A Mother's worry

Acantha

Knowing my daughter was in the same room as the woman responsible for her kidnapping had my blood boiling. Every instinct in me was yelling to go there and unleash all the years of anger I had saved up in my heart and soul.

I, however trusted Aurelia's plan. She was very much like her Father, the determination to help others was always a forefront in any planning they did. Her hot headedness was also a trait from her Father. They had both always found themselves in some kind of trouble while trying to do the right thing.

In the past weeks that we had been traveling together, she and Kairios saved many lives. Her rule over this land would become legendary. As I sat and thought about all the great things she had done and was about to do had me distracted as the hours moved by at an unbearably slow pace. I paced around my room, unable to sit or relax. So, I moved my pacing to the entire house feeling the need for more space. My anxiety was becoming more unbearable as I realized I was completely in the way of the maids in the house.

I had to leave the house, against all sense and reason. I covered my appearance as best I could, hoping that enough years had passed by that I would be unrecognizable. After so much time I wanted to see more of the state of the city I once loved. We would have a lot of work to get done in this place, once my sister was defeated. I was now feeling like the only thing I could do to help was to look around and come up with some plans and compile all the resources available.

I walked the streets taking in every depressing sight. The streets were filled with an alarming amount of garbage and filth. The smell seemed to burn my nose; it was so rancid. I put a perfumed scarf over my face to help subside some of the odors. There were abandoned shops and homes on every street I walked. Each of them looking like they had been looted or vandalized in some way. I walked into a few of them to see what the insides looked like also and they were all left in shambles.

One of the abandoned houses I went into had a dead woman lying in her bed. She appeared to have died a long time ago in her sleep. Her skin was grey and sickeningly sunken in, every bone was visible. More disturbing was her eyes had been eaten away, leaving the gaping red sockets to stare at any who may enter. I was sick to my stomach and ran back outside for some fresh air. It took a moment for me to calm down and stop the tears from flowing. How many of these houses had the dead left behind and forgotten?

It took me longer than expected to find an open shop. When I walked in, I saw it was a simple medicine shop. The majority of the shelves were bare and covered in dust. It was clear this shop was on the verge of joining the other fallen shops. Behind a counter that was the only dust free surface in the shop, was an old woman. She was wearing a stained and torn apron over ever worse torn clothing. Her grey hair was tied into a tiny bun at the base of her neck. She was slightly bowed over with a large hump on her back.

“How can I be of service to such a fine lady?”

“I am new to town and I was surprised to see so many closed establishments in a capital city, where is every one?”

“The costs of living in the capital have become completely unmanageable. Most went out of business, leaving fear in the ones left behind. A lot of the remaining owner's took what dignity they had left and fled the city. The Queen’s guard in the city have become so violent that the only sales I have are the victims of their abuse. Even so, I am days away from the same fate of closing down.”

I felt for the poor old woman. This was a terrible life to live indeed. Seeing day after day the injuries getting worse, it was to the point of people leaving for their own safety. Even if this woman should decide to leave, she wouldn’t last long on the road.

“Thank you for your time and help.”

I couldn’t understand how things could be this bad. I walked around s bit longer taking in the sights and listening to any gossips being spoken loud enough. After a but I hoped enough time had passed and Aurelia would be back.

I walked quickly back to the house and saw that they had not yet returned. Kairios was in the front sitting room. He was pacing as restlessly as I had been. When he saw me walk into the room he stopped and crossed his arms.

“Why did you leave? I should have gone with you for protection!”

I had expected him to be angry that I left, I however did not think he would have been worried about me… it didn’t even occur to me to ask him to come with me.

“I am sorry Kairios, I didn’t think to ask or that you would even come if I did. Though now I wish I thought otherwise. I found a dead old woman today. It was shocking to see she had died days ago and no one has done anything about it. I am over burdened by the outcome of this city. “

“I found something similar the other day as well. This place isn’t worth Aurelia to risk her life.”

His words were so blunt that they shocked me. I didn’t really know what to say in response to that. Yes, I wanted peace for my daughter, I wanted her to have an amazing life. It was true that saving this kingdom would make it truly difficult to see that in her life time. But something had to be done. She had been born for this reason. It was her responsibility to save these people. Too much had been sacrificed and lost for her to just run away.

“She won’t stop now. The vengeance in her will make sure she stops my sister. I have seen it in her. What she will do after that is the true question. After the fight is over, I wouldn’t blame her for walking away with you.”

Our conversation was ended by the door opening. They were finally back! When Aurelia came around the corner into the room, her expression was surprising. I had expected anger or sadness, not the remnants of laughing.

“How was the meeting?”

“I learned very little more than we already knew. I spent maybe twenty minutes with my Aunt and I was surprised that she was not the monster that haunted my dreams. She was truly… disappointing.” She laughed to herself and Lyanna joined in. Her laugh however was not as full as Aurelia.

“The Queen has informed me that it is my responsibility to recover the unpaid taxes. Her grace has given me thirty days to complete this task or she shall take the funds from me.”

Lyanna seemed greatly amused by this and had not a shred of worry.

“She has also begun to plan a new war against a place called Howeborough. All because they won’t pay the high price for the junk she is selling. The woman seems to have gone completely mad. Every choice she makes drives the kingdom down more."

“At least we now have a time line to work with. She will need whatever coin she can get from you if she intends to pay for this new war. For the sake of all that you have worked for, we have to stop her by then. She needs to be stopped before she ruins any chances we have of you working with Howeborough in the future.”

Having a time line may have made them feel happy, but for me it fueled my concerns. I was worried they would rush into the fight and lose. And I was bothered knowing that within these thirty days my daughter would be fighting for her life and ours.

“Our next move should still be getting some one into the castle. We need more information about my sister’s whereabouts, her comings and goings and how many guards she has at all times.”

“I already have a girl on her way in. She is to start tomorrow in the kitchens, as I suggested. It won’t be long before we see the information we need.”

“At least until we know more, we should still keep a low profile. The city is unpopulated compared to when I used to live here, but from what I saw today that just means gossips can travel faster.”

“I agree after seeing the castle and the way things are, we will need to take it all out at once. In the meantime, I need to talk with my Mother alone. “

This was the first time she had expressed a desire for alone time with me and addressing me as her Mother. I wondered what happened today to cause this change. Without further comments the others left the room. We both moved over to the chairs under the window looking for a more comfortable setting.

“I learned a lot today, while at the castle and meeting Adara. I hoped you would be willing to tell me about your childhood and your relationship with her. What happened between the both of you?”

“The relationship with my sister constantly became worse as the years went by. When we were very young, we got along in the way children do. As I got older, I continued to love being outdoors playing, getting dirty and going on little adventures. Adara became more interested in things a proper lady would do. I didn’t enjoy sewing and drinking tea while gossiping, nor did she enjoy the outdoors. Because of that we grew apart as we got older. I wanted to travel with my Father and see new towns and meet the people. My Father traveled a lot for the bank and I started traveling with him often.

I met your Father at a meeting between the King and my Father. His reputation with the bank was fast growing and he was personally requested. We were invited to stay within the castle while they worked on their deals. This time Adara had come with us. After we had been at the castle for few days, I had decided to take a day to walk the castle and explore. I started out in the royal gardens. The rooms and offices we were using were only a few hallways over.

It was a magnificent, every flower and tree that I knew was there as well as many that I had never seen before. They were so beautiful. I wandered alone for a while before running into your Father.

He was kind enough to show me around for the day. We talked about our childhoods, our travels and all the places we wanted to go. He loved to travel as much as I did. As the week went on, we spent a lot of time together. And when it was time for us to leave, he bagged my Father to allow us to stay longer at the castle.

Later Adara shared with me that she had spent some alone time with him as well and that she was hoping to become his princess. She had no idea that I was spending time alone with the prince. Soon we started to fight over him; our relationship was completely destroyed from it. The day we announced our intentions she swore vengeance upon me.”

It wasn’t a thrilling story and didn’t take long to tell. She hadn’t interrupted me with any questions either. It had been so long since I talked to anyone about the relationship with my sister. It felt good to talk about it now.

“Today was enlightening for me. I had hoped the castle would have a feeling of home in some way. All I found was a place that wanted to set ablaze and watch it burn.”

“I understand that for you the castle would have only brought you pain. But it symbolizes more than you can know and to a great many people.”

The capital had been built around the castle and stood for the unity of all of us. It became a place of hope for all of us and could still stand for that in the future. I for one would be incredibly sad to see it destroyed.

“I wonder if the people of this age would feel the same. The capital brings no hope or peace. I don't think I have the power to change that.”

“Only time will tell that Aurelia. Please don’t give up on the dreams of your ancestors.”

“I can’t say what I will do, like you’ve said, only time will tell.”

In a lot of ways, I saw Aurelia as this amazing Warrior of light against the darkness my sister created. In other ways she was very childish and selfish. She had a long way to go before she became the Queen this land needed.