Finding the Wisest

Chapter Twenty Eight

There was a general air of amiability and festivity as the people mingled and ate and talked.

The five friends stood and talked close to a mahogany table piled with food. Kieran wouldn't leave the table so they all had to assemble round it.
Other people around them started to dance as some minstrels started to play some unfamiliar instruments on the makeshift stage.
Maya didn't know if there was a particular dance or not and she wasn't sure how to go about it so she was just content to clap along with the other party guests who weren't dancing.
Out of the five, Sozee was the only one prancing and dancing around, looking for all the world like an angel in her white gown.
A hyperactive angel who was probably high on sugar from the various things she had snacked on. She and Kieran together could cause world hunger.

Maya laughed as she watched her, happy that they were far away from troubles and that everything had ended nicely.
A sudden chill took a firm hold on her and so she decided to go to her room in the castle to grab a shawl or even her jacket.
Definitely her jacket, the chill had gotten worse.
She told her friends and walked away, she hadn't moved into a furnished room like Nebbia had because she would be leaving the kingdom soon. It was the same room with the same bare necessities that Hartley had given her the first time she had come in search of the Queen.

On her way, she noticed somebody that was sitting there smiling at her from the dark.
She would have freaked out massively if only she hadn't recognized the person.
It was the smiley man who had given her directions to the castle the first time!
She smiled at him and decided to thank him for his help the first time. No matter how small it may have seemed, it had really helped. Everything had accumulated and had all led up to this victory.
Her quick steps brought her to him in no time.
"Oh....Maya....the long lost princess Willow"
The man drawled. His brown boat hat with a blue bow tie sat jauntily atop his head, perched at a precarious angle.
It really looked as if it was going to fall but he didn't seem to be concerned about it.
His tone made her skin crawl and she frowned at the feeling.
She decided to make this snappy. A quick thing, no need for long chats and dissertations.
"Thank you sir, for showing me directions the first time. We wouldn't have been so victorious if I hadn't at least reached the castle first. Thank you for your help to the Kingdom."
She nodded vigorously, hoping that he wouldn't say anything and that he would just smile so she could walk away.
He didn't say anything and she breathed a sigh of relief as she tried to smile. She turned and walked away.
With his gaze still on her he whispered a solitary word "Victorious"

From far off, Maya stopped and shook her head. That was a very weird encounter but she wasn't feeling any warmer than she had felt when she left her friends' table so she decided to still make her way to the castle to grab her jacket. A shawl wouldn't help in this sudden icy temperature. She looked around, everyone seemed normal.
Why was she the only one shivering?
Was she sick or something?

She had just entered the castle and was on her way to her room when she suddenly spotted a tall intimidating figure.

"Ash? What are you doing here?"
Her heart rate reduced, it was just her silent friend with the bodyguard tendencies.
If anything, she felt way safer with him there.

He tilted his head to the right." The Queen asked me to check on the prisoners but I can't seem to remember the way. "

This was the most talking  Maya had heard from Ash. The most words she thought she had heard him say in a sentence and she giggled at that thought.

Another thought hit her, it was strange that her mother had put Ash on dungeon watch during a party. She didn't even know there was dungeon watch, she didn't think there should be something like that during this festive time. She would go talk to her mother about it after grabbing her jacket. It was suddenly more colder than ever.

"There's a passageway from the throne room to the dungeons. Oh and Nebbia told me Faye was put at the farthest part of the place, try to avoid her if you can and be careful Ash."

"Sure thing Maya. Thank you"
Maya was too busy rushing into her room to even hear the last words Ash had said to her.
Minutes later and feeling way more toastier, she made her way back outside.
Her meeting with Ash almost forgotten.
She met Will on the way. "Hey Will, I hope you're enjoying this party. I'm sorry for what I said earlier, that's not how I meant it to come across. You and Ash will always be brothers but if you want, I'd be your sister too and Nebbia as well. Is that okay?"
He nodded "Thank you Maya. Yes I'd like to be your brother too. I can spar with you and win all the time!" He smiled, patted her on the shoulder then walked off. That kid wouldn't let her forget the fact that he beat her at sparring the last time. She didn't even know what the rules were. Maybe he cheated.

She made her way back to the table where Kieran was still eating, Nebbia was talking to Ash and Sozee was trying to dance with Kip. The poor animal was looking very harassed.

Wait.
Ash.

How did he out walk Maya, or did his bodyguard tendencies extend to speed walking as well?
She wouldn't be surprised anyway. The man was silent and full of surprises.
"You're back Maya, do you feel warm now?"
Sozee asked.
She nodded her head absent-mindedly as she pushed a carrot stick into her mouth.
"Hey, Ash, how did you get here so fast?"
He looked at her curiously "What do you mean?"
"I mean from the prison watch or dungeon watch or whatever you said. You're back from the dungeons so quickly. Is everything okay there?"

"Maya" Nebbia said calmly.
Her next words sent Maya's heart beating in an erratic fashion, making her feel faint almost instantly.
"Ash never left this table."

Maya's world tilted on its axis.
What?
What did Nebbia mean by that.

She cleared her throat awkwardly, trying to force out a laugh " I saw Ash and..."
Nebbia shook her head, her soft waves moving with the head movement.
It wasn't Ash?
Who could it be?
And what did they want?
She had revealed the location of Faye's cell to the person. Oh.. Gosh no.

Nebbia grabbed Maya's arm when she saw that the girl was starting to go crazy.
"What's wrong?"
Maya shook as she tried to answer "Faye's cell."
That was the only answer Nebbia needed, her gaze darkened and she started barking orders.
"Sozee stay here with Kip and Maya. Kieran, go tell the Queen and Old Kita to come to the dungeon. I'm going to check on it with a few guards!"
In a few minutes Nebbia was swept up in the jubilating crowd. Maya sank to her chair, her head pulsing as her hands found her way to her hair, messing up the hairstyle her mother had done for her.

                                  X

Minutes later and Nebbia came back with an ashen complexion. Maya stood up quickly "Is everything alright?"
Nebbia paused as if she didn't know how to piece words together to form her answer.
She cleared her throat.
"Everything is fine Maya"
Maya shoved her "Why are you lying to me Nebbia, your voice just shifted!!?"
Nebbia sighed and touched her forehead as if she too was getting a headache. Maybe she was.
She grabbed Maya's hand and spoke to her softly as if she was a child "Maya, everything will be alright. You look weak, have this drink."
She forced a glass into Maya's hand and the panicking girl drank it without thinking.
She sat down and very soon a warm feeling spread throughout her body as she slowly forgot about seeing Ash in the dungeons.

They partied the whole night away.