to the books on the floor, returning them to their rightful places on the shelves.

Part Eighteen

Blue stared at the man Devon.  She looked at him for a long time, analyzing his face - his eyes, his mouth, the curve of his cheekbones and jawline.  By reflex she wanted to say no, to not believe these people - the woman from the hidden lab, the man from the balcony with no exit.

"B?" said Georgeanne.  Blue turned to look at her sister and felt a smile behind her lips, but then saw the woman beside her and the smile was stuck in limbo.  "B?" she said again.  Instead of answering, she rose up and walked away from the three of them.  Standing at the opposite side of the gazebo, she looked out at the garden and all of its blooms.  Her mind was racing, and she didn't know how to answer her sister.

"Are you all right?" asked Devon from somewhere behind her.

Defensively she snapped, "No.  I'm not all right."  She turned to face him where he stood at the gazebo's center.  "How can you ask me that?  After everything that's happened?  That we've heard?"  They stared at each other for a moment before she added, a little more calmly, "No, uncle," she said with a little sarcasm to it, "I am not all right."

Georgeanne rose from her seat and walked to her sister, trying to block her view of Devon.  "I know it's a lot to take in," she said, Blue's eyes falling to her sister's.  "I admit, I'm having a little difficulty myself understanding everything, but-."  She paused, searching for the words, but there really were none that fit.  Instead, she smiled that sweet smile Blue had grown up with and said, "Don't you feel it, B?  Just sift through all the crazy and strange, the anger and confusion, and there's something there underneath all of it that just seems to feel right."

She closed her eyes and let her sister's words settle in her mind.  With each breath, the anger dissipated, and that feeling rose up.  Georgeanne was right.  Blue wanted to trust in that feeling.  She just wanted to understand it.  She wanted to understand it all.  "It's just so much," she said looking into her sister's eyes.  Georgeanne reached out and smoothed her cheek with her thumb.  It was then that Blue realized she was crying.

"I know," she said, a few tears falling from her own eyes.  Blue wiped her sister's tears away.  With a sniffle, she added, "Having been lied to all this time.  We have a right to be angry."

"It's not just that," said Blue.  She stepped beside her sister and looked at their two companions.  "There's this new world we've been a part of but know nothing about."

"We'll teach you, dear," said Aggie.  "Both of you."

"Teach us what?" asked Georgeanne.  "I mean, everything that's happened lately... like..."

"Rooms that aren't really there," said Blue.

"Dreams that aren't really dreams," added Georgeanne.

"People that don't seem to have aged a day," Blue pointed out, eying Aggie and Devon.

The older woman quietly chortled.

"The book!" said Georgeanne.  "The book that has my writing in it."

"Okay," said Devon, his hands out, palms down, in a surrendering gesture.  "We realize it's all a bit much and that you have questions."  He held a finger up at Blue who was just about to say something sarcastic but remained silent.  "Obviously this is going to take some time."

"Something we don't have a lot of," said Aggie.  Devon and the girls looked at the woman worriedly.

"What's wrong?"

Aggie looked about her as if following a lightning bug only she could see.  Her wandering eyes stopped chasing whatever they were after, as if they had caught the invisible prey.  "She knows," said the woman, her tone serious.

"Who?" asked Georgeanne.

The woman's eyes fell on the girls, and neither liked what they saw in them.  Even more so when Aggie replied, "The Queen."

Part Seventeen

The Queen was making her rounds, making sure preparations for the upcoming party were under way. So far everything was progressing nicely - some items on her checklist on schedule, some ahead of – which pleased her (and all was well in the land when Her Majesty was in good spirits).

On her way to the kitchen, her small entourage of assistants in tow following closely behind her, she was met in the hallway by one of her ladies-in-waiting. As they neared one another, the Queen noticed the woman's countenance and demeanor.

I did not please her.

Reaching the entrance to the kitchens, the two ladies stood facing each other, eyes locked on the others'. The small group huddled behind the Queen patiently waited for orders and were rewarded a second later when they watched her casually extend her arms towards the door and flick her hand apathetically at it. Familiar with this gesture of privacy, they bowed to her and disappeared behind the door and into the kitchens.

“Naesa,” the Queen said calmly. “What causes you to look so troubled, my dear?”

The woman held her hands together as her Queen did though her white-knuckled twisted grip did little to lift the Queen's spirits. Finally, her voice coming in a somber yet tense tone, she said, “I cannot find her, Milady.”

Remaining calm, the Queen offered the idea of, “Perhaps she is at her lessons.”

“Her lessons ended hours ago,” replied the woman nervously.

Feeling a vein in her left temple twitch, she asked, “Have you checked her room?”

“Yes, Milady.”

“Well then. Perhaps she's running amok with her sister,” she suggested, the last word coming through a tightly clenched jaw. The woman's silence did not go unnoticed. “Nasea?”

The woman let her gaze fall (a sign of weakness the Queen hated though relished in when she bore witness to it from her cowering, cowardly subjects). In almost a whisper, the woman said, “I cannot find either of the princesses, Milady.” Immediately Nasea raised her head and began defensively babbling. “I have searched everywhere! Inside. Outside. Top to bottom. I've asked everyone. I've double and triple checked. No one knows where they are. It's like they just disappeared.”

The Queen eyed the woman who was too exasperated to notice.  Turning her face to one of sweetness, she placed a hand on the woman's shoulder which caught her attention.  Frantic eyes looked into the Queen's.  "Everything is fine," she told Nasea and the woman slowly began to calm.  "The princesses are just playing.  There's no need to worry."  The tension drained out of Nasea's body, and she smiled up at the Queen.  "Now I must return to my preparations."

"Do you need any help, Milady?" asked the woman, eager to please.

"No, dear.  I'm fine.  But thank you.  If I need any extra assistance, I shall let you know."  The woman curtsied and with a smile disappeared around the corner.

Alone in the hall, the smile falling from her face, her thoughts turned toward the missing children.  Before she could think too long on it, a crash erupted nearby.  "Can't leave them alone for a second, can I?" she muttered to herself.  She plastered her queenly smile on her face before proceeding into the kitchens.