Another chapter of the tale of mystery.

FAMILY SECRETS

A HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE FANFIC

Chapter 21

It took awhile for Suliman to convince the King to let him go with me. The King understandably didn't want to lose his last remaining Royal Wizard if he could help it. Nor did he want to cause an international incident. Strangia did not want Ingary's Royal Wizard within their lands. I don't know how he managed do it but the king finally agreed. My best guess is that told the King that he owed Howl. Which he did. Howl did save the Ingary from the Witch's demon (although not for altruistic reasons). I can't say that the King loved Howl, but he owed him a lot. Just as he owed me. Without my help Howl would have failed. Plus, I wasn't asking for much. Just a little help to keep myself and my son alive. I am glad that King agreed to my request.

After making sure that Arthur would be alright we headed off. It was weird traveling alone with Ben Suliman. I had never honestly spent this much time with him. It felt weird. More than once I felt that someone was missing. Howl should have been here instead. I needed him with me. There were no quips or arguments. I was not going to get that. Not without Howl. Instead, there was just silence as we made our way to Strangia. Neither of us were really in the talking mood. It took nearly 3 days to reach the shores of Strangia. It took another day or two to convince the country to let us in. People from Ingary were not welcome here right now. For the political tensions were still high. War had been averted, but just barely. They did not want our kind here. Particularly once they learned that we could use magic! They feared us. Not that I blamed them. Magic could be pretty scary.

I have to thank Suliman for his silver tongue. Somehow he got us out of hot water - without using magic! The officials eventually gave way and let us pass. They did warn us that they would be watching for trouble. At this point though that was a moot point. For we were able to blend in as soon as we hit the streets. The government couldn't find us. So far neither had my enemies. Which was odd. We weren't exactly always on the move. We got stuck in some very public places. Yet no one attacked us. It was almost as if they wanted us to arrive. Which left both of us on edge. Why hadn't they tried anything?

After leaving the Capital City we headed north towards Fisherman's Cove. Ben didn't know the exact location but he was able to find a map and get us there. With his help we made it there in only two days. The bay was almost exactly the same as in the vision. It was little rundown, but otherwise charming. The nature around it was beautiful! It was hard to believe that my mother could really be from this place. It seemed so alien compared to my childhood home. I wouldn't know what to do with myself here. There's just nothing to make a living from. I felt no connection to the land. Which was what I was expecting. Since I felt that way in the dream. It was strange but I put it aside for now.

We asked around about my mother. I had a picture of her from before she died that I showed everyone. No one seemed to recognize her. Neither did they recognize her name. Then again most of the people were relatively young. They would have never met her before she left. It made sense that they couldn't recognize her. We were about to give up when I came across an old woman who recognized her. She ran the general store and was living here 20 years ago. She said that my mother was the daughter of a Feudal Lord. She was betrothed to a man twenty years her senior. The pair had never actually met. She did not want to marry him but was being forced into it by her father. She ended up running away soon after. There was a rumor that she ran off with a commoner from Ingary. While pregnant with her child. It was the talk of the town for quite a while.

"It was a huge scandal! His Lordship never stopped looking for her. He wanted to drag her back and punish her. Because of her, his alliance fell apart. He was publicly shamed and never quite recovered from it. They say that when he died, he cursed her and all of her descendants."

I tensed up. I knew full well what that meant. If my grandfather had powers or access to a wizard then I could really be cursed again! Not only that, but Lettie and Arthur were at threat too. They were both direct descendants of my mother. Their lives could easily be at risk. My instinct was to run home and protect them. Only that would not help anything. I still did not know who was after us. I had to find the enemy. I couldn't go home just yet. I had to face them.

Ben Suliman wasn't quite as scared as I was. In fact, he seemed quite suspicious. He narrowed his eyes then demanded, "How do you know this?"

The woman seemed to take no notice of his tone. "I used to work inside the castle. I was one of Lady Elizabeth's handmaidens. I was with her right before she ran away." She looked at me closely, "If I didn't know any better than I would swear that you were her Ladyship. You are her spitting image. Say, what was your name child?"

Suliman hurried me away. We had to move. Our enemies were likely to know that we are here. We had to be ready. That woman was likely to turn on us. We had to go! We raced across the beach. Trying to keep ahead of any potential pursuers. I saw the flower growing in the same place as my dream. It looked exactly like the flower that I had picked back at home. It was impossible but it was there. We had a chance! By instinct, I grabbed it then thrust it into the water. The flower lost all of it's color. Just as it did in the dream. Behind me I could hear Ben Suliman scream, "Sophie! No!"

It didn't matter. For he was drowned out by the door opening above the bay. I stared in horror as it opened to reveal the man from my dreams.

Next Chapter coming up!