"And the Queen adored spending time with the princess who stole her heart, loving her smile, her affection, and her pureness." Renée spoke aloud as she wrote on the page.
The two were sat on the floor of a little reading nook that Azalea had put together in the library. The younger girl was painting a picture of their picnic next to where the Queen was writing, but stopped when she heard her words. "Princess?" She uttered curiously.
Renée nearly felt her heart stop. She had been speaking without thinking. "Yes, because you are my princess, darling." She heard herself utter before she could really think about it. Luckily, Azalea seemed satisfied with this answer and merely blushed in response.
Renée reached for the girl's hand and held it gently. The pair had been spending a lot of time together, but not to train. She had been working on their book and invited Renée to join her.
Their book.
Renée liked the sound of that. Their very own narrative. The girl hasn't allowed Renée to see much of the pages that she herself had written yet, citing that she wanted it to be a surprise. However, of the pages that she did see, her heart melted, reading about herself from the narrative of her lover.
~.~
She perched on her throne with the perfect posture, fitting of a Queen. Her eyes glimmered with an intensity that Azalea could only watch in awe. Her Majesty had no idea that she was being watched by the girl, secretly admiring, wishing to come closer.
~.~
"Is that true? Do you watch me?" Renée teased with a slight hint of a smirk grazing her lips.
Azalea blushed and looked at the Queen. "I do."
Renée's eyes softened in adoration and she reached over to gently stroke the girl's cheek. "I watch you too."
Azalea's heart skipped several beats at Renée's words. She glanced back down at the book on the table, stroking her fingers across the barely dried page.
"Azalea was fearful to approach her majesty, yet the temptations increased with days passed. The undeniable magnetic attraction bound the two in an inexplicable manner." Azalea recited the next page softly to Renée, smiling at her sweetly.
She remembered every page that she had written by heart. She initially had meant for this to be a surprise for Renée once it was complete, but the Queen had insisted it be a shared project. Azalea hadn't seen all the pages yet either, having promised Renée that the full work remain a surprise until it was completed and they could both read it together.
Azalea had initially taken on this project so she could write their story and give Renée a pleasant surprise, but she found that it had also become her favourite bonding time with Renée.
As she flipped through the pages, a memory hit her. She was back in her dorm room, flipping through the original storybook of the history of Afronave. A slight sadness overcame her. It had been awhile since she wondered about her parallel life, or so she called it. It had been nearly two decades of her life, yet the more she considered it, the more it felt like a mere fantasy, or at the very most, a past memory. Although she was happy in Afronave, she wasn't able to be at peace without any answers.
Despite not wanting to ruin the serene moment here with the Queen, Azalea decided to enquire with her anyway. "Have you found any leads in how the diary may have gotten here?"
Renée appeared to be startled for a moment before quickly composing herself. "I have my theories..." She replied in a soft voice. Azalea waited for her to elaborate. "There is a legend that long before Afronave was split, William presented his beloved wife, Astoria, with an amulet. It was conjured with elements of the land they had been destined to rule over together. That amulet was later passed on to their daughter, Navia. When the four kingdoms split, Navia split the amulet in four. The pieces were then fashioned into objects that each founder could carry on them. Normally, travel between the realms require magically binding agreements or magic from the current ruler themselves. The exception was if the traveler was carrying a piece of the original amulet. This was originally designed to allow one to cross the lands in case of an emergency." Renée explained.
When the Queen finished talking, she saw that the girl was deep in thought. "So you think that Princess Eviana crossed that way? And that's why you weren't aware?"
Renée froze for a moment again, but Azalea didn't notice. "That's possible...but I don't understand why she would come here herself....it's much more likely that her diary was taken...for whatever reason." Renée quickly lied, immediately feeling the guilt sink into the pit of her stomach.
She cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject. "On that note, I have never seen such an object for our realm. If it does exist, I suspect Arthur has it." Azalea's eyes widened. "It would explain how he's managed to avoid detection for so long." Renée muttered bitterly.
"Should we be asking assistance from the other rulers?" Azalea asked.
Renée sighed. "It's not that simple, darling girl. The relationships between the rulers of the realms have been strained for centuries now. I can't say that I've made that much better with my actions."
Azalea suddenly remembered the apparent assassination attempt and nodded slowly. Renée looked at her lover silently, feeling the guilt in her stomach blossom.
Even if the relationships weren't strained, she could never risk asking for the help of the other nations...not when there was a chance that they could recognize Princess Eviana.
Azalea had been fixated on understanding how the diary came to be in Afronave as the diary was the only thing that had appeared without an explanation...much like herself. Perhaps it would shed some light on her arrival too. Of course she didn't tell Renée that she was looking into her appearance. She didn't want to cause a misunderstanding that she wanted to leave.
Another thing that was on Azalea's mind was the history book of Afronave. She had been reading a similar book in her dorm, seconds before she was brought to this world. Deep down, she even believed that some kind of magic within the book had brought her here. Even though Azalea had only looked through a few parts of the book, she remembered that certain lines that were crossed out and alternative scripts were added in the section about Renée. That wasn't the case in the book that she found in the library here. Renée was portrayed as nothing but cold and cruel, which was why Azalea had taken on the task of writing their story in the first place. Azalea absentmindedly flipped through a few of the pages that she had written.
~•~
My Queen, you are anything but cruel. You are the air that feeds my soul. I never knew of love this beautiful until I met you. Let us be the ones who tell our story.
~.~
As she read the excerpt, she froze. Maybe she had done so absentmindedly, she thought. Internally, she recalled that these were the exact words that she had read in the story book before she came here.
It wasn't the same book though! She tried to reason with herself. The covers were different, and the other book had the original writing with the addition of these sections. She had definitely been writing from subconscious memory. But then, who had originally written those things about the Queen? Azalea nearly felt a jealousy burn inside her. Surely there hadn't been some other girl before her. Neither Alden, Renée, not Mrs. Walters had ever mentioned another girl. She had to trust Renée.
Suddenly, Azalea seemed to remember that the writing in the book was almost familiar at the time...much like her own script. She hadn't written in the history book though. The timeline also didn't match. If the book had writing previously, it made no sense that it was gone now. Previously she had tried to alter it by tearing out pages, but it was clearly protected by magic. Besides, she reasoned with herself that if she had written in it, surely she would remember.
But she didn't remember what had happened the day of the supposed assassination attempt.
Nothing seemed to make sense. First the diary, and now the seeming parallels between the book that she was creating and the book that she had read. All the memories of her parallel life along with the flashes of Princess Eviana's life were started to take a toll on her ability to distinguish reality from fantasy. She gripped the pages of the book tightly.
Azalea wanted so desperately to believe that everything in this moment was real. It felt so real. But then again, so did everything in the first 18 years of her life. She closed her eyes, everything becoming all too overwhelming. In the silence and darkness, she could feel the Queen's arms wrap around her, causing her to suddenly be enveloped by Renée's comforting presence.
Renée hummed softly to the girl in her arms. She felt guilty. She wanted to give Azalea the missing pieces to her puzzle, but the fear consumed her. For once in her life, Renée was truly terrified. She could lose her Princess.
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*edited*
Hi everyone,
This chapter is meant to be confusing, because Azalea is very confused. Things will start to make sense soon. I also went back and reread some chapters, but I'm worried that there might be inconsistencies. I will go back and edit the whole thing once I'm done as well.
Lots of love,
-Cindy