Caidoz

Chapter 5 ~ A Foolish Question

   Mom takes my hand, and, leaving my jacket behind for the servants, I allow her to lead me toward the exit. Once in front of the doors, however, she hesitates, her fingertips hovering over the handles.
 "Mom? What's wrong--"
   She silences me with a glance that sends chills down my spine before turning back to the handles.
   Faster than a hummingbird, she yanks open the doors and spins on her heel to quickly grab my hand, jerking me to run behind her. I shriek, my heart pounding harder than rain smacking against the pavement as a massive shadow falls in, shaking the ground with an enormous thud!
   I whip to face the front only to collide with Mom.
   She pulls me close, but there is a confident smile on her lips as she points at the figure. Still panting, I look up at her, knitting my brows. A groan snags my attention back towards the fallen figure.
   I recognize the yellow cape immediately.
   "Your majesty!" His face at our eye level for once, I could feel the heat as it came into his cheeks.
   Homam?
   "Eavesdropping again, Tutor Homam?" Queen Virgo lifts a perfect brow, her eyes narrowing.
   He tries to smile, but when it fails to relieve mom of her unimpressed expression, he immediately scrambles to his feet, his head slamming against the door frame, which cracks.
   I grimace, imagining his pain.
   "If you wish I could send for professional help in correcting this issue?" My mother asks, and I am unable to hide my smirk when I see Homam pale slightly. "With all due respect, I will have to pass you on that offer, your highness," he says, rubbing the side of his head. He winces when he touches the tender area.
   "Very well," she says, closing her eyes with a sigh. She looks up at the tutor with an odd gleam in her eyes. "However, I do advise you to reconsider perhaps, hm?"
   He nods, avoiding her eyes. "Her Majesty is quite gracious to extend her concern to a humble servant such as I. Thank you, Queen Virgo."
   She laughs, covering her perfectly white smile with her hand. "You take everything so seriously, Homam," she says, her violet eyes sparkling. "I am simply teasing."
   Homam avoids her gaze as he bows, cautious not to smack the door frame again. "Happy to be of amusement, Queen Virgo." My senses capture his concealed eye roll, and a hint of a smile twitches at his lips.
   Mom then glances at me before with a smile before her eyes snap back on mine, her eyes widening. "Cancer," she says, her eyes beginning to take on a look I know all too well. "You know that you can start the day only when you have dressed appropriately. Would you perhaps like to explain what are you doing in those clothes?"
   It was my turn to pale and avoid her sharp eyes. "I was just dressing comfortably before the party?" I ask, already anticipating Queen Virgo's displeasure.
   "You are wrong, Cancer," she says, and a cold stone settles in my stomach, my face turning red. "I can get the maids and prepare now," I say. I stare at the wooden floor, which had suddenly become interesting.
   I hear Virgo turn to Homam, who had been awaiting his dismissal. "Homam, Princess Cancer and I will be outside for a bit of fresh air before the ceremony. Please send our food out, so we can "break our fast." We shall be quick, so ready the servants in the meantime to prepare Cancer for the ceremony."
   My head jerks up to stare at her expression before I blink, a slow smile twitching into place on my lips. I chuckle, shaking my head. Mom might need to start limiting her time with Lord Gemini.
   "Certainly, Queen Virgo. It shall be done." Homam bows again, once to my mother and then to me, his eyes smiling. He then turns, and the ground slightly shakes as he sets off down the hallway.
   Once alone with Mom, I glance at her once more to make sure she was serious about not being upset. Her lowered lashes and concentrated gaze on Homam's back seem to be sending me a different message, however. "Are you okay with me eating before being dressed?" I ask.
   She slowly turns to regard me, her eyes narrowing. "No, but you already did it. How would it help me to get angry with you only to have to forgive you later because you are my daughter? But," her expression becomes icy. "This better have been the last time."
   My blood turns cold as she starts off down the halls, and I force myself to thaw, exhaling heavily before following.
   Once outside the palace walls, I am suddenly glad I left my jacket inside the courtroom. The air is crisp with the summer heat and sweet with the aroma of flowers in full bloom around us. The castle's botanical gardens filled with large fountains, vibrant fauna, and hedge mazes that turned at beautiful sharp angles, there was not a single blade out of place, the grass cut to perfection, white fencing encasing the entire area.
   Directly ahead, hovering boards make up the steps to a white gazebo that resides in the air over the cliff, overlooking the village below. Different species of butterflies flutter around the area, their wings sparkling their bright colors. I smile, watching them dance momentarily before catching up with my mother, who had already moved towards the gazebo.
   Upon approaching the gazebo, my heart begins to pound, and I speed up and pass my mother. I hesitate before inhaling sharply, darting up the steps, squeezing my eyes shut, only opening them once I felt my feet hit the solid wood flooring. I exhale heavily before taking a seat close to the entrance. My heart is still pounding when my mom joins me, coming up the stairs with her shoulders back and her chin lifted.
   She sits beside me with a sigh and turns to speak, but a noise from the glass doors of the gardens has both of us swiveling to watch as a mid-aged maid rushes forth, silverware perched on both arms and a pitcher tilting with her pace upon her head. I did not bother to worry. Palace maids were selected and trained during their youth to serve. As a result, they were highly skilled when it came to balancing ten trays and running at the same time.
   "Your Majesties," she says, the words equivalent to a bow as a result of her load. I nod to her, and she presses a button on a wooden supporting beam. A table rises from the floor, and once it has entirely lifted, she sets it within minutes.It takes her only seconds to uncover each platter and pour the water, placing the pitcher within reach for us. She then bows and stands by the table, her hands clutched in front of her white apron.
   "You may be dismissed," Queen Virgo says, her attention focused on the mug of coffee she lifts to her lips. "We wish to be alone."
   The servant woman's eyes widen, and she opens her mouth slightly before remembering her training and forcing a nod. Bowing once more to each of us, she turns without another word and disappears back into the palace.
   The servant was not the only one confused. I raise my brows and glance at Mom, who notices and lifts an eyebrow of her own. "Suprised, are we?"
   "Yeah-- yes," I say, quickly changing the wording when my mother frowns sharply. "I am."
   Virgo smiles slightly. "Even a queen must enjoy alone time with her daughter, especially as much as Homam hogs you for your studies. Besides, I think anyone can pour a pitcher, so there is not a need for the girl to stand there the entire time. Now," she says, glancing at me. "Let us enjoy this breakfast, and then we can start getting prepared for tonight."
   I nod and glance down at the plate. A broad grin stretches over my lips when I see the small stack of pancakes with brown - blue marks and the glass of apple juice beside it. I get started on cutting away a triangle-shaped piece, savoring the flavor of the embedded berries as they burst into a sweet citrus-chocolaty tang. A native delicacy, cocoa-berries were a unique fruit that grew on trees. When cut in half, the berries showed a juicy, sour inside in spite of its sweet chocolate shell.
   Savoring the taste, I found my attention slowing drawn to the sight of the world beyond the village, towards the mountains and the blue skies. With all of the kingdoms under my father's control, there was peace in every land in the world of Caidoz. Just remembering this, a part of me suddenly desires to be desperate-- to have a struggle; to have an adventure.
   Anything other than this perfect world with any possible problems always resolved in advance.
   "Cancer, you are going to pull a muscle craning your neck like that," Queen Virgo says, her tone stern.
   I blink and straighten my posture. "My apologies," I say, busying myself in eating.
   Mom regards me with an odd look. "Why were you staring at the sky like that?"
   I meant to say I didn't have a reason-- that I was enjoying the view and that was all. But something different came out of my mouth.
   "Do you ever wonder what's out there?"
   Queen Virgo chuckles, slightly shaking her head as she sips her coffee, much to my irritation.
   "Hey, I meant that," I said, crossing my arms, a scowl curling my lip. "No need to laugh at my questions, Mom."
   "Even when you say humorous things?" she says, a smirk upon her countenance. She then sighs, and the smile fades. "Cancer, every inch of our kingdom, every crook and nanny of our oceans and prairies... all of that has already been discovered and mapped out. Why wonder when you can look up exactly what exists out there?" Queen Virgo asks, wiping her face gently with her napkin.
   "But why trust what we already know when we can discover it for ourselves?" I asked, the pitch of my voice becoming slightly higher.
   "That is just the same as an adventurer running back over a hill after his arm was bitten off by an alligator. And you, disbelieving, despite the evidence, that there is indeed an alligator over that hill, decide to run down the hill and search the waters for the alligator only to your head chopped off instead your arm." She takes a bite of her toast.
   I groan, shaking my head. "It's not the same at all, Mom."
   She chews slowly before swallowing, regarding me with that same odd expression. "What inspired this?" She asks.
   I take another bite out of my pancake. "It's just... oh, I don't know," I say, shaking my head. "I feel like it might be a little more interesting around here if I felt like there was something unknown to discover-- something so big that it was under our pincers the entire time."
   "Is it dull, now?" She asks, lowering her toast. "Even with the upcoming ceremony, you feel that way?"
   I chuckle. "I am excited for my birthday, please don't get me wrong," I say, smiling into my cup of juice as I take a sip. "I guess a part of me just wants something to look to forward afterward." Like an adventure, I think. Queen Virgo finishes her toast and leaves the other piece on her plate. A very healthy person, Mom monitors her weight consistently and has an ideal figure. She allows only the most robust options-- and this does not apply to herself alone.
   Typically, this rule applies to Dad and me as well, and we usually stick to it like flies to a spider's web, despite how hard we struggle not to get caught. However, as on all my birthdays, Virgo was allowing us a cheat day in our diets as long as we "ate in moderation." As if I would waste an opportunity like this and not eat everything I could before it was all over, though.
   "There will be plenty to look forward to after the party," Virgo says, touching my shoulder, her eyes suddenly soft.
   My eyes widen. "Really?"
   "Of course!" She smiles, her violet eyes sparkling. "New royal duties, enticing events, large parties, and more intense studies!"
   "Oh," I say, letting out a breath I did not realize I had held. "Right."
   "Are you ready to meet your Wander tonight?"
   I choke on my juice and swallow only to cough heavily, patting my chest. "Excuse me," I say before I busy myself again with my pancakes, taking my time to chew before slowly finishing my glass of juice. After exhaling, I say, "Homam told me that my grandfather said the moon had a weird sense of humor. I guess you could I am interested in finding out what that exactly entails."
   Queen Virgo nods slowly. "I see," she says, and then stays quiet for a moment before glancing at the sun's position in the sky. Mom rises from her seat, straightening her dress. She walks around the other side of the table and goes down the steps of the gazebo before beckoning to me.
   "Come, Cancer," she says, turning as she strolls towards the glass doors. I stand up and move to follow, but something compels me to look over my shoulder once more at the village again. What is with this sensation? I ask myself, my lips parting slightly. I feel the Crab scuttle, almost as if it, too, is uncomfortable.
   So much to explore, I thought. I don't care if others have already made all the discoveries as Mom said. I want to see it for myself.
   I wish I could.
   "Cancer!"
   I blink, shaking my head as if to clear it. "Coming, Mom!"
   How foolish of me, I think as I run down the steps without hesitation, bolting through the gardens to the glass doors.
   I mean, what else could be out there that so desperately craved my curiosity?