Something Extraordinary

Chapter Twenty-Eight - Her Majesty's Growing Dilemma

Azalea was worried. For the last three days, she had not seen Renée. Alden had, on multiple occasions, reassured her that the Queen was likely just caught up in her work, but Azalea couldn't shake the anxiety that something was wrong. Today was their scheduled lesson, and Azalea was worried that she wouldn't attend that either. However, despite her concern, Renée arrived promptly 4 minutes before their meeting time.

Azalea greeted the Queen with a grin and was given a warm smile in return. This made the girl's heart settle and she was convinced that Alden had likely been right about her simply being busy for the last few days. "You came." Azalea blushed slightly as she approached the Queen.

Renée chuckled softly. "Were you doubting that I would?"

"I mean you've done it before." Azalea grinned again, giving the Queen a small smirk.

"Cheeky girl." Renée tapped the girl's cheek with a tiny eye roll of amusement, but her mind was mostly elsewhere.

Renée had had a lot of time to think for herself over the last few days since the revelation in her office. Almost immediately, she had picked up the necklace and hastily shoved it back inside the box and into her cabinet. No words could properly express the emotions that were going through her mind at that point in time. She felt many things, terror being the one overriding most of the others. Suddenly it made sense why the girl had magic.

Her initial thought was that she had been right and the girl was part of the group that had executed the attempted assassination. She had lied to Renée. The more rational part of her brain immediately chimed in and reminded her that even if Azalea had been with them, she had lost her memories and truly couldn't recall the events of that day. She wouldn't let herself question this one fact. If Azalea had her memories, she surely would have either tried to harm her or attempted to return home. Although she had initially felt relieved at the realization that the girl hadn't been lying to her, knowing that Azalea would hate her if she had her memories only made Renée feel far worse.

One thing that Renée failed to understand was Azalea's story about the other world. She had spoken so earnestly and Renée truly believed that she hadn't been lying. Memory loss was one thing, but to be replaced by a complete set of new memories was another. What magic was this? How was it possible that Azalea knew of this other world in a different time if she was from the other realm?

The timelines in the princess' diary made sense, meaning that she would have been in her land for all of her life. The only gap noted was that her very last entry was dated a week before the attempted assassination. It was the entry that Renée noticed was never completed. That also didn't make sense to the Queen because it seemed like she had been writing and had somehow been forced to stop. Renée couldn't stop thinking about the final incomplete entry and the ink stain across the page.

For awhile, the Queen debated questioning Azalea for answers, but she highly doubted that the girl would be able to remember anything that she couldn't before. A little voice in her mind told her that perhaps it would trigger her memories if she showed the necklace to the girl, but she shut that idea down almost immediately. Her brain made excuses that it wouldn't help, or that the girl probably wouldn't believe her or deny that she was involved, but Renée knew the true reason for her hesitance deep down.

She was terrified that the girl really would remember. Perhaps she would grow cold and resentful towards the Queen. Perhaps she would want to go home, or worse, attempt to harm the Queen. Renee wasn't afraid for her safety though. She couldn't face the possibility of losing Azalea, or worse, having Azalea face her with hatred.