Marked: Part 2; The Wronged

Chapter 58

Everything was so crazy after the masquerade. The council was scrambling and now had to work with three other kingdoms that they didn't have an alliance with. Plus, they dragged the Marked royalty into the game, which no one wanted. A temporary plan had been put into place though, Cristel and Amilia would stay in their old home, under the protection of the Market and her guards that got out. They also assigned Cristel a protector. Cristel had only met him but once, and anytime after that well, she never saw him again. He was very sneaky. At least Nim would come around once a while and hold a conversation. But with all that went on, Amilia seemed to notice a lurking figure wherever she went, even school. Amilia knew what Nim looked like when she was human. Yet that wasn't it, Ikkher or Beccy, seemed to be following Amilia around too. Joining her for lunch and hanging around her locker. As far as Amilia knew, Beccy was leathally trained or at least seemed to be, she sort of pushed off those vibes. Amilia went back to living with Oglm and so did Leo. He hadn't been there for quite a while, but then one night he showed up with Seyoek and Akxfo. Before anything could be set up or arranged, they tested all three of them for everything, sicknesses, magic, hypnotism, you name it. Once they were cleared everything went back to its 'normal' way. There was an exception though, Oglm had guards at his house too, just for Amilia's safety, that is. The guards also went around the school grounds, but that was more of Nim's domain. Amilia spent most of her weekends with Cristel, she actually wanted to. Today as it went, was Friday. And after school let out for the day, well, Amilia went to the Market. She didn't directly go to her mother's, but rather the council hall. She wanted to see if there was any status on the 'situation'. She couldn't walk right in though, they were in a meeting. She saw at least three or four people in the room that had never been there before, they must have been the kingdoms that were dragged into the war. As she was walking to the door, she was intercepted by a prince she had met at the masquerade.

"Oh, hello there your majesty." He said bowing. He looked like a pure Marked, no joke. I mean he looked PURE. Like the purest Marked you have ever seen, he was essentially the 'perfect' being. Amilia curtseyed back to him.

"Excuse my appearance, your hinence, and please, don't let me interrupt your meeting."

"Oh, that silly little thing?" He said laughing. "My brother is attending, I am younger than him."

"Might I ask why you are here then?"

"My parents don't trust me in a castle by myself, so I was dragged here by my buffoon of a brother."

"Do you not live with your parents?"

"We do not, we were cared for by servants. The Marked people want their royalty to be beautiful and live as long as possible, so typically the children are cared for by caregivers as to not put stress on the King and Queen."

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know."

"It is not your fault, you didn't know. Besides, it's not like we never see them. We see them about every few months, for appearances and things like that."

"Oh." There was silence for a bit, but neither of them brothered to move away.

"I'm terribly sorry about your father."

"Thanks."

"I wish I could help."

"What do you mean?"

"I would like to help you in your endeavors, in helping free your father, but our family does not approve of such matters. Especially with the likes of your family. I know you are not the same, but my parents do not want any dealings with the likes of Nsefen."

"That's right." Amilia said looking off into space.

"Anyway, your majesty, I have yet to introduce myself formally to you. My name is Mehznmb (Meh-enz-ne-mba) Zndbkmogd (Zin-deb-kem-o-ged) the clyz (cil-e-z)."

Amilia curtseyed again to him.

"I'm Amilia Cripple." She said, extending her hand to him. He looked confused at her and then she quickly pulled her hand back from him. "Sorry your majesty."

"What was that?" He asked her, looking at his hand. "Was I supposed to do something?"

"Oh, uh, it's just a handshake. We do it all the time on the surface."

"A hand shake?"

"Yes, it is a respectful gesture. When you meet people for the first time or congratulate people, you shake their hand."

"Oh, well, congratulations on your masquerade. It was a wonderful occasion." He extended his hand to her.

"Thank you." Amilia said grabbing it and shaking it.

"You are right, that is respectful." They both laughed.

"Brother dearest, must you be near the filth?" Mehznmb looked to him. His brother dusted himself off. "Let us leave this place." He said walking forward. "I am tired of all these impures." Then he stopped abruptly. "I employ you to not go near Nsefen, dear brother of mine. You wouldn't want the King to expel you now." Then he turned his glare back to the exit and continued. Mehznmb looked to the ground, then to Amilia, gave a small smile and joined his brother as they left the council building.

"I'm sorry Amilia. I didn't know you were here." Jkdek touched her shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to deal with them, Amilia. The Marked royalty is no walk in the park. He was an utter insult in the room. So mean, acting like he was better than the likes of us. But, that's how they're raised, I suppose."

Amilia looked to Jkdek, "They're not all bad."