Ima's Kingdom

Part One: Chapter Seven

We arrived safely back at the castle, it was quite late and I was exhausted so I kissed Fortis goodnight and headed to bed, I didn't want to deal with anymore stress and so I would confront my Sister in the morning.

I woke up considerably late than normal and headed straight into my sisters room, when I arrived she wasn't there. I guessed that she had got up earlier and gone to get some breakfast. As I was heading back down the corridor and towards the stairs a massive gang of maids and staff ran towards me, they were shouting and screaming with distress and disbelieve,

"She's gone! She's missing!"

I was very confused at this point,

"Who's gone? Who is it?" I replied

They sighed, some were crying others with their heads in their hands.

"Your Sister!" Some of them yelled.

I shook my head and cried,

"No, No, No, This isn't right! This can't be true!"

Suddenly the guards appeared, they marched past the maids and staff  and stood in a line in front of me. Fortis ran towards me he said softly

"I'm afraid it is true." 

He held me in his arms with my head on his chest and for what felt like an eternity I wept and cried. I didn't want to believe it, I didn't want it to be true. She was the only family I had and now she was missing.

"Don't worry Miss, we will find her." The chief guard sighed as he signalled the rest of the troops to follow him back to the guard quarters.

"No Fortis, Don't leave me!" I yelled trying to pull him back.

"I must go." He said as he let go of my hand.

I collapsed to the floor and felt the tears rush out of my eyes. The maids gathered around me and tried to nurture me.

I suddenly felt the strength to leap up, I ran after the guards and eventually caught up with them.

"If you're going, then I'm coming to!" I demanded.

They all turned around at looked astounded when they saw how fast I had caught up with them.

"I have some things to clear up with 'Lea and I guess if I don't find her we may never know any answers." I said more calmly trying to catch my breath.

Fortis looked towards the chief and protested,

"I'll look after her, I promise. She has a right to come with us. It's her family after all."

I smiled at him and stood next to him, holding his hand I added.

"We'll look after each other."

After a few moments of secret discussion finally the guards decided I would be able to come and search with them.

We ran outside and pilled into the cars, we sped off in separate directions and looked everywhere for my Sister.

Whilst we were driving it gave me a chance to question the other guards about what they had discovered the day before. All of the cases seemed to match up. Some families even said that they'd lost siblings, parents and grandparents when they were placed in group four in the hospital. I needed answers and my Sister would be able to provide me with the answers, that was if she wasn't missing. We searched for miles and miles. But we couldn't find her anywhere. The guards had decided to return to the castle to discuss further on how they will find the lost Queen.

I refused to return to the castle until I found her, so I demanded to be dropped of and I would make my own way back to the castle later. Of course Fortis offered to stay with me and obviously I didn't refuse, after all I wanted some company.

We went to look in the nearby forest, it was dark and full of mystical creatures we walked hand in hand down the winding path calling out for my Sister. When we heard no reply we had no choice but to turn back and search somewhere else.

Fortis and I spent a further four long hours searching for her, eventually he said it was probably time to return home. I didn't refuse and slowly we walked back to the castle. With his arm around my waste he held me up as I wept all the way home.

When we finally arrived at the castle all the guards were awaiting our arrival. They patted us on the back as we headed into the warm castle.

We returned the guard quarters where we discussed how we were going to try and find the missing Queen.

We talked through the night and tried to come up with a plan, none of us had any clue where she may be. But I had an idea as to why she left.

"If she caused this hospital scandal and doesn't want the Umbrians to know it was her then she would want to escape the monarchy. The only way she can do that is to run away."

I explained to the guards.

They all agreed that that could be a reason for her running away.

"But why would she purposely cause pain for families and individuals?" One of the guards questioned.

"I don't know, and if we don't find her we probably never will know!" I replied bluntly.

"Calm down Ima. I think it's time to call it a night, if she hasn't returned by tomorrow we will go out and search for her again." The chief said calmly as he put his hand on my shoulder.

I agreed and headed to bed.