A/N: Ilsadora's painting^ also, I told myself after book 3 I was done, but I can't resist: "Let's get down to business, to defeat the Huns! Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?!" -Li Shang, I'll make a man out of you, Mulan
Surprisingly, finding King Silas was not difficult at all.
But then again, they just followed the sounds of low talking and a single running maid, and they discovered the King easily.
He was standing in the middle of a hallway on the second floor, staring blankly at the wall, or a painting, to be more specific.
The painting he was staring at was of a woman with icy green eyes and white-blonde hair that was pulled away from her face severely. Her face was pale, and it only made the little makeup she wore stand out even more. Dark periwinkle eyeshadow framed the penetrating green eyes and painted red lips frowned at Viviana from the wall. The painting was lifelike, and for some reason, it made Viviana shudder.
Former Queen Ilsadora certainly was terrifying, and this was just an artist's interpretation of her.
"Your highness?" Viviana asked, glancing at the other servants in the hallway.
The servants did nothing to stop her interruption, just as they did not seem disturbed by the King's staring. They just continued with their tasks and watched him out of the corners of their eyes.
That was more unnerving than the portrait of Queen Ilsadora in Viviana's opinion.
King Silas jumped at being addressed and he spun away from the painting. His eyes flickered oddly, and for a second, Viviana swore they were glazed over, but then he was looking at her attentively, so she blamed the flicker on her imagination.
"Yes?"
She used her magic to her advantage, picking up his mannerisms quickly, and studying him as though he were an amoeba under a microscope.
His tone demonstrated exhaustion, his expression demonstrated deep-rooted sadness, and his posture was as straight as ever.
Interesting. Learning etiquette must be murder.
Preisha analyzed the king as well, and Viviana forgot for a moment that she must look rather strange, as a girl with a bag and two friends just standing there and not saying anything.
Thankfully, she had Santiago and Jeanette to rescue her.
"King Silas." Santiago greeted with a formal bow. "We are here as applicants for the journey to Remembauri."
Shock appeared on the King's face. Viviana blinked.
At least he still isn't so defeated his emotions don't work.
"Applicants? For Remembauri? For saving my Isabelle?" He repeated.
Jeanette's eyes darted around. "Er, yeah. That's what he said."
King Silas looked between all of them. "All of you are applying?"
Before Jeanette could do something stupid, like say yes, Viviana interrupted, revealing the application they had and brandishing it at the king. "No. I am, and they are with me."
The king looked confused.
"No one has applied as a group before." He muttered taking the application and looking it over.
"There's only one question: who is going to lead in your group?" The king asked after he finished reading the first page of the packet. And even then, Viviana doubted he read it. It looked more like he was just making his eyes dart in lines across the page without taking in a single word.
"I'm leading." Viviana insisted, squaring her shoulders and daring Santiago and Jeanette to argue with her.
The king shook his head. "In that case, you can't be accepted."
"Why?" Viviana demanded.
"Only men are allowed to apply. And in the case of a group, lead. I can't give my trust to anyone else."
Viviana fumed, her hands clenching into harsh fists. If she had not been so angry, she would have noticed his strange expression along with Preisha.
But she practically yelled at the king instead.
"You mean you can't sell your daughter for marriage to a woman." Her eyes narrowed and her tone became venomous. Someone put their hand on her shoulder but she shrugged them off and squared off her entire body against the king. "The entire concept is messed up. But that's not all, you don't believe I can go to Remembauri and kill an enchantress!"
"Of course, I don't." He replied matter of factly. "I was going to let you try anyway. But you won't even make it to Yaquir. You're just a group of teenagers. There is no way you will complete this job. Not even if he was leading instead of you."
King Silas pointed at Santiago, and Viviana barely kept her powers in check. The hand came back on her shoulder, and this time it was firm.
But she was long gone.
"Misogynistic bastard!" She shrieked. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't fucking wield a sword or save a Princess! And I'm going to Remembauri, whether you agree to the application or not!"
"We are?!" Jeanette asked, but Viviana ignored her.
The king waved it off, somehow not caring that she had insulted and screamed at him.
"You do that." He mumbled, turning back to the painting of Ilsadora.
Viviana gaped at him. She was even more ticked off that she hadn't gotten a rise out of him. He certainly was not a normal person.
She took back her assessment from earlier. He was emotionally dead and he had given up. It just wasn't as apparent as it should be.
Before she could insult him more though, the hand on her shoulder became a vice-like arm that forcibly wrapped around her and led her from the scene.
She grumbled and struggled against Santiago's grip but it was no use.
"You are so lucky, Viviana." He snapped. "Just because he's wrong doesn't mean you can bite his head off."
"Yes, it does!"
"Jeanie. Help me out." Santiago looked at Jeanette, but Jeanette was not paying attention at all.
Actually, she looked like she was swaying on the spot.
Santiago and Viviana shoved each other away and dashed to Jeanette's side.
"Jeanie? What is it?" Santiago demanded.
Jeanette pivoted and walked dazedly toward a flight of stairs. "We have to go this way."
"Jeanie? JEANETTE!" Viviana screamed, running in front of her friend and shaking her by the shoulders. "Snap out of it! We should just go."
"No."
Jeanette batted Viviana away and sprinted up the stairs before Santiago and Viviana could stop her.
Viviana and Santiago followed Jeanette, calling her, and asking for an explanation, but it was like they didn't exist.
Jeanette didn't stop until she made it to the end of a hallway on the third floor and shoved the door open.
Viviana and Santiago skidded to a stop behind her, and Viviana's eyes widened at what Jeanette had found.
It was Princess Isabelle.
Just as all the rumors and stories had said, the princess of Nazeen was completely dead to the world. Her dirty blonde hair was carefully French braided away from her face, but her bangs had been clipped to the side. She didn't look like she was in a hospital room... at least, not really. She was dressed in a lavender nightgown and her thin white blankets had been carefully tucked around her.
The only thing that hinted at the true nature of the room was the sounds.
Isabelle's hospital room was fully equipped with machines and tools, and the heart monitor was beeping steadily in the background. There was a window on the princess's left side, but drab curtains were pulled over it.
Jeanette was rooted in place, with glossy eyes and her hands over her mouth. It made sense now. Jeanette, as a healer, could sense deep pain or distress. It was how she knew who to use her powers on. She had likely heard or felt some part of Isabelle in the back of her mind and followed it without a second thought, only to freeze when she discovered the source.
Viviana, however, was the one who stayed in motion.
She did not know what possessed her, but the next thing she knew, she was at the princess's side, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Viv!" Santiago hissed, and Jeanette jumped, released from her stupor. But Viviana waved him off.
"Viviana, deja la Princesa! Debemos ir ahora. No queremos más problemas. El rey-" [Viviana, leave the princess. We have to leave now. We don't want any more problems. The king-] Santiago attempted to reason with her, but Viviana was far away, barely listening to him.
"Ve, entonces." [Go, then] Viviana muttered. "Voy a encontrar tú luego." [I will find you later.]
"Ahora, Viviana!" [Now, Viviana!] Santiago tried again, but she shook her head.
Jeanette tugged on her brother's arm. "We should go, Tiago. This is creepy. Viv will follow us, right Viv?"
Viviana nodded, and Jeanette tugged her brother away, leaving Viviana alone with the unconscious princess.
"Hello, Princess Isabelle." Viviana said quietly. "I won't leave you like this, don't worry. I'll save you. You'll be free."
Isabelle gave no impression that she'd heard anything Viviana said.
On a whim, Vivana extended her pinkie finger and locked it with Isabelle's. She was about to say 'pinkie promise' when something zapped her finger.
Viviana yelped and pulled her hand back. Isabelle's left eye twitched, but that was it.
Viviana brushed the zap off as a bit of static electricity and fled the room before someone could find her.
Little did she know Isabelle's fingers slowly bunched the blankets under the hand Viviana had zapped.
A/N:
Oooohh! She's alive!
*Rises from the floor Frankenstein style but then trips over laptop cord and falls*
I'm ok!
QoW: What do you think of Jeanette's zombie state? And Isabelle's odd reaction at the end?
...I wish I could say I originally drafted this during Halloween, so they might have an explanation. But I did this in March. Or was it February?
Either way, clearly not October. I guess Halloween lives all year round at this point.
See you next week for the next chapter!
-Eva