The Places We Go

Chapter XVI; Arlie

     It was a shock to everyone. Ideus was dead. Xayah was devastated, and Arlie was a shoulder for her to cry on as the two had gotten much closer in the time between the wedding and now.
     Anastasia and Beau pulled Arlie aside. "Don't talk about him. Keep things hushed." Anastasia said after Beau shut the door. "What do you mean?" Alrie asked. "Just, don't mention the death. To anyone. Especially his family" Beau said as he walked over to Anastasia and put his arm around her. Arlie gasped, and Beau released the annoyed Anastasia. "If you must know," She grabbed Beau's hand, and he bent down to kiss hers. "Beau and I are courting now, but we have to keep it quiet until the death of Ideus is no longer being discussed." Anastasia said, leaving Arlie confused. She knew that Beau had loved her for some time now, but had no idea that Anastasia felt the same time.
     "I know this is a lot to process, but please keep it to yourself." Anastasia said, knowing Arlie would want to scream it from the hilltops. "How long have you two been together?" She chose to ask out of her thousands of questions. "Only a few days." Anastasia said as she and Beau sat on her bed. "That's convenient. You became a widow only a few days ago." Anastasia tensed up and Beau began to squeeze her harder. "How did Ideus die again?" Arlie asked with growing suspicion. "He-" Beau started, only for Arlie to cut him off. "No no, Anastasia was there. She should tell the story." Anastasia cleared her throat then began to tell the tale. "We went down the long staircase where he spilled his canteen of water on a step. We got down and chopped firewood together. He took too much wood going up, refused to let me help, then slipped on the wet step and was crushed by the firewood after the fall." Anastasia said with no falter in her voice.
     Anastasia was an actress, however. Arlie knew she could force tears and play the part of a disheveled widow. "What really happened, Anastasia? What are you hiding?" Arlie said with more anger in her words as the sentence slipped out of her mouth. "I'm not hiding anything." She said with a little tremble in her voice. Beau grabbed her hands and squeezed them tighter than he had been squeezing her arms. Arlie knew something was up, but she was unsure what that something was. "Very well then. Congratulations, you two. I had a suspicion you two would end up together, and I was right." That put them at ease.
     Arlie left the new couple alone, still not sitting completely right with it. She was set to go back to Rielweth soon, knowing that Charlotte and Scheven would need her help. However, an attack on Imperial City was essential to the main goal here; to rescue Soleil, if she was still alive. Time and time again scenarios of what could have happened to Soleil by now horrified her when she tried to sleep. Instead of looking for her, the past few weeks Arlie had been getting to know Princess Xayah. She was a kind, gentle soul that had often been misunderstood by her family and others in Faormen, and Arlie seemed to be the only one who didn't feel that way about her.
     Princess Xayah had shown Arlie her collection of rare objects from the forests and caves in and around Faormen, and all of the magical things that she could do. She had given her pet frog, Sally, the gift of thought and speech. In her lonely world Sally had been her only friend, so she gave her these abilities. That was no longer the case, she said, for she had made a friend out of Arlie. They would stay up late talking in Xayah's room about various things, at first just kingdom differences but had begun to dive deeper into interests and beliefs.
     But, there was one night in particular that stood out to Arlie. It was the reception for the wedding. Even after Ideus and Anastasia had set off for their honeymoon in the Zellarid mountains, the party carried on through the night. It was odd to have a Zellarid party without the classic appearance of Anastasia and Beau's extravagant dance, and when Arlie told Xayah that it was a common occurrence, Xayah grabbed Arlie's hand and ran outside with her. Xayah asked to be taught the Zellarid dance and once she had it memorized they ran inside and had Scheven take over the band once more.
     As they danced, Arlie finally understood Anastasia's passion in the art. Arlie had seen how she and Beau looked at each other during their last three dances before the wedding, and thought that Xayah had looked at Arlie the same way. She was probably out of her mind, but couldn't help but wonder. Arlie feared that she was giving Xayah the same look and if so hoped she hadn't noticed. This was wartime, and Anastasia was dabbling in the foolish ways of love. Arlie wanted to as well, but knew that she shouldn't until the world was at peace. She was happy now that Faormen was taken over peacefully, otherwise Xayah might have died.
     Now as she walked around the maze that was the halls of the castle, she searched for Xayah desperately. She had to know, now that she had looked back at their time together, she had to know how she felt. She looked in Xayah's chambers, she wasn't there. She checked the garden, not there. Her basement where she stored her artifacts, nope. Arlie soon came across the former King. "Excuse me, but do you have an idea where I could find Xayah?" He shook his head. "Princess Xayah" He started, with emphasis on her title, "Has gone to the Zellarid mountains to retrieve her brother. She insisted that she go instead of a servant."
     Arlie was tense. She knew then Xayah would be scared from seeing her brother in this condition, her sensitive soul wouldn't be able to handle the grief of seeing someone you love in a shambled, deceased state. Arlie knew this better than anything else; laughter is a distraction from tears, love is a distraction from loss, and life is a distraction from death. Arlie decided to accompany Xayah, though she knew she likely wouldn't catch up to her until Xayah was on her return trip. Nevertheless, this was something she had to do. She knew she should go back to Rielweth, but she felt that her heart came before anything else.
She was at the bridge quickly, her thoughts racing faster than her quick feet. She had to stop Xayah, or at least be there to help her. Though the sun had set hours ago, Arlie decided to make her way home. When she approached the bridge, she saw Leod, Foja and Dadokes talking. Not wanting to disturb them, she stood back and waited for their conversation, listening intently.
     "I don't believe it. She didn't want to marry him, apparently she looked at that Beau guy so intently at the wedding, and now her husband is dead? It can't just be a coincidence, can it?" Foja said, sitting on the side of the bridge and leaning back to where she could almost fall into the mighty river and be swept downstream towards Cordelia's riverbend. Cordelia! We've been too focused on Soleil... "I think it can. That guy was incredibly clumsy..." Dadokes piped in, though Foja was really only talking to Leod. "Yes, only one wet step? And why wasn't Queen Anastasia carrying more wood? She must've realized something was going to happen and she didn't stop it. Unless you're right and she started it in the first place." Leod said, ignoring Dadokes' comment.
     Foja hopped up and began to pace. "Everyone else believes her. I don't know who to believe in these times. Ever since I saw Queen Luna capture Cordelia and Queen Anastasia, I haven't been able to see the truth in anything. What ever happened to Cordelia? Queen Luna still has Queen Soleil, but where? King Calxyan just gave the information needed to kill his husband to Queen Arlie and let her take over Rielweth? King Ideus wasn't exceptionally clumsy, was it truly an accident? I don't know what to think anymore." The three stood still, thinking over what she had just said.
     They had stood in silence for a long time, when Arlie finally deemed it safe to ask to pass. She approached them quietly, but they all snapped their heads to her as she took the first step. They quickly grew tense, for speculation again the crown was an offense punishable by death.     
     However, the bridge where they resided was an in-between land of which the three of them ruled. Arlie, Anastasia, Soleil, nor Luna could govern them. Arlie ran up to them and asked to pass, to which threw ushered her away quickly.
     It was nice to finally be home. She had almost forgotten her house, for she had grown accustomed to Mirirejar style castles and her "plush" tent for the trips between the three castles. She stood on her balcony which looked out to the plaza, which had been where her training sessions with the villagers had been. That had been so long ago that now the citizens that were still here; older people, younger people and the at the time new and expectant mothers had made a makeshift market in the plaza, the finer goods taking up space on the stage. She thought back even further to the last announcement day, or as it had been now solidified in history as "Tragedy day" since it had re-started the war between Zellarid and Mirirejar with the kidnapping of Cordelia and Anastasia.
     Cordelia, whatever happened to her? Anastasia said she had been separated from her on the first day and was later transferred to a room with a few puddles made from her splashing. Now she's gone. But where? Was she dead, in her river bend, or still with Queen Luna? No, we would've seen her in Imperial City. We searched the entire castle for Queen Luna and Soleil. Oh, how we could use her pearls of wisdom now.
     Arlie looked up to the new moon and took in a deep breath of the December air. It was the 29th, and soon the new year was to begin. And, if she could catch up to her, she would spend it with Xayah. Her fellow royal, her friend, her love.
     The next day she rented a horse and rode up to the mountains where she found the remains of Xayah's camp from last night. She followed the footprints in the snow, and found Xayah kneeling beside a pile of fresh snow. When she got closer to the pile, she realized it was covering Ideus. Xayah was sobbing, her tears sprinkling over the snow. She recognised Arlie's presence, though they didn't speak. Instead, they brushed the snow off the corpse and threw him over the horse that they rode together. They returned the horse to his owner and began to walk, holding up Ideus.
     They came to the bridge, where Foja once again used her limited power to get them away from her discussions with Leod and Dadokes. She, as well as Leod had washed up on the shore of the Zellaridian beaches a few days after Arlie's coronation. They'd come from a strange land they called "The Isles". Foja had some power, as she said her family was one of power there. It was a horrible place, and she and Leod had escaped together. Their boat failed, and they washed up on the beach. She gained full control of her power there, though it was still limited.
     Arlie and Xayah were finally back in Faormen, where they learned that the King, Queen, Prince and Princess had decided to move to a riverside home. Xayah chose to move with them, and Arlie went back to Rielweth. There, she would prepare the Rielweth soldiers for the attack on Imperial city that was soon to come. It hurt Arlie to leave Xayah in her grief, but knew that soon she would be able to see her again once it was all over.