Lavender & Ice

28. Answering the King and Queen

Dressed in a simple tunic and matching long pants made of linen, Ashima followed Teluq silently out of the room, Dran falling in behind them to proceed down the hall.

"Somethings off with her." Teluq said to Dran, as if Ashima wasn't there. 

"Hmm?" Was the only reply Dran gave.

"I don't know what it is, she should be feeling better after the medicine and the rest."

"Teluq, those things help the body heal but cannot heal the mind."

"Now she has something wrong with her mind?" Teluq turned and glanced at Ashima before she continued walking.

"Surely you can guess what she's been through, Teluq. That can do more damage to the mind than the body." Dran scolded. They finished the rest of their walk down the long, windowless hallways in silence before entering the same meeting room as two days prior.

The king and queen were sitting side by side on a couch, alone. They watched as Teluq and Dran deposited Ashima onto the opposite seat.

"That will be all." The king stated and the two guards left the room. Ashima stared blankly at nothing in particular on the sofa table, simply waiting.

"You have been asleep for a long time. I trust the medical attendants took good care of you." The Queen, Thala, stated but Ashima didn't respond or move.

I wonder how Kietnan did in his final trial. If he succeeded. I'm sure he did.

Thala pressed her lips together and glanced at her husband.

"Let's get right into it, then." King Japheth continued for his wife. "Tell us about your time at camp. Start from when you were found."

He's probably on his way home, no longer bothering to wonder what happened to me.

The king cleared his throat and the Queen addressed Ashima directly, but she didn't hear it.

He'll go home and forget all about me. He'll have his brothers, his real friends. Probably find a wife and have children.

"Is she ignoring us on purpose?" Thala asked her husband, incredulous.

"I do not think she even realizes we're in the room." Jopeth stated, pressing his lips together as he waved his hand in front of Ashima.

Soon I'll be gone and no one on this planet will even remember me. People on my planet will never know what happened to me.

"Something is wrong." Japheth stated.

"Agreed. She is not of good mind." Thala responded before addressing Ashima again. "Shima, that is your name, yes?" The queen spoke her name with a thick accent.

At the version of her name, Ashima's eyes darted to the Queen's face. "Shima..."

"Yes!" Thala spoke, relieved. "That is your name?"

"Ah-Sheema." She said, accentuating the A at the beginning of her name. "He called me Shima, too." Ashima said, wistfully as if in a dream.

"Who?"

"The man who saved me." Ashima smiled slightly, remembering the first time he had tried to pronounce her name. She chuckled slightly. "He was so frustrated he couldn't say it correctly. But I didn't mind. Of course I couldn't tell him that, since my translator hadn't learned your language yet."

"You could not speak our language when you arrived but you can now?" Japheth asked in confusion.

"I was so excited when it started working, when it finally had learned enough of the language to start helping me speak with him. To properly thank him for saving me, taking care of me, giving me shelter." Ashima frowned as a tear fell down her cheek.