Kingdom's Queen

Act 2: 7- Declan's POV

I angrily walked into the throne room, throwing the doors open. Inside, all my friends sit, talking amongst themselves.

Tristan jumps up when he sees me, running over. "You would not believe what we found-"

"I don't care. I talked to my sister and she says you have her brother, give him to me before I double your troubles." I cross my arms, standing my ground.

Tristan scoffs, "You have Darling?" I nod. "Well, it's not like we were going to hurt him, we were just keeping him until we knew she was going to come." He points to the door. "And he's in one of your rooms, sleeping, probably."

"Good, now get out of my kingdom." I walk to the door, holding it open. "If Darling sees you, she'll think I planned this."

"Declan, you wouldn't make me leave?" Trisha walks over, placing her hands on my chest. "Right?"

I inhale, pushing her to the side. "I need the rest of you to leave. NOW. I will not have you banishing my sister again. And you, Trisha, stay away from her. She is not in the mood to see anyone until she sees her brother."

"You're being serious?" Ennard stands. "Declan, we have a right to see her."

"Not in my castle, you don't." I use my magic to open the doors. "And if you don't leave NOW, I will have you teleported to your castles."

August tries to step closer to me. "You wouldn't-"

I snap my fingers, summoning my guard. They look at the royals, raise their hands, and send them falling through portals.

"Thank you." I nod, walking around the castle.

"Declan, that was very rude." Trisha struggles to keep up with me. "You can't just do things like that without telling me."

"I am the king and my people listen to me. They don't like you, I'm not sure if you've noticed." I chuckle. I turn the corner, opening doors as I walk past them. "I just want Darling to be happy."

"I do too, I was on her side."

"Sure, like I didn't know who's side you were on from the beginning." I roll my eyes. She grabs my arm, stopping me.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's not hard to look into someone's intentions. Unlike my sister, I practiced a ton of truth magic. When I look at someone and focus, a colored ring shows up above their head. YOU had a red ring the last time I asked you what side you were on." I shake her off, opening the next door. Inside, I find someone I've never seen before. This must be him.

He snores peacefully, wrapped in the blankets of the bed.

"That's... impossible." Trisha mutters behind me. "I really was on her side, Declan. Don't-" I stop her, walking in quietly. I walk up to the bed and examine him. "Declan, listen to me. I am being very serious. I WAS ON HER SIDE."

The person wakes, looking at me. He jumps back, startled by my close angle. He falls back, off the bed, then jumps up. "Ah, hello." He bows. "You must be Declan." He smiles.

"My sister talked about me?" I raise my eyebrow.

"Yes, sir." He walks around the bed and holds out his hand. "Truce? Since you weren't one of the people that captured me."

I take his hand, shaking it. "I have no conflict with you..."

"Daniel." He responds. "Do... do you know my sister's name?"

"Your sister?"

"Yeah, my sister. The person everyone's been obsessed with lately. She wasn't comfortable with any of her past names, after all, she didn't know who she was. I had nothing to call her and don't actually know a lot about her past."

"Huh." I stop to think. "Darling Harmony. You can call her that."

"Not until she tells me to." He chuckles. "Because like, she was in a really bad place when she first found us. She had nothing to live for."

"I can't imagine what she was going through." Trisha reaches over to hold my hand.

Daniel looks away, unsure of what to feel. "Yeah... And she's always had these bad nightmares, but they were so bad they kept her asleep. She wouldn't wake until morning came and the dream was over. I'm so glad I've never had a nightmare, honestly, but I want to experience it someday" He chuckles, fiddling with his hands. "And I know sometimes people say I don't care about her, but... She matters to me more than I do. She matters more to me than it matters that I find my mother one day. To me, she was like a mother, like an older sister. Even though I'm supposed to be the older one-"

"Do you..." I inhale shakily, looking down at Trisha. "Do you know what happened to her arm?"

"Uh, no. I've never seen her arm. It could look like anything, but I have seen the top of her arm. The glove she wears doesn't cover EVERYTHING, you can still peek at the top, where it looks like a burn scar. Did she like, jump into fire or something? And why is it only on her arm? WAS IT MAGIC KEEPERS?!"

Trisha leans into my back, holding back tears. "No, that wasn't it."

"Oh." He sighs loudly. "Uhm, do you have anything I can change into? I don't want to-"

"I can give you something." We turn, Darling standing at the doorway. The sun shines directly behind her, making her look like a dark silhouette. "There's armor in the basement."

Oh, yeah. I had forgotten about the armor in the basement. We don't have guards with armor, they use their magic as a shield. I assumed my father had the armor destroyed or something... I guess not.

"Darling..." Trisha bows when she sees her. "You look incredible." She reaches out, trying to take her hand, but Darling steps back.

"I know I do." She waves to Daniel, and he runs out after her. I watch them walk away, admiring my choice of her attire.

"I dressed her well, right?" I smile at Trisha. She scoffs and walks out. "Wait, what did I do?"