Queen's Crown

Prolouge

      Nimble fingers flew across my back, pulling ropes together and tying them together. They pull particularly tight on my stomach, I grunted.

     "Sorry," a girl mumbled, but the ropes didn't loosen. A smile grew on my face. It was nice to hear a familiar voice.

      It went quiet for some time, before I started hearing footsteps walking towards me. The bag was lifted from my head, the sudden light blinded me for a moment. A large figure loomed over me.

       "Hello there, West," the man spat. I squinted, I couldn't recognize his voice.

        "Are you aware of why you are here?" He asked. My eyes started to adjust to the light, and I could finally see my surroundings. A small plain room with concrete walls. The only thing decorating the space were random boxes in the corners.

          "HEY!" I flinched, and looked over at the man standing in front of me. On his best day he would look intimidating, but he just look exhausted. His broad shoulders slumped like a beanbag. His hair was a mess, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in days. Dark bags weighed down his eyes, which stared at me, annoyed.

           "Yes?" I spoke out, my voice was raspy from lack of use.

          "It took us a while to find you, the
Tazni covered up your identity wonderfully," Beanbag ran a hand through his unruly hair and sighed.

          "I assume you know what I want," he continued.

          "If course, this isn't my first rodeo," I replied, smiling.

          "What?"

       I didn't answer, I could hear shouting from behind him. Beanbag spun around towards the source of the noise. I felt a hand against my back, untying the ropes she tied earlier. Once loose, I jumped up and planted my feet on Beanbag's back. He slammed to the ground, blood started leaking out of his head.

       "Good job, you killed him,"

      I turned towards the girl.

       "I don't need sass from you, Ala," I said, clearing my voice, "it's been a while since I've done this,"

       Ala stood in the middle of the room, a hand on her hip. She stared at me, eyebrows raised, questioning me.

       I turned away before she could say anything else.

       "Is there a van waiting?" I asked, refusing to look at her.

         "Yeah," her voice came out icily, and she stepped past Beanbag and out the door of the storage-room. I followed.

           It turned out that the kidnapping grounds was just that one building I was in. And the rest of the men were sleeping in tents outside.

          Although I was kidnapped, I felt flattered they would go to such lengths for me.

        I sat in the passenger seat as Ala drove the van down the long dirt road. I stared out the window at the familiar setting of my childhood home. I sighed,

       "I never thought I would come back this way,"

       "When you left, we thought you would never come back, Noihay," Ala said. She kept her eyes on the road.

        "West," I lowered my voice, guilty of the way I left this place.

        "We are going east, to the castle,"

        "No. My new name is West,"

         Ala paused, not saying anything for a  few moments. Her eyes narrowed,

         "So you have given yourself an English name, like those people of that land," her tone was scornful.

          "I'm sorry," My eyes drifted over to her. Her hair had grown out, now reaching past her collarbone. Time had been good to her, as she had grown beautifully, like aged wine. Her once pale skin had darkened under the sun. And wrinkles were starting around her eyes.

           All of a sudden, her narrowed eyes disappeared and her expression fell. It left one full of grief, and tears started to spill over her eyes.

        "You have been gone for too long," she sobbed. Tears fell, and Ala gripped the steering wheel tighter.

          "Ala," I started, my worried eyes searched her face. She interrupted,

        "Your mother is dying, Noihay!"

        I inhaled sharply, and turned to the window with wide eyes.

        Ala's sobs got louder.