The Lore of Eshia Arc 2 - The Royal Saga #2: The Royal Sceptre

Chapter Eight

After her palace ambassadors left, Fairy Princess Mary-Beth stayed for a few minutes in her room, contemplating a few ideas she had in mind.

'Maybe I shouldn't do it, though,' she thought. 'I can't just leave them all... But, it's not like I'm leaving the kingdom forever – just for a short while. I've already been ruling for a year. Surely I can leave once in a while? And it's not like I'll be leaving my subjects hanging – and not like it's a joy-trip...'

She sat up abruptly and looked at the wall-hanging clock above her dressing table across the chamber. It showed exactly nine o'clock.

"Yes!" she pumped her fist in the air. "I must ask Claire about my appointments post-lunch! And I will!"

Claire Foreman was Mary-Beth's part-time secretary, appointed recently, when she had promoted Alicia Hawkins. She had done it partly so that she and Daniel would be at the same level. She intended to do it, whether they went ahead with their relationship openly or not. In her heart, she felt that doing otherwise was immoral. She loved both of them and they had both helped her a lot ever since she was a little girl, so this was her payback for everything they'd done for her.

She remembered the first time she'd met Alicia when she was but a day-old. She could only remember the image of her face vaguely at that far back in her memory, but Alicia had told her that the day she was born, she had been out on some ambassadorial duty on behalf of her mother.

"But, as soon as I came back home," she had said, her eyes glistening with excitement, despite herself, "I was so excited to meet you! Stella took me to you in the crib and oh gosh – I thought you were the cutest baby I'd ever seen!"

Ever since, Alicia had always been in Mary-Beth's memories for as long as she could remember, right until that day, that moment, taking care of her, playing with her like an older sister she never had, giving an ear for her troubles in school, and also teaching her a little about magic, whenever she felt inclined to know. This was before she started reading books and found out about the curse on her family line for the throne.

'I must make new editions of those old dusty books,' she thought. She had no intention of getting rid of them, but simply, to add to them with new information. 'But, I guess I must wait until I make some sort of significant changes and achievements. Speaking of which...' She frowned in thought. 'That attack on the castle – I need to find out more about how Owen got that close to the castle without the guards finding out! I'm sure that bird-like creature I saw... Yes, it has to be under his command! – though, I do wonder what in the world it had been.

'Oh dear,' she sighed when she glanced at the clock once more, 'I have lot of work post-lunch – Claire doesn't have to tell me!'

With a groan, she got down from her bed.

'Oh, and I also need to send off Daniela and her crew. Oh dear.' She sighed again, tiredly, but composed herself, before she went out of her chamber.

~*~

Sebastian was in the second-floor corridor, when he ran into his fiancé.

"Beth – Mary-Beth!" he exclaimed in relief. "I was searching high and low for you! Where did you go after breakfast!? You're needed in the antechamber – Jim, Julian, and Daniela are leaving for their tour round the other side in search of her sister!"

"Yes, I remember that," she gave him a faint smile. She pressed her fingers to her temples.

This brought concern to his face and he leaned towards her. "Hey, are you okay, darling? You seem ill. Shall I take over in your place?"

Her smile grew a little, but she shook her head. "No, that's all right. I can do this. Besides, I want to give Daniela a pep-talk – she seems so beaten up about her sister, afraid she's turned over to the wrong side. She's so worried, she was telling me about it all the other day when we were cleaning my home." She gave a deep sigh. "Look. Just Daniela and the others, and I'll come back, and you can take over for the rest of the day, okay?"

He nodded, though the concern didn't leave his face. "I'll do that, but what about you? Do you need the physician to have a look at you?"

"Good gracious, no!" She gave a nervous laugh. Her heart felt lighter as she spoke to him. "Not right now. I'll let you know. I have my phone with me."

He grinned. "Perks of the modern century that work in an old castle as this!"

She nodded and looped her arm into his. "Come, let's go and give some advice!"

"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted and they walked towards the staircase.

When Sebastian and Mary-Beth entered the antechamber, they saw their three friends sitting quietly on chairs on one side. They stood up when the royal couple entered.

"Hello you guys!" Mary-Beth greeted them before they could say anything. She went to embrace each one and when she got to the young vampire last, she was a few seconds longer. She released her, but held her at an arm's length and looked straight into her eyes. "You will find your sister, Daniela Sung," she asserted. "You will find her, however she is now." Indirectly saying, "Dead or alive, vampire or human".

Sebastian could see the younger girl's eyes glistening with unshed tears as she nodded. 'I wonder how Anya would've survived all of this,' he thought. 'She's got to be dead. Or turned. Either of which Daniela wouldn't bear.' But, he wisely didn't voice any of these thoughts.

He just went up to them and shook their hands with an encouraging smile on his face.

"I stand by the Fairy Princess," he said. "I know that we will find Anya somewhere, doing alive and well. Who knows, maybe somebody found her and is keeping her safe, until she's taken back to her dear sister. Miss Sung, you're a great sibling; you care a lot about your little sister. It takes guts to travel around the continent looking for someone without losing hope like you're doing. I know, you probably lost it a few times, nobody would blame you, but the fact that you're still going on... that's what is admirable." He paused and stepped back, as did his fiancé. "Have a safe journey and I hope that this time around, you will come back with her. If not, then we'll make our search arc wider and include more people, all right?"

The three solemnly nodded their heads.

Daniela spoke up, very voice shaking, "But, please, Prince Sebastian, don't do it. Don't include more people in this."

"Well, if you're thinking that it's too much of a pain in the ass for us, then no. We all care about finding your sister as much as you do – though, you probably care far more. But, we're all here for you, nonetheless, Daniela. Don't worry about causing a problem. It's not a problem that cannot be solved, after all. I mean, where could she possibly have gone on foot?"

The younger girl nodded meekly. "I hope you're right, sir." When she turned to her companions, she looked determined. "Let's go!"

As the young couple watched the three-person party departing the palace, Mary-Beth heaved a sigh of relief and turned to him with a small grateful smile.

"Thank you," was all she said, before hugging him tightly and leaving the antechamber for the court, sniffing back her own tears.