The Protector

Chapter Eleven: The Two Queens

The Castle is much more beautiful than Gabriel remembered. Though he had only seen it a few times in his life, it was still in perfect condition. As they make their way up to the castle doors through the small town residing behind the protection of the castle walls, people step forward to see the strangers walking into town. That is until they realize who it truly is and they all begin to cheer loudly. Hundreds upon hundreds gather around and cheer as this is the first the first they had seen their Princess in 18 years. Some were fascinated and some were remarking about how beautiful she turned out to be. Almost all of them seem to completely Ignore the pretense of Gabriel despite the fact that he was carrying her.
As they approach the doors, people gather to help open the gigantic silver doors that tower above their heads. The doors open and Kara is greeted with the sight of a long hallway with shiny pearl floor and dozens of glass columns aligning the hall. At the end of the hall, sits a magnificent throne carved from multi colored crystals the likes of which Kara had never seen on earth. And on the throne, sat a woman in a long flowing white dress with even longer flowing white hair that almost touched the floor. Her eyes, were a bright purple that matched the beauty Kara had witnessed in her dream.
" Kara!?!" The woman gasps as she stands up and rushes to Gabriel and Kara as Gabriel bows his head in respect to the Queen. " Darling. My poor sweet child what happened? " The Queen could tell that Kara had been injured and snapped her fingers together which made a large cushioned chair fly into the room and land so that Gabriel could place her down in it.
" An Accident" Kara excused as the Queen looked over Kara to see where the damage was inflicted the most. " Hold on one second my child, this may hurt a little " The Queen waves her hand over Kara's ribs and in a few seconds, Kara no longer felt any pain there at all. " How did you..- "
" Magic my dear" The queen laughed as tears began to form under her eyes. " I can't believe it. It's been so long and I've missed you terribly. I know you probably have alot of questions and I promise I will answer them all I just.." The Queen couldn't hold back any longer and embraces Kara tightly with a deep hug which caught Kara off guard. " I...do have alot of questions" Kara answered as the queen pulled away with a smile on her face that conveyed a sense of pride and joy that only a mother could carry.
" I promise I am going to answer them but could we do this over dinner? I'm sure you are both hungry and need some rest " The Queen snaps her fingers again and a large table appears filled to the brim with food. Kara couldn't lie, she was hungry but she was also still rather angry. " Well I don't think Gabriel can stay...he has other places to be" Kara scoffs to which the Queen looks over at Gabriel and rushes to him, hugging hugging tightly as well. " Thank you for keeping her safe all these years. I knew I could count on you"
Gabriel knew that Kara didn't want to see him right now and whilst it was good to see the Queen again. He felt it best to just step outside for the time being and not interrupt their time together. " Im..gonna head into town. I'll be here for a day or so if anyone needs me" And with that, Gabriel turns away and heads back out of the Castle doors which leaves the Queen dumbfounded. "...what was that all about..? " Kara stands up from the chair and brushes it off " don't worry about it. Let's eat"

Kara shoved as much food as she could down her throat. This had been the best food she had eaten since leaving the Trolls behind and she was starving. Queen Aurora watched on and ate occasionally but was worried about Gabriel. " Sweetie..I know you have questions but if you don't mind me asking..what is wrong with Gabriel. He seems..tense " Aurora clasped her fingers together as she looked over at Kara who rolled her eyes at the thought of him. " He wants to go home. He wants to get back to his people. That is all" Kara kept her answers as short and breif as possible. Not wanting to discuss it much further but Aurora persisted.
" Well..Gabriel has always been a really good child. I remember when we had to send you away. And he was still so young back then. But he had a heart of pure gold. Does...he know about his parents? " Queen Aurora asked, to which Kara nodded. " Oh no. That poor baby. His parents loved him so much. It was so hard for them to let him go. They cried for years. I don't entirely think they were ever the same after he left. And when they died, our kingdom wept just as much as his did. His parents were some of the best people I've ever known" Auroras reminiscing is broken up by Kara.
" Why him. Why would you send him to protect me? He had a whole life to live and all of that was thrown away just to protect me. That isn't fair. And now he can't even say goodbye to his parents because of it" Kara stopped eating at this point and instead just stared down at her plate.
Aurora could sense the hostility in Kara's voice and felt it best to be honest with her. " We didn't send him with you just to protect you. We sent him there to keep you both safe. We knew that things were getting bad here. And we felt it was best to keep you both as far away from this as possible until you were both ready" Aurora explained. " And you are right. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to him or to you. But we had to protect you both and that was the only way we could. Even our magic had its limits and you were both so precious to us. We couldn't lose you..not forever"
Kara grabbed a spoon and began playing with it by flipping it against the edge of the table. " Well he lost his parents forever. And now he has nothing" Kara was feeling her anger subsiding but only due to the depression and sadness that was slowly seeping its way in.
" I know you are angry. And I know you feel guilty. I wish I could remove that guilt from you. I would if I could Kara..I promise you that I would but I can't" Aurora listens to the clanks on the table caused by Kara's spoon flipping which almost distracts her but she tries her best to maintain focus. " But Gabriel doesn't hate you. He is just upset. I can tell by the way you are acting that you two had some sort of fight. But these things happen. It doesn't mean the end of you two's friendship" This makes Kara throw down the spoon and glare at Aurora. " I will never see him again and you know that. It's not just because of all the shit that happened. It's because it's what he wants" Kara raises her tone which makes Aurora sit back in her chair. " How do you know that is what he truly wants? Gabriel has spent his whole life fulfilling a task that was placed upon him. A task that should have never had to happen. And now, Gabriel has obligations to fulfill back at his kingdom. But those are obligations Kara. That doesn't mean it's what he wants" Aurora smiles a little. " Think about it this way. Gabriel could have let you die at any time. He could've come home at anytime and not bothered helping you at all. He owed us nothing by protecting you but he did it regardless. And he helped you get here, despite everything. And he carried you all the way here when he could have just left you. Sweetie..on some level..that isn't because of obligation..its because he cares. And maybe, he doesn't know how to show it properly. But that is also because he didn't have a guardian watching out for him in the same way you did"
This caught Kara off guard. " What do you mean? He lived on the streets or something?" Kara looked into her mother's eyes in disbelief. " Probably. His parents didn't want him placed under a human guardianship because they wouldn't be able to handle a young Lycan. And none of his people wanted to go with him which means that he had to fend for himself all those years. Maybe he had some help here and there but for the most part. I'd imagine he was on his own" this made Kara feel even more sad about the things she said to Gabriel. " I know it's hard to believe, but he does care about you. I could see it in his eyes. The way he looked when he left..it wasn't anger. It was hurt. I think it pains him more than you realize that he has to leave" Aurora Sighs and stands up and moves to the seat beside Kara and drapes around Kara. " Sweetie. I Know it's not my place but I think you should both try to work things out before he leaves"
Kara knew Aurora was right of course. She was just so angry and frustrated with the entire situation. It was so insane how they got here. " I should go apologize to him" Kara groans as she places her hands over her eyes whilst Aurora comforts her the best that she can.
" I have to go" Kara stands up and makes her way out of the door and sees the massive town before her eyes.
Whilst she had noticed some of it when they arrived, she apparently had missed out on the sheer scale of this town. Thousands of homes stretch around and encircle the entire castle. " Fuck.." Kara moans as she begins running forward into the town, passing by houses of different variety, shapes and styles. But all having some type of regal elegance. " This shit is going to take me forever" She Sighs and then has an idea. A bit of stretch but it is better than what she is working with right now.
Kara runs to the nearest citizen and asks them if they had seen Gabriel to which they reply that they had not seen him. This only frustrated Kara even more but continues on her search, asking as many people as she can if they had seen him but not finding a single person who seemed to even know what he looked like.

Hours pass and she had absolutely no luck at all finding or even coming close to finding Gabriel. And she was close to giving up and yet refused. She had to apologize and at least apologize.
And that is when, after turning the thousandth street corner, she finds Gabriel standing on the side of the street. A smile washes over Kara's face as she makes her way over to him and places her hand on his shoulder to flip him around, only to see someone else standing in front of him.
A girl, with thick black curly hair. She was tall, well built, and seemed to be wearing some sort of armor that was unlike a knights armor from her story books and resembled something closer to a skin tight mesh of sorts. Some capes and other clothing of super fine fabrics were draped over it covered at least the upper portion of her body. 
" Kara? " Gabriel says in a surprised manner. He honestly was not expecting to see her. Mainly because he didn't want to be found and yet somehow, of course, she would find him. " So this is Kara" The girl stares holes through Kara's soul. A glare that Kara could not properly justify in her head. " Hello..." Kara answers, not actually being sure how to respond. " This is the girl that took our Prince away from us. The one who - " Gabriel places his hand in front of the girl, seeming to hold her back as the girls tone was raised.
" And who are you? " Kara asked with a slight smile cocked on her face. She wasn't sure why the girl had such a problem with her but she was definitely connected to the Lycan Kingdom. She had the same energy that Gabriel had, the same, intense energy.
" Kara..this is Victoria " Gabriel explains as he rolls his eyes, not exactly being comfortable caught the middle of the tension. " Oh. Yeah..he has mentioned you" Kara remarked with a slight bit of confidence which only seemed to Anger Victoria. A fire burning deeply behind her Scarlett eyes. 
" Don't you have a mother to get back to, Princess? " Victoria mocked. Kara could sense the hostility but it made her burn with anger and found it somewhat thrilling. She was completely ignoring Gabriel at this point who was still holding Victoria back.
" I came to speak with Gabriel. Not a bitch " Kara growled which made Victoria smirk. And before Gabriel could intervene, Victoria pushed his hand aside and raised her hand, pushing it foward and raming her knuckles deep into Kara's nose which knocked Kara back a few feet on the ground. It was at this point that Gabriel stepped foward, facing Victoria, completely blocking off her pathway to Kara. " I don't know what the fuck you think you are doing. But if you ever lay another hand on her, im going to rip your entire arm off and feed it to your sister. Do not Test me Victoria" Victoria immediatly backed down and her entire completion changed. " Im..sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I just..I've missed you so damn much and I guess I still hold alot of resentment" Victoria looks past Gabriel " I'm sorry Kara" She apologizes as Kara raises her and wipes the blood from her nose.
By this point, the towns people have gathered around to watch this spectacle which makes Gabriel even more uncomfortable. Kara made her way back to her feet, stumbling a little but regains her footing.  " Apology not accepted. I don't care if you don't like me. But Gabriel is my friend and you are not going to stop me from - " It was in that instant that all three of them found themselves back in the throne room. All three facing Queen Aurora who was sitting down on her crystal throne. The table full of food had dissapeared completely.

" What happened? " Queen Aurora asked and Gabriel provided the explanation. Aurora thought on how to best deal with this and finally answered " Victoria..I know that you are upset. But you are not going to assault my people..and especially not my daughter, is that understood? " Queen Aurora was looking deep into Victoria's eyes, showing her commanding presence.
" I understand. And I did apologize though it was not accepted" Victoria looked over to Kara whose nose was still bleeding profusely. " Don't look at her, look at me" Aurora waved her hand which shot Victoria's head back to facing the Queen.
" I am sorry. I assure you I have no intention of staying. I came to escort Gabriel back home" Victoria kept her eyes focused on the Queen whilst Gabriel looked down, being ashamed of Victoria.
" I didn't realize he needed an escort?" Aurora questioned knowing full well that Gabriel was more than capable of taking care of himself. This is exactly why he was placed in charge of protecting her daughter. " Yes " Victoria answered. " But I also came to discuss the urgency of his return. Our people need their King to take his throne. And as I was telling Gabriel before we were interrupted by Kara. He also has had a wife selected for him. A Queen whom the council felt was fair and would be able to help aid him in his tasks since he had been gone for so long" Gabriel turned his attention to Victoria. " And they chose me "