Tears of Queens

5 - Wyatt

When I arrived home later that afternoon, the first thing I did was call Tala and make sure she was okay, which, thankfully, she was. Then I went upstairs and knocked on my sister Hanna's bedroom door. I heard music coming from inside, which usually meant she had her boyfriend over. When she didn't answer, I knocked again. The music stopped and I heard her footsteps walking to the door before she pulled it open.

"What do you want?" she asked dismissively. I saw Ryan, her newest boyfriend sitting on her bed awkwardly, as if I had interrupted something. And, knowing Hanna, I probably did.

"Is mom home?" I asked, not wanting to put up with any of her bull.

"Do you see her anywhere?" I shook my head. "Then no, she's not home. And before you ask, no, I don't know when she will be." she slammed the door in my face and the music started again.

I went to my room and pulled on my noise-canceling headphones, put on some music, and flopped onto my bed, falling asleep almost immediately because of how tired I was.

~

"There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" I heard a woman's voice behind me. I turned to see a tall woman in a pink dress and a white hijab walking briskly towards me. She handed me a small, folded piece of paper. "Take this to the Shah. She's expecting you,"

"Who?" I was confused. Where was I? Who was I talking to? Who was the Shah? I had so many questions.

The woman took a deep breath, seemingly exasperated. "Tala. The Shah. She's expecting you in the throne room."

I nodded in acknowledgement and set off for the throne room. My feet were moving on their own, it's like I wasn't controlling them. I walked through gorgeous white opal hallways and past tall statues of people I didn't recognize until I reached a large golden door with intricate carvings on it. There was a guard dressed in a white and gold uniform on either side of the door who bowed to me as they opened the door for me.

I walked through the doorway but stopped in my tracks when I saw how big the room was. The walls and floor were made of the same white opal as the hallways, with gold support beams and a skylight on the ceiling. Against the wall across from the door was a roughly two-foot platform with stairs leading up the left side. On this platform sat a single golden throne. The room was surprisingly bare, with only a white-and-gold banner on each wall and two behind the throne. Tala sat perched on the throne, but I barely recognized her.

Her hair was no longer brown, it was pure platinum blonde. It was down, and shorter than I thought it was, falling down just past her shoulders. She had flakes of gold on her cheekbones and near her eyebrows, and her eyes seemed to be gold instead of their natural hazel. The black satin dress she wore loosely hugged her figure, and was adorned with small gold chains on the waist and chest, matching the thin gold headband she wore, with thin chains hanging down into her hair and face. She was sitting with her legs swung over the armrest of the throne, and she was talking indistinctly to a guy with a short blond ponytail in a black t-shirt that showed off his strong, lean build and loose, gold-colored pants.

The door made a loud noise when it closed, and I flinched as Tala's attention was turned to me.

"Wyatt! You're here! I've been waiting for you!" she smiled at me as the guy turned around. Leo. His gaze was intense and it made me blush, but I wasn't sure why. I approached Tala and handed her the paper I was given. She unfolded the paper, read it, and pocketed it.

"You're both dismissed." she said, suddenly serious. Leo bowed and I followed his lead as guards ushered us out of the throne room.

"Do you know what that said?" Leo asked me quietly as he led me to another part of the palace.

"Um, no... was I supposed to?"

"I don't think so. That might be the problem."

~

I woke up an hour later to the sound of the front door opening.

"Wyatt? Hanna?" our mom called up the stairs. I hung my headphones around my neck and went to the kitchen to greet her. "Where's your sister?" she asked me in Mandarin as she gave me a hug.

Thankfully, Hanna came down before I had to answer, closely followed by Ryan. She greeted our mom with a hug as Ryan left and our mom began to make dinner.