The Exiled Gem

Mistakes Make Changes

Nothing in the world can trouble you as much as your own thoughts.
- Anonymous

It had been two days of Aunt Sabel's visit and life had gone seriously boring. Yes, Alexandra had thought they would be making a huge episode full of tripping each other and exchanging scathing words. But it seemed as if that wasn't what her Aunt planned to do. There was once a time when Alexandra thought her life was boring and useless. If so, she now realized how wrong she had been. Life without Aunt Sabel was equivalent to heaven.

On the brighter side, the Aunt had clearly lost her earlier interest in Alexandra. She now took more interest in touring over the city with Olivia. Olivia had to spend the whole day answering her never ending questions and bearing her sharp tongue. Aunt Sabel had said that she wanted to relive her moments in the country by visiting old places that she had liked. Alexandra had a theory that Aunt Sabel couldn't be going anywhere, actually, because she wanted to go to places she liked.  And as far as she knew, Aunt Sabel didn't like anything. But Alexandra shrewdly kept that theory to herself.

The Prince ... what-was-his-name ... Nicholas. Nicholas the prince looked sick. Not because of the Palace or anything ... he was downright sick. Or so Aunt Sabel said. He had not spoken a word to anyone ever since they had met. And normally, at the age of eight, princes were off to the Drill - an institute of military training for six years - before they learnt more about Kingship. Nicholas, who was nine, didn't seem particularly inclined to leave anytime soon. There was common consent among the four siblings that there was something mightily wrong with that boy. There was also common consent that they did not want to know what was wrong with him.

The next day, Aunt Sabel insisted on taking Alexandra as a guide - to which she was bluntly asked why she needed a guide in the first place, by a startled Alexandra.

'I do remember Doveland,' Aunt Sabel replied, with surprising calm. 'But it has changed in the past twelve years, my dear Alexandra. Now - where were we? Ah, yes - so Olivia is a good girl. But she has the horrible habit to agree with everything. I like people with minds of their own, you see.'

Was that a compliment?

Alexandra didn't find out. For all she knew, Aunt Sabel - no matter whether she liked mindless people or mindful people - was too bad a person to travel with. Especially after she had shown how vindictive she could be. Alexandra knew it would be foolishness to comply.

'Why me, then?!' She asked - there were professional tour guides she could take. There was Rose. There was even Queen Ava, who no matter how busy she was, wouldn't decline any request. 

'Excuse me?' Aunt Sabel asked, fixing Alexandra with a side-stare and speaking in her vilest tone.

'I - I mean, why not, then!' She corrected, hurriedly. That apparently, was not the best thing to say - because Aunt Sabel accepted it at once.

'That's nice. Wait for me next to the carriage.' She commanded, as if Alexandra was her handmaid. The tone however, didn't disappoint Alexandra as it earlier would have. It seemed as if her ears had made peace with the fact that one of the human voices it had to hear, was very shrill, unpleasant and only spoke rude words.

After making her wait for almost half an hour in the burning sun, Aunt Sabel finally arrived, did not even mention her delay and simply got into the carriage. Alexandra, her eyes narrowed, nose wrinkled and mouth open indignantly, just watched the lady climb in gracefully and make herself comfortable by smoothing the creases on her robes. Not a word of apology?

'Girl, don't stand there like a statue, come and sit!' Aunt Sabel said, without even turning to look  at her and pulling out a hand-mirror at the same time. She propped it up and stared into her reflection, arranging a few loose tresses of hair behind her small ears.