Chapter Three ~ The People of Frell
It was near three in the afternoon when we reached the capital city of Kyrria. I looked out the window and saw streets full of people below me, pedestrians surrounding all sides of the carriage carrying baskets on their way to the market. The slanting sunlight peeked between the sides of the towering buildings that must've been three stories high at least. The city bathed in the orange warmth, and I saw children eating ice cream and mothers wrestling their tots into control. Merchants were on every street, selling food, spices, jewels, beads, and trinkets that didn't actually do anything but tempt the children.
I looked upon all this in wonder, and although I wanted to see Sharn, I felt like I wasn't ready to meet her just yet. To look at the state of my wrinkled clothes and sleepy face would convince anyone that I was someone other than the Queen's old friend. And I felt that I was in no mood to meet up with royalty at this hour.
So I told the driver to stop. I opened the window and stuck my head out, calling for the driver's attention. After he reined over on the side of the road, I got out and walked over. I met him halfway there, and I realized he was going to open the door for me. That's the second time! But I covered it up like it was nothing.
"Um...would it be alright if you dropped me off here? If it's okay with you that is..."
The driver shrugged. "Wouldn't the Queen want to know where you are?"
"Tell her I'm walking the rest of the way. I want to see the city." The driver turned around, but I stopped him. "Oh, and could you please tell me how to get to the castle from here?"
He said, "Oh, the castle is still quite far away. Sixteen more blocks, and even then there are so many turns you take. Maybe it should be better if I pick you up in half an hour?"
"Mm..." I thought. "Alright. So we meet back here in thirty minutes?"
The driver confirmed it.
"Okay." I reached into my pocket, drawing out a silver KE. "And here's your tip. For the ride."
"No," he withdrew. "I cannot accept."
So we left it at that. He cracked the whip and was gone to do some rounds across the city while I discovered, to my bubbling delight, the free urban lifestyle. I wandered the street, going up and down as far as I dared. I passed merchants selling a variety of items, each stall unlike the next. I passed a stall selling manuscripts and books while the neighboring stall sold "enchanted" frogs. I was entranced with the unique and diverse personalities. The drunken men that passed me as they headed home from the bar, the couples strolling together in the streets, the horses carrying riders young and old, the cooks wandering from food stall to food stall, competing for the ripest ingredient. I wondered at it all when something caught my eye.
In a side street off to my left were more stalls, but there was one I saw carrying fairy-made trinkets. I walked on over and once there, found that not only were there fairy rugs and fairy teapots and fairy bugs, but there were also sculptures crafted by the legendary elven craftsman Agulen's students. I stared at them for a long time, and was saddened to find they were more than I could afford. Tearing myself away from s sprite resting on a dew-laden mushroom, I turned and saw something else.
I hurried on over to the next street to find trinkets, dishes, and sculptures of angels. I am absolutely fascinated by the beauty of angels, even though belief in them has dwindled in some parts and considered mythological. But I love them none the less, and I absorbed myself with this stall even more than the other one. Then, leaving the stall, I hurried on over to the next one that caught my eye, and the next, until finally I was so tangled up within the city's streets that I ended up far away from my original starting point. I found myself in what looked to be a residential area, with flowers blooming on the old building windows. A block away lay the banks of a glistening turquoise river. Maybe this was the River Lucarno? I had no way to tell, but I did know I was hopelessly lost. By the look of the sky, it was around four already; the sun was steadily sliding towards the edge of the horizon and starting to smear the edge of the world with multiple colors. If I didn't find the palace before dark, who knows where I'd be?
Walking down a lonely lane, I noticed two guys watching me. It's four in the afternoon and there's already creeps hanging out in the street? I must get used to city life. I hurried along and desperately looked around for a person friendly enough to give directions. But evidently I had reached the part of the city where there were few people. Highly dangerous area in my opinion, with no other people to serve as witnesses to help drive away angry mob-men. How funny, that thought. Angry mob-men targeting foreign tourists...
A voice came up behind me. "Hello, miss."
I pivoted around. The two creeps had followed me. This situation is not looking good.
"Uh..." I said tactically.
"Where are you going?" one asked. "We'll take you wherever you want to go."
"Uh...no thanks..." I began to back uncertainly away.
But one of the men tackled me to the ground before I could get away. I screamed. I screamed like never in my life before. But nobody came. A burlap bag was brought out and the man held me up so the other could swat it down my head. But I struggled. And I squirmed and wriggled, determined that if I had to go, I would go while making their lives as difficult as possible. It was impossible to get the bag over me as I curled into a ball and kicked out again, and I began to shriek once again.
"HELP!" I bellowed. "SOMEBODY HEEEELLLP!!"
The man holding me put up his hand on my mouth, to try to stifle my scream. I screamed harder, but when that didn't work very well, I curled back my lips viciously and sunk my teeth into man flesh. He yelped in pain and let me go to bend over his injured hand, which, when I turned around to look back, was bleeding.
"You little bitch! If you come without a struggle then Queen Janelle won't get hurt!"
I stopped, in horror. How could they know about my ties with the Queen? I was frozen, undecided on what to do, like a deer when it looks at the hunting lion, paralyzed. The crouched man straightened up to glare at me. I involuntarily stepped back, and I looked at the man holding the burlap sack. He raised it and slowly walked towards me, as if trying to catch a butterfly in a net, afraid to startle it off.
But they were startled off when they heard the noisy sound of galloping hoof beats echoing multiple times over against the old buildings. They looked at each other and understood that the rider had heard my plea for help and was rushing to the scene. The men slipped away into the unseen shadows between the cracks of the buildings and I was left alone, in shock of what had happened. Nothing like this had ever happened in my life. I began to picture Frell in a new light.
The rider had arrived, but I didn't look up. Only at the River Lucarno passing by in a slow but steady stream, with the boats floating up and down it, so close and yet so far to be able to see me on the bank.
"Are you alright?" said the rider softly. Then, "Are you hurt?"
I heard the rider dismount and the heels of the riding boots clapping on the stone-paved road. The boots uncertainly walked towards me, but all I could think of, while watching the boots, was the sheer uniform feel of it.
"I'm okay," I answered. I looked up. "Thank-" There before my eyes, was the most handsome man I had seen in my life. "-you," I belatedly finished. His wispy blond hair fell well past his shoulders and his eyes were the palest blue I had ever seen. They were like a cloudless sky on a winter day, so crisp and faultless. He wore a uniform of some sort, but of what I could not tell.
The man smiled. "Glad to help. Lately there have been some itchy people around..." he looked at me. "They target tourists. Allow me to escort you to your destination. Where are you going?"
They target tourists, my ass. They knew who I was. Something wasn't right here. At all. But I may as well take up the kind offer from such a lovely gentlemen. He seemed so unlike those ragged kidnappers that I knew I could trust him.
The blond-haired man looked me over again. "Wait," he said, "aren't you the Queen's friend from Ayortha?"
"What?" I was so startled. How did the people of Frell know me on sight already? Had there been posters of me sticking up everywhere? I hadn't seen one. My obvious confusion led for the other man to chuckle.
"Ah! I apologize. I have forgotten my manners. I am Arthur. Arthur of the Palace Guard." He caught my hand and bowed over it, kissing it courteously. I could have died.
"Ah...I am Marika of Areeb..."
"Yes, Queen Janelle has informed me so. Well, I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Marika of Areeb. And on behalf of the Kyrrian court, welcome to Frell."
"Thank you," I said.
"I see that you have not arrived in the palace by the carriage. Why is this?"
I quickly explained my situation to him.
After hearing my story, which I had secretly spruced up a bit with more drama, he smiled sympathetically at me. "Oh, I see. Then I guess I must take you back to the palace myself."
Yes!
"Here, let me have your hand." I reached up to him and he pulled me up from the ground. For a moment I savored his being close to me - my heart beat faster than a race horse. Then he led me to his horse and lifted me up on it. I sat in the saddle while Arthur mounted up behind me and I was close to him once more - a bit too close, as his body was pressed up against mine to grasp the reins.
We rode up to the palace in this fashion, with Arthur's arm securing me in the saddle so that I didn't topple over with each step of the trot. It wasn't very comfortable when you ride two people in a saddle, since you are bouncing all over the place and each time you land hard on the saddle only to be rebounded upwards again.
After nearly ten minutes of riding, I began to see the palace turrets peaking over the rooftops and an occasional glimpse of a sliver of the castle between the cracks of buildings. I strained to see them, and my squirming made Arthur uncomfortable and he requested me to stop. So I hung there like a limp rag doll, uncertain of what to do with my limbs other then to squeeze my legs around the horse and pray that I didn't fall off.
Finally, we turned a corner and the palace and its gardens spread out before us. Here, all other buildings ended and the road continued on, only this time it was paved with white marble stones and ran through the lawns and gardens and ended right up to the front palace doors. The castle was enormous. Rounded white turret after turret piled up on one another, and yet they retained the sense of balance and design. Up on the burgundy roofs alone, there seemed to be a city sprouting on top of its red shingles. Magnificent spires stretched out like fingers appealing to heaven, running through the clouds. And windows dotted the palace everywhere, glistening dewdrops in the sunlight.
Arthur halted his horse to let me breathe in the beauty of the castle. It was like nothing I had ever dreamed in my life. Just like a castle from a fairy tale, its architecture astounded me. I sneaked a peek back at Arthur, and he was also in a daydream of his own, gazing at the structure before him, like remembering an old home. He saw me looking at him, and he smiled a bit.
"Welcome," he announced, "to Sharelle Palace."
He urged the horse forward, and we began our ride into the castle grounds. We moved as if in a dream. We passed gardeners and court officials; all knew Arthur, and they saluted him as he went by. There were different gardens of all sorts: some were small, others were big enough to include large fish ponds and exotic bird cages. There were rose gardens, water gardens, peach gardens, rock gardens. There were magical creature exhibits ranging from centaurs to ogres, to talking parrots and dancing monkeys. Once I thought I saw a unicorn peak between two jasmine bushes and I turned in my seat to look. But Arthur was still behind me, so all that I could see was over his shoulder, and by that time it had gone, and he pushed me back down again.
Finally Arthur reined in the horse in front of the giant red oak doors and swung down. He spread his arms toward me and helped me down, too, and once again I felt the tension of the close proximity between us. Then he handed the reins to a stable groom who had come rushing our way and led the way towards the doors.
They were HUGE. I mean, the doors. I craned my neck to look up at them and I almost fell down, so dizzying were their heights. Arthur strode up and knocked, making a hollow, booming sound. I stood a little ways behind him and waited, nervous about meeting Queen Janelle. Nervous about my state, which was worse than ever before. I fidgeted a bit but stopped when there came a cranking kind of sound as the doors were pushed open from the other side. As we walked through, I looked up again to see a sort of mechanism on top that would assist the pusher when opening. And as I turned my gaze downwards, I once again was blown away by the pure elegance of the interior design.
I was standing on polished marble floors that were so clear they reflected yourself like mirrors would. A grand staircase curved down to meet the foyer; its banisters polished to a slippery gleam of mahogany. I pulled my head back and stared at the intricate, illuminated chandelier hanging several stories up, yet large enough to fill two floors. And on the ceiling past it were murals of winged beings and paintings of great mystical hunts. I spun around on my feet, gaping at everything in sight until Arthur interrupted.
"I must leave you now. The adjutant will escort you to the Queen's chamber." He gestured to an older man waiting near the stairs. He looked a bit more stern than the other palace personnel I had met so far. I turned pleadingly to Arthur. "It has been nice to meet you," he said as a farewell. As my death parting. But he once again bent over my hand and kissed it, so I was more than willing to forgive him this time.
But once he had gone, I was alone again except for two door guards and the adjutant.
"The Queen has been waiting," he said stiffly. "This way, please."
He led me up the stairs and I trailed behind. He walked so fast! After three flights which left me winded, he walked briskly down a corridor. I struggled to keep pace, but the man seemed determined to keep ahead. I barely had time anymore to notice how the columns lined the sides of the hall or the murals on the arched ceiling or the paintings and tapestries and suits of armor decorating what space there was. I barely had time to keep track of where we were going, so I could find my way back in the end. We went through a long corridor, up a flight of narrow stairs on the side, left in a hallway full of doors, right, then another right, until I got too tired trying to keep up to follow.
I leaned against a wall for a second and breathed hard. I was never going to own a big house.
When I looked up again, the hallway was empty. My heart began to pound hard. Oh no! What if I had lost the adjutant?! I scrambled towards a corner and peered around it, but that hallway was deserted, too. Ack! I was lost!
I ran back and forth, uncertainly. If someone would have seen me now, they would think I was an idiot. But if someone would have seen me, I would have seen them, and I could ask for directions.
Then, as I passed a door I heard voices on the other side. I stopped and listened closer. If I could ask knock and ask for directions, then I could get out of the mess that I was in now. But first I must listen to see if their conversation was important, or shouldn't be interrupted. How embarrassing if I was to walk in on something like a proposal! But as I listened, it seemed less and less like a proposal. And the more I listened, the more nervous I was on knocking, because I had become frozen at what I was hearing.
"So when do we start?"
"We've collected all the weapons. The sooner we do this, the better."
"I understand. Now we just wait for a good chance."
"Good," said the second voice, which had become louder, closer. "Then I will -"
The door swung as it was pushed from the other side, and I was caught with it on my head. "Ow!" I cried.
"Who's there?!" said the voice, and a head appeared from around the door to see who he had hit.
My head was screaming in hard pain, but I managed to look up with squinted determination. What I saw in front of me threw me back. His face was young - almost as old as I was and yet he possessed the air of a grown man in charge. His features expressed surprise - his startled eyes, the gaping mouth. He had slightly long, black hair, which was like that only because it looked as if it hadn't been cut for a while. But the thing that surprised me most was the guard's uniform he wore. This was probably the reason why he looked so commanding to begin with. Then his face softened so the traces of a smile could be seen forming near the corner of his lips.
"Marika of Areeb?"
I stared at him. "Y-yes. I lost the adjutant. Could you please tell me where the Queen's room is?"
The boy raised a finger, pointing off in a direction behind me. His hand looked surprisingly large for his body.
"Turn left, take the stairs, and her room is around the corner."
"Thank you!"
He smiled. "No problem! Take care."
I returned his smile and ran off to follow his directions before I forgot them. I didn't know, but that boy was...well...I can't explain it. Maybe we just hit it off right from the start, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Then I stopped, bewildered.
"Wait," I asked myself. "How did he know my name?"
=+++=
"Grey, do you think she overheard us?"
The black-haired boy turned from the door as it shut with a click. "Not likely! Even if she did, she wouldn't understand."
He thought quietly to himself. 'But she got to the palace safely, which means...' he looked to the other guard, 'they failed...'
It was near three in the afternoon when we reached the capital city of Kyrria. I looked out the window and saw streets full of people below me, pedestrians surrounding all sides of the carriage carrying baskets on their way to the market. The slanting sunlight peeked between the sides of the towering buildings that must've been three stories high at least. The city bathed in the orange warmth, and I saw children eating ice cream and mothers wrestling their tots into control. Merchants were on every street, selling food, spices, jewels, beads, and trinkets that didn't actually do anything but tempt the children.
I looked upon all this in wonder, and although I wanted to see Sharn, I felt like I wasn't ready to meet her just yet. To look at the state of my wrinkled clothes and sleepy face would convince anyone that I was someone other than the Queen's old friend. And I felt that I was in no mood to meet up with royalty at this hour.
So I told the driver to stop. I opened the window and stuck my head out, calling for the driver's attention. After he reined over on the side of the road, I got out and walked over. I met him halfway there, and I realized he was going to open the door for me. That's the second time! But I covered it up like it was nothing.
"Um...would it be alright if you dropped me off here? If it's okay with you that is..."
The driver shrugged. "Wouldn't the Queen want to know where you are?"
"Tell her I'm walking the rest of the way. I want to see the city." The driver turned around, but I stopped him. "Oh, and could you please tell me how to get to the castle from here?"
He said, "Oh, the castle is still quite far away. Sixteen more blocks, and even then there are so many turns you take. Maybe it should be better if I pick you up in half an hour?"
"Mm..." I thought. "Alright. So we meet back here in thirty minutes?"
The driver confirmed it.
"Okay." I reached into my pocket, drawing out a silver KE. "And here's your tip. For the ride."
"No," he withdrew. "I cannot accept."
So we left it at that. He cracked the whip and was gone to do some rounds across the city while I discovered, to my bubbling delight, the free urban lifestyle. I wandered the street, going up and down as far as I dared. I passed merchants selling a variety of items, each stall unlike the next. I passed a stall selling manuscripts and books while the neighboring stall sold "enchanted" frogs. I was entranced with the unique and diverse personalities. The drunken men that passed me as they headed home from the bar, the couples strolling together in the streets, the horses carrying riders young and old, the cooks wandering from food stall to food stall, competing for the ripest ingredient. I wondered at it all when something caught my eye.
In a side street off to my left were more stalls, but there was one I saw carrying fairy-made trinkets. I walked on over and once there, found that not only were there fairy rugs and fairy teapots and fairy bugs, but there were also sculptures crafted by the legendary elven craftsman Agulen's students. I stared at them for a long time, and was saddened to find they were more than I could afford. Tearing myself away from s sprite resting on a dew-laden mushroom, I turned and saw something else.
I hurried on over to the next street to find trinkets, dishes, and sculptures of angels. I am absolutely fascinated by the beauty of angels, even though belief in them has dwindled in some parts and considered mythological. But I love them none the less, and I absorbed myself with this stall even more than the other one. Then, leaving the stall, I hurried on over to the next one that caught my eye, and the next, until finally I was so tangled up within the city's streets that I ended up far away from my original starting point. I found myself in what looked to be a residential area, with flowers blooming on the old building windows. A block away lay the banks of a glistening turquoise river. Maybe this was the River Lucarno? I had no way to tell, but I did know I was hopelessly lost. By the look of the sky, it was around four already; the sun was steadily sliding towards the edge of the horizon and starting to smear the edge of the world with multiple colors. If I didn't find the palace before dark, who knows where I'd be?
Walking down a lonely lane, I noticed two guys watching me. It's four in the afternoon and there's already creeps hanging out in the street? I must get used to city life. I hurried along and desperately looked around for a person friendly enough to give directions. But evidently I had reached the part of the city where there were few people. Highly dangerous area in my opinion, with no other people to serve as witnesses to help drive away angry mob-men. How funny, that thought. Angry mob-men targeting foreign tourists...
A voice came up behind me. "Hello, miss."
I pivoted around. The two creeps had followed me. This situation is not looking good.
"Uh..." I said tactically.
"Where are you going?" one asked. "We'll take you wherever you want to go."
"Uh...no thanks..." I began to back uncertainly away.
But one of the men tackled me to the ground before I could get away. I screamed. I screamed like never in my life before. But nobody came. A burlap bag was brought out and the man held me up so the other could swat it down my head. But I struggled. And I squirmed and wriggled, determined that if I had to go, I would go while making their lives as difficult as possible. It was impossible to get the bag over me as I curled into a ball and kicked out again, and I began to shriek once again.
"HELP!" I bellowed. "SOMEBODY HEEEELLLP!!"
The man holding me put up his hand on my mouth, to try to stifle my scream. I screamed harder, but when that didn't work very well, I curled back my lips viciously and sunk my teeth into man flesh. He yelped in pain and let me go to bend over his injured hand, which, when I turned around to look back, was bleeding.
"You little bitch! If you come without a struggle then Queen Janelle won't get hurt!"
I stopped, in horror. How could they know about my ties with the Queen? I was frozen, undecided on what to do, like a deer when it looks at the hunting lion, paralyzed. The crouched man straightened up to glare at me. I involuntarily stepped back, and I looked at the man holding the burlap sack. He raised it and slowly walked towards me, as if trying to catch a butterfly in a net, afraid to startle it off.
But they were startled off when they heard the noisy sound of galloping hoof beats echoing multiple times over against the old buildings. They looked at each other and understood that the rider had heard my plea for help and was rushing to the scene. The men slipped away into the unseen shadows between the cracks of the buildings and I was left alone, in shock of what had happened. Nothing like this had ever happened in my life. I began to picture Frell in a new light.
The rider had arrived, but I didn't look up. Only at the River Lucarno passing by in a slow but steady stream, with the boats floating up and down it, so close and yet so far to be able to see me on the bank.
"Are you alright?" said the rider softly. Then, "Are you hurt?"
I heard the rider dismount and the heels of the riding boots clapping on the stone-paved road. The boots uncertainly walked towards me, but all I could think of, while watching the boots, was the sheer uniform feel of it.
"I'm okay," I answered. I looked up. "Thank-" There before my eyes, was the most handsome man I had seen in my life. "-you," I belatedly finished. His wispy blond hair fell well past his shoulders and his eyes were the palest blue I had ever seen. They were like a cloudless sky on a winter day, so crisp and faultless. He wore a uniform of some sort, but of what I could not tell.
The man smiled. "Glad to help. Lately there have been some itchy people around..." he looked at me. "They target tourists. Allow me to escort you to your destination. Where are you going?"
They target tourists, my ass. They knew who I was. Something wasn't right here. At all. But I may as well take up the kind offer from such a lovely gentlemen. He seemed so unlike those ragged kidnappers that I knew I could trust him.
The blond-haired man looked me over again. "Wait," he said, "aren't you the Queen's friend from Ayortha?"
"What?" I was so startled. How did the people of Frell know me on sight already? Had there been posters of me sticking up everywhere? I hadn't seen one. My obvious confusion led for the other man to chuckle.
"Ah! I apologize. I have forgotten my manners. I am Arthur. Arthur of the Palace Guard." He caught my hand and bowed over it, kissing it courteously. I could have died.
"Ah...I am Marika of Areeb..."
"Yes, Queen Janelle has informed me so. Well, I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Marika of Areeb. And on behalf of the Kyrrian court, welcome to Frell."
"Thank you," I said.
"I see that you have not arrived in the palace by the carriage. Why is this?"
I quickly explained my situation to him.
After hearing my story, which I had secretly spruced up a bit with more drama, he smiled sympathetically at me. "Oh, I see. Then I guess I must take you back to the palace myself."
Yes!
"Here, let me have your hand." I reached up to him and he pulled me up from the ground. For a moment I savored his being close to me - my heart beat faster than a race horse. Then he led me to his horse and lifted me up on it. I sat in the saddle while Arthur mounted up behind me and I was close to him once more - a bit too close, as his body was pressed up against mine to grasp the reins.
We rode up to the palace in this fashion, with Arthur's arm securing me in the saddle so that I didn't topple over with each step of the trot. It wasn't very comfortable when you ride two people in a saddle, since you are bouncing all over the place and each time you land hard on the saddle only to be rebounded upwards again.
After nearly ten minutes of riding, I began to see the palace turrets peaking over the rooftops and an occasional glimpse of a sliver of the castle between the cracks of buildings. I strained to see them, and my squirming made Arthur uncomfortable and he requested me to stop. So I hung there like a limp rag doll, uncertain of what to do with my limbs other then to squeeze my legs around the horse and pray that I didn't fall off.
Finally, we turned a corner and the palace and its gardens spread out before us. Here, all other buildings ended and the road continued on, only this time it was paved with white marble stones and ran through the lawns and gardens and ended right up to the front palace doors. The castle was enormous. Rounded white turret after turret piled up on one another, and yet they retained the sense of balance and design. Up on the burgundy roofs alone, there seemed to be a city sprouting on top of its red shingles. Magnificent spires stretched out like fingers appealing to heaven, running through the clouds. And windows dotted the palace everywhere, glistening dewdrops in the sunlight.
Arthur halted his horse to let me breathe in the beauty of the castle. It was like nothing I had ever dreamed in my life. Just like a castle from a fairy tale, its architecture astounded me. I sneaked a peek back at Arthur, and he was also in a daydream of his own, gazing at the structure before him, like remembering an old home. He saw me looking at him, and he smiled a bit.
"Welcome," he announced, "to Sharelle Palace."
He urged the horse forward, and we began our ride into the castle grounds. We moved as if in a dream. We passed gardeners and court officials; all knew Arthur, and they saluted him as he went by. There were different gardens of all sorts: some were small, others were big enough to include large fish ponds and exotic bird cages. There were rose gardens, water gardens, peach gardens, rock gardens. There were magical creature exhibits ranging from centaurs to ogres, to talking parrots and dancing monkeys. Once I thought I saw a unicorn peak between two jasmine bushes and I turned in my seat to look. But Arthur was still behind me, so all that I could see was over his shoulder, and by that time it had gone, and he pushed me back down again.
Finally Arthur reined in the horse in front of the giant red oak doors and swung down. He spread his arms toward me and helped me down, too, and once again I felt the tension of the close proximity between us. Then he handed the reins to a stable groom who had come rushing our way and led the way towards the doors.
They were HUGE. I mean, the doors. I craned my neck to look up at them and I almost fell down, so dizzying were their heights. Arthur strode up and knocked, making a hollow, booming sound. I stood a little ways behind him and waited, nervous about meeting Queen Janelle. Nervous about my state, which was worse than ever before. I fidgeted a bit but stopped when there came a cranking kind of sound as the doors were pushed open from the other side. As we walked through, I looked up again to see a sort of mechanism on top that would assist the pusher when opening. And as I turned my gaze downwards, I once again was blown away by the pure elegance of the interior design.
I was standing on polished marble floors that were so clear they reflected yourself like mirrors would. A grand staircase curved down to meet the foyer; its banisters polished to a slippery gleam of mahogany. I pulled my head back and stared at the intricate, illuminated chandelier hanging several stories up, yet large enough to fill two floors. And on the ceiling past it were murals of winged beings and paintings of great mystical hunts. I spun around on my feet, gaping at everything in sight until Arthur interrupted.
"I must leave you now. The adjutant will escort you to the Queen's chamber." He gestured to an older man waiting near the stairs. He looked a bit more stern than the other palace personnel I had met so far. I turned pleadingly to Arthur. "It has been nice to meet you," he said as a farewell. As my death parting. But he once again bent over my hand and kissed it, so I was more than willing to forgive him this time.
But once he had gone, I was alone again except for two door guards and the adjutant.
"The Queen has been waiting," he said stiffly. "This way, please."
He led me up the stairs and I trailed behind. He walked so fast! After three flights which left me winded, he walked briskly down a corridor. I struggled to keep pace, but the man seemed determined to keep ahead. I barely had time anymore to notice how the columns lined the sides of the hall or the murals on the arched ceiling or the paintings and tapestries and suits of armor decorating what space there was. I barely had time to keep track of where we were going, so I could find my way back in the end. We went through a long corridor, up a flight of narrow stairs on the side, left in a hallway full of doors, right, then another right, until I got too tired trying to keep up to follow.
I leaned against a wall for a second and breathed hard. I was never going to own a big house.
When I looked up again, the hallway was empty. My heart began to pound hard. Oh no! What if I had lost the adjutant?! I scrambled towards a corner and peered around it, but that hallway was deserted, too. Ack! I was lost!
I ran back and forth, uncertainly. If someone would have seen me now, they would think I was an idiot. But if someone would have seen me, I would have seen them, and I could ask for directions.
Then, as I passed a door I heard voices on the other side. I stopped and listened closer. If I could ask knock and ask for directions, then I could get out of the mess that I was in now. But first I must listen to see if their conversation was important, or shouldn't be interrupted. How embarrassing if I was to walk in on something like a proposal! But as I listened, it seemed less and less like a proposal. And the more I listened, the more nervous I was on knocking, because I had become frozen at what I was hearing.
"So when do we start?"
"We've collected all the weapons. The sooner we do this, the better."
"I understand. Now we just wait for a good chance."
"Good," said the second voice, which had become louder, closer. "Then I will -"
The door swung as it was pushed from the other side, and I was caught with it on my head. "Ow!" I cried.
"Who's there?!" said the voice, and a head appeared from around the door to see who he had hit.
My head was screaming in hard pain, but I managed to look up with squinted determination. What I saw in front of me threw me back. His face was young - almost as old as I was and yet he possessed the air of a grown man in charge. His features expressed surprise - his startled eyes, the gaping mouth. He had slightly long, black hair, which was like that only because it looked as if it hadn't been cut for a while. But the thing that surprised me most was the guard's uniform he wore. This was probably the reason why he looked so commanding to begin with. Then his face softened so the traces of a smile could be seen forming near the corner of his lips.
"Marika of Areeb?"
I stared at him. "Y-yes. I lost the adjutant. Could you please tell me where the Queen's room is?"
The boy raised a finger, pointing off in a direction behind me. His hand looked surprisingly large for his body.
"Turn left, take the stairs, and her room is around the corner."
"Thank you!"
He smiled. "No problem! Take care."
I returned his smile and ran off to follow his directions before I forgot them. I didn't know, but that boy was...well...I can't explain it. Maybe we just hit it off right from the start, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Then I stopped, bewildered.
"Wait," I asked myself. "How did he know my name?"
=+++=
"Grey, do you think she overheard us?"
The black-haired boy turned from the door as it shut with a click. "Not likely! Even if she did, she wouldn't understand."
He thought quietly to himself. 'But she got to the palace safely, which means...' he looked to the other guard, 'they failed...'