Cicily, Our Last Hope

Chapter 6: Doing Time

TWO WEEKS LATER

This was an excessively boring ritual. Cicily woke up, ate her rations, played with Taisie, and slept. Every day was the same and it was tiring. One day, her ritualistic methods were interrupted when a guard approached and put her in shackles. The guard had dark colored scales, unlike most of the lowly-paid guards that patrolled the prison. This one seemed more important.

Cicily was taken to a small chamber at the end of a long hall. The contents of this chamber were limited; two chairs, a table, and yet another intimidating dark-scaled dragon, although this one was female.

"Hello, miss. I'm here to register you in our system so that we can ensure that you spend the minimum amount of time in our hands. What is your name?"

Cicily didn't hesitate and replied confidently, "My name is Cicily."

"Good, now if you could please show me your power."

Cicily wasn't expecting that. She had once asked Taisie how her power worked, but she had just shrugged. "I just try to feel emotional," she had said, not giving it much thought. Cicily thought to try it.

She closed her eyes and thought of something to make her happy. She saw her mother's face in her subconscious and smiled a bit. She thought of her mother;s beautiful hair, and the words she would say so encouragingly to Cicily. Her eyes flashed open when she heard a crashing noise.

"Oh, dear. Miss Cicily, you've taken out our lanterns," the lady said with a small smile. "We don't see many Xanthians with such a high intellect. You should put that intellect to better use than disguising yourself as an Albinian. You should be proud of your scale color- you might be the brightest yellow around!" She chuckled at that last remark, obviously a fan of puns.

"May I ask why I am here?" Cicily said meekly.

"Are you joking? You're impersonating royalty. Back when the Albinians were not extinct, they had pretty big heads. Something about 'purity' and 'kindness' and all that jazz. It hit them back hard when their small numbers decreased even more. They put me in a job, though, so I'll give 'em a point for that."

Cicily was dumbfounded, but she didn't show it. She kept a straight face and answered the rest of the questions, ready to return back to her cell. She had a feeling that she wasn't safe any more, and that people wouldn't take kindly to her scales- what did she call white-scaled dragonesses, Albinians? As she walked back to the main room, she contemplated ways to leave.

Taisie's brow furrowed with confusion when Cicily walked into the room, "I can't believe you didn't tell me, Sis. Even they can't remove your scales? This is getting fishy. Cicily, are you actually the lost empress?"

Cicily blushed, hurrying over to Taisie and shushing her. "Calm down. of course I'm not. I'm a yellow, I swear."

"Cicily, I knew you were different the moment I spoke to you. You were so confused about everything, it seemed as though you'd never even attended a first year history class. You need to understand that you can tell me if you're the lost Albinian. My boss has been on a search for the Empress and her daughter. I see now that you can't be the Empress, you're far too young. But you could be the heir to Raenira's throne. Things have gone bad, and they need fixed. Please say you're Albinian, please, we need you."

Taisie spoke with such wisdom for a child. She was surely passionate about this subject, and the girl was starting to cry. Cicily sat speechless at this. Taisie wiped her eye and stared at her hands. They shared a silence that seemingly lasted forever, until Taisie spoke again.

"You didn't know any of this, did you?"

"This is... Taisie, this is more overwhelming than I could ever imagine! I just wanted to find a family, I wanted to finally feel like I belong! But I guess that's not going to happen here." Cicily didn't even attempt to wipe away the never ending tears spilling from her eyes. "I need to get back home to-"

"No!" Taisie yelled, drawing the attention of everybody else in the roo, "Cicily, we need you to be here! Think of the greater good! Cicily, I need you."

Cicily's eyes softened and she let out a sob. "I want to help you, Taisie. But I just don't know how."

"Well, I can contact my boss and have us out of here in no more than a week. We can explain everything to you at base."

Cicily agreed with the plan.