Fortunately, really fortunately, the focus of the Palace and a majority of the Kingdom got shifted off of the Scandalously Ever After fiasco, and onto Isabel as she finally departed for Satu a few days later.
It wasn't perfect, as the Palace staff still came to a halt to spy on Esteban and Naomi when they so much as passed one another. However, since this was the Little Crown Princess, the Kingdom's sweetheart, that was leaving, the staff was also ready to drop everything and help Isabel out.
This included all of the gifts from them that she was showered with: extra pens, boxes of pastries, and at least 15 pairs of hand knitted socks since it actually snowed in Satu during the winter and they couldn't risk her losing toes. All these gifts, on top of her already extended luggage, required all hands on deck to get them loaded up on The Wayfarer.
Even with the back breaking and sweat pouring work, the hardest part of that morning turned out to be when the final goodbyes were to be exchanged.
Luisa and Francisco were first up in the line that had unconsciously formed. Their hug with Isabel and soft murmurs had a touch of sadness to it, but was mostly clouted by exuberation. That seemed to be expected, Naomi realized, as they had had two daughters that had been grown, had babies of their own, and had lived in two distantly located places. And from this exchange, Naomi fully understood the difference between goodbye and farewell.
Gabe was next, and had an entirely different feel as he easily swept Isabel up off her feet and into a tight hug. It was similar to the way he had always picked her up when she was younger. Though, she may be a tad too big now to comfortably sit on top of one of his shoulders. Isabel was placed back down laughing brightly, her cheeks flushed pink.
That laughter didn't last as Elena didn't even try to have any kind of calm and collected nature as she crushed Isabel into such a tight embrace that Naomi feared that her friend would break her sister's bones.
"Why are you going to college so far away again!?" Elena loudly exclaimed. "What's wrong with Avalor? Is it Javier? I can make him go somewhere else!"
Isabel smiled as she managed to pull out her arms and wrap them around Elena more comfortably. "Javier is going somewhere else. So I can't have him beat me there." The younger girl then smirked. "Besides, I'm just trying to uphold the 'long standing tradition of fostering to improve relations between Kingdoms' by going there. You know, like what a good Crown Princess should be doing."
Elena hmphed and tightened her grip, if that was even possible. "Since when did you get so cheeky? Where did my innocent hermanita go!?"
"She probably suffocated from your overprotective mother hen hugs," Isabel wheezed. "Emperor Toshi and Ambassador Soji will be in Satu themselves for the next few months if I need them. And you said you weren't going to make a big deal about this!"
"How is this making a big deal?" Elena said, nuzzling her cheek roughly against Isabel's forehead.
The two began speaking even more rapidly in Spanish and Naomi ended up losing the conversation from that point. She knew the language, and could switch from Latin to Spanish pretty easily, but there was still no competition against full native speakers.
Eventually though, the conversation ended with Elena saying something and sighing. They each relaxed to form a real and proper hug, with small, silent tears both rolling down their cheeks. There was no doubt that everyone would have let them stay like that all day if they wanted to, and not wanting to be the one to break up the heartfelt embrace. But, it was the sisters themselves who simultaneously let out shaky breaths before releasing the hug.
"Alright," Elena said, smoothing back a few strands of Isabel's hair. "Go blow us all away."
Isabel nodded and reluctantly let go of Elena's hand.
Mateo was next, giving Isabel too a warm, but not quite as fierce, hug.
"Remember: You need to check the vitals of the objects at 3, 5, and 7 PM every other day. And to close the velvet curtains at sundown so the solar ray objects don't get tainted by the moonbeams. And only do one container of varying size a week."
On and on she rambled, but Mateo only stayed quiet and nodded his head at every order she gave him with a smile on his face.
When she finished, he simply said, "I have all your notes. I'll make you proud. And it will all work out considering how great of chemistry we have as lab partners together."
Isabel let out a large groan into his robe covered shoulder while he and Elena both started laughing at the awful pun. She made a quick get away from her painfully dorky family members to take the outstretched hands of Esteban.
"Ah, a Royal family member going to the great Otani University," Esteban proclaimed proudly. "This is surely a mark of achievement for the family."
Isabel raised up an eyebrow. "Well, at least as the second Flores to go there, right?"
"This is true," Esteban said, a certain smirk on his face that he got when he was talking about himself. And Naomi had half a second to realize that he had gone to that University as well before he officially confirmed it.
"And I want you to take full advantage of those four years. I only had a semester or two there and the time there can go by so fast. So, don't forget to see-"
"The Sakura tree viewing in the spring."
"And also visit-"
"The hot springs up in the Kusatsu Onsen, not the Shibu Onsen in Yamanouchi because of the monkeys, and we don't want another repeat of the monkeys. I know, I know."
Isabel then displayed some impressive agility on her part as she jumped up to wrap her arms around his neck. "You won't find another chess partner to replace me, will you?"
"I would never replace you, mi angelita," Esteban said, wrapping his arms tightly around her before he lifted her up a little off the ground.
"Oh Primo," Isabel said affectionately as she pressed a kiss to his cheek.
Naomi felt her heart soften at the affection, and she was somewhat relieved too that she was still able to just feel something for this man besides contempt.
As Isabel then stepped up to Naomi, the final person, she didn't even try to hide her exhaustion.
Naomi didn't take any offense to it though, and ruffled the girl's hair. "You could have taken a page from my book, and left in the middle of the night or at least in some grand fashion!"
"Maybe I will next time. I love them, but they can be..." Isabel trailed off softly, and instead gave Naomi a quick hug.
"Are you sure I shouldn't stay? With everything going on?" She asked, in an almost pleading tone. "I can put off going till next semester to finish some inventions! Or the-"
"It's fine, truly," Naomi interrupted gently. She knew that from the past that Isabel hated to be kept out of the loop being the youngest.
However, Naomi also knew that there always seemed to be SOMETHING happening or going wrong in the Kingdom that before one knew it, three years could fly by and they wake up one morning feeling terribly restless and slightly depressed, and decide to drastically change tactics and become an independent explorer. Or perhaps that had just been her experience.
Still, Naomi clapped down a firm hand on the girl's shoulder. "I appreciate the sentiment, but I wouldn't feel right if we kept your amazing brain here. A good bit of travel is uplifting for the soul. Plus, you need to go out there and prove why Avalor is the best Kingdom in all the EverRealm."
That seemed to satisfy Isabel at little as she nodded, but she also added quickly, "But, if I feel like I want to really, really come back and help, someone will come get me?"
Naomi smirked, impressed by her perseverance. She put an arm around the younger girl's shoulders and turned her away from prying eyes. "I'll come get you personally if you ever feel that strongly about it. Deal?"
Now seeming fully satisfied, Isabel stood up a little more straighter and nodded more fiercely. "Deal."
With that, the Princess gave one more look to the long line of people, her familia, before turning to climb up the gangplank. She only stopped when she reached the top of it to blow them all a kiss, and then disappear onto the ship.
"Queen Elena."
Though only one name was called, everyone turned to the voice, including Naomi rather hastily, as her mother Captain Scarlett approached, her Captains hat sitting firmly atop her head, with her father Daniel right beside her.
"If it's alright by you, after I drop off Princess Isabel, I was hoping to do some more investigation concerning Princess Chloe," Scarlett declared without a moment's hesitation.
"Oh!" Elena blinked her eyelids rapidly a few times out of shock.
Naomi followed her friend in her own shock. However, hers only lasted a fraction of a second, similar to getting pricked by a rose thorn. She guessed Elena probably still wasn't used to the way that her mom operated: coming in and declaring something that she had set her mind to.
In the past, it usually involved moving to a new port in only a few days. Even if that meant missing the local dance pageant Naomi had spent hours and hours practicing for in secret, even though she hated dancing and wasn't very good at it, and therefore meant she held a great deal of resentment at her parents. And then in turn felt a great deal of resentment to herself for feeling that way about her parents, and instantly made sure she was the first one packed and ready to go.
That seemed to be the way she was remembering all her memories with her parents nowadays.
Elena finally caught up in recovering from her shock . "Of course. Um...in what way were you thinking, Captain Turner?"
"Well, with Princess Isabel essentially being fostered in Satu, it reminded me that Queen Abigail herself also spent some time in Freezenberg for a similar experience." Scarlett then waved a hand. "While I was never with her during that time, as I was already in the military, we did keep in touch through letters. Perhaps she has some old acquaintances there who may know what happened in Norberg. Best case scenario, is that Chloe is there herself."
"That's actually a fantastic idea then!" Elena said, an excited grin on her face. "You have my full permission Captain Turner to travel to Freezenberg and anywhere else you may deem necessary."
"Much obliged, your majesty," Scarlett said, tipping her hat to Elena.
Elena nodded back before the farewell party then began following behind her lead to move to the secondary location at the end of the Harbor, where they would be able to wave off Isabel before she was gone for good.
"Noams," Her father then said, and out of habit Naomi stopped. "Can we have a moment, please?"
Despite his soft tone, Naomi wasn't entirely sure she wanted to, even though she knew by this point she was acting like a bit of a brat.
However, in the past, when Naomi reflected on times when she had poor behavior, she liked to evaluate to see where things went wrong. This time proved difficult though when she had to reevaluate her whole life before she could decide if she was justified or not.
Even with what she thought was a strong resolve on the matter, when she looked at her parents...she had still missed them these last couple of weeks. Terribly.
So, Naomi quickly waved a hand to Elena, who had been nervously glancing back even as she continued walking, and gave her full attention to her parents.
At the very least, all three of them didn't look out of place standing together. Naomi had worn breeches today in order to give herself her full range of movement, and the short puffy sleeved Avaloran shirt with bright painted flowers she had on was still modest. Meaning no one should be bothering to listen in on them.
And even if they wanted to, with her mother standing tall and exuding her usual confidence and power, one would be wiser to keep walking.
It ended up being her father though who took a deliberate stance between the two women and began speaking. "We understand that you are feeling..." He then shrugged his shoulders. "Well to be honest we don't know exactly how you're feeling, but we know it's not great since I know when you're giving someone the silent treatment."
Naomi proved his point as she wanted to cry out in denial, but the other overwhelming side of her wanted to remain quiet to not break the tough exterior she was trying to put on. The conflicting sides made her gape like a fish, but her father only continued on.
"However, that doesn't mean we haven't been keeping up with what's been going on." Her father then looked to the side in embarrassment and Naomi felt like she wanted to throw herself into the ocean and sink to the bottom at that very second. "And so, we were hoping to help-or at lend a hand in-um-"
"Do you want to come with me?" Her mother then asked abruptly.
"With you?" Naomi reaffirmed dumbly.
Scarlett nodded. "To Satu, and then Freezenberg, and then wherever else we might head. It's why I wanted to load everything with Princess Isabel now, because we could still spare an hour for you to get your things together if you say yes."
Naomi remained silent. Apparently she had been wrong, her mother could still shock her.
This also must have not been the reaction her parents had been expecting either as they shared a glance before her mother then reached into her pocket and presented a fairly large sized broad-ribbed cardita seashell.
"You gave it to me when you were still so small, when we were stationed out in Huna. You had to be..."
"Five," Her father answered, saving her mother.
"Five. That's right. And you gave it to me for good luck since it was the prettiest shell you had ever seen in your whole life."
Naomi looked at the shell, still not knowing what to say. She had collected hundreds of shells during her life. Always getting her skirt sandy and dirty from her haul that she would dump on the dining table. Before she then spent hours meticulously cleaning them and putting them on the window sill. But, when they were to move, she only picked her favorite and returned the rest to the sea.
She didn't remember this shell at all or that memory. But she vaguely remembered the place. It had been one of the many places she had revisited on her travels. Going there mostly in hopes of reconnecting with old acquaintances, and reliving the few and scattered memories she had between all the places she had lived throughout her life.
However, when Naomi had revisited those places, she found out that many of the acquaintances had moved, died, or even had completely forgotten about her.
And just that reminder made the memory of this shell now have a dark line slashed through it as well.
So, even though her parents were extending an olive branch, or shell in this case, and an out...she couldn't take it.
Plus, she had come back to Avalor with the intention of keeping her feet on land for a while, on the land of her home, the place she felt safe while she sorted things out, and that still hadn't changed.
Naomi rubbed awkwardly at her still bare neck as she finally answered with, "The compass isn't pointing North."
She watched as her parent's faces fell slightly before they nodded in understanding. They would probably be the only ones here in Avalor to understand since that was an old Norberg saying.
Scarlett brought the shell forth once again. "Then I think you need this more than I do now, for wherever your compass points."
Naomi accepted the gift with her heart clenching tight.
It seemed like it would be easier to simply put up a wall like she had done in the past, cutting people off completely. Yet here she was, still using that saying. One of the few Norberg sayings she knew that had connected her to a heritage that she wouldn't have known otherwise. Well, those, and the old Norbergian Compass that all three of them had tattooed between their shoulder blades. Connecting them together. Always.
"Hey," Naomi began, wetting her lips nervously as she ran her thumb over the shell's rough edges. "You know that I love you. I love you both so much. So much that it's why I can't..."
"We love you too Noams," Her mother finished, saving her this time.
Her father then put an arm around each Turner woman and pulled them altogether for a tight hug.
Naomi leaned her head against her father and touched her mother's hand. "Be safe. And I'll start writing, just so you know where I am."
"We would like that very much," Her father said.
Her parents then looked at one another and met for a kiss. And in that brief moment, everything felt normal.
"Alright," Scarlett declared as the embrace broke and she straightened out her hat. "Well, old girl's not going to go anywhere without me, so I better go Captain her."
Rather than take the gangplank up, Scarlett jumped onto the net that was hoisting up a repaired cannon onto the ship. She gracefully leapt off it and landed somewhere on the main deck, her gruff voice barking out orders. Captain Turner was back in business.
With nothing more they could do, Naomi and Daniel made their way to the farewell party.
They took a spot near the end of the line in order not to disrupt the group. Of course, Elena still leaned forward so she could look at Naomi.
'We'll talk later,' She mouthed.
'Thank you,' Naomi replied back just as silently.
"Your Majesty!"
Again, everyone turned to the voice, who this time ended up being Doña Paloma.
"Good to see you Doña," Elena said, just as kindly as she would to any citizen of her Kingdom. "I thought you said you wouldn't be able to make it?"
"Oh, of course I wouldn't want to miss this little soirée."
Naomi somehow doubted that. Doña was still dressed in her usual blue dress robes and obscenely large gold and emerald jewelry, with her fan already fluttering. If she really wanted to act like she wanted to help out, she could have at least dressed down like the rest of them had. Even Esteban had ditched his burgundy jacket, though he had mostly spent the morning ordering people around.
Doña snapped her fan shut. "I only originally turned down the invitation because I was busy putting together some samples for when Queen Rebecca visits. Just because we already established a trade agreement for cloth, doesn't mean we can't set our sights for other goods, and I was thinking those Galonia chocolate coins would be a great addition."
Elena tapped her chin. "That is...extremely helpful of you Doña Paloma, thank you!"
The woman laid her closed fan upon her chest. "But of course, anything to help the Kingdom."
Elena went to say something else, but she suddenly put a hand to her temple and swayed a little.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Elena quickly said rapidly as everyone reached a hand forward. She appeased them by taking Mateo's arm. "I just started feeling a little lightheaded. Harbor master, can I trouble you for some water?"
Daniel nodded and immediately started walking away, "I know of a well nearby, I'll return shortly."
"Let's get you in some shade until the ship comes by," Gabe said in a tone that was a little more commanding than just merely suggesting, and took up the spot on Elena's other side as the three of them walked together over to a nearby shady spot with the abuelos as well.
Everything was handled so smoothly and swiftly that Naomi couldn't even offer any assistance. She was extremely glad the guys had been here for Elena though. It had been one the things that had made her initial leave those couple of years ago that much easier.
"Well, if it isn't the happy newlyweds."
Naomi felt a shiver run down her spine, similar to hearing a fork running across a glass plate, as she turned back to Doña.
The woman's fan was back out, but was fluttering in a much more agitated way, like an angry pigeon, which matched her whole demeanor. Apparently that act of goodwill had been for Elena only.
"And it's so kind of you to grace us with your presence, Village spinster," Esteban replied back in an instant.
The sneer that came over Doña's face was so large, that not even her obnoxious fan could hide it.
"I knew something else had gone on in Norberg that you were not telling me!" Doña exclaimed, but not loud enough to catch Elena's attention of course. "You don't come back with a trade agreement with prunes for nothing! I mean...prunes! The one fruit that no one on this side of the Jordan Sea likes! And now I have so many shipments cluttering my emporium that could have been used for something of a higher class quality."
"I thought you had a world famous emporium where you made your fortune, and also where you should be able to sell anything," Naomi remarked wryly.
Doña snapped her fan shut with much more force, and Naomi wished it had been enough force to just break the damn thing. "I also didn't make my fortune by being easily swindled, young lady. I know when I'm being cheated out of something. So, what else are you not telling me?"
Neither Naomi nor Esteban made any kind of movement to look at one another or move from their firm stances. It had been decided that the operation in looking for Chloe's disappearance and the suspected murder of Queen Abigail would only be shared with the most essential people needed. And Doña Paloma wasn't on it. After all, she had been summoned before for only formalities sake.
And from the heavy sigh she then gave, she knew this as well.
"Fine then." Doña's lips curled into the most wicked grin. "If that's the case, at least Avalor will soon get a respectable Chancellor once again. One that's not a vulgar cradle robber with a gold digging vixen for a wife."
Naomi felt her heart rate and her blood pressure spike in an instant. Mercedes making her a hopelessly in love maiden was one thing, but this was an obvious and gross slander of her character. And Naomi had zero tolerance for that.
Before Naomi even knew what was happening, her body was moving towards Doña. She pushed up her sleeves even though it wasn't necessary because she wanted the message to be clear: she was ready to throw down.
Doña actually looked nervous for a moment as her fan moved away from her face and into a more defensive position. But Naomi didn't make it far before Esteban caught her arm.
"I don't remember Elena or myself saying anything about the position needing to be filled," He replied in an even tone, but it was through clearly clenched teeth.
"Well, you're now a Duke, Esteban," Doña said, putting as much venom in the title as she could. "And everyone knows you'll be out of the picture soon to go to Nueva Vista. So, there will be a need for a replacement."
"Don't forget that I'm still here," Naomi said defiantly, taking a step forward with her arm slipping through Esteban's grip that had unintentionally become laxed. Or had it been intentional?
Either way, Doña wasn't unnerved by Naomi this time as she lifted up one of her perfectly sharp brows. "Is that so? I didn't know you were interested in that kind of position? Is that what you've decided for yourself?"
Doña then let out a tinkling laugh, no doubt in response to the visibly clenched jaw and downward eyes that Naomi couldn't stop herself from doing as her bluff was called out.
"Well, as long as you don't try and use any underhanded moves this time to earn your title, Duchess, then I look forward to seeing what you'll have to offer Avalor."
When Elena had said about talking later, Naomi had assumed that meant tomorrow or even later tonight.
But Elena's definition of "later" meant grabbing a hold of Naomi's arm as soon as the business at the Port had wrapped up, and dragging her to the seamstress room where Manolo had finished the sketches for Elena's new maternity dresses.
Somehow though, in the midst of Manalo discussing necklines, Naomi suddenly ended up the one standing awkwardly on the room's central pedestal, where she was now either rather intimately getting her measurements taken or getting bombarded with questions. Like what style she wanted or colors, which Naomi had no idea.
"I will need some answers soon. Chancellor-or uh Duke Flores says he wants at least 6 day dresses made," The seamstress said distressingly as he continued pulling fabric. "And that's not even counting the evening ones."
"You can make it 3!" Naomi exclaimed, feeling embarrassment creep up to her neck. "He acts like I don't have any clothes."
"You know how Esteban is when it comes to appearance," Elena said from where she laid out on the small chaise lounge, with a pile of letters she had received from Armando laying on her stomach.
"You mean he doesn't want me to appear as a commoner?"
"I'm sure it's not quite as harsh," Elena tried reassuringly. "And, don't tell him I agree with him, but you do have to have certain attires for Royal Functions now." Elena motioned to her friend. "And, most of the clothes you have now are hammy downs from Isa."
"Well, they fit just fine. And I still have my dresses, which includes my ball gown!" Naomi argued.
"The one you wore for my coronation 3 years ago?"
Manolo then let out a horrified gasp as he dropped the papers he had started sketching some dress designs on. "You have something THAT out of fashion!?"
Naomi shook her head at the over exaggeration. "It should still fit me just fine...I think."
Senora Torres then came in with a tray, and Naomi sighed in relief. She was ready for the usual tea and Avaloran chocolate that Elena had around this time.
However, when she looked at the tray that was placed down, she was taken aback by the bowl of Brazilian nuts and pitcher of cranberry juice.
"Oh yes! Thank you!" Elena said, eyes sparkling like a little girl as she sat up right. "My cravings are killing me."
"Wow, what happened to your sweet tooth?" Naomi asked as she got off the pedestal to join Elena over by the couch.
"Temporarily out of commission."
"Another symptom?"
"The worst one by far," Elena said with a dramatic sigh as she popped a few nuts into her mouth. "I haven't been able to really eat chocolate for a month now."
"But you just had Champurrado the other day with me," Naomi noted as she poured herself a glass of juice.
"Ah yes, uh, well.." Elena fumbled out uncharacteristically nervously after she took the glass Naomi had also poured for her. "I only took a sip because I wanted to make you feel better."
Elena must have known Naomi was about to say something about how unnecessary that was, because she made an immediate grab for the next letter that was on top of the pile and opened it.
"Ugh!" Elena then said rather shortly into her reading the letter.
"More good news?" Naomi asked dryly. She was this close to suggesting to Elena that they should just outlaw the postal system with how much doom and gloom all their letters kept providing them with recently.
"It's a response from King Hector," Elena said. "Well, more of a response from his scribe, unsurprisingly, but it seems Jeremy was ordered to put in by King Hector that he wishes for us to know 'that he shouldn't be bothered with anymore nonsense since he is very busy with his very important task of setting up his 6th summer palace on his very luxurious vacation islands he just acquired very recently.'"
"How very annoying," Naomi said and Elena smiled.
Elena sighed. "I should have expected something like this from him. Though I had hoped. Especially with Chloe probably out there, all alone and scared and innocent." She blinked away the dark look that had been forming in her eyes. "King Hector still has Jeremy sign this 'From his most Royal Majesty, King Hector XIV, visionary of the West, Ruler of the White Marbled Kingdom of Hectoria, Modern Day Architect."
"The fourteenth?" Naomi asked as she had met King Hector before, so nothing else about the letter surprised her personally.
"It's apparently tradition there that the Ruling Monarch changes their birth name to either Hector or Hectoria on the day of their coronation."
"What was his name before?"
"Don't know, although I would certainly love to have that information," Elena said as she folded up the letter and placed it on the 'read' pile.
"Would sure come in handy next time we see him and need to reel him in," Naomi said as she took a seat by Elena.
"Maybe I'll just throw him and Alonso together next time. It's already a miracle that those two haven't interacted at all yet," Elena said, groaning at just the mere mention of the vain Prince of Cordoba. "Although, I also fear some cosmic shift might happen in the universe if their two vain personalities clashed together. Then next thing you know, we've got the Titans reemerging and causing chaos all over the EverRealm again."
Naomi laughed into her drink. The Titans were from such an old and ancient legend, that no one actually knew if they had existed at all or were merely some dramatization of something else. So, that just made it all the more obvious to Naomi that dramatics ran naturally in the Royal family.
"And here I thought Prince Alonso was making progress in bettering himself."
Elena shrugged her shoulders. "He is, sort of, although Alonso also felt it necessary in HIS letter to assure me that 'he would be on the case and Cordoba would be proudly saving a beautiful Princess in distress, if she had crossed into their borders.'"
Naomi gave another laugh, but it quickly dissipated at a suddenly horrifying realization.
After spending many days now regarding this Norberg situation, Naomi came to the conclusion that there were easily a number of factors as to why Avalor hadn't heard about this situation until it was too late. But now that Naomi was to believe that all the Kingdoms surrounding Avalor and even the ones located to the far East and West hadn't heard anything either, it was no wonder Oswall had wanted to capture her just because of her remark.
Queen Abigail's secret letter, Chloe's disappearance, and then finally the reconnaissance group had all led to the cat being let out of the bag, and ruined whatever original plan Oswall and Edward had.
Naomi shuddered to think what they would do in retaliation.
"Oh good! You guys are still here."
Mateo entered the room at a brisk jog with something tucked under his arm.
He revealed what it was as he held up a small wooden box with a bright grin on his face. "I've got your request ready for you, Elena."
"Already?" Elena asked, a great deal of alarm in her voice. "Did you get any sleep last night?"
Mateo waved a hand dismissively as he passed his wife the box. "Enough. I'm still making slow progress with the experiments. So, this is something I can do for now."
Elena narrowed her eyes as she placed her drink down. "Mateo, you just reminded me the other day about how many things we have coming up."
He looked away. "I know, but-"
"No buts," Elena said firmly, and Naomi felt the need to look the other way to give the illusion of some privacy, and saw that Manolo was doing the same.
"But," He said back anyway. "This is something that also would have made you happy to see finished. And I wanted to make sure you got some of it too since we'll be so busy."
Naomi smiled, she had to admit that was smooth.
Elena thought the same thing as Naomi heard her sigh and say, "That was too nice of you to say for me to get upset at, you know that?"
"I wasn't doing anything more than I already would," Mateo said, followed by the sound of lips smacking for a short kiss.
"Still, when I'm finished here, we're going to talk, okay?" Elena said, her voice having an edge of Queeniness to it.
Mateo chuckled. "Okay."
Naomi felt it safe to turn back around. Mateo gave them a small wave and left the room.
Even though the disagreement hadn't seemed like anything major, Naomi still felt compelled to then ask, "You okay?"
"Hmmm, oh, yes, we're fine." Elena pushed back a piece of hair behind her ear. "But, we're just still having moments where we need to figure out the balance of him being the Prince Consort, but also for me to be the wife of the Royal Wizard. We mostly line up, since everything we do is for the good of Avalor, but sometimes...it requires a bit more push and pull. And with the baby on the way, it's adding a bit of stress."
"Well, if it helps at all, for the Olaball tournament, I saved ALL the decorations from some of the past festivals and organized, and stored them in the 'this and that' attic. Armando should have the paperwork," Naomi offered. "Actually, you could even use those for the Grand Opening of the Wizard Guild too. And you should post help wanted signs down in the taverns if you need extra hands for the construction." Naomi sighed, "And you could even get help from Mercedes in making up the posters to stir people into action. She seems to have a talent for that."
Elena smiled. "You are such a lifesaver, you know that? This is why I told all of them that I wanted you to go to Nueva Vista, but I also knew that wasn't a good-"
Elena jolted as if she had just bit down on her tongue, but it had been in vain, because Naomi had heard.
So Elena had put some thought into or at least knew that making Esteban a Duke would affect Naomi as a Duchess. And on top of all that, she wanted her to go, but was going out of her way to shield and protect Naomi.
Again, Elena quickly diverted to something else as she picked up the box and said, "You shouldn't be put off by Mercedes' story. She did the same thing to us when it became known that we were a couple."
Naomi's eyes widened. Elena had never written about that to her. "She did?"
Elena nodded her head, her cheeks already turning pink. "Oh yeah. It was called something ridiculous like, Beware of the Wizard."
Naomi instantly started laughing. "Seriously? That title alone makes Mateo sound like some kind of...insatiable ladies man!"
Elena laughed as well, but also covered her face with one hand in embarrassment. "I know! Rafa had a conniption about it, and even some of the palace staff too! Even though they know he's the sweetest and kindest guy ever! I guess this is why Mercedes is the most popular author in Avalor."
Elena took a sip of her juice. "Still, it was a love story about how we were soulmates and destined to be together. So, it was written with all the best good intentions," She said, fanning her face a little. "Besides, we know how ridiculous of a situation it is, yours and Esteban's marriage. You two wouldn't have married unless absolutely necessary."
Naomi felt her mood lighten exponentially. It always made her feel good to know her and Elena were on the same page.
"Anyways, I've got something for you!" Elena said excitedly, as she picked up the small box and placed it in Naomi's lap. "It was supposed to be a welcome home gift, but ended up taking a little longer than usual because I wanted it to be perfect and Mateo didn't want to take any shortcuts."
Naomi's brows furrowed together as she placed her drink down and opened up the lid. The inside of the lid had a small mirror while the box itself was inlaid with blue velvet. And in the very middle of it laid a silver hair clip in the curly shape of small diamond studded orchids on a vine. The exact same type of hair clip that Elena had.
"When Mateo and Isabel had first begun experimenting with magical items from Takaina, they wanted to first try and recreate my outfit to see if they could get the same results. Though, I had to convince them to only do clothes, since we certainly don't need another Scepter of Night situation again." Elena rambled off, similar to the way her Royal Wizard did. "The attempts weren't successful, except for the clip. So, I asked, very nicely, to have it, and Mateo then also tweaked it slightly so that it's imbued with some kind of enchantments to glow when you are around magical items and can even protect you against low level spells and spirits."
"This really is too much, Elena," Naomi said automatically as she shut the lid.
She didn't hate it, quite the opposite actually, it was an incredibly beautiful and thoughtful gift that tugged at Naomi's heart. And she also knew she couldn't ever give something as meaningful back in return.
"Nonsense!" Elena exclaimed absolutely, grabbing one of Naomi's hands. "You're my sister. That's always been the case." She reopened the lid. "And no matter what happens with this situation that you and Esteban are in, it's something that will never change to me."
Elena then reached into the box and delicately picked up the hair clip. She then tentatively brushed back some of Naomi's hair and clipped in the stunningly beautiful accessory.
Naomi raised up the box to look into the mirror. Reflected back were Naomi and Elena's faces, their now matching hair clips sparkling in the afternoon sun together.
A warm feeling settled over Naomi at that sight as she leaned back so the two women's heads touched.
She owed Elena so much: Her council position, her apprenticeship with Professor Mendoza, her mom's military position, and of course, her ship The WindChaser.
Naomi still knew she could never repay her back for all those things. However, she knew that also meant that she couldn't just sit around, idly waiting for Chloe to reappear or for her marriage to end. Not when her sister needed her somewhere else more important.
And that's when Naomi knew what she needed to do.
The hair clip continued to feel heavy on Naomi's head when she left the seamstress room an hour later.
She now had a full wardrobe of clothes for all the, apparently, different occasions they would call for. They were made of silk, or cotton, and frills were kept at a minimum. Not to mention there also had to be all the accessories including shoes, chokers, jewelry, belts, and stockings. She was surprised that Esteban hadn't demanded Royal undergarments to be made for her as well.
She tried to push those thoughts to the side though as she, for once, was trying to go see Esteban with the intention of having no snarky comments as she continued towards the direction that his office was supposed to be in.
It ended up being much easier to find, she thought to herself as it ended up being the only set of doors at the end of a very long hallway, almost like it was completely away from the Palace itself.
Naomi approached the doors. She took a deep breath, grabbed the round door handle, and gave it a great pull. Only for it to be locked and Naomi to almost pull her arm out of her socket.
"Oh, hello Naomi!"
Naomi jumped and turned around to see Higgins approaching, a sandwich in hand.
"Duke Esteban isn't here right now, he's taking his afternoon siesta, so he always has me guard the doors since he doesn't like anyone to go in there besides himself!"
Naomi almost went to remark that if he wasn't doing a very good job guarding if he had left to go get a sandwich, but dropped it as she was already feeling a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance creeping up.
"But I have the keys, so I can let you in!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a key ring with heavy different rings jangling from it.
"You will?"
"Of course!" Higgins said as he immediately grabbed the right key and went to open the door. "You are his wife after all, so it should be fine!"
Naomi again kept a smart remark to herself as she gratefully took the man's offer. Perhaps being married to Esteban could have some perks. Mainly, to suit her needs.
She decided though to go ahead and close the door behind her and lock it while she waited for Esteban. The day was growing late, so if he was still sticking to his rigorous schedule, which Naomi had full confidence that he would be, he would be up shortly.
Until then, Naomi realized that she would be able to kill time exploring as she glanced around the large room. She had assumed that given his stiff nature, that the office wouldn't be anymore furnished and decorated than any other room in the palace.
However, just the walls themselves were practically covered in all sorts of pictures that ranged from full sized portraits to small paper sketches that one could barely see the wallpaper underneath.
The one that caught her attention was a painting of a man and woman that was by far the largest one. The woman had bright green eyes, long extremely curly hair that she wore loose around her shoulders, and a small beauty mark right above her mouth that was in large, beautiful smile. The man had a full, but closely trimmed dark beard that matched styled back hair, and dark brown eyes that fit his darker skin tone perfectly and the good-natured smirk on his lips. They seemed to be a couple given how close they were holding one another, and each had a hand on the woman's baby bump. There was something about them, bits and pieces of them that resonated so familiar to Naomi, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
She then spied a guitar propped up in a stand in a far corner, which shouldn't be surprising with the rest of Flores knowing how to play, though Naomi had never seen Esteban himself play before.
On the other side of the room was an enormous bookshelf that touched from one corner of a wall to the other and almost touched the ceiling. Naomi stepped closer to the book shelf. Just from what she could see in her eye line, there were books on every Kingdom alphabetized by subjects like: history, fashion, medicine, and so on. She realized that this must be the mysterious private collection that Isabel had talked about the other day. And it was nothing to scoff at, as one could travel the whole EverRealm without leaving this room with a collection like this.
Her gaze was then caught by a blue fish patterned book spine that looked familiar to her. She carefully pulled the book out between the two much larger and more impressive books that it was nestled between.
Naomi smiled in triumph at the title:
At the Edge of the World by Sergio Lispin
She walked over to his desk to take a seat in the surprisingly comfy velvet chair as she flipped to a random page of the book and began reading a passage.
Naomi smiled as she immediately recognized this portion of the book, though she hadn't read it in years. This book looked like it had been years as well from the faded color of the pages and the corners creased or folded down. Someone had also written in the margins of the pages in black ink that said:
Visit here first. They will have to take me seriously once I come back with the grand jewels of this Kingdom. I will not want anything else unless I can be free from here.
Underneath it though was another note in the same handwriting, but was written in blue ink:
Oh you foolish, stupid boy!
Was this Esteban's handwriting? It looked so sloppy and scrawled, like it had been written rather hastily, that she couldn't fully tell.
Naomi leaned further towards the sunlight to get a better look at the words, but it was instantly forgotten about as something then shined in the corner of her eye.
It was a compass laid carefully on a pillow on the corner of his desk. It was incredible and finely made. It looked like it and the needle was made of gold, with the glass cover made of a more diamond material. Rubies were inlaid around the edges, and instead of the more modern N,S,E,W for the navigational points, they were ancient runes.
Naomi carefully picked up the compass, and the needle began to spin incredibly fast that Naomi almost couldn't see it.
Was it broken?
Why would Esteban have a broken compass?
Suddenly the needle stopped and was pointing North and straight at her.
Naomi then heard the door open up behind her and she hastily put the compass down and picked up the book instead.
Esteban entered the room, currently engrossed in a stack of papers in his hands. So engrossed that when he finally noticed her, his whole body jolted as one hand shot down to the top of his boot.
"Miss Turner-er-Naomi!" He flexed his hand and brought it back behind his back. "What are you doing here? How did you get in here?"
"Higgins let me in," Naomi said calmly as she got up from the chair, book still in hand.
"Of course," Esteban sighed deeply. "He really can be persuaded too easily."
"Wonder whose fault that is?" Naomi retorted under her breath and she approached him.
He must have heard her as he shot her a begrudging look before looking down to her hands.
Esteban then casually turned back to the papers in his hand and cleared his throat. "O how the stars and the divine sea seem to blend together in a never ending universe-"
"Pray how can I ever set foot on land again after I've seen that heaven itself surely has none." Naomi finished for him.
His eyes shot to her. "You've read Lispin's memoirs?" "
"Please don't insult me, Esteban, I, at least, have some class." Naomi said with a lift of her brow, and then smiled when he caught on to her taunt as she passed him back the book. "Though the guy is a little pretentious, it's still a sailing classic, so of course I've read it."
"Classic," Esteban said with an amused chuckle. "I suppose it would be that way to you. I remember reading it as a boy when it first came out."
The grin that was forming on his face was then forcibly stopped as he went to put the book back into its proper place on the shelf. "So what can I do for you besides having you barge into my private office?"
"I came to tell you I'm coming with you." She then clarified with, "To Nueva Vista."
Esteban actually almost tripped over his feet before looking at her, looking for any signs of her just playing with him. Which he would have found none.
"I already told you that it's not necessary for you to."
"But it is," Naomi said firmly, pulling at his arm and forcing the papers away from his face, to make him look at her. "My place has always been to help Elena, to help Avalor, in any way possible. And if things are as bad as we think they are in Nueva Vista, then I certainly know where I need to be right now."
"You're not ready for Nueva Vista," Esteban said with a chuckle.
Naomi crossed her arms. "How so? Enlighten me."
Esteban rolled his eyes, as if it should have been obvious. "You are a friend to Elena and a Council member. So I don't doubt your ability to write letters and file paperwork and do the tedious things needed. But at a Royal Court, one that is much more established than Avalor, the courtiers will eat you alive."
"If I just need to sip tea with some Royals occasionally, then I'm sure I'll be fine," Naomi said, rubbing her forehead at his dramatization.
"You really are naïve," Esteban sighed.
Naomi narrowed her eyes. "So you don't want to help your family?"
Esteban turned sharply to her. "I did not say that-"
"But you're implying it."
"I'm trying to protect you, Naomi!" Esteban exclaimed as he then grabbed her shoulders.
Naomi felt herself taken aback by his outcry and the use of her given name. He was actually being genuine too from the concern in his eyes and how she could feel the warmth of his palms seeping through her shirt. But she would not be deterred.
"And, as I've already told so, so many people, I don't need protection," Naomi said as she shrugged off his hands. "I can't fight. I can't run. And I can't hide. So, I will protect and assist. That much I can do for your family." Naomi recrossed her arms. "So, we'll just put Mercedes's story and the past few days behind us, and stick to what we agreed on originally so we can go get this job done."
Naomi looked back up at him and softly asked, "Is that really so bad, really so much to ask?"
Esteban regarded her for a long while, staring at her, seeing if she would break. Which she did not.
Finally, he let out another long, exaggerated sigh. "We'll be leaving in three days, can you be ready by then?"
Naomi grinned, holding her chin up high. "I can be ready in one."