Make Your Move Katherine

They all knew

“No, Your Majesty, he’s busy at the moment,” Oni answered Kat’s question about the whereabouts of Anthony as she hadn’t seen him for the day.

“Oh? I thought he might wish to accompany me this afternoon in the garden- he did say he would,” Kat stated, without looking up from her sketch. She had been doing a self-portrait; that started up with her and thoughts of her parents when she was little, played in her mind. Now the face looking back at her smiling wasn’t her at all. Very conscious of wanting to feel her mother’s warmth, she stared at her mother’s face frowning for she did not look like her mother much. She did have a slight resemblance though…her eyes and mouth perhaps- Kat was not sure anymore. Her memory of her mother’s physical image was fading from her mind.

Who is this person in the sketch?

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, he’s been preoccupied since yesterday with His Majesty,” Oni’s quick reply came as Julie left the room after seeing that Kat’s tea was refreshed for, she had to prepare the dinner staff.

“Oh- Drago? I hope he’s better,” Kat glanced up at Oni, waiting for the girl to confirm he was, for yesterday he had a dry cough that led them to cut their walk in the garden short.

“His Majesty, My Queen.”

Dread filled her. Oscar? He’s back? Why wasn’t she informed? It’s not that she wanted to see him but he is her husband after all and she is Queen for heaven’s sake. Does nobody respect her around here? Kat was slowly realizing she had no rank- at all. She was just a prop…which she already knew…sort of.

Still.

With a deeper frown on her brows, Kat got up and put down her utensils. The guards straightened their already erect physiques and breathed out. They reminded her of that old 90’s show, Due South with the handsome devil of a Canadian Mountie- minus all the red and the wide-brimmed hat. Kat had come to understand that this was how they were trained from teenagers to react to royals. It was to show that they were always alert without making a sound, much like the army…perhaps even better.

“I should go-”

“Your Majesty no. He’s- with- Miss Nuwa…” Oni broke off her words, mistaking Katherine’s words to go to her chambers and sulk to wanting to meet with Oscar. The girl halted the step she had taken towards Kat, from the few feet away, from where she sat. The beautiful swan had a name. She had to give Oscar some credit in that department, he had great taste. But then again, he is a king and lived as a prince his entire life so obviously, his taste was exquisite. Just why had he enrolled in a regular folk high school?

‘Oni knew about Oscar’s woman? This Nuwa? Nice name, I think I might use it as my new identity instead of Onika, he’ll never look for me under that name too. So…Oni wasn’t blushing from shyness that morning after my wedding… but of embarrassment?’

Yes, Kat fantasized about running away from here, almost daily.

She stared at the young girl as she bent her head, trying to hide her flushed cheeks. Looking up, she saw the royal guards looking directly to the back of her, as she was in their direct line of sight and her cheeks also grew red, like Oni’s.

Well, if they didn’t know about her non-existing relationship with the King, they knew now, Kat thought then shook her head- of course, they knew. They all knew- she was just a prop. Anthony knew too- he wasn’t her friend…neither was Oni, she reminded herself as she took a seat opposite the maid and stared at her sketch.

She was beyond embarrassed in front of these strangers. The entire castle had been laughing at her all this time and she had nobody to talk to- not really. Drago was Oscar’s father and Anthony was loyal to them too, she forcefully reminded herself.

The other members of the royal family that resided here were all cold towards her and barely even bothered to converse with her, except when Drago was around. And even then, only when the former king had directed the conversation at her.

She learned that Prince Lichen had been almost chosen to rule but hmmm, well something happened and the king chose Oscar, instead, she was told in those exact words by another princess. Ting was her name and she was absent from the royal table, on most days. Kat knew she was the blabbermouth in the family.

By evening she was still sulking and Oni encouraged her to step outside into the garden. “That always cheers you up, My Queen.”

She couldn’t leave the castle grounds and was confined to part of it. No television was brought to her as she was told the King suspected she would try to contact the outside world via email.

“With Go*gle?” she had feigned ignorance with Julie as she was the one to inform Kat about the King’s order. Of course, the thought had occurred to her to use Google, she just didn’t think Oscar would know about it. Julie had shaken her head no. And walked away as if she was too scared to say more.

“We don’t use Go*gle here, Your Majesty. We have almost nothing to do with the outside world as we are a self-sufficient nation,” Oni was quick to let her know as soon as Julie was out of sight.

“What do you use. And what do you mean by nothing?” Kat’s eyes bulged in her disbelief as Oni and her, walked around the garden that evening. They had stopped in front of a part of the pond that was a favorite of the colorful fishes.

“You really think of us as backward? We are not, I must inform you, we are advanced but we chose to stay within our own borders. Meta, Meta is our sole search engine. Well, we do have imports but it’s not on a large scale. The King- the previous King of course and those before him felt we don’t need the influence of outsiders. Cars and such we import,” she had nodded as she spoke. “No music, however- that’s a no-no. It’s considered a crime to bring outside music inland. No movies either except the ones approved by the King of course.”

It was the most ridiculous thing Kat had heard in her life but she didn’t say so. Most of the world had been up to the changing times and she guessed that this wasn’t one of the countries. But who was she to judge anyway, she had thought for while she was accustomed to being free to do what she liked within rules and regulations, of course, she was well aware of people that broke laws too in spite of the punishments that came with it.

Kat remembered then that her president had kicked her out... maybe being under a King's ruling was different? Hah, she doubted it counted when you loathed its leadership.

And the island didn’t have radios she was told and she almost screamed. At least since her marriage, she was allowed to leave her quarters and explore the castle a bit. Kat was well aware of how her mind was working now. She was grateful to be allowed more freedom, exactly like how someone who was kept in captivity feels.

And the castle gossiped too. Just who had been the one to say that Katherine thought they were backward?

Feeling overwhelmed once again and went back inside into her drawing-room where she stared at her sketch of her mother.

‘Mom- I need you. Where are you? Daddy, I want to come home.’

“I’m sorry-”

“It’s okay- Oni,” Kat hesitated with the maid’s name for she felt isolated once more. She had begun to feel like she had bonded with her- with Anthony- the leader of the royal guards too. “There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Kat’s face was moistened by her falling tears and she turned to the guards, “Can you leave me alone?” She looked from them to Oni, who got up and bowed as she stepped back but the guards ignored her.

“I can’t even cry in peace?” she asked them and they looked at her then at each other but they stood their ground. Kat’s face crumpled as their chins went up for Oscar’s lover could command the guards but not her.

Her husband’s girlfriend had more rights than her in her own home. Her- not his wife. The King had given more power to his mistress than the Queen and everyone here knew it and abided by it too.

Nodding with that understanding, she stood up, “Take me to my room- maid.”

She ignored the slight hurt look that reflected on Oni’s face and asked her to leave her alone while she wept for the next couple of hours. Her bedroom is the only place she was left alone and she wasn’t all alone either for the guards were just outside her doors. But thankfully, she is alone.

Kat screamed into her pillow as both grief and anger about her situation washed over her. When she was done, she sipped some tea that Oni brought up to her after she heard her knock on the door earlier and Kat had screamed out, “I’m not eating.”

As she sipped, she tried to put rational thoughts together. How could she leave when she trusted none?

She figured that the night Oscar took her to speak to her father, was on the mainland. Or maybe on the bridge midway between the two. Her phone’s network didn’t work here or something. Maybe she needed a local phone…but how? A payphone perhaps.

Kat felt her eyes growing heavy and her vision blurred. Her last thought was, “Why am I so sleepy when I didn’t take any sleeping aid?”