Chapter 10

"What makes you think that Arizona? I'm pretty sure she is in Nefura."

"Ma'am, if my mother was in Nefura, she would've found a way to contact me. The fact that she hasn't as yet, furthermore proves that she isn't in this kingdom."

The Queen sighed, giving me the impression that this conversation was boring her in some way.

"Where do you think she is then Arizona? Wixur?"

I shook my head, "I don't know Ma'am but I'm going to go and find her."

The Queen suddenly seemed be on full alert, "You will do no such thing!"

"Pardon me ma'am?"

The Queen glared at me, "I said that you will not go searching for your mother. You are far too young- and impulsive, if I might add!"

The Queen had got to be kidding. Impulsive. I groaned.

"… What am I supposed to do then your Majesty?"

The Queen folded her hands on top of each other delicately, "you will wait for a few more days. If she hasn't returned by then, I will dispatch some soldiers to search for her."

I stared at the Queen dumbfounded. "Are you serious? Ma'am, she might be in grave danger! You can't possibly expect me to wait any longer, when my mother may very well be breathing her last breaths!"

"If she is breathing her last breaths, then there is absolutely no need to go find her then for she will be dead by the time you find her." The Queen replied icily.

"Excuse me, your majesty?" I whispered.

The Queen blushed slightly for a second, realising what she just said, "You are not going, Arizona. It is far too dangerous."

She started to turn when I grasped her arm and turned her around.

"Ma'am! She's my mother! I'm going to find her!"

"No you are not Arizona! Do you think your mother would've wanted you to risk your life? Definitely not!"

I clenched my fists and took a deep breath. "Ma'am… you are in no way my mother, so please, don't act like you know what she would do under the circumstances." I whispered coldly.

The Queen seemed slightly taken aback- and maybe a bit hurt, but I didn't care. She had hurt me immensely with her cutting words and her nonchalance in regards to my mother's safety.

She didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, seemingly weighing her words. Finally she looked up at me with defeated eyes, "Very well then Arizona … I will give permission for you to find your…" she paused, "… mother."

I stared back at her coldly; she wasn't going to earn my forgiveness that quickly. "What made you change your mind ma'am?"

The Queen gave a short, humourless laugh, "You would've gone anyway, Arizona. I wouldn't have been able to stop you."

I nodded, "… Then I shall leave." I bowed slightly, and then turned to leave.

"Arizona! Wait."

I turned slightly, what did she want now?

The Queen glided up to me, "I don't want you to go by yourself, instead, I want you to take five soldiers to accompany you."

I nodded, "Yes, your majesty."

The Queen continued, "I also want someone else to go with you…"

I waited for her to continue; instead the Queen gave a small smile. "Arizona, I'm sure you've been acquainted with Prince Marcus."

With those words as an introduction, Prince Marcus strolled into the room.

My jaw went slack, "NO" I cried, "Absolutely not! I am absolutely not going to go with him!"

The Queen look surprised, "What in Nefura is the matter Arizona? Prince Marcus is a valiant warrior!"

I felt a teeny bit of my anger fade for a brief moment in time, "He's a … warrior?"

"Of course he is!" the Queen replied, "If it wasn't for his duty as a royal, he would most likely be the head of the Nefurite Army!"

I glanced at Prince Marcus; I should've known his drool-worthy muscles came from somewhere.

I glanced back at the Queen, "I'm sorry… I can't possibly go with him."

The Queen looked perplexed, "Why Arizona? I do not understand… did something happen between you two?"

I shook my head rapidly, "NO! Definitely not, your majesty… I just… you see…" I waved my hands around trying to find the right words, "Ma'am… I'm just… I'm worried for his safety!"

The Queen raised her brows dubiously, "His safety?"

"Yes your majesty, Princess Akira would be devastated if something should happen to Prince Marcus."

Marcus snorted, and I clenched my jaw, choosing to ignore his 'un-royal like' snort. As of yet I had only glanced at him once, and I aimed to maintain that.

The Queen laughed, "Oh my Darling Arizona, Prince Marcus is more than able to care for himself, and everyone around him! You have no need to worry!"

I shook my head desperately, "No your majesty, you don't underst-"

The Queen looked at me sternly, "Arizona. If you want to go, you are going to have to take Marcus along, or else, you shall not go."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "But your majesty… you said that you couldn't stop me, even if you wanted to…"

She raised an eyebrow, "Darling, I will tie you to a chair and lock you in the smallest room in one of our most deserted wings."

I glanced at her, "Please your majesty,' I implored, 'do not make me go with him…"

The Queen stared at me, "Arizona… what in Nefura is wrong with Marcus?"

I didn't reply. The Queen after waiting a couple of minutes, exhaled loudly and said, "Very well then. If there's nothing wrong, I see no problem. You both shall leave tomorrow at the break of dawn." She began to leave, when she turned back, "… Oh and… tell no one. Not even Akira." She looked at Prince Marcus as she said that, and then left, leaving Marcus and I to stare at her disappearing back.

As soon as the Queen left, Marcus turned to me, "… So we're on a mission together…"

I spun around and faced him, "I bet you set this up didn't you?"

Marcus opened his mouth in mock shock and pointed at himself, "Me?"

"No. Princess Akira… Of course it's you! Can you see anyone else!"

Marcus raised both his palms in a gesture of surrender, "Relax… No, I didn't set this up. Why would I? in fact, I don't even know what mission I'm going on…"

I glared at him, "My Mother's missing. We're going to find her."

Marcus looked at me, his face softening, "Oh… I didn't know… are you all right?"

I rolled my eyes, and turned away. "Please, I don't need sympathy from someone high and mighty like you."

Prince Marcus sighed in frustration, "Fine. Don't accept it."

"I won't." I replied coldly.

Marcus didn't say anything after that, but quietly left and after a while, I too left the Queens wing.

I decided to go to the forest, my mood was quite down after the encounter with Marcus and I knew that if I stayed home, it would only get worse; seeing the quiet house, deprived of my mother's presence was not going to help at all.

The sun was beginning to set as I made my way through the forest, and it was significantly darker under the canopy of leaves.

I heard Raquel before I saw her, "…No, that's not wha- CAN YOU STOP INTERRUPTING ME… thank you… now back-"
She paused when she saw me approach her. Reece was standing in front of her, his back facing towards me but turned to see what Raquel was looking at.

"Ah! Trevor; a pleasant surprise as always!"

I smirked, "Shame, the same can't be said about you."

"Ouch…" Reece rubbed the place above his heart as if I had physically hurt him.

I rolled my eyes and came towards them, ignoring the fact that Raquel still hadn't said anything to me.

"Someone's in a pissy mood…"

Raquel looked at me curiously, "Find your mother yet?"

Reece stared at Raquel confused, "… find her mother? What do you mean? Is your mother lost?"

I nodded slowly, "She's not lost as such…I think she's been abducted." I turned to Raquel, "And no, I haven't found her yet."

Raquel squirmed awkwardly, "… That's too bad… so…what are you going to do about it?"

I sighed, "I 'm going to find her. Prince Marcus and I, along with some soldiers, are going to find her."

Reece gave a low whistle, "The warrior babe finally puts her art into practice…"

I glanced up, "If only the circumstances didn't require it. It's not a nice thing knowing that your 'art' is only being put into practice because you're trying to find your mother…"

I saw Reece's face soften slightly, "Hey… you'll find her. Don't worry…" he said softly.

I nodded and swallowed hard, willing myself not to cry.

Reece coughed, and the moment was broken. He cleared his throat and said, "So… can we come?"

"WHAT?" Raquel and I said in unison.

"Of course not!" I cried,

"I don't recall myself giving any hint of me wanting to go on a mission to find her mother!" That came from Raquel.

Reece shrugged, "It would be fun, and I'm sure we would be a great benefit for you. Besides," He turned to Raquel, "you didn't have to drop hints, I knew that you wanted to go even before the thought appeared in your head."

Raquel eyebrows shot up, "Oh really? … Is that even possible Reece?"

Reece shrugged again, "Oh ye with little faith…"

I rubbed my face wearily, "Reece. You can't come. This isn't something that we're doing for fun… We're searching for my mother… and who knows," I swallowed around the lump that suddenly appeared in my throat, "… she might be in grave danger."

Reece nodded at me, "and …?"

I looked up at him, "What do you mean 'and'? It's dangerous Reece! You might get hurt!"

Reece looked momentarily shocked for a second, and then burst into fits of laughter. Even Raquel smirked.

"What?" I enquired weakly, not too sure if I genuinely wanted to know.

Reece after managing to stop laughing managed to say in between spells of giggles, "Trevor, your naivety never fails to astound me. We,' he gestured exaggeratedly to him and Raquel, 'are Wixurite's, we are significantly more wicked and stronger then you pussy Nefurite's- no offence, it's a fact, seriously, look up the statistics- and you're honestly worrying about if we would get hurt? You should be worrying about yourself, chic."

I looked down at my feet, when he put it that way; I released how stupid I sounded. I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment. Reece seemed to notice for he came closer and said in a gentle voice, "Hey, it was still pretty sweet of you to worry about our safety…"

I looked up reluctantly, still bearing the aftermath of my embarrassment, and stifled a small gasp as I realised how close he actually was. Reece towered over me, and I couldn't help but rake my eyes over his broad shoulders that began the series of strong muscles that rippled across his arms. My eyes travelled down to his flat stomach and I had a sudden longing to place my hands on them and feel how hard they actually were.

I swallowed and glanced up, my face burning in embarrassment – although for a completely different reason- and found his eyes, perfect drops of black ink, staring at me with intensity I never expected.

"In love with me already, Trevor?" he asked, his normally rich, deep voice becoming so soft that it nearly mingled with the air around us.

I snapped out of my wayward thoughts, and staggered a couple of steps back. Reece continued looking at me for a moment, and then smirked, reverting back to his usual cheeky self.

I tore my gaze away for Reece, and turned to find Raquel staring at us with an expression that was a mix between curiosity and disgust.

"What just happened?"