Chapter Four

True to her word Amistad helped her, because she wasn't allowed out of the room or within close proximity of her mother. Amistad had gone and gotten the papers of emancipation signed for her. It seemed that her mother hadn't put up a fight, as soon as Amistad had begun to explain what the papers were about she had stopped her and signed them without further explanation. It seemed that all Amistad had to do was mention her name and she would stop her and do as told. After all emancipating her was just as easy as believing that she was dead and didn't exist.

Her father had been another ordeal all together, he had been against it. Refused, counter argued her at every chance he got to interject, asked her how she was supposed to live and support herself. Told her that the world wasn't rose colored or nice to people like her. It had been an argument that she knew she was bound to face and she did it with style and grace, even if the truth hurt. After all, this wasn't just a pony that she was asking for and it was the only thing that she had ever asked him for. Amistad had help mediated between them because the argument got heated. She also promised to stay by Ursa's side, so as to ease his worry and frustration about the cruel world beyond Ursa's prison. After a month, she got the signature and acquired her freedom. Freedom, which was so hard earned from her father but easily given by her mother.

Ursa sighed as she finished packing her belongings, it wasn't much just her clothes and lap top. The rest she was leaving, after all she was no more a guest in a house that she was to call her home. Her brothers were out, so her mother shouldn't have to worry about them seeing her. Her father was at work, so he couldn't stop her and her grandmother was too old to try anything. Her mother wouldn't lift a finger, so she had no one to really stop her or to say good-bye too. Her lips slightly turned down, her eyes watered and her throat slightly tightened. This was it, she looked at the room covered with book shelves, mountain of books on the floor and single bed with a desk off to the right. A bitter sweet good-bye to a place that was her everything and at the same time nothing but a cell to keep her locked away and out of sight. 'Ursa,' Amistad walked into her room, 'are you ready?'

'As I'll ever be,' she told her with a small smile. 'I just have to put on my burqas.'

With her black gloved hands she reached down and grabbed the black burqas that would complete her look and cover her head and face. Leaving only a small grille area for her eyes. Her whole body was covered from head to toe, not leaving anything exposed for anyone to see and fear. Ursa sighed, women usually wore a burqas to hide their beauty but she had to wear it to hid her hideousness from the world. Once she found her own place she wouldn't have to wear it, only if necessary or she was going out. 'I am ready,' she said as she finished adjusting her clothes.

'Alright,' Amistad nodded.

Both woman turned to look at the room one last time, before Ursa grabbed her bag and without looking back walked out of her prison. Through Amistad room, where they stopped to grab Amistad bag and into the hallway to make their way down the stairs and into the bright sunshine filled day that announced her freedom. As they reached to stairs Ursa and Amistad came to a halt, Amistad nodded her head and greeted the pretty woman with dark brown hues, long dark brown hair that looked black and slightly tanned skin. 'Mrs. Veale good day.'

There was a slight nod to Amistad's greeting, but no response. Her attention fully on the dark clothed figure beside her, who appeared not to verbal acknowledge her. She took a step back as the figure stepped forward without hesitating and just continued to walk towards the stairs to take them without looking back at her and uttering a word. 'Excuse me,' Amistad told the pale faced woman that looked after her daughter.

At the foot of the stairs Ursa was greeted by an older woman in a wheel chair with peppered colored hair, kind dark brown hues and warm smile. Which baffled Ursa, 'You are the nightingale, are you not,' she asked her voice worn from the years that fell upon her.

Ursa didn't know how to answer or if she was supposed to answer, 'Mrs. Frost, hello, how are you doing today?'

'She is my nightingale, correct,' the woman didn't take into account Amistad's greeting or question and didn't even let her answer before she reached out and grabbed Ursa's free hand. 'You are her, late at night I would hear you singing when I couldn't sleep and wondered the halls. I always thought it was a recording that Amistad had, but only later did I realize that there was someone else in this house.'

Ursa sat her bag down, squatted before the woman and gently freed her hand from the woman's old and fragile hold. 'Thank you,' she finally spoke, 'but I am no nightingale and if you'll excuse me, I must be leaving.' She saw her lips begin to turn down into a frown and her face lose its merriment.

'If it's Lily that wishes you to leave, I can overrule her,' she looked up at her motionless daughter at the stop of the stairs with her face deathly pale.

'No, need. It is my wish,' she picked her bag up and got up. 'If you'll please excuse me,' she made to turn, but stopped, dropped her bag, turned back to the disappointed old woman and softly hugged her. 'Thank you.'

Amistad found a small smile forming on her lips as her grandmother reached up and hugged her granddaughter with a smile of her own. It was true, that the woman was once cold and bitter, hard and stern but over the years she had softened and becoming more caring, understanding and loving to her children and grandchildren. Maybe she could sense that Ursa was her blood and it called out to her. As fast as she hugged her, she also pulled back and said her farewell. Turned, picked up her bag, made her way to the door and opened it to once and for all claim her freedom and escape the prison that was home. 'Excuse me,' Amistad turned away from Ursa and to the elder woman, who watched her with curiosity, sadness and a bit of regret.

'So you'll leave with the child,' she asked. Amistad nodded, 'I would ask who she is, but I am afraid I might already know,' she looked up to her frozen daughter. 'I always knew that something was off, but I never paid it any mind. But I should have questioned your arrival back in this house and never have assumed such ill thoughts. Will you forgive me,' she asked the woman standing beside her.

'There is nothing to forgive,' Amistad told her.

'Please continue to take care of her,' Mrs. Frost requested.

'I will,' Amistad reassured her and bid her farewell as well, before running off to go and join Ursa.

'I thought you much better,' Mrs. Frost told her motionless daughter. 'Now I understand why you always hated anyone going near Amistad's room. You didn't want anyone to know your secret, so well hidden and confined within the walls of my own home.'

'Mother, I—-' she was silence by her mother as she lifted her hand up to stop her from speaking any further.

'I am sure you had your reason, but to go to such depths,' she shook her head and gestured for her maid to take her to the elevator so that she could go and see the room were the child once resided.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

'You know, we don't have to leave,' Amistad told her as she saw her stare back at the house one last time before getting into the cab.

'She was kind to me because I was her nightingale and didn't know of my appearance,' Ursa sadly replied. 'But I'll admit it was nice to see her in person, not from afar or through pictures.'

'But with time she and the rest of the family can get to know you…' her sentence died off as Ursa shook her head.

'It is best if I just leave,' she recalled the look of horror as her mother's face drained of color once she laid eyes on her. Her dread so vast that not even a word of acknowledgement was offered.

Amistad wanted to say more, but held her tongue in that regard, she knew that Ursa was troubled and debating with herself. She slipped in beside Ursa and closed the door behind her, 'So where do we go from here?'

'To a temporary home,' she answered as she turned to the driver and told him they were ready. 'To a nice and quiet place, when you see it you'll like it. Just don't fall in love with it. I'll soon find someplace nicer and more permanent.'

'Whatever you decide, I am sure that I'll be happy with either way,' Amistad told her.

'I am honored you trust me so,' Ursa smiled a bit.

'Silly girl, it's because I'll be with you,' Amistad wrapped an arm around Ursa's shoulder and pulled her into an embrace.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Terra knew that something was amiss, his parents had been acting very strange lately. His father, the worst of the two, recently seemed troubled and his visits to the west wing had been more frequent. He had asked them what was wrong, but they both refused to give him a solid answer. It was as if a ticking time bomb had been dropped on their laps and at any minute now it would burst. He had taken a half day off work, so that he was able to go and confront his mother before his father arrived. As he drove up to the house he noticed a cab out front, a person dressed all in black slipping inside followed by Amistad. The way the dark figure turned back and gazed up at the mansion made him curious. Did the figure in black have something to do with his parents sudden odd behavior?

As he got out of the car, he suddenly became more compelled to go and visit Amistad's room. She never left the mansion, even when all the staff was given the day off or his family went off on vacation. She stayed vigilant of her room as if she was hiding something more sinister than an affair with his father. It was common amongst the people in the house to assume that they were having an affair. Why else did his father pay nightly visits to her or order everyone to keep away from the west wing? Would he find answers or clues as so why her room was so guarded. This was his chance, she was gone, the time span was indefinite and unannounced, so he would go now before his opportunity was missed.

He rushed up to the room forbidden to him for over ten years, too long a time to keep up an affair in front of his family. No man would ever bring his lover before his children, let alone his spouse. He slowed down as he drew closer to it, suddenly becoming afraid at what he might find. His mother was standing before the door which was wide open, nervousness present at her slightly shifting stance and her hands which grasped and released each other before her chest. 'Mother,' he called out to her, for she hadn't heard him walking towards her. 'What are you doing here? What's going on?'

Wide dark brown hues turned to look up at him, face pale and worn, 'She's gone.'

'Who's gone,' he asked, but she just shook her head and turned to leave.

'I need to get some rest,' she told him as she went.

Was she upset that Amistad had left and gone or was it something else? He turned away from his retreating mother and turned to face the room that troubled her. It was a simple room with nothing out of the ordinary, a single bed, a table to sit and read or have tea, maybe a meal. He recalled that she was always bring food up to her room. There was really not decorations, nothing to say someone lived there for over ten years. Maybe she left something in her closet, he turned to the open door in the left side of the room thinking that it was the closet. Only to realize that no closet was big enough to have natural sunlight seeping in. The door didn't lead to a closet, but another room. A room that had been blocked from the outside and hidden from view. With trepidation he took a step towards the mysterious room, as he neared it he saw the faded pink painted walls that were covered with bookshelves that contained hundreds of books that ranged from classical literature, fiction, science and even law. They weren't just on the bookshelves, but all over the floor as if the occupant of the room loved and admired books with a passion or only had them to tell of the outside world. In the center of the room was a single-sized bed with a faded pink set of bedding and to the right a desk that was worn from years of use. His grandmother stood by the window looking out at the garden below, a frown on her face and a small black teddy bear on her lap. 'Grandma,' he called out to her from the doorway.

'Ah, Terra,' she turned her wheel chair so that she could greet her eldest grandson.

'Grandma, what is this,' he asked as he looked round the room, which upon closer inspection looked shabby, old and forgotten.

'A room that was kept from the outside world to be forgotten, so that we would never question the person that resided within these walls. That Amistad protected and allowed us to believe that she was your father's mistress for years.'

'Grandma what are you talking about,' Terra wondered if she was finally beginning to lose her mind, she was in her mid-seventies, it was a possibility. He drew close to the woman and kneeled down before her, 'Are you feeling well?'

'Of course,' she patted his hand that rested on her lap.

'But you're not making any sense, why would Amistad protect this room and who was kept here?'

'Someone that we believed to be dead,' she told him. 'Someone that is very important to your father and to the rest of you.'

She was making no sense, 'I don't understand. Why would the person that lived here be important to us?'

His grandmother gave him a soft smile as if she pitied him for not even remembering his own sister. Probably because he had been so young and never questioned it again, just accepted the fact that she had been stillborn. At least that was what they had claimed and told the whole family. 'Because the young woman that your father always came to visit wasn't Amistad, but his daughter. Your sister.'

The air rushed out of him as he stopped breathing, this couldn't be right. They had told him that his sister was dead. Not that they were concealing her and allowing them to believe that his father was having an affair right under their mother's nose. In fact, his mother never even bridged the topic about his father's visits and forbid them from going to the west wing. 'Why,' he finally asked her.

'Because they wished to protect her, she was born with some sort of defect that mutated her appearance. The didn't want her to be judged and suffer for her appearance. However, keeping her locked away with only one companion to keep her company was terrible. Worse, making us all believe she was dead.'

'Grand, did you ever?'

'No, I never ever caught a glimpse of her. Amistad made sure to keep everyone away and she made sure never to open the door when people were present. Her son never said anything either, I guess she trained him from a young age to keep her secret.' She stopped deep in thought for a moment, 'But sometimes when I couldn't sleep, I would hear the most wonderful voice coming from here singing a haunting yet beautiful melody.'

'She sang?'

'I always thought it was a recording, but later realized the voice was too clear and without instrumental music in the background. She was my nightingale on those long restless nights.'

'I never heard anything, I never knew…Where did she go? Why didn't she tell us? Why did she leave without saying anything?'

'I don't know, they didn't say, but your father might know.'

'But,' he got up, she was his little sister. He needed to see her, apologize for believing that she was dead and beg her to comeback. 'She shouldn't be out there alone.'

His grandmother looked up at him, 'Why are you worried about someone you've never met? Is it because of the money? I doubt she'll comeback asking for anything,' she sighed sadly at her last statement.

'No, I am worried because she's my sister.'

'She is but a stranger that carries your blood.'

'Grandma,' he cried out slowly beginning to lose his temper.

'Talk to you father, if you really want to know her he'll be able to help you,' she smiled up at him. 'I am glad that you care and want to get to know her. I am sure that with time she'll want to get to know you too.'

'Right,' his temper subsided as he realized that she was testing him. 'Before I leave, do you know her name?'

'Ursa,' she answered as she looked down at the little black teddy bear on her lap.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Dark blue hues stared at the envelope on top of his desk. It has arrived that afternoon address to him in elegant penmanship, which wasn't very common nowadays. Julian took a seat before his desk and just stared at it, wondering who would send him something personalized to the office. After careful consideration, he reached out and picked it up, carefully opening the envelope. He pulled out the letter and with it documents, he scanned through the documents and when he saw what they were opened the letter.

Father,

I want to begin by thank you for all that you have done for me. You gave me a home, food, and clothes, when you could have easily have gotten rid of me. You were even kind enough to come and visit me when all I did was ignore you and turn you away. It just proves that you are a good man and I apologize for the way that I treated you. It took me a long time to realize how much you cared about me and for that I am grateful.

Enclosed with in this envelope you'll find documents that contain my bank account, trust fund, and even a document that renounces the ability to receive anything in your will. I do not wish to take that which is not mine or anything from my brothers. If you were ever to pass and they to find out that you left money to a stranger it would be a shock.

By now you are wondering about my financial situation and starting to worry. Please be at ease, I've already started to generate my own source of income so I will not be a future bother. As for where I'll live it is to be determined, Amistad will stay by my side. Nevertheless, she has been instructed not to give you the location of our future accommodations. I will write to you periodically to inform you of my uneventful existence. I also promise to never reveal my origins, so you and the family can keep peace of mind.

I offer you my gratitude once again, for being a good man and father that was trying to protect his daughter from the cruelty the world has to offer. I hope that you watch over my brothers, grandmother and the rest of the family. Questions will probably arise, but I hope they will not be a burden to you or your wife.

Sincerely,

Ursa

Julian felt a tightening in his chest and he began to struggle breathing. The letter crumpled in his grip as he held in over his chest, trying to ease the pain. He reached out with his free hand to call for his secretary, but the door to his office slammed open and his eldest son storm inside. His angry features transforming and changing to that of worry when he saw his father. 'Dad,' he rushed to his father's aid. 'Walter, call an ambulance!' He shouted to his father's secretary.

'She…'

'Calm down, Dad. You have to try and control you breathing. Walter!'

'The ambulance is on the way,' his father's assistant rushed in to try and help.

'Dad, hey, Dad,' his father passed out.

As soon as the ambulance arrived, they rushed him to the hospital where everyone gathered. His little brother drove two hours from his university to be by his side. His Uncle, who had been taking care of his father told them the he would be fine. That he just had a panic attack and that his high blood pressure wasn't of any help to him. He would be released as soon as he woke up, but needed to be careful about any stressful situations.

'Ursa, Ursa,' his father called out softly in his sleep.

'Ursa,' Ventus, his youngest sibling asked about the mysterious name he kept calling out.

'It's a long story,' Terra told him and carefully watched his mother.

'What is she, Dad's lover or something, because even Mom's face has gone pale at the mention of the name,' he whispered. 'Wait, maybe he's dreaming about being chased by a bear, considering Ursa is the latin name for bear.'

'You're an idiot sometimes,' their cousin whispered. 'Can't you tell that he's calling it out with longing.'

Terra just shook his head, it seemed that it was best not to talk about his sister in front of his mother, 'Why don't we step out and let them have some quiet.'

'Fine, whatever,' Ventus got up and walked towards the door.

Terra sighed and told his mother that they would step out to go and get her something to eat and drink. His mother just nodded and gave him a grateful smile, but it was small and weary. He then turned to his beautiful cousin and was about to tell her that they should go but instead frowned. 'What's with the look?' She asked as she reached out for her flawless face to touch it, 'Do I have something on my face?'

'No,' he shook his head and slowly felt guilt set in. When he was told that his sister had died, he had looked towards Namine to fill in the space left behind. After all they were almost the same age and she was always there with them, so she became the perfect substitute.

She might not be as beautiful as Namine with her blonde hair, lightly tanned skin, blue electric hues and cheerful personality, but she would have been his own blood. He would have protected her from the injustice and criticism, just like he took care of Ventus when he was up to no good or Namine when she got in trouble. 'Hey,' she reached out and touched his forearm, 'why are you so serious? My Dad said that Uncle would be fine.'

Terra snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the small hand that tried to comfort him. 'Yeah, it's just I have other things on my mind.'

'Well, if you need anyone to talk to let me know. I am all ears. I can even offer you a shoulder,' she patted him and beamed at him reassuringly.

'Thanks,' he reached up and ruffled her gold locks. 'We should go find Ventus, who knows what trouble he could be up too.'

—-

A: This chapter concludes the first arc of the story. The second half will be the beginning of the main story, which means we'll see more of Riku and Ursa's interaction.

Am: I would like to see Ursa start to build more of a bond with her family.

U: I am just happy to finally be able to be free and out in the world. But how much longer do I have to wait for you to break the spell?

A: That's still a whiles away, plus I need to add more content.

U: I thought you were going to say for my knight in shinning armor to appear once again.

A: That too. He is coming, I promise. He might not appear in the next chapter, but he will appear. I know most reader come to read about Riku, but I usually write based off the female protagonists story. So please bare with me, Riku is coming.

U: Not all glorious, so don't get your hopes up. (Ursa mumbles.)

A: Hey, quit saying things that will turn readers away.

U: I am just pointing out a fact. (She grumbles.)

Am: With that, I want to thank the readers for joining us once more and hope to see you once again in the next chapter. Bye! (Amistad waves as she stand before Ursa and the Author, who are fighting and going after each other.)