Chapter 39
1429 Words
CHAPTER 39
“What do you mean, Aragorn? You know I can’t go to the royal palace. You know everyone there wanted to kill me.”
“Sphyra’s right, Your Highness. You know everyone was up for her,” Hideo commented. “Royal palace will be the most dangerous place for her.”
“No, it can be the safest place for her. Everyone in the palace wanted to kill her except for a person,” he said.
His companions exchanged glances. “Who?”
“My mother. My mother was known as the queen who doesn’t kill. She lifted up the punishment of death from some rules. She can understand me. Believe me.”
“I don’t know, Aragorn. I’m quickly noticeable, especially at night. I can even cause a fire in that place.”
“I thought about this. I gave you a long piece of clothing that will cover up your fire during the night. Everyone in the palace sleeps early and you can lock yourself inside your room while you’re in that place.”
“I think Prince Aragorn has a point. No one will dare to capture the king and the queen in the royal palace because of the guards surrounding it. I believe in you, Your Highness,” said Yosef, supporting Aragorn’s idea.
“I have a suggestion.” Azrael raised his hand. “Bring Zonia with her.”
“Huh?” Zonia’s forehead creased. “Why? I can stay here, Azrael.” She doesn’t want to feel that she doesn’t belong again. She and Lolita were doing fine, but that girl named Dina was shady on her.
“Because what if something happens? If Zonia is there, she can help Sphyra. This is just a suggestion, Your Highness. You are still the one who’s going to decide.”
Aragorn let out a heavy sigh. He made his decision inside his head.
Queen Amira took the jasmine tea that Dina prepared for her. She was sitting inside the dining again since the king was up for his duties in the palace. She knew the life she’s going to experience once she marries the king of Caspian, but King Argon never forgets about her. Whenever he had the time, he’ll use it only for her.
“Queen Amira, how is the taste? Does it tastes like Lolita’s?”
Queen Amira nodded. “There’s no much difference in tea but you did great.”
The conversation stopped when Lolita entered the dining. She brought food for her and Dina.
“Your Highness, Prince Aragorn is outside and he wanted to talk to you. He was with two other women.” She gazed at Dina.
“Let him enter,” the queen ordered.
Lolita nodded. She passed the tray of food to Dina and left the room. When she came back, she was with Aragorn and the two other girls. One is Zonia, they remembered her name. The other one, they never saw that face but she was covered with a lot of clothing as if she didn’t want to show her body to anyone.
“Royal mother, I want the two of them to become your servant. The garden of Pleas is becoming dangerous for the two of them. I want them to stay here for their safety. But I want something to request, please let them serve only you, mother.”
“Sure, Aragorn. You know you can always request to me.”
“Zonia, I’ve seen you before. I’m glad that you came back. I wanted your service and Lolita told me that you helped them in their plan to protect me.” She turned to Sphyra who wasn’t raising her head. She can’t clearly see her face because of it. “How about you? Don’t be shy to show yourself to me. I won’t eat you.” She chuckled.
Slowly, Sphyra raised and showed her face to the queen to the other two servants. When her face was completely seen, the queen almost fell from her seat. Those eyes… They only belong to the phoenix. She’d never seen those eyes except for a creature like a phoenix.
“Are you okay, Your Highness,” said Dina and Lolita. They sauntered to Queen Amira and assisted her.
“I’m Sphyra, Your Highness and I’m ready to serve you with all my energy and power.”
“Aragorn, her eyes…”
“Your Highness, those eyes only mean that she’s a…” Dina trailed. She can’t stay the word.
“Apologies to all of you. Sphyra came from the western part of the Caspian. Everyone in there thought she was the phoenix but she was not. You can clearly see that she didn’t have any fire in her hand.”
The two servants released their gasps. But Queen Amira remained unbothered
“Lolita and Dina, take the two of them to their room.”
The two servants bowed and they left the room. When everyone left the room, Aragorn shut the door and made sure it was locked. He bowed and pleaded to Queen Amira.
“Aragorn, do you want to explain what’s happening here? You even lied to those servants but you can’t fool me.”
“Mother, I never thought of fooling you. I just want to stop the suspicion of your two personal servants. That woman…”
“Is the phoenix of Caspian,” she finished. “How can you bring the phoenix of Caspian in this place? You know your father had tried to kill her before. Don’t you think she’ll take revenge and kill every one of us? She even caused the fire in the village where citizens want you to capture her!”
“She is the phoenix but she isn’t the one that father killed many years ago. She’s her daughter.”
“The phoenix had a daughter?”
Aragorn nodded. “When I met her, she was about to kill me. But I showed him my kindness and I proved that she wasn’t the one who caused the fire. There’s someone who’s plotting to take revenge on us and on father. That person wanted to frame the phoenix and wanted me to go on a quest to capture the phoenix. But I assure you, she was not a bad person.”
“Why did you bring her here? You know this is a dangerous place for her.”
“Earlier, she was attacked by rebels. And I know those rebels will come back to capture her. I bought her flaming-resistant cloth that can cover her whole body except for her face, hands, and limbs. The fire only kindles around her body when the sun sets. She can always hide whenever that happens.”
“I understand. But how about the others? What if they saw her?”
“That’s why I made the fake story that she was from western and she has rare eyes. I know your servant, Dina couldn’t keep her mouth shut and everyone in the palace would know about her. Please take care of her. I want her to be safe, Royal Mother.”
“You never cared of any person before. You never laid eyes on women. And now you’re helping Sphyra and did everything to protect her where in fact if everyone knew about it, you might lose your position in the future and the citizens will despise you. Aragorn, what if…”
“You’re in love with her?”
It froze him. Love? He doesn’t know that word exists on him. And now, her mother told him that she might be in love with Sphyra. No, she must be lying. He doesn’t know love. He won’t feel love.
“I don’t know, Mother. But I have to go. Leo will arrive in the hut sooner. Please take care of her.”
Aragorn turned his back to his mother. A smile formed on Queen Amira’s face. He’s in love, she thought.
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