Always Be Appreciative of Opposable Thumbs

Chapter Twenty-Five: A Diamond in the Pantry

 Hugo and Lana raced back to the castle, running too hard to speak. Willow's revelation about the jewel had sent them into immediate action. Marisol had one of the serpent's jewels. A jewel that Fallon had given her. A jewel he had stolen from the lake. It all made sense now. That's why the normally benevolent lake serpent had taken him prisoner. Which meant that in order to save him, they needed to return the jewel.

Or at least Hugo hoped that would appease the serpent.

The castle servants darted out of the way as Hugo and Lana sped through the halls. "East wing," Lana panted, tugging on Hugo's arm to direct him. "Her room."

However, a shrill scream stopped them in their tracks. "What was that?" asked Hugo.

Another scream echoed off the walls, accompanied by shouting and loud crashes. "I think it's coming from the dining hall," Lana said.

Veering off course, they followed the sounds of chaos until they found the source. They stood in the doorway of the dining hall, both shocked by what they were seeing.

Sera was chasing a beautiful young woman all around the room. The young woman was screaming and throwing whatever she could find to slow Sera down. And Jyoji was close behind them, catching what he could while trying to avoid being hit in the head by flying bowls and goblets.

"Sera, what are you doing?" shouted Hugo.

Glancing over her shoulder, Sera ducked to evade a platter the young woman had thrown at her. "I'm trying to fix this lake serpent problem."

"How is this fixing anything?"

"You see," Jyoji said as he caught the platter and at the same time dropped a crystal goblet that teetered atop the pile of objects in his arms, "we talked to Prince Fallon's beloved here and discovered that the prince gave her one of the serpent's jewels. You know, one of the jewels you told us were off-limits."

"And now I'm trying to get the flipping thing from her so we can be done with this nonsense," Sera said as she climbed over the long table in an effort to cut the young woman off.

"Marisol, cease this behavior at once!" Lana commanded.

The young woman only responded with more hysterical screams. Sera grabbed at her, catching a handful of her hair. Marisol turned around and slapped her across the face, the sound echoing throughout the room.

Everything went silent.

Her attack seemed to stun Sera. She staggered back and cradled her sore cheek. Both Hugo and Jyoji's mouths fell open as they watched Sera's eyes narrow and her fingers curl into fists. But before she could retaliate, Marisol rushed into the kitchen.

Sera gritted her teeth. "That little—"

She charged after her. Jyoji threw Hugo a concerned look before setting down the plates and goblets and following her into the kitchen.

"This is ridiculous," Lana mumbled.

"Come on, we should get in there before Sera sets her on fire or something," Hugo said as he took Lana's hand and led her after the others.

Sera was pounding on the pantry door and screaming obscenities while Jyoji leaned against a nearby shelf, having clearly given up on trying to catch the jars that were crashing to the floor due to Sera's violent attacks on the door. Sobbing could be heard from inside the pantry, interrupted periodically by what could only be vomiting.

Jyoji looked over at Hugo and Lana as Marisol wailed something about a meat pie before her mumbled words were replaced by a sickening splatter. "That cannot be sanitary," he said.

"Why is she puking?" Hugo asked.

"Probably from all the wine Sera gave her."

"Wine?"

"I was trying to get information out of her," Sera grunted as she tugged at the door. "Sir Can't-Carry-A-Tune only made her cry more with his stupid serenade."

"Excuse me, my poem was heart-wrenching and moving," Jyoji objected.

"All right, enough is enough," Lana said as she stormed over to the pantry and gently pushed Sera aside. Leaning in close to the door, she cleared her throat, and with an authoritative tone said, "Marisol, come out here at once and relinquish the jewel."

There was some sniffling and a few hiccups.

"Marisol, as your soon-to-be-queen and future elder sister-in-law, I demand that you come out."

After a pause, Marisol's muffled voice came through the door. "You're not the queen. Fallon is to be the next ruler."

"Not after his irresponsible behavior. Now, I know you're not solely to blame. Fallon made the decision to steal from the lake serpent, and for that he has paid the price. But now you have the power to save him. You love him, don't you?"

A long silence and then another sniffle. "More than life itself."

"And more than that pretty jewel he gave you?"

Another pause. "Yes."

"Then stop your sniveling and be a woman worthy of my brother's love."

After a few seconds, the lock turned, and the door slowly creaked open. Marisol stood before them, swiping at her nose with the back of her hand. Sera—still fuming and bearing a red hand-mark on her cheek—moved to grab for her, but Jyoji pulled her back and held her tight. Turning to Lana, Marisol held out her hand and opened it to reveal a shimmering jewel. Lana's shoulders relaxed as she reached out and accepted the precious gem. Tucking it safely into her sash, she took Marisol's hands and gave her a soft smile.

"Fallon will be forever grateful for your loving sacrifice," she said. "As will I. Thank you, Marisol."

Nodding, Marisol sniffed and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Can I still marry Fallon?"

"Of course. I'd never stop my brother from being with the person he loves."

"So you don't hate me?"

Lana shook her head. "No, I don't hate you. I do wish you and Fallon would make better decisions, but I realize you're both young. I only hope you'll learn from your mistakes and grow. As we all must."

Marisol's lower lip trembled, and she nodded while trying to rub away the tears leaking from her eyes. Lana gave a sympathetic smile and drew the girl into a warm embrace. Marisol burst into hysterics once again.

Sera let out a groan but didn't try to interfere. Jyoji was still holding her back, but he smiled at the touching moment between the princess and her future sister-in-law.

While the scene was lovely, Hugo was growing impatient. Willow was still injured and trapped in the tower. "Ah, I hate to interrupt, but we do have a goose and a prince to rescue."

Lana drew back from Marisol and turned to him. "Right you are. Come along. We can deal with this, ah," she wrinkled her nose at the smelly pantry, "mess later."

Jyoji released Sera, and she glared at him before stomping after Lana and Marisol as they left the kitchen. Hugo took a deep breath and moved to follow them when Jyoji grabbed hold of his arm. He offered him a gentle smile.

"She's going to be all right, friend," he said softly.

A knot formed in Hugo's throat, and for fear of choking up should he speak, he settled on a nod. Jyoji gave him a friendly pat on the back and followed after the girls. Hugo took another deep breath and closed his eyes to collect himself.

She would be all right.

She would be all right.

Opening his eyes, he released the breath and clenched his hands into fists.

Even if it meant trading his life for hers, she would be all right.