Rise of Lost Royalty

Chapter 20: Comfort from Mom

Lauren sighed, leaning over so she could rest her forehead on her mother's shoulder. "I feel exhausted..."

Isabella gently started rubbing her daughter's back and that's when she noticed Lauren didn't have her wings. "A no-wing day?"

"Yep."

Isabella chuckled, pulling out her wand and making her wings disappear. "I honestly forgot we fairies can do that. How about we had a no-wing, mother-daughter day, huh?"

Lauren pulled back so she could look at her mother's face, her own face lighting up slightly despite her exhausted look and slight dark circles under her eyes. "I'd like that."

Isabella smiled at her daughter's face, standing up and offering her daughter a hand. "C'mon, let's go to my study. I have a lot of books on our family history. We can talk about our ancestors if you'd like that."

Lauren gently closed her journal and picked up her journal and pen, holding onto her mother's hand as she stood up. "I've always loved the idea of learning about ancestors. I'd love to learn and talk about our ancestors!"

"I'm glad to hear that." In all honesty, Isabella was gladder that she could make her daughter smile and more cheery again. She led Lauren to her study.

On the way there, Lauren's grip on her mother's hand tightened, causing Isabella to look down at her daughter's hand and looked up to see Lauren staring at her own feet. She frowned, taking Lauren inside her study and shutting the door. "I don't want to seem confrontational...but you seem off, Lauren. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lauren replied blankly, flopping down into a chair.

Isabella pulled up a chair in front of her daughter. "Lauren...talk to me."

"No...!" Lauren clutched her journal close to herself, shutting her eyes as she shook her head.

"Please!" Isabella begged. "I want to know...but I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to.."

Lauren rubbed her eye slightly, holding her vision journal out to her mother. "I know this is going to bring up bad memories, but..." she trailed off.

Isabella gently took the journal from her daughter, flipping open to the first page and starting to read. By the time she shut the journal when she was finished, she had a frown on her face and a few tears on her cheeks. "Oh, Lauren..."

Lauren hid her face in her hands, holding back tears. "I know, I know, I know..."

Isabella put the journal on her desk that was behind her, scooting closer to her daughter. Gently picking Lauren up and setting her in her lap, rocking her like a baby. "It's okay," She cooed.

Lauren sobbed silently, wrapping her arms around her mother tightly.

"Shh, it's alright." Her mother kept cooing.

"No...no...it's not alright.."

"Lauren..." Isabella stroked her daughter's hair. "You seem to be in shock.." She turned so she could grab the phone that was on her desk, calling Brianna over with a shock blanket. She hung up before Brianna could ask any questions.

Brianna knocked on the study door gently before opening it, holding a shock blanket in her arms. When she saw Isabella rocking Lauren in her lap, she frowned, coming in and gently wrapping the blanket around Lauren. "How bad is it?" She asked quietly.

"I sense it to be border-line extreme shock," Isabella replied sadly.

"Oh dear! That's not good," Brianna exclaimed softly.

Isabella sighed. "I know. And I keep hearing her mumble something about purpose and importance, and it's driving me crazy because I don't know what she means."

"Hm..." Brianna thought for a few moments. "She did talk about having a vision last night.."

"The one by the river?"

"Yeah," Brianna nodded. "Maybe it relates to that."

"Let's just hope she'll be okay enough to tell us about that vision when she wakes up."

—————

Around an hour later, Lauren woke up from her state of shock. Her eyes fluttered open as she heard hushed, female voices that instantly went quiet when she showed signs of being awake. Her eyes opened fully and she saw Isabella and Brianna.

"Hey there, dear. How are you feeling?" Her mother asked softly.

"B-Better, I guess.." Lauren rasped, her voice sounding weak. "H-How long was I out for?"

"About an hour."

"Oh..."

"It's alright," Brianna spoke up. "Although, I'd like to ask, you were mumbling something about purpose and importance, does that have to do with the vision you had by the river last night?"

Lauren nodded slowly after processing what Brianna asked. "Sure does."

"Could you explain that vision to us?"

—————

Lauren explained in full detail to Isabella and Brianna the vision she had by the river, even going so far as to explain what happened before the vision as well.

"I've...never had that kind of vision before," Isabella pointed out. "That's strange..."

"Indeed," Brianna agreed. "But not strange in a bad way."

"Really? Well...now that I'm thinking about that vision again. Along with the mysterious woman, I do remember seeing someone else in the shadows."

"Oh? Who?"

"Um...seemed like a man, no, he was a fairy, in his late teens-early twenties. I swear I saw a crown on his head..."

Isabella seemed shocked by what Lauren said while Brianna only nodded.

"Late teens-early twenties you said, right?" Isabella asked.

"Yeah, why mother?"

"Your missing brother would be in his early twenties. He'd be about twenty-one.."

"Hm...the man did seem to have some of your features.."

Brianna smiled before getting up and heading out the door, standing in the doorway. "Well, I should get going...there still is hope Isabella," Brianna said before leaving.

—————

Lauren and Isabella spent the rest of their day in Isabella's study talking about family ancestors, friends, and the history of the kingdom. Isabella showed Lauren the last picture she had of Nathan, stating that all the other ones strangely disappeared when Nathan did.

Lauren took the picture from her mother's hand, studying it. "How old is Nathan in this picture?"

"Seventeen."

"The man looked practically just like this in my vision, just looked a little older. Yep, I'm one hundred and ten percent sure that the man in my vision was Nathan."

"Then Brianna was right; there still is hope that he is alive and well. Thank goodness."