The Lost Princess

I wave at the Queen as she walks back into the castle, and then look around before dipping into the woods and heading to the grove. I slide through the entrance and take a seat on the oak tree waiting on Elau. About 20 minutes later I hear shuffling as Elau slides through the opening. “Elau!” I stand and hug him. He hesitates but gently hugs me back. I release him and take a seat back on the Oak tree.

“So what did I miss?” He asks, still not looking directly at me. I fill him in on the trip to the Pixie Tree, meeting the Goddess, and how she sang me the Ballad of Light and Darkness. As I tell him these things his gaze finally falls upon me and he is trapped in all of the details. I can see his wheels turning as he is putting together every little piece. “I understand the first part, ‘born of darkness but fated to love the light’. It confirms you are from Tartarean, and your whole life is in Girandole, but what I don’t understand is the Royal blood.” He ruffles his hair out of his face, racking his brain for an answer. “How can you be of Royal Blood? There is no way a Tartarean Royal would be in a human orphanage.”

“That’s why I am getting stuck. I keep looking for any missing members of Royal families and there are none. They all have historically confirmed deaths, plus none of them are my age.” I twist a strand of grass with my fingers, breaking it from the root. “We would know if there was a missing Royal within the past 24 years . So it doesn't make any sense.” I fiddle with the grass in my hand.

“Unless everyone thinks you're dead.” He says and a light bulb seems to click.

“What do you mean?”

“Princess Kiara died 23 years ago with her mother in a castle fire.” I take a deep breath in understanding now.

“So what if she didn’t die, but was sent to an orphanage in Girandole?” I put the pieces together.

“Which also means the Queen’s death probably wasn’t an accident like everyone believes.” I feel numb, how horrible is that if this is the truth. “Nic, promise me you will ignore this for now. Information like this is dangerous. If you really are Princess Kiara then you are the rightful ruler of Tartarean, and that can put you in a lot of danger.” He grabs my hands and pulls me close to him. “Promise me you won’t dig any deeper. At least not yet.”

“I promise.” I mumble

“We will figure out the truth but we need to make sure it is the right time. That we have support from powerful people. Do you understand?” I can hear the panic in his voice.

“I understand. I won’t look into it.” I assure him firmly, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

Soon enough I find myself lying in bed unable to sleep. “Princess Kiara” I whisper in the darkness, and then sit straight up. Does that mean that the abdicated King from the party is my biological father? I think back to the Banquet and the familiar feeling I got when looking at King Iress. My heart warms and then aches thinking about him. If it is true then he has been living the past 20 years thinking his only child was dead alongside his wife. How lonely it must have been for him. I feel a few tears well up in my eyes.

I think of when my dad died and how devastated my mother was, but she held it together for me. Those were the hardest times for us, but we always had each other, and to think of him being alone during similar times tugs at my heart.

Eventually I find myself sleeping, and dreaming of a large castle half shrouded in darkness and the other in light. It lies on a large cliff overlooking Girandola and Tartarean. I traverse the hallways walking between dark and light and reach a bedchamber. I walk inside and I am greeted by a smiling Elau. He reaches his hand out to me and I take it then suddenly I am woken by a loud squeal.

I sit up in my bed and hear a bang on my door. “Come in” I say, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Amelia slams open my door and runs jumping onto my bed.

“There is going to be a Banquet tonight.” She giggles jumping up and down. I smile up at her.

“Really?”

“I just overheard the staff preparing. The castle will be open to the public and we are going to PARTY!!!” She flops down and wraps her arms around me.

“You know, in the past two months I have experienced more parties than the rest of my life combined.” I shake her, matching her energy.

“Isn’t it wonderful!” She releases me and sits up. “We can get ready together like last time.” She nods at me.

“Of course, but maybe we should invite Maeve?” I look at her and her energy stops, “I mean, she probably has a lady maid helping her get ready but I feel bad excluding her from girl things.”

“She probably would prefer getting ready with her lady maid anyway. She would only accept to be polite.” Amelia informs me.

“You are probably right.” I pull myself from my bed. “Let’s go see if the boys are awake. We can make them match us for the banquet.”

“I love that idea.” She follows behind me, “I want Luke to match me.” She mumbles

“Luke?”

“What? He is kind of growing on me.” She giggles

“I see, well I guess at this party it’s my turn to see if the boy likes you back.” I say and bump her with my hip. She laughs and loops her arm with mine.

“I guess so.” She replies with bright red cheeks.