Chapter Two: What Happened After Sunrise
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I woke in my own bed – sore, cold, and confused. Tobias and Nathan slept on bedrolls, one on each side of my bed. I shivered and tried to sleep again, but to no avail. So I fell to thinking.
Yesterday. My father whispered in Tobias’ ear, trying to race against death. The doors in the meeting room had been melted shut, and Nathan has somehow opened them. She said that I was her daughter. I had always been told that my mother died in a mysterious “tragic accident.” Anan would never speak of her, and I had never known her. I needed to talk with Nathan and funeral arrangements needed to be made for my father’s honoring tomorrow.
At last, one of my keepers stirred. Tobias peaked at me out of one eye, then opened both. He sat up then rubbed his hands over his face abrasively to chafe away any fatigue.
“What happened yesterday, after I was out?” I asked.
“Nathan and I brought you here. I stayed with you; Nathan was in and out with news. They’re still looking for your father’s advisors. Somehow Nathan knows that they’re still in the castle. We don’t know if the woman is still inside or not.” Tobias answered.
“Is she actually my mother?” I got out of bed and crossed the room to my closet.
As he spoke, I searched for the box that held my mourning clothes. “Nathan doesn’t doubt her identity. I never really knew your mother, so I can’t say.”
“If Nathan is sure, then she probably is.” I found the box, made of heavy, dark, sweet-smelling wood. Its lid fit into a groove cut on either side of the box’s top, and I slid it open. My other keeper groaned and sat up. Undoubtedly, he was exhausted, but I required information. “What news, Nathan?”
“A moment, Princess, for an aging man to honor his new king.” Nathan rose and bowed deeply to Tobias, then turned to me. Years seemed to have passed over his face in the last days. “The king’s advisors are being searched for inside the castle. We have strong hope of finding them before nightfall. As for this woman,” he spat the word, as if he could barely apply the term to this entity, “It is my belief that she is your mother. We have much to discuss.”
“And my father’s funeral preparations?” I probed.
“Made and approved by myself. Waiting approval of the King and yourself.” He produced a parchment and handed it to me.
I set down the box of mourning clothes and glanced it over. Tobias came to read it over my shoulder. He nodded, and I told Nathan that the plans should be followed as they were written. I moved behind my screen with my mourning clothes in hand and changed. Here, I began to realize the loss of my father and the danger of my mother. Facing the wall, I shuddered in some mixture of a sob of distress and a tremor of fear. My eyes read the cursed inscription on my thumb and a wave of anger overtook those other emotions. I swallowed and returned to my keepers.
Just as Nathan was about to speak, three sharp knocks sounded from my chamber’s door. He rushed to open it. A young soldier, out of breath, saluted and began to speak.
“We found them,” here a breath, “The advisors, sir,” another breath, “All of them safe and physically unharmed.” He exhaled noisily.
“Physically?” Nathan picked up on the pointed detail.
“A few of them are…well they’re…it’s just that…You might want to see for yourself, sir.” The young soldier struggled.
“Where are they?” Nathan questioned.
“They’re being brought, by the main passageway from the eastern wing,” the soldier answered.
“How long until they get here?”
I didn’t hear anything after this. The room grew uncommonly warm, and a sound a mighty gale speeding through the treetops outside came suddenly in my ears. I swayed and grasped at Tobias to steady myself. The words on my thumb throbbed in white hot pain, and I nearly lost consciousness again. Thankfully, he brushed me from my unsteady feet and settled me gently on the floor.
Though my ears were compromised, I could still see. Nathan and the soldier rushed to where I was, kneeling on either side of me. I forced myself to breathe steadily. Soon I could hear them asking if I was alright and I nodded slowly. A few seconds later, I asked Tobias to lift me to a chair. He didn’t want to move me, but I assured him that I would be fine.
Nathan asked urgently, “Are you certain that you’re well? Do you require any assistance?”
I looked at him puzzlingly. “Yes, Nathan. I’m sure.”
The young soldier bid for Nathan’s attention. “Sir?” he said quietly, “Will you come? Time shortens as we speak.”
With a glance at me – I nodded and motioned for him to go with his man – he answered. “Yes, alright. Let’s go now.”
He made a small bow to Tobias and me (he couldn’t yet openly acknowledge that Tobias was king until after his coronation, and so had to bow to him as he always had, not in the fashion he had this morning) and left the room. When he left, Tobias moved in front of me, kneeling and putting his hands on my knees.
“I’m alright,” I promised, putting my right hand over his.
His eyes widened, and he grabbed my hand, looking it over completely. “The words have gone!”
So they had. My thumb, clean from the cursed phrase that had appeared barely two days ago, looked normal again. I wondered if the undertaker’s phrase had disappeared as well. No doubt I would find out at some point today.
“What was the soldier saying earlier?” I asked. “About the advisors being physically well.”
“Some are flying into a frenzied panic for no reason. Others are in intense mental anguish – they say that the pain is only in their mind, but that it’s like nothing they’ve ever encountered before,” Tobias answered, still marveling at my thumb.
I smiled and realized that there was no one I would rather serve as King.
“Come on,” I said, rising from my chair. “Let’s see what needs to be done.”
