Olivia

Chapter Five

Ainia

I was in complete and utter shock. I thought I was crying, but I wasn’t sure. Will held back a few sobs, squeezing my hand tightly. We had taken military control of the Kingdom, and it was time for Will and I to crash the party. We took four soldiers with us to the ballroom, each armed with a gun, Will was armed, and I had a small dagger. We paused outside the grand doors, listening, waiting for the moment; the moment our spies had told us of.

The Kingdom of Macrome had the best string quartet of any kingdom. Velnia hired them to play at the party, and she had set a time for a speech, telling the musicians to stop playing then. They had passed that information on to us, giving us the moment to attack: right when all the guests had their eyes on her.

At that moment, we opened the door a crack. Then, we snuck in, holding tight to the door, just as she said her name.

Olivia.

She looked just like me: same dress, same hair, same face. Her hair was brown with a bit of blonde in it, her nose was like mine. Her eyes were blue, though, and nothing like Velnia’s or Chaff’s. They were a vivid blue, a color that you could get lost in, a beautiful blue. These eyes were all too familiar to me. And the dress. My coronation dress. It was exactly the same in color, style, and sparkle.

And I knew.

She was my Olivia.

And I was shocked, frozen with shear anger. Salty drops of water ran from my eyes. I didn’t know what to do with my anger, but it was built up inside of me. Too many years living in fear of Velnia, too many years sacrificing my family for her. And, too many years without my only daughter.

“You stole her,” I whispered angrily, “you stole her!” I was shouting now, “You stole her! You stole my Mother, you stole my best friends, you stole my Kingdom! Wasn’t that enough, that you had to steal my baby too?” My words rang out and echoed throughout the silent hall. The soldiers drew their guns, and no one moved. “What do you have to say? You spent twelve years raising my child after trying to kill me? Well, you can’t get rid of me, now, not anymore.” I shook my head, tears streaming down my cheeks. Will ran up behind me and held me in his arms as the soldiers commanded all the townspeople to leave.

“She looks just like you,” he whispered, “she's yours.” 

I stalked up to Velnia, my face so close to hers I could feel her breath. “All this time, we thought she was dead. We grieved for two years after hearing that they never found her. Two years without my only baby.”

“We thought we killed—we thought you were dead,” she claimed defiantly.

“They found us, they saved us. Our world crumbled because of you,” I replied. I turned to Will to find him standing near Olivia and a boy with blonde hair. “Will, take them outside of the ballroom.” He walked them outside, and a soldier pointed his gun at Chaff, commanding him to sit. Chaff sat at one of the tables, and I told the soldiers to stand guard. I took the dagger out and put it up to Velnia’s throat. “Tell me everything about my daughter.”

Velnia told me all the things about Olivia; her favorite color, her favorite food, favorite sport, what she liked to do. I hadn’t learned enough about my daughter, but it was sufficient for the time being. I took the dagger a bit away from Velnia.

“Anything else you want me to know?” I asked.

She sighed. “I need to show you something.” I cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “Just follow me.”

Velnia led a soldier and I out of the ballroom and down a hall; past the kitchen, the study, and the grand hall. She opened a panel in the wall that was almost hidden, but you could see the fine outline around the door, and of course, the round silver handle was visible.