AUTHOR'S NOTE

How is everyone doing? Is everyone OK?

~ Nuggs with 6-feet/2-meter Huggs

Chapter 85

"OK, I think I understand now," the king of Diamonds said to himself, sitting atop his golden, royal blue throne. His throne room was kind of similar to that of the queen of Hearts, but it wasn't as spacious or themed. The walls consisted of white speckled brick and there were a few portraits, none of which were of him. They were beautiful paintings of the castle, the roller coaster blueprints, and the theme-park-themed kingdom itself. If he was the one in charge of decorating, it seemed like he was much more into the structure of the kingdom as opposed to his role as a king. I wondered if he even really liked his job, even though he was pretty good at it.

I was sitting a few feet away from the throne in a small blue chair. It was nice there was a guest chair. The throne room in Heart Kingdom didn't have one. I ran my fingers through my black silky hair. I felt nervous. Like I was imposing.

Well, I was imposing.

"Is it imposing if he is a good friend?"

I've met him once.

"Right…"

I glanced at Shire.

"But he is?"

Shire nodded and smirked at me.

I looked to Elliot again, who was studying the arm of his throne. His eyebrows were knitted with concern.

"Uh, Y-Your Majesty?" I said.

Elliot didn't look up yet. I didn't think he heard me,

"Elliot?"

He looked up.

"I'm sorry about all of this. I'm sure it's a big surprise, and it's a lot to ask of you-"

"Sir!"

All of our heads shot towards the throne room entrance. A knight of smaller stature ran in clumsily.

Elliot stood up and cleared his throat. "Armani, it's not too much to ask. Ocean Point dwellers have a special place in our kingdom." He stepped closer to the knight, who was now standing behind me.

"My apologies for the interruption. The Red Queen is requesting your audience at Heart Kingdom. She would like to speak to you soon."

My heart dropped. Shire put his hand on my shoulder. Did she already figure out where I would be?

Elliot looked unfazed. "Veronica is requesting the audience of me?"

I blinked. I didn't realize that I didn't know the Queen had a name until just now. Of course, Queen of Hearts wasn't her name.

Veronica is your sister's name, Stephanie?

"That it is," Stephanie answered. She sounded uncomfortable.

How come I didn't know this?

"Because she hates her name."

Why would she-

Shire removed his hand from my shoulder as the knight made his way to the front of us. I averted his gaze.

"That's abnormal," Elliot said. "But how could I say no? Tell the messenger I can be there tomorrow, Diamond time."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The knight excused himself from the room without giving me another look. I relaxed just a little, but then remembered that the reason that knight was in here in the first place was to tell us that the Queen wants to talk to Elliot. I felt my body go tense again.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Elliot said quietly. He sighed and sat back on his throne. "An - ah, Armani. No need to worry. Could I ask why Shire is here? It's Shire, right?"

Shire nodded and crossed his arms patiently. "Just to make sure she gets what she needs."

"And then he'll be able to tell the others that I'm OK," I added.

"She'll be OK. Right, Your Majesty?" Shire asked. His face went hard.

Elliot held up his hands in defense. "I'm sure everything will be alright." He lowered his voice. "The meeting shouldn't be relevant to your situation. I doubt she knows the connections you have."

I let out a sigh. Yeah, I mean, she shouldn't know these things. She doesn't know exactly who I'm chummy with...unless she'd been watching me the whole time.

"I don't think she's watching you," Stephanie said. "I feel like I would be able to tell."

I do trust your thoughts about your sister.

"Then again, I suppose my naive thoughts lead me to where I am right now…"

I didn't mentally respond. I wasn't sure how. Stephanie knew this, because she was in my head. She could hear what I'm thinking at all times, even if I'm not directing the thought at her. It was strange.

"I'm sorry."

But it was comforting in a way too, because I felt less alone in my endless thoughts.

"Oh. I'm glad for that, at least!"

"Would she know the connections you have?" Elliot said. He said it pretty loud, as if it wasn't the first time he was asking this.

"Hey, wake up from your thoughts, kid," Shire murmured.

I shook my head. "Uh, y-yeah, no. I don't think she would know. We never really talked about those things."

"Great." Elliot clasped his hands together. "I have a meeting in half an hour. There's a shelter for refugees not too far from the castle. I like keeping the shelter near The Diamond King because I can better access it and check in with them."

I was assuming he meant The Diamond King ride and not himself, because then that would mean Elliot was suddenly speaking in third-person.

Stephanie laughed in my head. "You're truly funny, Ana."

I glanced at Shire and he smirked. I guess he heard Stephanie, despite not knowing what I was thinking myself.

"That sounds great, El-" I looked back at the throne room entrance. "King Elliot."

Elliot stood and dusted off his jeans despite there not being anything on them. "Please don't refer to me as king. Lighter honorifics are perfectly fine," he said. He sounded a little awkward when he said it. Like whiny, almost.

I smiled and stood up as well. He began to lead us out of the throne room and into a main hallway where guards and servants were scurrying around. A few of them seemed to be on break, just chattering away with a bag of popcorn in their hands. It was kind of amusing to watch. Trained knights in the backdrop of a theme park. I wondered if they enjoyed the castle life more than the knights at Heart Kingdom.

Shire elbowed me to get my attention. This gesture was becoming our thing now, apparently. "I'll come with you to the shelter to check it out,and then I'll head out and tell everyone what's going on."

I nodded. We continued to follow Elliot as he led us over to a well-groomed servant wearing striped black and white pants and a black shirt. He had a cute red visor on his head with a little diamond shape printed in the middle.

Elliot stuck his hand out toward the servant, who eagerly shook it.

"Chester, this is my new friend Armani. She is originally from Ocean Point. If you could take her to the OP Shelter and check her in, that would be wonderful. No need to handle the roster. I will do that after my meeting, yes?"

The servant, whose name was Chester, saluted. He looked no older than 12. It made me feel weird. "Yes, my lord! Any special needs for Miss Armani?"

Elliot looked at me.

I shook my head quickly. "Ah, n-no! Nothing special here."

Shire chuckled.

Elliot nodded and bowed his head. "Very well. Let's be on our ways, then. Thank you very much, Chester."

Chester grinned.

"And, Armani, do take care. I'll check in later. Keeping our OP's safe is one of my priorities as landlord."

I stared into his blue eyes. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but I hope he knew how helpful he was being to me. This isn't my world. FInding out that someone may want to kill you, and just hoping everyone will help you...it was a lot to take in. "Thank you so much... my lord."

Elliot winked and quickly turned away. He walked off in another direction to some other part of the castle where that meeting would be held, most likely.

I looked over at Chester.

Chester was still creepily grinning. He liked his job too much.

The walk to the shelter wasn't long, as Elliot suggested earlier. Chester led us out of the castle grounds. We walked beyond The Diamond King, where the kingdom started to get more grassy with patches of tall trees growing. There were less rides and attractions and people in this area, yet it was still a seven or eight minute walk from the castle itself. I kind of liked the quiet.

I took a deep breath and pressed on. Shire was tagging along, but for some reason decided to walk behind me.

"Here we are, Miss Armani!" Chester chirped.

The OP shelter wasn't anything special in terms of the outside. It looked like a really, really big shack. It was wooden and almost seemed a bit unstable. The mural covering the front wall was beautiful, however. It was a painting of an ocean, an ocean so perfect looking it was probably the one from Ocean Point. The artist did a great job, down to the sun glare.

"Wow," I said. The art greatly contrasted with the actual structure of the building.

A woman exited the building and walked past us, but not before bowing her head and wishing us good day.

I made sure to not to look at her for too long, though I had no reason why. I was overthinking in terms of how to not look suspicious.

"You are a refugee acting like a refugee, Ana," Stephanie said. "It's OK to appear nervous or frightened. It's expected of someone like Armani."

Shire finally stood beside me. "She's right," he whispered.

Chester looked back at us. "Come on, then! Let's get you settled in. You're perfectly safe here."

We followed the plucky boy into the seemingly low-budget yet aesthetically pleasing shack of a shelter.

I had to admit: it looked like what you would expect it to look like based on the outside. The Ocean Point Shelter's interior was very underwhelming. The walls and floors were all wooden, each plank squeaking — no, screaming — with each step you take. When you enter, you're just standing in a basic lobby. There was a little black bench that could sit people just beside the entrance door. Looking ahead, there was the front desk, a simple tall table with a pot of beautiful blue bellflowers. Chester moved towards that very desk and I took no second to follow his lead. I immediately took a whiff of the flowers.

I felt a brief tug on the back of my shirt and I looked back. Shire raised an eyebrow and I backed away from the desk a little. He was right; I should pay attention.

I exhaled and studied the room a bit more as Chester rang a bell on the desk, most likely waiting for someone to help us. While the lobby was dimly lit and dark, I could just make out the three paintings displayed modestly above the desk. They were, once again, images of the ocean. Absolutely stunning, though each one was different. They had their own styles, as though they were painted by different people.

I glanced at Shire, who seemed lost in the painting as well. His ears were a bit down.

"Shire, are you o-"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, welcome to Ocean Point Shelter, generously ran by Lord Elliot!" a happy voice rang from what seemed to be coming from under the desk.

Unable to repress my curiosity, I rested my hands right on the desk and leaned forward. As I peered over, a woman was literally being elevated from the floor. I jerked my head back and in seconds she was at eye-level with the rest of us.

She was dark and beautiful, with eyes as big and solid as charcoal. She had very short curly hair and a colorful ocean tattoo sleeve so intricate I couldn't believe she sat through the pain to make it happen. Even though she had a small frame and short height, I couldn't help but feel intimidated by the sleeve. It was so intense. Yet when she spoke her voice rang like bells, though not in an annoying way.

I was kind of mesmerized.

A hand was suddenly on my back, and to my surprise it was Chester. Little Chester. He grinned at me and turned back to the lady.

"Good day! This is Armani. She's an ex-OP and has already met with the landlord," Chester said.

The woman beamed at me. How could someone's teeth be so white? "Armani? Gosh, what a name." She bent over and reached for something under the desk. Seconds later the receptionist (?) plopped a thin book in front of her, along with a pen that had a shell stuck to the end.

I watched her as she wrote my name in thick block letters across the page.

"Chester, any special accommodations for our new Pointer?" she asked without looking up. I swear she sounded like she was just constantly on the verge of laughing, though again, not in an annoying way.

Chester shook his head.

"And the roster?"

Chester shook his head. "Lord Elliot says he will handle that once his meeting is complete. Shouldn't be too long from now; you have my word."

I blinked and glanced over at Chester. He was as red as a tomato. I can see why he loved his job so much. Yikes.

"Well, we surely weren't expecting anyone new today, that's for sure," the lady replied. She sighed and closed her book. "But I'm so glad you found us, Armani. My name is Arugula." She stuck her hand out.

I quickly grasped it. As we shook, I could see that she was a lifter. Her arms were toned. The intimidation continued, even though her way of speaking was unbelievably welcoming. "Uh, like the salad?"

I cringed in my head. I meant that as a joke but I sounded so unsure of myself it just sounded like I was truly questioning the association of her name to a leafy green.

"Pardon?" she asked. She looked to Chester with deep concern for my mental health and that's when I realized they probably didn't have arugula here. Or maybe they did, but it wasn't called arugula. "Anyways, you can call me Aru, yes?" she chirped. Her confusion was completely short-lived. "I am the House Mother. If you ever, ever, ever need anything, I am your first line of defense."

I smiled. It was nice to hear that, though I knew that my true situation would be way more than she could ever imagine. You know, being on the run from a murderous lonely Queen.

Sorry.

"No, it's alright. I understand," Stephanie said quietly.

My words were true but in the end it was her sister I was trash-talking in my head, after all.

"You'll be in high-quality hands, Miss Armani!" Chester ensured me. He finally took his hand off of my back. "Aru will take it from here. I'm sure you will see me again to check in and make sure you are handling this change well!" He bowed his head.

"Thank you, Chester," I said.

Chester nodded and gave me and Aru a big smile before turning on his heels and marching towards the door. That was when I noticed Shire hadn't been behind me. He was sitting slumped on the bench, his hand cupping his forehead.

"Chester, who is this?" Aru asked. She opened up her book again. "Is this another ex-OP to check in? What a day-"

Aru stopped talking. Shire's ears perked up and he dropped his hand from hiding his face. A moment later the ears were drooping again. He looked to the floor. Have I ever seen him so ashamed? What was going on? Chester looked confused as well.

I looked at Aru, whose eyebrows were knitted together. She crossed her toned arms and tilted her head to the side.

"Cheshire Cat," she said. Her voice still sang, but it was a deeper tone.

Shire was rubbing his hand behind his head. "Ah, h-hey, Aru," he said, trying to seem thrilled to see her when everyone in the room knew he wasn't, and neither was she. "I didn't know you work at Diamond Park now." He coughed.

This was so awkward.

"H-how's the leg?"

"Oh dear…"

Arugula's eyes narrowed. She slammed the check-in book and dropped her hands to the side. She made her way around the desk, though the sound of her steps weren't matching each other.

Step. Thunk. Step. Thunk.

Once she cleared the table, my eyes widened. I didn't want to stare, but she wasn't making it easy. She pulled up her long black dress to reveal a thick wooden pole that was attached from the knee below.

"Still numb," she said before letting go of her skirt again.

I couldn't stop looking at the leg. It wasn't a well done prosthetic. It was just a sanded stick that was holding up her right side.

"Thanks to you."

My head snapped back to Shire, who was again hanging his head in shame.

What the hell did that cat do this time?