Hello again! Thank you for all the follows and favorites! I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far and I hope you like this new chapter! Tell me your thoughts, I love reviews!

Chapter 6: Doubt

As Miranda closed the door to Amber's room, she couldn't stop thinking about how lucky she was to have daughters like Amber and Sofia. It amazed her how easily Sofia could sympathize with people, then forgive them without even a second thought. Another thing that struck her was the fact that, even though Sofia was so young, and seemingly unscarred by the world, she had her fair share of heartache. She grew up without a father for so long, and yet she never let it bring her down. Miranda hoped that Sofia would never lose that ability; it was a part of her that made her stand out from everyone else in the world. She hoped she could be more like Sofia in that respect.

She could also stand to be more like Amber as well; observing all that went on around her and relating it to the people who were there. She still couldn't believe that she deduced, essentially, the whole story of her relationship with Birk from the small bits of information she gleaned from eavesdropping in the throne room. That girl was clever, possibly too clever. If Miranda needed to keep a secret from her, she'd have to be careful what she said around her. As she continued walking, she thought about how tenderhearted Amber was, and though back to when she and Sofia first moved into the castle. Amber was cold and distant then; seeing how differently Amber treated both her and Sofia now touched her heart. They were family.

She went on to James' room and found that he had fallen asleep reading a book about constellations. She smiled, then gently took the book from his small hands and placed it quietly on his nightstand. She brushed back his hair from his forehead and kissed him gently. "Good night my prince." she whispered. She then turned off his bedside lamp and walked slowly out of the room, careful not to wake him.

When she got back to her room, Roland wasn't there yet. He was probably making his own rounds tucking their children in. Miranda undressed and got into a comfortable silk nightgown. After wearing her queen attire for the whole day—well almost the whole day—it was nice to finally be in something she could move freely in. It also helped that the fabric was so light and smooth, it felt like a breath of fresh air. She didn't think she'd ever get used to the feeling of the luxurious fabric; then again, she didn't necessarily want to. She never wanted to forget just how lucky she was, not just to be able to live in a castle like this one, but to be married to the kind and loving king, and to mother his children as if they were her own.

Miranda sat down at her vanity and took out the pins that were holding up her hair. She combed her fingers through her scalp to release the tension that came with having her hair up all day and let out a deep sigh of relief.

As she brushed her hair, she thought about the events of the day and was grateful for her new family. If not for Roland who patiently listened to her, James who showed her love, Sofia who understood her and forgave her, and Amber who—despite what people might think was very intelligent and perceptive—shared her concern. Each one of them was like a loving salve on a newly open wound.

Placing her brush back on her vanity, she looked in the mirror to see her husband leaning against the bedpost watching her. A slightly mischievous thought flashed across her mind.

"Why your Majesty," she gasped melodramatically, putting one hand on her chest, "I do believe I am indecent, perhaps you should leave and come back, so that I can be decently dressed."

Roland smirked playfully and raised an eyebrow. Taking two big steps, he closed the distance between them and pulled his wife into an amorous embrace. "You know what I think? I think that you are indecently dressed, but perhaps I could rectify that by simply removing your clothing now."

"Rollie!" Miranda gasped slapping him playfully on the chest.

"What? I thought that's where this was going!" Roland said confused, but laughing.

"Well, it was" Miranda said rolling her eyes, "but you could have been a little more subtle." she said coyly as she climbed into their bed.

Roland began to undress, "I'll try and remember that next time. Subtle is sexy." he said prolonging the 's' sounds.

Miranda tried to contain her laughter, but failed miserably.

Roland finished undressing and climbed in bed, scooting close to his wife. "You seem to be in a much better mood," he said giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"Well, I do have the perfect support system." She said proudly.

"I'm taking it the talk with Sofia went well?" He asked.

Miranda heaved a contented sigh, "It did. She was really mad at me first, but when I told her my reasons for not telling her about Birk, she understood. She wants to meet him, though."

"Isn't that what you wanted? You wanted her to make the decision all on her own, right?" Roland asked, propping himself up on his elbow.

"Well, yes… uh, I don't know. I'm just not one hundred percent sure I want her around him." She said staring at the ceiling of their canopy bed. There was a brief silence, and then Miranda propped herself up onto her elbow to face her husband. "How do you feel about Sofia seeing her birth father?" she asked.

Roland sighed and draped his free hand over Miranda's waist. "If I were Sofia, I'd want to at least meet my real father. That way, if it turned out badly, at least I could say that I met him."

"Really?" Miranda asked, unsure.

"Well, yes. Even though Sofia calls me 'Dad' and I call her my daughter, I'm still not her real Dad. Heck, I didn't expect her to actually call me 'dad,' ever, really. But I'm delighted that she does, and I'm sure she still will, even if she meets her real father and they have a good time together."

Miranda looked at him quizzically. "You're really all right with this?"

"Like I said before, Miranda; if anything happens and we think that Birk is a threat to Sofia, then we'll stop letting him near her." Roland grabbed his wife's hand. "I know this is a lot harder for you than it is for me, but we at least need to give him a chance to prove himself, don't you think? Nine years is a long time, and people can change."

Miranda held Roland's hand tighter and gave him a small smile, "Sofia said something just like that."

"Great minds do think alike," Roland smirked. Miranda smiled more widely, kissed him and then remembered Amber.

"Speaking of great minds, I had a very enlightening conversation with Amber when I was tucking her in tonight." She said twining her fingers with his.

"Really? What happened?"

"She saw what happened in the throne room this morning." Miranda said slowly.

"Oh," said Roland. "That's um, unexpected."

"Well, she didn't see all of it," Miranda started, "But she did overhear some things. She said she heard me yell, and then she heard Birk say that he—and I'll quote Amber because she put it very articulately—because he wanted to, 'make amends for some transgression he committed against the princess and the queen.' What ten-year-old speaks like that? I barely speak like that in normal conversations; throne room discussions, yes, but not regular conversations."

Roland laughed heartily. "Amber does have a way with words. It's one of the many things she prides herself in." He quieted down after a second and turned his attention back to his wife. "I get the feeling that Amber's vocabulary was not the only thing you wanted to tell me about."

Miranda laughed, "You're almost as perceptive as Amber." The king raised an eyebrow. She smiled, then explained, "see, even though those were the only things she overheard from the conversation, she figured out all by herself that Birk was Sofia's birth father."

Roland looked surprised, thought for a second and then nodded. "Wow."

"Right?" There was a brief silence, then Miranda sighed thoughtfully, "She was extremely concerned about Sofia meeting him because she thought he had hurt her in the past. I told her that I left Birk before Sofia was born because I thought he'd be dangerous to her, but I also told her that he says he's changed and we have to give him a chance, even if it's not the most comfortable thing to do."

"How'd she take it?"

"She freaked out at first, but I think she and I are on the same page. Neither of us is particularly comfortable with him being around, especially with Sofia. We're going to give him a chance, but that doesn't mean we'll let our guard down."

"All three of us are on the same page then." Roland smiled and hugged his wife close to him as he lay down. Miranda relaxed and laid her head on his chest, albeit still deeply troubled by the thought of Birk spending time with her daughter.

"I just can't shake the feeling that something terrible is going to happen." Said Miranda.

Roland was quiet for a second and then said, "Honestly Miranda, it could just be from what he did to you, or it could mean that there really is something we should be concerned about. Either way, Sofia already decided to meet him and it wouldn't be right of us to keep her from her real father."

Miranda resisted the urge to growl in frustration and instead, clenched her jaw and sat up on her arm so she was looking down at Roland. "But what if, by letting her see him, we put her in danger when we know it's a possibility?" Miranda was getting irritated. It seemed like Roland was completely unbothered by the return of her untrustworthy ex-husband; not only that, it felt a little like he was defending him instead of standing with her against the threat.

Roland sighed deeply. "I'm not saying that that's not a concern of mine as well. There are dangerous situations that happen daily, but does that mean we lock our children up and don't let them see the outside world? Now, before you yell at me, cause I can see it in your face, let me tell you this again." Roland sat up and looked her in the eye. Miranda had to clench her jaw to keep herself from saying something she'd regret. Roland had listened to her earlier, now it was her turn to listen.

"I am just as concerned about Sofia getting hurt as you are. But, I know that I'm not her father and I'm doing my best to be supportive of her decision to meet him. You think I don't have a faint feeling of dread letting this stranger, whom I know to have violent tendencies, around my daughter? But we're going to be there with her. We're not going to let him whisk her away to some unknown land. We're going to try and do what's best for our daughter, and right now that's letting her meet her real father. If we take that away from her now, then she might resent us for it and run away to find him; and that's a much higher price to pay than letting her see him now and letting her see for herself what kind of man he is. That way, if he is bad, she'll be able to see it and won't blame us for taking her father away from her."

Miranda softened her face and breathed deeply. "You're right Rollie." She said. "Sorry I got so worked up."

Roland smiled at her and put his thumb on her chin. "It's all right, my love. You were just trying to be a good mother," he said softly, and then kissed her.

As Roland lay back down, Miranda followed suit, laying her head back down on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. She was comforted by the steady rhythm and the knowledge that her husband was on her side. She was just going to have to stay strong and trust that she and her husband were doing what was right for their daughter. Although, there was still that nagging feeling in the back of her mind, that faint sense of dread Roland was talking about. Miranda told herself to calm down and that it was only because of how Birk had broken her heart and made her fear for her life. She tried to quiet her mind and listened to the steady beat of Roland's heart. Slowly but surly she drifted off into the darkness of sleep.

The silent darkness swirled like huge ocean waves crashing down and churning up thick, black sand. The sand mixed with the water and turned into hot tar, which soaked up all the dark water and sand until there was nothing but hot, suffocating tar swirling in circles faster and faster. It seemed impossible how fast the tar moved until everything froze. Ice crept along the tar, which cracked as it hardened, and the ice shown through the tar, letting small bits of light show through as the ice continued to pry open the cracks until only ice was left. Suddenly, salt rained down and broke the ice. The salty wind rushed all around, swirling viciously up and down until it crashed onto the ground and made a deep crater in the earth. Lava erupted from the hole and covered the ground with black soot, which brought forth tiny blooming flowers when it kissed the scarred desert. Soon two thick-stalked, tall, white flowers bloomed with five smaller ones surrounding it. The flowers swayed gently in the calm, salt wind for a long moment until a bird began singing.

Miranda awoke slowly. She turned on her back, laid a hand on her forehead and glanced around her, feeling slightly dubious. What a strange dream, though it was already fading from her memory.

Miranda arched her back and brought her arms up to her head, stretching thoroughly. She turned to her right and saw that her husband had already gotten out of bed. She rubbed her face and then sat up. Today, she would have to face Birk again. She sighed deeply at the thought. It was going to happen whether she liked it or not so decided to try not to work herself up over it. Having made her decision, Miranda got out of bed and began to prepare herself for the day.

So, I would like to know what you guys think about Birk. What do you think is going to happen? I have a pretty solid idea of what is going to happen, but I'd love to hear some of what you guys think. Either leave it in a review or private message me, I'd love to hear from you!

~Jacque