The Dark Sun

Chapter 5: New Lead

     "It's your mother," she said, "I'm afraid that the Queen has fallen ill."

The words that came out of Polis' mouth didn't register at first. Okay? Mother isn't feeling well, happens to me all the time. What's the big deal? Then, I realized what that meant. Oh my god, Mother's sick.

"Ma'am, would you like me to take you to her? She's in her chamber," Polis asked.

"Yes Polis, please. Let me change first"

She nodded and stepped out the door, closing it behind her. I scrambled out of bed and dashed into my closet. Pulling out a light blue, satin dress, I ripped off my nightgown and threw the dress on. Exchanging my slippers for a matching pair of 3 cm heels, I raced out of my closet.

Throwing the door open, I marched out at lightning speed. Polis jumped and ran after me. Catching up quickly, she overtook me and led me back through the door to the staircase. Crossing the room, She opened another door that led into a matching hallway to the one leading to my room. At the end of this hallway, was yet another door. This door led to the Queen's Chamber. Polis knocked on the door.

"I have the Princess, Ma'am. Would you like her to enter?" She inquired. After a moment of silence, a voice responded. "Yes, Her Majesty would like you to enter."

With that, the door popped open slightly. Polis pulled them the rest of the way and stood there, clearly waiting for me to enter first. I took a deep breath and trudged into the room. Walking up to Mother, I stopped and gasped.

Her skin was sickly pale, and her eyes were very bloodshot. Her hair looked like it had been burned. In addition to her almost white skin, it was also stretched tightly over her bones, leaving certain areas very distinguished. Her cheekbones were very exposed, as well as her collarbone, elbows, wrists, and knuckles. My eyes widened with shock.

"What the hell happened to her?!" I demanded. The physician looked at me with a blank expression.

     "We aren't sure what caused this. One moment she was fine, the next she collapsed. We have a couple of possible theories though. First of all, she may be having a second reaction to the infection she got during the war. Or this could've been caused by her taking on so much for such a long time. Or this could be caused by food poisoning or poison. There are many explanations for this, but with no evidence backing any of them up."

I looked at him, tears filled my eyes. "Leave," I ordered, looking around the room.

"Yes, Your Majesty" echoed around the room, and feet scuffed and shuffled as all 6 people exited the room. The large, arched double doors closed with a thud, and I was alone.

I stepped over to the Queens bed and sat down on the edge. Breathing deeply, I blinked.

"I... I don't know what to say..." I told her, my voice quivering slightly as I fought back tears. She took a rasping breath and turned her head. Looking me dead in the eyes, she responded.

"W-wipe away those tears... You are the queen... and you cannot be seen as weak. It is times like th-these... w-w-where a kingdom needs to be strong."

"But I am not ready to rule! No one respects me. Not the war leaders, nor the barons, nor the other kingdoms!"

Mother looked at me, and even though her eyes were glazed over from sickness, I could still see the fire in them. "M-MAKE them respect you. Prove you can lead. I've been teaching you how to for years. Un-until I'm dead, you cannot rep-place my chiefs, but you c-can bend them to your will. That is the job of a queen."