His Queen

Departure {part. 1-unedited}

  The day had finally come to leave Afisa; I came here with a goal to find who was behind this and instead I learned an entirely different secret in return.

   "Your Majesty," Sierra called. "Your bath is ready for you," she said.

  I shook myself out of my own reminiscing and made my way to the bathroom. Like all the days before Sierra took great care that I left the tub clean. She combed through my hair and styled it in a low ponytail, where the rest of my curls were left out. The makeup she did was light and simple and yet I managed to look radiant.

  Sierra has since grown accustomed to choosing the clothes that I wore and today it was a rose pink silk dress. And a white cloak to keep me warm during the travels. She chose a few strings of my gold necklace and matching gold earrings.

  When I looked in the mirror I was impressed by her work.

  "You look absolutely radiant, your majesty," she gushed.

  "You're too kind; I want to thank you for everything. You have been a great service to me over the past three weeks and I appreciate your toil," I said.

  Her face flushed with pink as she bowed her head in bashfulness. 

  "It was my honor, your majesty," she said.

  Sierra performed one last curtesy before leaving the room. I surveyed what I called my home one final time, my eyes zeroed in on a small wrapped present sitting on my dresser.

  "Oh shoot...I never got around to opening the present that Piper gave me," I mused. I grabbed the small box and made my way to the entrance of the palace. 

All of my belongings were packed away and placed into the carriage that was waiting for me. Fergus was standing outside the carriage patiently waiting for my arrival. Standing outside in the front of the palace was the royal family, minus Darius. They must be here to see me off.

  Julian was waiting at the front of the line, and when I approached him he pulled me into a bone crushing hug. The gesture was unexpected, but not unwanted; I returned his hug as well.

  "It saddens me to see you go; you have given me a great gift...my sanity, and for that I am forever grateful. If I am not being too forward, I consider you the daughter I have never had. I will miss you dearly," he said.

  I could feel my eyes begin to sting with tears, but I refused to allow myself to cry. "I should be grateful for you; you were the father that I never had. You brought me great joy over the last two weeks and exchanged so many words of wisdom. You don't know how much you truly helped me," I said.

  I gave him one final hug before I moved over to Hayden. I gave him a small smile which he returned; then surprisingly enough, he opened his arms to me. I accepted his kind offer and hugged him.

  "Thank you...for everything you've given my family," he said.

  "It was my pleasure; if you don't mind I would like to offer a few more words of advice. You are a healer, your abilities aren't just limited to the physical wounds. Be there for your brothers, all of them, one day they'll need you more than you know. Continue to practice your magic," I said.

  He nodded and gave me a smile. Next I was Taylor, who also offered open arms to me.

  "You're going to do great. Do you understand? It is in your nature to be the peace bringer and to extend the olive branch to your enemies. There is no doubt in my mind that you'll excel in your abilities," I said.

  "Thank you, I really appreciate it," Taylor said.

  After Taylor was Peter and he didn't hesitate to pull me into a tight hug, even lifting me off the ground a little. I couldn't even help the laugh that escaped.

  "I'm gonna miss you greatly, you're like the scary older sister I never knew I needed," he joked.

  I couldn't help but laugh along with him. "Peter you truly are an amazing person. Don't tell anybody else, but I think I'll miss you the most," I whispered. I gave him a small kiss on the cheek and moved over to the last person in the line. Caspian.

  It was silent between us; the last time we saw each other I shared with him the worst moments in my life. Not the best thing I should have done now that I think about it.

  When I looked up at him again, I groaned out loud.

  "No...no, don't give me that look. I hate that look; all my life people stared at me with pity when they learn about what happened with my family. Look my upbringing was never ideal, but it was mine. It allowed me to be the woman I am today," I said.

  "That doesn't mean you deserved the treatment you received from you father. I apologize for misjudging you so badly. I didn't know," he said.

  "Not many people do, I choose to keep that part of my life private," I said.

  "Can I ask you something? How do you do it? How can you go on living with that pain every day? You gave me only a quarter of your pain and I felt like I was dying," he said.

  "I—i bury the pain deep within myself...I trap it all in a box and drown myself in work just to ignore it all," I answered honestly.

  If it was even possible that look of pity intensified. Caspian slowly came forward and pulled me into a hug. Like before I could feel the burning behind my eyes, and my throat swelled.

  "One day, I hope that you'll be able to release that pain and let it go," he whispered.

  "Me too," I replied.

  I stepped back and looked at them all. I paused a bit hoping that Darius would show up at the last minute and say goodbye. But he didn't.

   "Well the time has come for me to leave you all; I left lesson plans behind for you all to follow. When this all blows over, I hope that you'll accept my offer to come to Asgard. There you'll be able to really study the craft and see my home," I said.

  "I think I speak for us all when I say that that would be great," Julian said.

  "Okay...well, I guess this goodbye. Thank you for your hospitality and kindness," I said.

  I turned around and Fergus met me half way and helped me into the carriage. As we left the palace ground, I looked at the window again. Sitting in the windowsill was Darius watching me leave. When he saw that I could see him, he got up and left. I won't lie and say that that didn't hurt.

  "Cheer up lassie...we're going home," Fergus said.

  "Yeah...yeah we are," I replied.