Until The Clock Stikes (NACS Remake)

Chapter 16

'Whats that Daddy?' my pudgy, dimpled hand is pointing toward his ring finger, my tiny digits trace the cool metal.
'Its my wedding ring,' He says, scooping me up into his arms, I giggle as the wind wishes around me.
'Whats a wedding ring?' I ask, trying my hardest to kick my lisp.
His golden hair falls into his forehead while he thinks about what to say to me.
'A wedding ring is alot of things, darling.' He sits me on our kitchen table, slipping the ring off his hand he turns it in his fingers. 'Its a way of letting the world know that you love someone so completely, it's a way of reminding yourself that when you're cross with them.' His lips pull into a lopsided grin. 'Most importantly, It's a promise to the one you want to spend the rest of your life with.'
I twist my engagement ring around my finger as I sit surrounded by my luggage.
Will knocks on the door, smiling at me with sweet excitement.
"Time to go, my love." Some servants brush past him to grab my suitcases. Thomas has his coronation in three days and after my insisting Will reached out and arranged our presence.
He takes my hand, tilting his head at me. "You don't seem very happy." He announces gently.
I smile, I am happy, but I just don't know what to expect. When he was Thomas he was all I wanted, but with the wedding so close and his new identity, I just don't know. Papa Will knocks gently at my door, taking in our affection. He smiles half-heartedly and I wonder if Will can tell it doesn't reach his eyes.
Clara is the only one staying behind, her studies are being moved to a small town, mostly she begged to go because of the reported disappearing man rumored near there.
Papa Will cocks his head to the side, implying we need to get going. "Days a wasting."
The smile I had on my face disappears with the familiar sentence.
The carriage takes us south, passing the town Clara's finishing school is.
Harriet pops in, sitting across from me. Will and Papa Will seem frozen the moment she arrives.
" putain de merde!" She exclaims, rolling her eyes. "I'm gone for a week and you're engaged." She licks her lips and I realize I missed the lilt in her voice when she's cursing me in french.
"Harriet, what happened to only being called on?" I ask, ignoring the engagement. "And why'd you freeze them?"
I realize she's holding a mirror in her hand, she hands it to me, tilting her head coyly. "I was just returning something to you. No need to have an audience."
The gold glitters in my hand as the carriage jerks a little with a bang the roofs dents a little.
Harriet holds up her wand cautiously, toward the window.
We both lean toward the right window, waiting.
From beside me a boyish chuckle startles me. When I turn a boy my age maybe a little younger with long curly brown hair smiles widely at me. "What are we looking for?"
Harriet utters a spell and light launches at him, but before it touches his tattered purple coat he disappears. His voice floats around us. "Well that wasn't very nice." Another chuckle.
The carriage starts moving again and Harriet's fingers turn white around her wand.
"Who was that?" I ask, astonished at the fact we just met the disappearing man, I think.

"Another story, dear." She tells me, bringing focus back to the mirror in my hand, she leans forward and taps it. "The story behind this is far more interesting. Remind me to tell you that one sometime, but so you know, this is only a loan."
She tells me, smiling. "I've got to pass it along soon, ma chere."

With that she takes her leave and Will unfreezes, glancing at me.
"Where'd you get the mirror?" He asks, I don't know if he recognizes it but he's smart enough to know it wasn't there before.
"It's a loan from Harriet." I tell him.
Papa Will looks over at it and turns white but doesn't say anything.
With a sigh I grab Will's hand, trying to feel something. "So how long does it take to get to another kingdom?" I ask, because I really don't know.
Will runs his free hand through his hair and sigh. "Ostevell takes about a day by horse."
The carriage ride after the disappearing man is boring and long, so I try my best to sleep.
In Ostevell the terrain is different, flatter and speckled in farm land. Trees are distant toward the mountains, east.
Will talks excitedly in my ear about Ostevellian traditions which vary from flowers being revered as magical to stories about a forest that hold a tower so tall no one has been inside for a decade. Queen Una and King Illiad hold feasts weekly, invited the poorest in villages helping their family with abundances of jobs and food. When they were newly appointed, their people were uneasy about the change, King Iliad's father was a tyrant, leaving the kingdom in uproar at the thought of more pain. The Queen gave birth to twins, their nursery was ransacked, both children believed dead. But the royals didn't blame their people, instead they placed all their time honoring the death of their children by making their kingdom a safe, happy place.
When Will finishes the story I know that Thomas' kindness stems from more than his humble upbringing.
"What was his name?" I ask, and I don't know why but I'm hoping that at least one part of Thomas stays the way he knows.
Papa Will, who's been quiet rolls his shoulders and looks at me with kind eyes. "His original name was Carver. But from the letter I received as formal invitation, his parents are changing his legal name to Thomas for him."
I silently thank them, knowing Thomas would want it that way.
I lean forward, toward him. "Are you friends with the royal family?" I ask.
He smiles, blue eyes much kinder than his sons and I suddenly wonder if the King has ever had a temper. "We were a long time ago, but after the disappearance of their children they didn't believe that I did everything in my power to try and find them in my own kingdom." He waves a hand to a large wheat field outside. "Fortunately they didn't cut off our trade for produce or blame me when their son was in fact found in my kingdom." he says, and finally a comes into view. As we pull up, I notice it's covered in blue flowers.
Will leans in, almost expecting my confusion. "They believe blue is protection." He tells me and we both are escorted in after Papa Will.