Turned, Twisted, and Tossed Around

αℓяιgнт then...-15

Instead of Helga leading the way, she walked to the side of me, a little behind even, and gave me the directions. I felt somewhat..wrong to be in front. I just hated the feeling of having to go somewhere, and being completely clueless of where to turn until someone spoke it. "Couldn't you just...head on in front of me?" I asked.

Helga inhaled a deep breath, "I-It just isn't done that way. There are different ways people should behave in front of someone with higher authority..." My lip twitched. "I do not hold any type of power, nor do I want it. I just..just want to go back to the way things were. All I want--All I need is to be with him and go back to the Human World..."

Helga nodded, and fixed a strand of loose hair as I recognized the large wooden doors. "Why..isn't Evangeline here?" I wondered. She shrugged, "Perhaps they just wanted you.." I shook my head, "Now why would they want me?"'

The large doors swung open, sending a draft of cold air. "You wouldn't mind waiting for me here, would you? I have a very poor sense of direction.." Helga smiled, and nodded as if she understood. I'm starting to really like her.

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I felt nervous butterflies, no, bumblebees hammering in my stomach. It stung, twisted, and made me extremely nervous, scared even. I didn't know what to expect. Perhaps news of Michael had been linked to them, and I'm here to be questioned. My stomach rumbled even more.

I forced my legs to move towards the Queen and King, yet again standing in front of their thrones, and did a short curtsy. The queen wore an elegant light red gown that a few shades later would match her hair. The king was dressed in a fine dark blue fabric that looked like silk. I felt my dress swish as I forced my legs to inch forward.

Once I was directly in front of his and her majesty, I tried to fix my posture and appearance, although I bet that my eyes reflected my fear and anxiety.

The queen's arm was hooked with the king's in an old fashioned way, that seemed fairly appropriate. I felt myself slightly tremble when the King spoke. "Greetings, Violett.." He trailed off, and I nodded in his direction, wondering if I should curtsy again. "I--" I continued the king, but was interrupted by his loving wife. "We must apologize for out sudden..outbursts..the last time we gathered. I am Queen Fedessa of Ourne,--" It was the King's turn to interrupt. "And I am King Olive-view."

I took in nervous breaths, willing them to reach the climax of the conversation. I gave them a small, awkward smile. "Its pleasure to be acquainted..." I spoke softly, only loud enough to here from the distance we were at. Queen Fedessa cleared her throat. "Its a rather long story we must tell, so I encourage you to take a seat.." She gestured toward the empty seat that I hadn't recognized before.

I pressed my lips together, and tried hopelessly to cope with the hammering bumblebees as I sat down. The queen made an odd face, and took her seat in the throne as the king followed her example. She rubbed her lips together, and folded her hands neatly on her lap. The Queen's strawberry hair was put into a neat bun, with so many braids and twirls that it made me dizzy just looking at them.

The king coughed, and finally shattered the silence. "We are not proud of what has been occurring lately. Wars and battles are occurring endlessly, when one ends it gives birth to another. Plans, and plots are being arranged to..end the dynasty we are trying to extend. Ourians announce that the ways of our ruling are biased, unjust. A few outcasts have been caught entering the place..their goal was to finish us off. In response we sent our child into the world unknown for protection, disguised her, and even gave her a new name. If even one current heir dies, a new heir would be chosen immediately, and we needed our child to be the one to inherit the Royal Throne. Her name was Scarlett Marie Terrelle, and was only a year old when we had to send her away. Pain, and nightmares lingered for as long as I could remember..."

The queen put rested her hand on top of his, and continued for him. "Then things got out of hand...Our most trusted guard disobeyed the Court," Michael! I thought, and a stab of pain struck my stomach. "And it had a terrible effect. The other guards became..distracted. Then a few sightings of outcasts were reported, and I knew that I had to get my daughter out of the horrid place. Hence I asked a loyal friend by the name of Abigail Denise to save her." I felt my heart pound, Abigail!  "The portal was slightly disrupted, leaving us clueless to where her location could be. Abigail received no further instruction, and planned to do what she normally did with the Ourians she rescued...train and send."

The king squeezed the queen's hand. "But before that we had already issued a back-up plan. Our hope dissolved quickly when we didn't know where our daughter was, so when some of our men searched, the Council activated the Plan B. Plan B was to give the throne to a distant relative by the name of William Felix, but there was a problem. William didn't have a wife, which would mean no Queen, and that is strictly against the rules. Therefore the Council created the most efficient way to get a bride, the Royal Ball. A plan was constructed to get the best queen possible. We sent specific Ourians to visit everyone's house, and to hand out gowns and suits according to their personality, traits, intelligence, so on and so forth. This was quick-thinking, and it turned out to be a brilliant idea. William will notice the maidens with the prettier gowns, and will most likely choose her as his bride. Not only will she look pretty, but she will be intelligent, and have the best personality."

This actually makes some sort of sense, but I'm wondering why they would waste their time telling me this. The Queen smiled, and look at me very intently. She sighed, "Now you may be a tad bit curious as to why we are expaining this, so I might as well tell you now." My body froze, and I measured the seconds by the beat of my heart.

This is it. I'm finally going to know why I'm here.

The queen looked at her husband, who gave a small nod. "If you hadn't figured it out already, Violett, you are our daughter."

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I waited for a moment, searching for a sign that told me that this was simply an antic to them. Something that told me that the king and queen hadn't meant what they said, but somewhere inside of me...I knew. I knew that my frozen body, pounding heart, and swirling stomach were overreacting.

I remained utterly speechless. What could I possibly say? This explains a lot. Its like a puzzle I've been trying to put together, but then find a missing piece under the bed. Then I realized something else. Violett isn't my name. I'm Scarlett. Both are colors that are effortlessly found on the skin that I wore.

The queen, my mother, figited. "It must be..so hard for you to..adapt to such sudden changes, but you must realize that we did it for your safety." I nodded. "And I'm glad that you did.." Because if you didn't, I probably would've never met Michael. I would've never experienced the human way of life. They both looked quite shocked by my response. As if they thought that I was about to start yelling, or create some dramatic scene. Nothing can change what I already am, I told myself, only how much I believe in it.

"There are to be a few...arrangements. I've already directed a few servants to simply move your belongings into a..more appropriate room. I hope you don't mind..I don't mean to..guide you into anything you don't want to do, but its customary that you learn how behave appropriatly for your age. You'll have classes before the ball so you'll understand the way things go around here..."

I felt my breath catch in my throat. This was going to be a very long day.