The Last of the Miras

XLI | Yon-Jū Ichi

Within Alubarna's palace hallway in the sand country of Alabasta, the ruling queen walked her way into the courtyard as she carried her seven months old baby bump in order to relish the fresh and crisp air of the morning. A quiet and obedient handmaiden followed her around the palace wherever the monarch goes since she was carrying the expected first royal baby.

So much for Cobra to worry for my health. She mentioned to herself. 

Well, I can't blame my husband for being such a worrywart. The queen felt herself smile at her ongoing thoughts.

It was indeed quite a festive event once the queen looked back to the day when she delivered the news to her husband, the ruling king of Alabasta. She snorted yet at the same time smiled at the thought of the uptight king's façade crumble down and changed into an excited child who just got his desired Christmas gift after waiting so long.

"No Alabastan citizen could expect their usual king become a normal father behind the ruler's mask he constantly bears." Queen Titi says to her upcoming baby of whose gender she's not sure yet.

I wonder what you will be, my dear child? She pauses for a second as she looked upward to see the rising sun from the path that leads to the beach. She smiled as a sudden thought passed through her mind.

Never mind my simple thoughts, my dear. Your father would still love you lots no matter what your gender is.

After taking her moment within the newly trimmed and cleaned courtyard, she turned away from the scene that gave an outlook of the country from the palace terrace as she made way for the main palace doors. Wordlessly, the same handmaiden in blue and white palace uniform followed the monarch.

"I believe a walk by the beach can be a new sight to behold, right?" 

The ruling counterpart of the king softly blurted her thoughts as if to leave it hanging in the air rhetorically. The maidservant stopped from her tracks as she didn't notice herself agreeing to the queen's statement and yet torn in between. 

"Yes, my queen it would be pleasant for you and the baby," she momentarily became quiet as her thoughts were caught in between, as if tongue-tied.

In turn, the queen stopped walking as she turned to where her lady-in-waiting was. The monarch stood still in her place, waited for her assistant to finish her thoughts as she silently hummed.

"You see Your Majesty, what would the king have to say to this?" the queen's handmaiden finally let off her worry for both royalties in front of her.

Queen Titi softly smiled at her as if the monarch already gave a thought to it. "Don't worry Fryne," she paused as she turned back to where she was originally heading.

"Cobra wouldn't mind my decision, because what use would it be if he hadn't married me for if I do not slip away once in a while, don't you think?" 

The queen smiled at her, turning one side of her face to the mentioned assistant for a second as if to give another message and at the same time walking down the memory lane she had come to share with her beloved for several years.

Fryne, the queen's chosen handmaiden knowingly smiled at her master's choice of words and found herself agreeing to the monarch with no more questions left hanging.

I guess its true, Your Highness. You wouldn't be His Highness's wife if you aren't the person he dutifully knows.

As both master and servant slowly walked through the shores of Alabasta, the sun rays peeked through the sea as if saying good morning to everyone. The queen looked at the sea and its occasional gentle waves tickling at her feet for she was walking barefoot while holding a royal blue shawl to protect the monarch and the baby from the morning breeze. 

The maidservant held the pair of sandals of the king's wife while walking behind four steps from the said monarch.

After to almost half an hour, both queen and her maid continued walking. Not long, Fryne had saw a noticeable dot, a couple of meters from where they are. The dot she meticulously observed is what seemed to be a stowaway.

She called for the queen's attention who was in the middle of relishing her morning walk.

"Your Highness, there is something over there just ahead of us." Fryne pointed out what she was talking about.

In turn, Queen Titi looked to where her trusted maid had pointed out and said, "Oh dear, that seemed to be a living being. Let's go near."

The two of them went to the said place and when they arrived, the queen was shocked to have a stowaway within the shores of Alabasta and ordered for her lady-in-waiting to look thoroughly at the unconscious person.

"Fryne, you need to check on the girl." The queen looked at the person who seemed to be not older than thirteen.

We need to bring this poor girl to the palace and attend to her medical needs. Queen Titi worriedly gazed at the present situation of the stowaway stranger. But at the same time, she felt her maternal instincts kicking in, telling her that something bad had happened to the child who needs a motherly protection.

But what kind of mean and malicious beings dare to harm such a child like her? She questioned as Fryne carried the unconscious young adolescent from the sea sand into her back while the queen followed behind.

She saw a few of the girl's personal belongings, slowly bent her knees and picked them up herself. It was a brown satchel and an eternal pose that says: Alabasta. 

Is this the child's main destination? Then why was she laying on the shores like she was drifted by the sea waves? Titi wondered off.

At the calling of Fryne checking if the queen had followed her, the female monarch remembered of her usual standard operation procedure.

The queen whistled to call her cute light auburn colored beloved bird as she held on a red cloth which she used as her handkerchief to signify an important emergency to the palace.

It was a hidden message only the royal couple and the palace medics knew.

The queen had rescued another distressed being which she could not bear to leave by herself.