Something Extraordinary

Chapter Thirty-Four - Our Story

When the Queen finished talking, she saw that the girl was deep in thought. "So you think that Princess Eviana crossed that way? And that's why you weren't aware?"

Renée froze for a moment again, but Azalea didn't notice. "That's possible...but I don't understand why she would come here herself....it's much more likely that her diary was taken...for whatever reason." Renée quickly lied, immediately feeling the guilt sink into the pit of her stomach.

She cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject. "On that note, I have never seen such an object for our realm. If it does exist, I suspect Arthur has it." Azalea's eyes widened. "It would explain how he's managed to avoid detection for so long." Renée muttered bitterly.

"Should we be asking assistance from the other rulers?" Azalea asked.

Renée sighed. "It's not that simple, darling girl. The relationships between the rulers of the realms have been strained for centuries now. I can't say that I've made that much better with my actions."

Azalea suddenly remembered the apparent assassination attempt and nodded slowly. Renée looked at her lover silently, feeling the guilt in her stomach blossom.

Even if the relationships weren't strained, she could never risk asking for the help of the other nations...not when there was a chance that they could recognize Princess Eviana.

Azalea had been fixated on understanding how the diary came to be in Afronave as the diary was the only thing that had appeared without an explanation...much like herself. Perhaps it would shed some light on her arrival too. Of course she didn't tell Renée that she was looking into her appearance. She didn't want to cause a misunderstanding that she wanted to leave.

Another thing that was on Azalea's mind was the history book of Afronave. She had been reading a similar book in her dorm, seconds before she was brought to this world. Deep down, she even believed that some kind of magic within the book had brought her here. Even though Azalea had only looked through a few parts of the book, she remembered that certain lines that were crossed out and alternative scripts were added in the section about Renée. That wasn't the case in the book that she found in the library here. Renée was portrayed as nothing but cold and cruel, which was why Azalea had taken on the task of writing their story in the first place. Azalea absentmindedly flipped through a few of the pages that she had written.

~•~
My Queen, you are anything but cruel. You are the air that feeds my soul. I never knew of love this beautiful until I met you. Let us be the ones who tell our story.
~.~

As she read the excerpt, she froze. Maybe she had done so absentmindedly, she thought. Internally, she recalled that these were the exact words that she had read in the story book before she came here.

It wasn't the same book though! She tried to reason with herself. The covers were different, and the other book had the original writing with the addition of these sections. She had definitely been writing from subconscious memory. But then, who had originally written those things about the Queen? Azalea nearly felt a jealousy burn inside her. Surely there hadn't been some other girl before her. Neither Alden, Renée, not Mrs. Walters had ever mentioned another girl. She had to trust Renée.

Suddenly, Azalea seemed to remember that the writing in the book was almost familiar at the time...much like her own script. She hadn't written in the history book though. The timeline also didn't match. If the book had writing previously, it made no sense that it was gone now. Previously she had tried to alter it by tearing out pages, but it was clearly protected by magic. Besides, she reasoned with herself that if she had written in it, surely she would remember.

But she didn't remember what had happened the day of the supposed assassination attempt.

Nothing seemed to make sense. First the diary, and now the seeming parallels between the book that she was creating and the book that she had read. All the memories of her parallel life along with the flashes of Princess Eviana's life were started to take a toll on her ability to distinguish reality from fantasy. She gripped the pages of the book tightly.

Azalea wanted so desperately to believe that everything in this moment was real. It felt so real. But then again, so did everything in the first 18 years of her life. She closed her eyes, everything becoming all too overwhelming. In the silence and darkness, she could feel the Queen's arms wrap around her, causing her to suddenly be enveloped by Renée's comforting presence.

Renée hummed softly to the girl in her arms. She felt guilty. She wanted to give Azalea the missing pieces to her puzzle, but the fear consumed her. For once in her life, Renée was truly terrified. She could lose her Princess.

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*edited*

Hi everyone,

This chapter is meant to be confusing, because Azalea is very confused. Things will start to make sense soon. I also went back and reread some chapters, but I'm worried that there might be inconsistencies. I will go back and edit the whole thing once I'm done as well.

Lots of love,
-Cindy