A Princess Torn (Alys Book #2)

Chapter 8

The memory of the evening of her and her brother's disappearance was clear in Alys' mind when she got up the following morning. It had come back to her in a dream, but she knew it was more than what her mind could imagine. The events of the dream were true. It had happened. It was part of the answer.

She tried to ignore the memory when she joined her father and grandfather for breakfast, but it stayed in the back of her mind, haunting her.

While the servants were still serving their food, a woman in her mid-40s entered the dining room, followed by a much younger man and two girls around the same age as Alys.

"Ah, Princess Royce," King Caldor pushed back his chair and stood to acknowledge his sister-in-law's entrance, "Prince Ancel. Princess Elspeth. Princess Atheena."

The woman who must be Royce nodded at the king and immediately looked at Alys, who still sat in her chair, staring.

"My dearest Endolynn!" Royce stepped forwards and plastered a smile onto her face, "We were so relieved to hear of your safe discovery."

She made a show of walking over to a shocked Alys and bending down to give her an awkward embrace. Alys returned the embrace and thanked her.

"Endolynn," Ancel said simply with a nod in her direction before taking a seat at the table. Alys nodded back. The two princesses both said hello and took their seats to one side of their older brother.

Princess Royce took a seat next to the king with a wave to a servant to get her food.

Alys did a quick scan of her relatives. 

Royce was tall and slim; almost as tall as Dastrehan, Alys realized. She had long straight black hair that she wore over her left shoulder and went to her elbow. Her face was narrow and pointy, and her eyes were dark and hard to read. Alys could remember marvelling at her powerful beauty as a young girl but fearing her quick temper.

Ancel looked every bit his mother. His near-black hair was cut short on the sides and left about an inch and a half long on the top. He also shared his mother's height and build.

Though Alys' twin cousins had every bit as much of their mother's colouring and slim figure, they were neither as tall nor posed as her.  Their black hair was long and wavy, and their faces were a bit more round and less chizled than their mother's; they looked like they had taken more after her own father's facial features.  They must have gotten it from his brother, Alys' uncle. Neither girl seemed to want to pay any notice to their newly returned cousin.

When Alys looked back to Ancel, he was already watching her. His gaze was icy and calculating, and Alys found herself unable to keep eye contact with him. She smiled again and turned her attention back to her father, who had asked her a question.

"Pardon?"

"I asked you how your sleep was." The king repeated, not seeming to be bothered.

"Oh," Alys cut a piece of her egg, "It was fine."

"Just fine?" King Caldor eyed his daughter's face, "Why just fine?"

Alys swallowed a bite of food and shrugged, "Oh you know, long journey. I slept hard."

"Endolynn," her father set his hands down beside his plate and looked at her evenly, "You forget how well I knew you. Just because you've been gone for nearly 5 years does not mean I don't know when you aren't being honest with me."

Alys blushed in slight embarrassment, though she was not sure if it was because her father had called her out on not answering honestly, or because he had used the name she still did not feel any connection to.

"Sorry," she said, giving her father an apologetic look, "I just did not want to worry you."

"Non-sense," was his reply as he returned to eating his meal, "Now explain."

Alys sighed and looked towards her left to the floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the courtyard, "I just had a weird dream. Nothing that you could have prevented."

"This dream," Princess Royce said sweetly from beside Alys' father, "What was it about?"

While still looking at the window, Alys answered her aunt, "It was more of a memory than a dream."
"Of?" Now it was her grandfather who was prodding her. Alys felt uncomfortable due to the fact that no one had talked about Zaiden or what had happened since her arrival. She did not want to bring more stress upon her father. But they would get the information out of her no matter what.

She turned her face back to the family members sitting around the large circle table.

"The night Zaiden and I went missing. I remembered what happened."

Her aunts face seemed to go from expressionless to icy, and her father and grandfather both stopped eating and looked at the younger princess, shocked but interested.

"Go on," the king encouraged, though his tone was grim. Alys poked at the food on her plate in front of her and slouched back in the tall-backed chair she sat in.

As accurately as she could, she recanted the events of that fall evening.

"Well, that explains the memory loss," Prince Ancel said casually when Alys had finished her explanation. His mother nodded slightly; her gaze zoned out on the tabletop in front of her. Elspeth and Atheena whispered quietly between themselves, unnerving Alys.

"This doesn't make sense," Lord Sadon looked to the king, who's face was tight with anguish, "Their guards should have been watching. No one should have been able to attack the children without the guards stepping in to protect them."

The king nodded, clearly in agreement with his father-in-law.

"Then it was the guards themselves."

An icy feeling ran up Alys' spine at her aunt's suggestion.

It could not have been the guards, could it?

The guards were supposed to protect us. They would not have attacked us.

But she knew when she looked at her father's face, he agreed with the older princess's accusation.

"Your Majesty," Sadon leaned forward urgently, his face filled with an emotion Alys did not recognize as being normal for her grandfather; fear, "Most of those guards are likely still in service here in the palace."

The king stood quickly, forgetting his nearly full plate of food.  Without a word, he left the dining room, leaving all of the shocked family members behind.

Having now lost her appetite, Alys also stood and excused herself.

           Later in the day while they had tea together, her grandfather gravely informed Alys that not a single guard that had been watching her and her brother could be located.  Though she was concerned, and answers needed to be found as to who had told the guards to attack the young prince and princess, Alys decided not to let the situation bother her. For now, she just wanted to focus on re-connecting with her family and sorting through her returning memories.