City of Starlight

Chapter 5 - The boy in the forest

(Daniella's POV)

At breakfast, Aurelie was seated between Lena and my father on the opposite end of the circular table upon which we sat. I only managed to sneak several glances at her, but from where I was sitting, I was able to tell that she seemed extremely unwell. Just as I was thinking about how I had given her the forgetting potion yesterday, Aurelie suddenly lurched and vomited onto the ground beside her. Lena and Snow immediately engaged themselves with tending to my sister but as I stood up to go to her, mother put her hand out and bade me to remain in my seat. 

"What-" I began, until she harshly silenced me with a stern glance. Lena then escorted Aurelie back to her rooms but father didn't immediately go with them. He motioned mother with his head and simply said, "Regina. Talk outside?"

Though he only spoke to mother, I accepted the invitation too as I sensed that this wasn't going to be good. Father led us to an unoccupied room in the guest tower and slammed the door shut. "You said that the potion would be safe!" he hissed in a disappointed tone. His eyes were searching my mother's expression with such ferocity that I was a little taken aback.  

"The potion? You're linking your daughter's illness to the potion?!" mother scoffed. Then, she sarcastically replied, "Act like your gut feeling tells you; don't trust the Evil Queen, your ex-lover who just wants vengeance on the woman who has somehow managed to steal her boyfriend. You're acting like a child right now, and it's insane."

"Insane? More like merely worried. I can't believe that all it takes is a small opportunity to arise  for you to use it against me."

"That's what you think? You believe that I'm bent on destroying your little family? You're delusional. I'm in Camelot right now to take care of a rather dire problem that threatens the future of the Enchanted Forest. I'm sure somebody has filled you in on the fact that an heir to Snow White's kingdom may soon turn out to be the next Dark One!"

"That does not convince me."

"Well nothing is going to convince you dear, is it?"

There was a moment of silence, and when I looked up, I regrettably saw that father was staring at me. My cheeks reddened. Under his gaze, I felt the guilt inside me churn in my stomach. I swallowed, knowing that father's false suspicions would surge because of my behaviour. Yet, he simply huffed before storming away. I sat down on the bed in the room with tears in my eyes but mother didn't notice as she exclaimed, "That bastard." 

When she turned around however, her expression changed as she came to me and said, "Firefly, your father was over-reacting. This has nothing to do with you. I was there to ensure that the potion was safe and properly mixed."

I wasted no time in replying, "But he saw through me! I know I didn't do it, but he thinks I did. It's because of me that he thinks you want to murder or harm my sister."

Mother sat down next to me and tucked a piece of stray hair behind my ear as she gently replied, "No. You did nothing wrong. It is entirely his fault for taking it the wrong way; the fault is not yours to bear. Please my darling, don't blame yourself for something that you didn't even do." After a sigh, she took my hand into hers and said, "Come on. We need to work on something that will free Merlin from his cursed form remember? That should take your mind off things. Making some kind of potion or spell is priority on Snow and David's schedule. We wouldn't want to disappoint them, should they have successfully fulfilled their part of the quest right?"

I bit my lip and looked down for a few seconds before murmuring quietly, "Can I go for a quick ride instead? I'll be back before lunch."

"A ride? With whom?"