Marked: Part 2; The Wronged

Chapter 59

Amilia's life didn't return to normalcy anytime soon. She noticed abnormalities everywhere she went, that was, except for Cristel's home. It seemed that nothing had changed about the cottage. It was still its cheery old self, with its own unique charm. Amilia never saw Nim lurking around the place. The only difference was that there were two guards around the house. They didn't wear their uniforms, and actually stayed inside most of the time, like guests. Nobody wanted to attract attention to the place, and they knew it'd be the last place Unora would look. After all, what queen would go back to an old cabin in the suburbs? And so, life went on, day after day and hour after hour. Sometimes it would drag on, and others went fast, but each day, Amilia seemed to spend it with Cristel. Cristel handed Amilia a bowl, and a big wooden spoon and fork.

"Go ahead and toss that dear." Amilia was given a salad and had to mix in the dressing.

"Did you mean to give me more than one dressing?"

"Oh, yes. It's a Marked taste. If you mix them all up, well, I guess I just like the taste of it."

"Italian, balsamic and ranch, I hope I like it." Amilia said disgusted.

"I hope you do, actually, you might have had it before. Sometimes Oglm mixes it like that."

"I wouldn't know, I haven't made many meals with him."

Cristel laughed, "Yeah, we'll have to wait and see won't we."

"What are you making for dinner?" Amilia asked her.

"Just oqnjzkyye ndb sknyinffo."

"Is that what you're making."

"Yes."

"Doesn't look like it."

"And how would you know?"

"What type of meat is that?" Cristel looked down at the meat and then back to Amilia.

"The normal kind."

"So, ground beef?"

"What?"

"Ikkv, jmgldb ikkv."

"Yes! What else would I use?"

"You use bread?" Cristel looked at Amilia.

"I understand a lot of American English, but I am not completely fluent. I did grow up Marked, my father didn't even know English."

"Imknb."

"Yes, I do."

"And what about the uh, dggbfko?"

"It's a special type of dggbfko. It's not straight like the ones you use for your oqnjzkyye. It's curled, but it's still a strand of qnoyn. There's a box over there if you want to take a look at it." Amilia went over and looked at the box. She was actually surprised, not only did that type of pasta exist, but the whole box was in Catonin. Even the ingredients and numbers, there was no English in sight.

"You're not having trouble reading it are you? How are your Catonin lessons anyway?"

"Hm, no, I just never seen a normal everyday item in Catonin before. The box looks like one of the brands we have on the surface. And the lessons are good, I mean, I can read, speak and understand it after all."

"I can't believe you learned all that in just three years."

"Eh, I mean it's up here somewhere, right? Nsefen learned it before, right?"

"That she did." Soon enough dinner was done and they ate. The guards always thank'd Cristel for the food and housing during the terrible times that these were. She always was polite and used her manners back to them and things along that nature, but they were set up in the living room since Cristel didn't have any spare rooms. Which was fine, they didn't mind. Amilia rarely stayed the night with Cristel, the Council wanted her with Oglm whenever she could since there was less likely of an attack if she was on the surface. After dinner Cristel and Amilia took out some board games and played them, about half way through their chess game there was a knock at the door. It was Jkdek, he was holding a book.

"I'm sorry to bother you two, but it's time for another council meeting."

"Give me a minute to change here." Amilia said getting up. She went up the stairs and to her room, opened her closet and changed. She came down the stairs running, since she dropped her tiara. She picked it up, looking it over and then put it on her head. She brushed herself off and then went off with Jkdek to the council building.

"Forgive me for all the security Amilia. With all that's gone on as late, well, you know how the council feels."

"I know, I understand." Amilia and Jkdek walked into the same old room they always did for meetings, but the round table seemed to be bigger. Both of the council groups Amilia was in were there. "We figured that if both groups meet at once, well, we will all be on the same page and more work can get done."

"I'm glad to see you all are ok." Amilia said walking over to them.

"You as well, Amilia." Amilia looked at all of them, just a quick look over. Then she turned around and walked back to Jkdek.

"So, where am I sitting?"

"Right here, follow me." He pulled out a chair.

"I'm at the head of the table?"

"No, technically this is the end of the table, I am at the top of the table. But you are a part of both groups, so you have to be represented accordingly." Amilia heard a gravel sound and everyone came quiet and sat down. Amilia noticed that once the person reached the table to call the meeting, well, it was Oglm.

"I Oglm Ozedk, call this meeting to order. Wednesday the twelfth, jpoqqax qs." The gravel sounded again and then Oglm sat down.

"Thank you Oglm. I can't believe it's so late already." Jkdek cleared his throat. "Do we need a reminder of what happened at the last meeting or can we move on to our topic for this one?" No one raised their hands so Jkdek pressed on. "Well, I just got confirmation from the minister, he approved us for what we need. So we can expect to have those resources at our disposal. As you can see some of the other involved kingdoms are not here. That includes the Marked kingdom, and Sok Arc kingdom. They didn't see it in their favor to continue with this attack. If anyone else feels the need to leave from the council, you are, of course, more than free to. Please let me know at any time. You all are also allowed to permanently join the council if it is in your best interest. Does anyone else have anything to add?"

"I do." The mothman prince said, raising his hand. "I sent a search institution out. They scout the area that you think Unora to be. They found little trace around the main sector you presumed her to be. All others were terminated due to lack of evidence."

"Oh, well thank you your majesty. So we know exactly where to look. And when we get that second conformation then we will know exactly where to plan the attack."

"I went in with idea of not needing to wait longer." Janja said looking at Oglm.

"Yes, yes, I know. The second wave is just a formality, you know how the minister is." Jkdek looked up away from the paperwork. "I also wanted to send a small elite group over to the princesses kingdom to check on the situation. Unora could have abandoned her fixed home for the luxury of a castle." Nobody spoke up after Jkdek stopped talking, so he started his spiel again. "Anything else to add?" Jkdek looked around the room. Nobody spoke and finally Jkdek sat down. Oglm came up and sounded off.

"I, Oglm Ozedk, declare this meeting of the council adjourned. Wednesday the twelfth, unogqaxqs."