𝐀 𝐒𝐖𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐋𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐘 - Cinderella AU

XXXIV - i feel like something's gonna give

xxxiv.

THE SIGHT OF FAMILIAR SURROUNDINGS—THE SIGHT of her new home, were a balm to the tortured psyche of The Queen of Angria's anxious heart.

The gleaming chandeliers lined up on the ceilings, the thick crimson velvet curtains framing every glittering tall glass window encasing the walls, the thick yet smooth royal carpets underneath her feet, the scent of pristine polish and hydrangeas encapsulating the palace atmosphere, the ancestral portraits adorning the walls etched in gilded edges that she could spent hours looking upon. All this Isadora had seen in glimpses when she arrived, the battering of her heart softening on relief like a gushing waterfall meeting a steady stream.

Her focus had quickly turned to the injured nobleman at her side, a half body she didn't know how she was supporting. Had it not been for the creature of Heraum lending another shoulder—though quite a shorter one—her own startled and weak form would've been no good to Sir Henri alone.

Upon her appearance at the palace, she had fortunately come across the rushing form of Zander's advisor Eugene Flammant. The tall man had been rushing somewhere, two footmen on his heels as the pristine man's tail coat flapped behind him, his white powdered wig gelled to perfection despite the anxious disposition Isadora had caught him in.

She remembered his sharp gasp, she remembered him dropping to his knees in front of her while the footmen had dropped into bows of their own. Eugene Flammant had thanked whatever he could in bold declarations, before quickly taking charge and assigning the two footmen to the care of the injured nobleman Sir Henri Bernard, and—with a certain hesitancy—the creature that the Queen of Angria had brought along, before he assigned himself to the Queen's care, ushering her to her chambers and calling out for whichever maids he could on the way.

"The Queen mother is away with Prince Archie, your majesty," Eugene's words were now in her ears, as she sat in the bathtub of the bathroom, the water mixed with cow's milk and doused in haphazard flower petals, a remedy to aid Isadora's skin and countenance after the trails she had had.

Eugene Flammant had insisted upon the cure, and as three maids had gotten together to separate fresh bouquets and dunk the petals into her milk bath, Isadora hadn't had the power to resist, all her focus fixed on the whereabouts of her family.

"She insisted that the little Prince needed to be distracted after what happened," The royal advisor continued, "So she has taken him to her Angrian countryside retreat. They are safe and sound. Do not worry, your majesty, I have sent along all the security needed. The Queen mother intended to return once you were found and The King sent word. With the attacks on the borders increasing by the second, The King has been utterly desperate to find you while simultaneously protecting the borders."

Borders. Sir Henri Bernard had spoken of The Kingdom of Valence being rampaged, which meant that The King of Angria had the border between Valence and Angria to also guard as profusely.

Isadora's heart clenched, it seemed to her that her that the event of her wedding had only speeded all the calamity.

"Where is The King now?" She asked, letting a maid rub a healing mixture of essential oils on the back of her neck.

"His majesty is at the border, your majesty," Flammant hastened, "He only came back to the palace momentarily hours after you both disappeared from the church. He had a meeting with the fairies of the kingdoms which I was not made privy to, but it was regarding your whereabouts and those of the sixth fairy Ferdinand. Afterwards, his majesty dispersed the fairies and left for the border then, and has not yet returned."

Isadora's heart throbbed in her chest. Sir Henri's present condition was enough for her to be terrified for Zander. What if he was hurt the same? Or worse?