Queen Bee

The Road Home

    "Adela, help!" I jolt awake to the sound of Sawney's voice. I turn over, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. 

    "What?" I ask, my brain trying to catch up with his words. 

    "Olivier, he's not waking up!" I snap awake, bolting upright as I turn to him. It's not yet day, so it's hard to see. 

    "Why?" I say, stupidly as I crawl over to where Sawney stands over Olivier's body. 

    "I don't know! He started coughing, then he stopped moving and so I came to check on him and-and-" I turn him over on his side, remembering a moment from a long time ago. I was younger, and one of the older servants collapsed on the ground after choking on something. I watched helplessly as one of our healers turned him on his side and the man..well...regurgitated. My heart pounds as the seconds seem to drag on. I begin to lose hope, thinking that this isn't the same thing and the prince is really just dead. I go to turn away is defeat, but at the last second the prince begins to cough again, spitting mucus out of his throat. He sits up, breathing heavily as his face gains back a little of its color. Of course. my first instinct is to punch him on the shoulder. 

    "Don't do that to me." I say, then wrap him in a hug as my breathing begins to calm.

    "Now do you believe us?" Sawney says, looking bored and acting as if he wasn't just freaking out. 

    "I believe something is going on." He replies, giving me a small kiss on my forehead. Sawney dumps his canteen of water on the fire, extinguishing the already dying embers. I let go of Olivier and hand him his container of water and make sure he drinks before I get up. 

    "I'm going to change my clothes.'' I announce, motioning to the blood spatters that inhabit my shirt. 

    "Good idea. Then we'll head out." Sawney begins to clean up the campsite as I approach my horse, Argo, and unbutton my sack that hangs off his saddle. I quickly grab a shirt and find a place farther into the woods where I can hide behind a tree and change. I unlatch my belt and shudder, the emotions from the few moments leaving my body. As quickly as I can, I take the shirt off and replace it with the new one. I finish tucking it in in time for Olivier to appear behind me. I turn around and pick up my father's belt, pulling it around my waist. I try to ignore the prince's watchful eyes. 

    "What?" I ask, blowing a stray strand of hair from my eyes. 

    "Let me help you." He softly takes the belt loop and pulls it tightly through. The same feeling I had when we shared our moment on the balcony appears again, making me want to lean into him and forget about everything. The electricity of his presence makes me long for his fingers to graze those places all over again. He pops the metal piece through the hold, running the strap under the metal bracket once more to make it nice and firm. 

    "I know how to tie a belt." I say softly, looking up into his eyes. 

    "I know." He smiles, and for a moment I see his father. Olivier's kind eyes are so easily replaced by the king's cold, vile stare. I look away, breaking away from the moment and remembering my purpose here. I pick up my shirt, Olivier leaning against the tree. 

    "Come on, you two. We need to get a move on." Sawney calls out. I'm afraid to look back at Olivier, in case his father's face is still there. Instead, I begin to walk back up to the campsite and over to Argo. 

    "Here's some nuts." Sawney is at my side, pouring a handful of assorted nuts into my hand. He hands me my canteen and I strap it onto the saddle. 

    "Where did you get these?" I ask, pouring some into my mouth. To my disgust, he pulls more out of his pocket for Olivier as he joins us. 

    "Found 'em at the last town." I decide to eat them all at once before I have time to think about them much more. 

    "Merci."

    "Yeah, uh-hey, let's get a move on." Sawney swings himself onto his horse as we untie and mount ours. 

    "If we don't stop now, we should be able to make it to the castle before the king." Sawney talks as we ride down the beaten trail, his words outside my train of thoughts. The thought of having to hurt, even kill, somebody else just to get the castle back haunts the back of my head as the worries of if everyone I've ever loved is already dead plague the front. Olivier leans down on his horse as we ride, the poison apparently effecting him more than he cares to admit. Just another thing to worry about as we travel down this unknown road. I don't know where it leads, but I suppose I'm about to find out. 

    "There it is!" My voice echoes as I take off down the hill. I stand upon a ledge, hanging over a valley of greens, reds, and purples as my eyes gaze across the kingdom of Astaria. The town looks so colorful and vibrant-even in such a dire situation. My heart is buzzing as I take off down the valley, Olivier and Sawney close behind. 

    "Adela, wait!" Sawney calls out, and when I look back I realize that they've stopped and are now staring upwards. I match their gaze and my heart falls. A small, red and white Frense flag flies eerily atop the tallest tower of the Astarian castle. Sawney jumps off his horse and orders us to stay here, where no one can see us. My mind wanders away, any sense of hope fleeting as Sawney crawls up the muddy hill. Olivier is beside me, taking me off Argo's back. 

    "They...he-" He draws me into him, the usual warmth of his embrace dulled by the numbing in my heart. 

    "I..I am so sorry, Adela." His breathing is shallow and a ringing in my ears disrupts any sense of calm I have left. I rip myself away from him, pushing his grasping arms away as I run up to Sawney, who lays on the ground staring at the village in front of him. I steal his sword and continue moving forward. I hear shouts, but all I can see is the Frense flag and the sound it makes as it beats against the wind. My emotions explode in my throat, and just as I'm about to let rip a scream the entire world goes black. 

    I begin to dream. I'm seven, and still don't quite understand what I am. To little me, I'm just a girl living in a large castle. I had snuck past the gates that separated the castle yard from the rest of the village. Anna was too busy to notice, so I took the opportunity and ran. Ran, as fast as I could until I met another group of kids my age. 

    "Hello!" I had said, not noticing how filthy these kids were. I was too focused on having someone to play with to see the way they looked at me. 

    "Who are you?" One boy scrunched up his nose, looking at me with disdain. 

    "I'm Adela!" Then I remember what father had taught me about my name. You always include princess, because that's what you are. That's who you are. He had said. So I added the princess. 

    "You live there?" The boy asks, pointing a skinny finger up at the castle. I nod happily. One of the other boys smacks the young one on the head. 

    "Of course she does, you i***t! She's one of them." The boys all say "oh" and look at little Adela once again. The air turns cold, and the sky is down a beat red. I don't remember the sky really turning red, but I suppose it can happen in dreams. 

    "Adela! Get back here!" Anna's voice comes from the other side of the gate, harsh and commanding. The kids snicker and point their bony fingers at me. 

    "You better run, princess. Mommy's calling for you!" Anger begins to fester in my chest. 

    "She's not my mom! I just want to play with you all." The older boy picked up a leather ball from the ground, tossing it in his over sized hands. 

    "You wanna play?" I nod, and he smirks. The boy throws the ball up in the air, and I stand quietly as it comes back down and he kicks it. My eyes go wide just as the ball collides with my face. 

    I shoot up, the pain of the dream disappearing as I reenter reality. 

    "What happened?" I ask, looking around. Olivier sits right next to me, holding a damp piece of fabric and Sawney sits a few feet away, staring at his boots. 

    "Him." Olivier points to Sawney, who now quickly scrambles up as I do. I march over as he begins to mumble excuses. 

    "You know what? Go ahead: punch me. I deserve it-" before he can finish I collide my fist with his mouth. He stares at me dumbfound, tears entering my eyes as a sharp pain shoots up my arm. 

    "I didn't think you would actually do it." 

    "Why did you knock me out!?"

    "Look, did you want to get killed? I didn't want to get killed! We all would have gotten killed had you stormed in their armed with a single sword." He's right, but I don't want him to be. I kick a pebble and stomp back over to Olivier. His eyes have dark circles and a tint of red that really starts to worry me. 

    "Olivier needs a healer." I announce, trying to change the subject. 

    "I am fine." He mutters, putting a cooling hand on my shoulder. A circle of black birds fly above our heads, a feather floating down to us. 

    "We need to find somewhere to stay while we wait." Sawney lugs a bag over his shoulder. 

    "Wait for what?" I spit the words at him, the anger and disdain inside of me boiling over. 

    "A plan. Aid. We're not taking a castle over on our own." He glares at me like I'm a child. I fight the urge to attack him, instead helping Olivier up. 

    "And just where do you suggest we go?" 

    "I know a place in the woods we can hide out until we have what we need. Is that all right with you, Your Highness?" I grunt in answer. Again, I know he's right. I hate it. The prince leans on me as we follow Sawney back into the forest and even further away from my home. 

    We come upon a broken down make-shift shelter in the woods. It's like a small, wooden house, but up in the branches of a tree. Sawney uses a stick and pokes a rope ladder down from one of it's branches. 

    "Welcome." He says, lackluster. I ignore him as I let Olivier climb up first. It takes him the longest, but eventually we're all sitting cross legged on a wooden platform ridden with bugs and splinters. 

    "What is this place?" I ask, never having seen one before. 

    "Just a little fort I made when I was a kid." Specs of light shine down from holes in the blanket ceiling. 

    "Why?" Olivier asks, leaning against a wall I wouldn't dare touch-seeing as it looks like it might collapse at any given moment. 

    "Why did I make it? Because this is where I played." I let out a spiteful laugh. 

    "Of course you didn't play with the other kids. You really just don't like people, do you?" 

    "No, I wanted to. They just didn't like me." He shrugs his shoulders. 

    "Why not? You have such a huge personality." I remark, squeezing my fingernails in irritation that we're just sitting here. 

    "Actually, it was because I look different. I guess it scared them." He chuckles, looking far off. 

    "Why?" Olivier asks again, holding his stomach and wincing. 

    "Same as always-"

    "I really don't think we have time to talk about your backstory when my HOME is being TAKEN OVER!" They look at me like I'm the stupid one, when all I want to do is what we came here for. Why is that so hard to understand!?

    "Look, I thought it might just help distract your boyfriend from the poison, but whatever. What's your plan, princess?" 

    "I-" I have no clue. I'm completely lost and he's acting like I'm the bad guy here. Suddenly, Sawney is on top of me as a whizzing noise drones over my head. I look behind me to see an arrow lodged into the wooden wall. A red ribbon hangs off of its tail. 

    "Stay down." He orders. crawling over to a window. My heart begins thumping once again, and I wonder if it will just decide to stop with all of this chaos. 

    "Who are you and what do you want?" Sawney calls out, crouching right beneath the window. A chirping noise, like a bird, echoes through the air. Sawney curses under his breath. He stands and to my surprise, begins climbing out of the window. I call his name in a whisper. Of all the stupid men I would spend these moments with, why did it have to be him? A few, silent moments pass before an eruption of laughter makes me jump out of my skin. Olivier crawls over to the window, chancing a peak out. 

    "Umm, Adela..." He says, and suddenly Sawney pops his head up through the way we crawled in. 

    "Come down, it's safe." He smiles, a real smile, for the first time and for a moment I forget my anger with him. Olivier invites me to go first. The rope burns my hands and I climb down. I turn to see a group of people who all look like Sawney. Of course they don't look exactly like him, but they have the same dark-ish skin color and similar facial structures. 

    "Who are they?" I whisper to him as they all stare at me. 

    "Our way in the castle." My heart flutters.