Collective

Penelope

Before Penelope could reach the servant's entrance, she heard a sound not often heard inside the Palace. Or at least, not on the ground floor where the public might hear. Penelope heard the unmistakable sound of yelling. Not just yelling, but screaming.

Penelope knew she should just keep walking, go out the gates, get started on her plan. But she couldn't help herself. She was curious. Instead of walking toward the servant's entrance, she inched closer to the source of commotion. Keeping her eyes peeled for Ms. Palmer, she managed to get a prime viewing spot of the unfolding spectacle behind a large column in the entryway.

From her vantage point, Penelope could see her mother's cousin, Arabella, ranting at none other than the Queen herself. Arabella's curly hair was unkempt, and her face was bright red. She was shaking her entire head in rage, as if to emphasize every syllable she spoke. Her long purple dress had a tear in it near the bottom, as if she had snagged it on something or someone had stepped on it.

Arabella's husband stood slightly behind her in relation to the queen, his hands folded behind his back, his head hung on his neck as he stared at the ground in what looked less like fear or shame and more like embarrassment.

A crowd of about twenty to thirty other royals stood on by the edges of the room watching the scene unfold.

The second Penelope saw the Queen, she slid back behind the column in fear. Penelope knew first hand that her mother had a large array of Powers at her disposal, the least of which being the ability to see through solid structures. Structures like columns. On top of that, she had many truth related abilities, and Penelope was sure her Mask Power would be easily defeated by one of them. The only thing saving her was the fact that her mother's attention was elsewhere, and it seemed that Arabella was occupying a very large percentage of the Queen's attention to Penelope's relief.

"The very idea that I, only trying to help, should be punished for stealing is absolutely absurd!" Arabella was speaking in a manner that could only be described as screeching, loud pitched and hysterical. Another peak around the column revealed that Arabella's husband was trying to subtly pull her arm towards the exit, but Arabella wasn't having it.

"The Receiving Room was BURNING DOWN!" screamed Arabella, "I saved it! It would have been the tree incident all over again, except this time, there may have been actual casulaties. And how would you explain that away? You should be thanking me! The very fact that I am standing here right now is beyond ridiculous, it's insanity! If I hadn't stepped in, the Princess could have died!"

Penelope started at the mention of herself. She realized they were talking about the incident with the fire boy. Penelope suddenly remembered the way which Arabella had grabbed the boy's arm and suddenly the fire had disappeared. In retrospect, Penelope was surprised she hadn't thought about the consequences of Arabella's actions sooner. At the time she had been so overwhelmed with the chaos, and her subsequent captivity, that she hadn't spared a second to think about what had happened beyond the intensity of the fire and the lack of control she had over it. But for anyone but the Queen to Absorb a Power was strictly forbidden. After all, it wasn't the royal family who ruled the country, it was one set of hands in which the throne was held. There were severe consequences for any Absorber who was found to have violated the law and taken a Power which was not theirs to take.

Of course, if Penelope was being honest, she doubted that stopped much of her family. They were Power hungry, and they knew that any children they preyed on would be far too afraid to report what had happened, for fear the Queen would choose not to believe them over her own blood relatives. Which, Penelope thought to herself, was likely exactly what would happen. The Queen would never admit weakness within the Palace.