IV. The Impact of Her

~ Thirty-Six ~

That was the answer I feared to hear.

I couldn't believe how James was absolutely confident in his decision. Without any hesitance, he simply left the overall governance of our kingdom to Gonzalo? The time of our return was uncertain. The same can be said for Mother's recovery, as well as Elizabeth's.

"Are you sure that Gonzalo can handle everything? That seems to be a lot of trust and responsibility, placed on one's shoulders," I expressed my doubt.

James then explained, "I already explained everything that he needs to do. Gonzalo is aware of what he can and cannot do. Also, based on the amount of time that he remained by my side, Gonzalo is all-too-familiar with how I manage everything."

I stared at James, baffled and shocked. The amount of time that he and Gonzalo spent together shouldn't be the basis of one's confidence in another. And with how Gonzalo has acted recently, I didn't expect that James would still trust him to that extent.

However, I understood why James had to make that decision. There was one left to rely on. Aside from the queen, Gonzalo was the next best candidate for James to depend on. Mother and Elizabeth needed all the rest that they could get.

"Calm yourself," James said as he held onto my shoulder. "There's nothing for you to worry about. Everything has been sorted out," he added as he shook me a bit.

I nodded. Even though my doubts burned my conscience, there was no point to argue about this. The best thing to do now was to trust James' decision.

He briefly tapped my shoulder before he walked over to the soldiers. "Is everyone ready?" James asked whilst I followed right behind him.

The captain stepped forward and bowed towards us. "Yes, Your Majesty. We only await your command," he said.

Satisfied, James said, "Excellent." He mounted on his horse and eyed for me to do the same.

I hopped onto Wonder and moved closer to James.

"Is that your new champion?" he asked as I adjusted Wonder's reins.

I nodded but I didn't look at him.

James then leaned in and took a good look at Wonder. "She's quite the beauty," he remarked. "When did you choose a new horse?"

Without hesitation, I replied, "The very same day that I asked for your help." After securing the reins on Wonder, I continued, "Laura was taken whilst I signed the ownership rights for Wonder."

A moment of silence came in between us. Laura's abduction remained to be a fragile topic for me. As much as I could, I didn't want to think about what happened. It would only fuel my hatred towards the culprits.

After a brief moment of stillness, James commanded, "Onward."

The soldiers in front of us moved and everyone followed. As we moved further away from the castle, I stole quick glances of my home. My heart broke as the sight that I saw wasn't Mother and Elizabeth. Instead, it was Gonzalo and a number of servants.

I turned to James and he didn't even look back. He remained stoic as we pressed forward. I wasn't sure if he didn't care or if it was his way to protect his emotions.

James drew his strength from Mother. That was the sole reason why she always sent him off on his travels. Maybe because of her absence, James chose not to look back to the front doors of our castle.

The gates slowly opened. Time seemed to stop as it swung inward. I stopped right before the gates and looked at the castle one last time. And as the metal barriers closed before me, I silently prayed for Mother and Elizabeth.