The Legend Of The Five Queens : Arabella's tale

Chapter 15: A unexpected meeting

Arabella stares at who may as well be the Devil: King Dracon. His eyes hold pure evil within them he looks very displeased.
"Princess Arabella, Daughter of Queen Hilda, what are you doing in my Kingdom so unexpectedly?" He keeps his hands pressed beneath his beard.
   "My business here is not with you at this moment. Severus and I are looking for my father if he is not here then we will leave peacefully," She tells him keeping her head up high.
"Ah yes, King Destwan was here about 6 years ago. He tried to sway me to join forces with your kingdom. I however was not swayed because he had nothing to offer me. I do not know where he could be nor do I care," He waves his hand as if he is waving her away.
"Then we can end this meeting since he is not here," Severus speaks up. Arabella looks at him as though she is surprised that he has spoken. The king turns his attention towards.
"Severus, do you believe that I would let you leave so easily? No, I wish to keep you here longer, as guests of course," He gives a smile that turns into a slight smirk. "Arabella, I am assuming that since you are looking for your father that he the rumors are true about him allying with every other kingdom on the planet. I am surprised that he has not told you about his plans. Here I thought you two were very close to one another?" He leans forward slightly in his chair.
   "I have not spoken to my father in years. I do feel close to him still. I do not wish to spend more time talking about him here. I still have much to do," she gestures for Severus to turn with her as they face their back towards King Dracon.
   "Wait! I am not done just yet, Princess Arabella. I have one more thing to ask of you before you leave, do you plan on trying to convince me to join your kingdom as your father has tried before?" He stands up from his chair. Arabella stands still as her brain processes the words that he has spoken. She wonders to herself if she should tell him the truth or simply mislead him. While she does want to eventually rule over every kingdom in the future she fears that rumors could sprout of her plans.
   She slowly turns around locking her eyes with his. She hesitates a little at which answer she should give him.
"A lie. Yes, I should fabricate a lie to him at the moment," Arabella thinks to herself.
   "No, if I were to try to get you to join my kingdom I would be no different than my father," She tells him causing Severus to turn halfway looking at her as if he is confused.
   King Dracon sits back down in his chair slowly stroking his beard as he lays his head back against the headrest.
   "I see, how interesting of you to choose such a course. Not following in his footsteps would be a wise decision. Perhaps you will be a better leader than your father was. Go about your journey then," He tells them waving them away with his hands.
   "Thank you King Dracon," Arabella and Severus turn around to walk out of the room. They work their way through the castle as they try to get out of the place. A feeling of confusion and joy flow through Arabella's body as they distance themselves from king Dracon. She's surprised that he was not as cruel as his reputation states perhaps even most evil of men can have a kind heart. That could be just a cover-up for a more mischievous plan. If he were to attack her that would mean war between the two kingdoms and he would lose with ease. They leave the castle and walk through the gate entrance.
   Severus pulls out the world map and lets Arabella examine it with him.
   "So, where are we going next to them, Princess?" Severus asks as they look at the trails that lead to the other kingdoms.
"Well, we could go to King Alucards' kingdom. It is possible that my dad could have gone there after coming here," Arabella tells him as she points at the map.
"Do you think he would try to speak to King? Your father was usually nervous when having to speak with him,"
"I believe that he would have worked up the nerve to speak with him," She tells him confidently. Severus rubs his beard as he tends to do.
" I believe that while we are looking for him that we should check any newspaper clippings that we can to see if anyone has been written about his presence," Arabella looks around to see if anyone is watching them. Luckily for them, there is no one else standing outside of the castle. How convenient for them. 
   "I say we waste no more time and head to King Alucard. We can pick up new clothes in the small town along the way," Arabella grabs onto Equidor's back and gets him ready for another journey.
She signals the two other knights hidden in the woods to come to join up with them. The knights see her signal and jump on their horses to meet up with them. They all group together and ride off to their next destination-King Alucard's kingdom.
As Arabella and her men ride off to the next Kingdom, Arabella is reminded of the times that she would ride around her grandfather his paddock when she was 12. She would run him around again and again with Equidor trying to keep her balance on his back. Suddenly Equidor turns too tight causing Arabella to fall of him and land on her back. The fall knocks the wind out of her as her back arches up from the ground. She rolls over onto her stomach and struggles to stand up.
   "Ow! That hurt Grandpa! It always hurts when he throws me off like that!" Arabella proclaims as she holds her back. Her grandfather comes to her side and grabs her arm as he gently pulls her back onto her feet.
   "Ah Arabella, you forget that it will always hurt when you fall off of a horse. But you forget that even though we will always fall, it is most important that we always stand back up and never quit," He tells her softly as he brushes the dirt off of her shoulders. Arabella pouts at his comment as she looks down. She looks back up and takes notice of how grey and strangle his beard has become.
   "But you always say that Grandpa and I still always fall. Every single time,"
   "And you always get back up. Equidor knows that you do not fully believe that he can carry you safely and that is why you always fall. You have got to believe in him. I mean believe in him and connect to him like he is another limb of yours," He calls Equidor over to him with his high-pitched whistle. Equidor gallops over to them in a steady manner. Her grandfather runs his nose gently as he puts his head down.
   "Equidor is such a sweet horse. He is gentle with those who know bestow on him their confidence. With that, he climbs onto Equidors back and gestures for him to start moving. The two of them go circles and circles inside the paddock moving faster and faster with ease. Her grandfather doesn't budge as they take their hard turns. It is as though he does not have to try to hold onto the horse. He guides Equidor back to Arabella and sets him next to her.
   "See what I mean? He knows that I have full confidence in him and he does not try to shake me off. Soon he will do the same for you. I am sure of it" Her grandfather gets back off of the horse while a smile. "Now then my dear, practice some more with him," Her Grandfather says as he pats Equidors back. Arabella climbs back onto Equidors' back and rides him around in circles once more.
Arabella's mind snaps back to the current moment where she is riding Equidor with precision and full of confidence. She had come a long way since her first days riding with Equidor. It truly brought a smile to her face. She instantly drops her smile to a more serious facial expression as she notices Severus looking at her from the corner of her eye. She must continue looking strong to her guards.
They continue to ride for a few hours before finding a spot to camp as they had done before. It is as though they are in a time loop. Just like before, they set up a small campfire with small personal tents.
Arabella sits against a tree as her mind gets lost in her thoughts about this journey. Severus sits across from her and takes off his heavy thick chest plate.
   "Arabella, you still seem troubled. What is bothering you?" He asks her gently. Arabella snaps back into reality as her eyes meet Severus's eyes. She sighs before giving a response.
   "I am... just still conflicted about this journey. Should I be the one who is trying to find my father? Should he not be trying to find me? I mean, after all, I am his only daughter," she looks back to the ground and draws nonsensical lines in the soft dirt.
   "Arabella, your father was never good at being much of anything. I am not surprised that he has not been there to be a father to you," He answers her with a gentle tone of voice.
"If that is to be true then why did he bother having a child to begin with? He did not have to get my mother pregnant," her voice is on the verge of breaking at this point. Severus frowns and moves a little closer to her.
"Arabella, as King your father is sworn to give the kingdom a child. He did so to follow his duty as King, as wrong as it may sound," Severus looks down as if he is ashamed of what he is saying. Arabella wipes the tears from her face and sobs quietly to herself. Was this all true? Had her birth happened simply because a government system demanded so? Is this why her father abandoned her?
"W-What about my mom? Does she see me in such a way?" She pulls her knees to her chest. Severus slowly moves over to sit at Arabella's side and looks at her.
   "Arabella, if there is one thing that I know for sure is that your mother loves you more than anything in the world. She would sacrifice her royalty just for you if she needed to. She has told me this herself," Arabella rubs her eyes and looks at Severus with a slight smile.
   "That makes me feel a little better and more hopeful," The light from her stone illuminates a part of her dress. She pulls down her top to reveal the stone.
   "Are you doing that Princess?" Severus asks as he looks at the stone.
   "No, sometimes it owes that on its own. It acts as a living creature. I still do not fully understand how it works," She rubs the stone gently as if she is caressing it. The glow slowly diminishes until the light has completely faded.
   "Well if you still plan on taking over the world then you will need to master that stone," he says while pointing at the stone. Arabella pulls her dress up covering the stone back up.
Do not worry dear Severus, by the time that happens will have full control over this stone. I will be Queen of the world," She looks off at the fire watching the wood collapse as it burns as the golden rocks beneath them fuel the flames. Her eyes close shut automatically as her body relaxes. She slowly falls against Severus's shoulder taking him off guard. He wraps his arms around her gently keeping her from fall over completely.
  "My Queen, I believe that it is time for you to get some rest for the night. We have much to do tomorrow," Severus says as he rubs her gently awake.
Arabella opens her eyes and stands up as she stretches out her body letting out a long groan. She walks over to her tent
   "Goodnight dear Severus, hopefully, tomorrow we find my dad," she says as she walks into her tent.
   The sun slowly rises in the air. The crew quickly pack up their stuff and head to King Alucard's kingdom.