Chapter Twenty-One

"I'm sorry about my family," said Hans as we ate our chicken dinner out in the garden, "They're not the best, and you were lucky to only meet eight of them."

"How many do you have?" I wondered aloud nibbling on a piece of bread.

"I'm the youngest of thirteen," he admitted and I choked on my food. Thirteen?! I mean I knew my great-grandmother had about eighteen kids, but I never really thought about it and I've never even met half of that side of the family! "James, Marcus, and Louis are off on some adventure."

I quickly did the math in my head. "That's only eleven brothers. Who's the twelfth?"

Hans stiffened and muttered. "We're not allowed to speak of him."

He avoided looking at me, and I stared wanting to know more, but I could tell he didn't want to talk about it, so I let the subject drop. My heart went out to this prince. He was obviously mistreated by this lot.

"Hey," I said taking his hand. He turned to me, his green eyes shining almost unnaturally in the sunset. "They're your family, your flesh and blood, but you don't have to put up with that kind of treatment. Just remember that no matter how bad things are with them, there is at least one person that cares about you."

"Did you mean what you said to Luke?"

"Of course," I said flashing him a smile. He slowly leaned in close to me, and my heart started racing. Too close! Too fast! But I didn't move. Did I want him to kiss me?

Before anything could happen, Carlotta arrived and the prince pulled away from me. She took our plates.

"Come along, dear. I'll show you to your room," she said.

Room? Did Hans really set up a room for me, as well?

"Oh, um, good night," I said to Hans giving his hand one last squeeze before following Carlotta. She had shown me up through the castle to the room I was to be staying in and helped me into a pink nightgown. When she had left, I went out onto the balcony and watched Hans play with Max in the garden.

"Come here boy!"

He's so sweet! I mused as I dreamily stared down at him. Hans suddenly looked up in my direction, smiled and waved. Startled, and embarrassed, I waved back before going back inside.

The next day Hans had to stay at the castle and meet with his family. Not wanting to be around them again, I decided to wander around the Southern Isles by myself, with Excalibur strapped to my back, of course. Hans even let me borrow his horse, Sitron.

I rode Sitron out into the woods and stopped near a stream for a rest. Sitting in the grass, I leaned against a tree, and shut my eyes, listening to the stream run by. It wasn't long until I heard rustling and I opened my eyes to see a face directly in front of mine. I gasped and pushed back, slamming my head into the trunk.

"Ouch!" I muttered rubbing my sore noggin.

"Sorry!" said the girl backing away from me. She had shoulder-length light blonde hair and bangs falling across her forehead. Her dress was light blue and white with purple ruffles and a purple sash tied around her waist. She even had light blue and white striped leggings with purple boots, and a light blue top hat with a purple ribbon. She regarded me with gray-blue eyes and a slight smile. A basket was held in the crook of her arm. "I thought you were sleeping," said the girl.

"No, just resting," I replied staring at her. I couldn't tell if she was older or younger than me. She looked to be about about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, but she had an air about her as if she was much younger.

Her smile widened as she said, "Hi, I'm Alyss! What's your name?"

"I'm Aralyne," I replied.

Alyss suddenly reached into her basket and produced a cup of a steaming brown liquid. "Tea?"

"Uh, no thank you."

She shrugged and sipped the tea herself. And all of a sudden, a figure fell from my tree, screaming and landing beside us with a loud thump. Alyss seemed unfazed by this, but I stared in horror at the girl laying on her back. She also had light blonde hair, but it was much longer and her eyes were a couple shades darker than Alyss's. Her dress was a sky blue with white and pale yellow ruffles. She even had a sky blue bow in her long tresses and sky blue boots over her pale yellow stockings.

"Are you okay?!" I demanded leaning over the new arrival.

"I'm fine," she said with a giggle sitting up. She thrust her hand out at me. "I'm Catherine! Alyss's older sister!"

"Nice to meet you," I said shaking her hand, "What were you doing in the tree, anyway?"

"Trying to fly," said Catherine matter of factly.

I blinked at her for a moment then burst out laughing. These two were completely off their rockers, but I liked them!

"Come! You must join us on our picnic!" exclaimed Catherine jumping to her feet. Still holding onto my hand she yanked me to my feet and pulled me a bit away from Sitron and plopped me down in a grassy patch surrounded by sunshine. Alyss joined us and we ate sandwiches and cakes from the basket.

I felt as if I had just made two new best friends.

Hans was furious. His parents and brothers held the meeting to discuss Aralyne. Morgaine had shown obvious disdain for the girl, whereas Eadric was indifferent.

"I want her out of here, Hans!" exclaimed the Queen, "I don't want some filthy commoner staying in our castle! Or worse! She could be a servant girl!" She looked as if she would swoon from embarrassment.

"Hold on, Mother," said Alcott holding up a hand, "Before we kick our guest out into the streets there is something you must know about her first."

"What is it? She's not a thief is she? Or a gold digger?" inquired Eadric.

"No," replied the oldest prince, his blue eyes glinting mischievously"She's royalty."

"So are we," said Kit with a snort, "What makes her so special?"

"I had my man, Caleb, do some research on her last night," said Alcott, "Aralyne wasn't being entirely truthful as to who she says she is."

"Well, who is she?" demanded Thomas.

"Queen Aralyne, the savior of Incantationen!" Alcott declared with a smirk.

Hans was frozen. He had heard rumors of a savior, but knew next to nothing about it. And it had been her that saved his life! And now she was living with him!

There was a collection of gasps.

"You can't be serious!" said Vincent.

"Oh, but I am," said Alcott, "That tiny little thing Hans brought into the castle is the true Queen of this world!"

"Just imagine having the power to rule the world," Morgaine whispered excitedly, her blue eyes shining with greed.

"Shall I be the one to court her, Mother?" inquired Alcott.

"Why should it be you?" Miles demanded.

"Yeah," Luke agreed, "You're already going to be King of the Southern Isles! Let one of us have a chance!"

"I don't care who it is," said Morgaine excitedly, "but one of you marry the little tramp and through her we'll control Incantationen!"

As his brothers began declaring who would win Aralyne, Hans sat there scowling.

"So where are you from? We haven't seen you around here before," said Catherine laying on her back in the warm sunlight.

"I'm actually from a different world, but I usually stay in Nesidy," I replied and told them everything that had happened, including the bits of Siren and being the savior. I felt like I could trust these two. "So now I'm staying at the castle with Prince Hans and his family."

"Neglected and ignored," said Alyss with a sigh.

"Prince Hans," Catherine mused turning over on her stomach, "Poor guy. Everyone knows that he's been abused, used, broken, and beaten. They all have, in fact, but Hans and a few of his older brothers got the worst of it. There is a reason why three of them are always off on adventures."

"I keep doing the math and I can only name 12 princes total. Who is the thirteenth? Where is he?" I said sitting cross-legged in the grass.

"Ah. It has been forbidden to speak his name," said Alyss seriously, "We do not speak of him and the King and Queen will know if we did. They have spies everywhere! It's a conspiracy!"

"I see," I said gazing up at the sky. It suddenly occurred to me that I had been out in the woods with the sisters the entire day and the sun was now beginning to set. With a sigh, I stood up and brushed grass off the white and gold ruffles on the skirt of my scarlet and gold dress. The grass stains on my white stockings could not be helped, though. "I'd best return to the castle before it gets any later. It was great meeting you! 'Bye!"

"'Bye, Aralyne," they said in unison as I jumped on Sitron's saddle and rode him back to the castle.

When I had returned, Carlotta was waiting for me with dinner, which I wished to have in my room. There was still no way I was going to spend more time with Hans's family. Unfortunately the youngest prince did not join me this time.

Hans was out in the garden again, staring out over the ocean when Grimsby came up behind him.

Grimsby said to the young man, "Hans, if I may say, despite your family and their plot, you should do what you believe is right with the young lady." He gestured to the window above them before walking away.

Hans looked up to see Aralyne getting ready for bed and smiled. With a sigh, he turned to head inside, but then heard a female voice singing. Swiveling back towards the ocean, he saw a Aralyne walking down the beach, her seashell necklace glowing gold. A golden light drifted from the necklace across the beach towards the castle. The golden light entered his eyes, and he was instantly entranced...

Mushu wasn't feeling well. In fact, he had felt sick since he bit Zombie Pocahontas. The little dragon's colouring had faded and he was sweating profusely.

"Man... I knew biting her was a bad idea," he moaned out, then hunched over and threw up.

"Aw! Poh widdle dwagon," someone mocked in a baby voice. He looked up to see Siren sneering at him.

"Y-You did this to me," he stammered out trying to focus on her, but his eyesight was blurry, and he saw four of her.

"No, Mushu, you did this to yourself. You went and bit a zombie. You got its blood into your system, and now you have been infected as well." The villainess laughed. "I said I would come back for you, and in a bit you will belong to me." Siren laughed once more, her voice echoing inside his head, and everything went dark...

Looking down at her minion with pride, Siren felt as if something were missing. His colouring remained faded, but his eyes were now glowing an eerie white. "Not much damage you can do at this size," she said thoughtfully. She flicked her fingers at him and he suddenly grew until he towered over her, and he became even more fearsome-looking. His mouth opened and venom dripped from his fangs in pools at her feet. "Now, that's what I'm talking about! Go out, my dead dragon, and kill!"

Mushu nodded and quickly ran off. Laughing, Siren transported herself onto a rooftop in the middle of Nesidy. Down below, Mushu was already causing destruction. The screams coming from below was music to her ears. She peered down to see many of the heroes grabbed weapons to fight the zombie dragon. Mushu fought back, twisted out of the way of many attacks, turned and bit Mulan in the side.

The Chinese woman screamed in pain and Siren was able to see the venom from Mushu's fangs penetrate her body. Mulan suddenly went through a horrifying transformation. Her skin paled to the color of milk, and her eyes glowed an eerie white. Blood began dripping from her lips as Mushu released her. She turned and began swinging her sword, connecting with several people. Blood splattered all over the streets. The screams became even more intense. Half of the heroes turned their weapons upon Mulan. She received a scratch on the left side of her forehead, and arrows struck her from every angle. They protruded from her back, her right thigh, her left calf, and in her stomach. That did nothing to stop the new undead creature. The two zombies continued to move forward and attacked people.

This went on for a while until Siren became bored and transported her creations and herself back to her castle.