Mending Trust

By Laura Schiller

Based on: Elena of Avalor

Copyright: Disney

/

Elena tiptoed through the palace corridors like a burglar, peering around corners and keeping out of the servants' sight. Flying away in jaquin form had been exhilarating, but now it was over, her stomach churned with an uneasy mix of guilt and defiance. If the council found out she'd disobeyed them, they'd never let her go anywhere unguarded again. She hated to worry them, but at the same time, she knew in her bones that going after Shuriki personally was the right thing to do.

This conviction didn't help much, however, when she saw her youngest councilor leaning with folded arms against the wall beside her bedroom door.

"Uh … hi, Naomi."

"About time," the other girl said flatly. "I've been covering for you all morning. I even distracted Esteban by letting him talk about economics. I learned a lot, but I still kind of want to punch him."

"I'm sorry, but – "

"You should be. We're worried about you. Now, are you gonna tell me where you and Gabe and Mateo went today, or do I have to call a council meeting?"

Elena opened her door, waved Naomi inside, and prayed silently that their friendship would survive the fight about to happen.

/

It was as bad as she had feared. By the time she'd told the whole story about Mateo's shapeshifting potion, their impulsive decision to join Chief Zephyr's scouts in the search for Shuriki, Gabe's well-meant interference, the jaquins' political disputes and the hidden clue they'd found to the first piece of the Scepter of Night, Naomi was not only angry, but hurt.

"You guys did all this … without me?"

Sitting at Elena's vanity table with the chair turned sideways, her plain skirt and blouse reflected in the mirror, she looked absurdly out of place. Elena, curled up defensively on her canopy bed, felt the distance to be much wider than the few steps it really was.

"There wasn't time," Elena tried to argue. "We had to get out of the palace quickly before anyone saw us."

"You couldn't take five minutes to ask me if I wanted to come?"

"Would you have said yes?"

"No! … I don't know, maybe?" Naomi raked her hands through her hair in frustration. "Shapeshifting scares me, but so does getting left behind."

"Left behind?" Elena snapped. "You're the one who voted against me!"

There. It was out. She regretted her words immediately, but it was too late. Naomi wasn't the only one who'd been bottling up her anger since that morning's council meeting. For Elena, to whom restraint had never come naturally, it was like keeping a lid on a monfuego about to erupt.

"I voted to keep you safe!" Naomi pounded the vanity table for emphasis, causing the cosmetic jars to rattle. "How is that voting against you?"

"I spent forty years being kept safe and I'm sick of it! No one in this kingdom will be truly safe until Shuriki is gone." Elena squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back memories of the horrible green smoke that accompanied the sorceress's killing curse, and of her parents' frightened faces before they died. Cold sweat broke out along her spine. "You're not Avaloran. You wouldn't understand."

"You told me once I was Avaloran at heart." Naomi's cold, quiet voice cut through the green haze more efficiently than a scream. "But you're right, I don't understand. Your definition of trust in this country makes no sense to me whatsoever."

She pushed back her chair and walked away, her boots tapping sharply on the polished floor. Elena didn't look up.

The boots slowed, then paused.

The last time Naomi had walked out on an argument and Elena hadn't called her back, it had been about Carla Delgado, alias Rita. If Elena had only trusted her friend's instincts back then, Shuriki would still be in hiding, instead of chasing after one of the most powerful weapons known to exist. Was Naomi thinking the same thing?

"Wait!" Elena jumped off the bed and ran across the room. "Please - don't go. I'm really sorry."

She caught Naomi by the shoulder and spun her around, determined to discuss this eye to eye, even when she saw that her friend's blue eyes were filled with tears.

"You're right, I should have trusted you," Elena went on. "I know I promised to do that after everything with Carla, but I didn't."

"I know … " Naomi sniffed. "I know I've never been through anything like what you have, but I can imagine. I know how much you want revenge, but that doesn't mean you have to stop Shuriki all by yourself."

"Doesn't it?" Elena retorted. She could feel the green haze rising, but this time she held it back, looking squarely into her friend's face instead and keeping a tight grip on her shoulder. "You think I'm only doing this for revenge?"

"Aren't you?"

"I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a part of it," she confessed. "But believe it or not, I'm also being realistic. You know the Royal Guards are no match for her. It takes magic to fight magic, and Mateo and I are the only ones who can do that."

"I think you're underestimating Gabe," Naomi retorted, hands on hips, but at least she was no longer crying. "And you're still not listening to me. You don't have to stop Shuriki by yourself."

"You mean … ?"

"Think about what you've got that she doesn't," the councilor went on, in full strategy mode the way she got when planning an olaball match, but with a deadly serious look on her face. "Who does she have on her side, two thieves and a malvago? We've got to be a better team than that. They'll all be after their own self-interest, but we need to work together. You've got all four of us, and the entire kingdom besides."

She couldn't believe she'd forgotten that. The worst part of Shuriki's return was what it had done to Elena's mind, warping her worldview and twisting her reasoning. For weeks, she'd felt alone with her hatred, like Shuriki was her own personal demon and no one else's, but that wasn't true. Mateo had lost a father and grandfather to the sorceress. Gabe had grown up under her rule. Even Naomi, the immigrant, had a stake in this as their friend and a member of the council. Of course they wanted to fight alongside her.

"So … you're not going to report me to the council?" Elena asked, hoping this meant she was forgiven.

"Maybe I should, but ... no."

"And you'll come with us when we look for the Scepter of Night?"

"Of course. You've got a point about magic fighting magic, but a little common sense never hurts." Naomi smiled wryly, knowing as well as Elena did that common sense wasn't always the princess' strong point.

Elena smiled back and held out her hands. "Friends?"

Naomi's only answers were a sob, a laugh, and a ferocious hug. By the time she let go, Elena was out of breath and her hair ornament was crooked, but her mind had never been clearer.