I wanted to run to Tyran’s side, but there were other things that I had to handle first. My pager went off as Cali knocked on my door and I let her in. We sat on the couch waiting for the news.
“Queen Aella of Pyrencia is declaring peace with Tamporlea. With Queen Jasmine’s agreement, we would like to end the Battle for Tamporlea.”
I ran to the computer and typed my response. Five minutes later, “Queen Jasmine of Tamporlea declares peace and is ordering a meeting on September 12, 2011 at 8:00 a.m. to discuss the possibility of a treaty.”
“Do you think she means it?” Cali asked.
“I don’t know. I would like to think so, but something tells me she won’t stop until she either dies or her kingdom is destroyed.”
“She still has an army of people Jasmine. If she wanted to keep going, she has the means to do it. Why would she call a truce if she didn’t really mean it?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t trust her. So, tell me what’s been going on here since I left?” I couldn’t believe it was just over twenty-four hours. So much had happened in such a short time.
“Well, our troops have returned, some of them pretty injured. We’ll soon need to take a head count. It’s important we know who’s left the kingdom for good, we need to know if anyone who has powers is gone.”
“Okay, what else? How did you know I needed help?”
“After you left, I had Guard Mykel clear the way to the Sacred Space so I could get the mirror. Something told me you would take it.”
“But Tyran…he said that the only way you would see me was if the mirror in my mother’s room wasn’t working any longer. The last time I looked, it still reflected her bedroom.”
“Jasmine,” she hesitated, “it stopped reflecting when your mother came home from work this afternoon. I’m sorry.”
“So there’s no more seeing my mother at all?”
“I’m so sorry Jasmine.”
“I’ll be okay. I should be thankful she isn’t going through the pain of losing me, right?” I asked trying to sound hopeful.
She smiled and said, “Right. So, the mirror is how I knew you needed help. I was looking, trying to figure out where you were when I saw the old campsite that the kingdom would use. Then, today, I saw blackness but I heard chaos. Then I saw fire and then blood covered the entire surface of the mirror. I sent Rebecca and the Guards as soon as I could.”
“It was a good thing too. I don’t know if Tyran could have made it all the way back to Tamporlea without a Healer. Thank you.”
“The pager, did you hear? We have Jarnay’s land now. I know I didn’t have your permission to do it…”
“No, you did exactly what I would have done. Has anyone come from Jarnay?”
“No, not yet. I don’t know why, I thought for sure they would. At least some of them.”
“Maybe they are just waiting until it’s safe. Listen, we have a lot we need to do right now. We need to let the people out of the platinum room and let them know that we are safe for the time being. We need to hold a funeral for those we’ve lost, and we need to start rebuilding the tunnels.”
“Jasmine, don’t you remember what I told you about the tunnels? We never documented how the tunnels were created, there’s no telling if we can repair the damage.”
“We have to at least try. For now, I want you to tell the people they can leave the platinum room. Make sure to tell the Enchanters that the high security protections are still needed, at least for now. I also need you to send a couple of Guards out to find the bodies of the two men from Pyrencia and ask them to see if they can find the mirror that was dropped. I need to see Lilliana and Tyran and then I will come to find you.”
Kelly was standing outside the gold room where Lilliana was. I told Kelly to go with her family and that I needed to talk with Lilliana alone. Lilliana was sitting at the table resting her head in her hands. She sat up straight when I walked in and said, “Is Tyran okay? What’s going on?”
“Queen Aella declared peace…at least for now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am sure. Although I don’t trust her so we’re not letting our guard down completely.”
“So what happened outside?” she asked.
“I can’t really say for sure, but I know Tyran is injured. I am going to see him next.” There was something I really needed her to tell me. “Lilliana, why did you help me?”
“Everything was happening so fast. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I couldn't let you get hurt. I had to do whatever it took to save you.”
“I can’t thank you enough. Not just for saving my life, but for saving this kingdom, which is basically what you did by saving the Queen.”
“I was just saving my sister,” she said quietly. “Do you think Queen Aella knows I am with you?”
“I don’t have any idea. Neither of us mentioned you.”
“How could I have been so stupid?” she asked starting to cry. “I didn’t question anything, I just continued believing their lies.”
“It was how you were raised Lilliana. How would you know any different?”
“What am I going to do? I’m not welcome here and Queen Aella probably wants nothing to do with me after her plan failed. Not that I want anything to do with her after finding out she’s betrayed me all of my life. I don’t belong anywhere. I can’t even go to Jarnay now that it’s no longer a kingdom.”
“We’ll figure something out. I promise. Okay?”
“Sure,” she said sadly.
“For right now, I need to go see Tyran in the hospital wing.”
“Is he okay?”
“I don’t know to be honest with you. You have to stay here. Kelly has put Enchantments on the door so you can’t leave, and I don’t think you should try. You won’t be here long, I just need to figure some things out first, Okay?”
I felt guilty when I left Lilliana behind in the gold room. I had no real answers for her and I had no idea how the rest of the kingdom would react to her being here. I couldn’t imagine being in her position. It had to be horrible to feel like you don’t belong.
As I made my way to the hospital wing to visit Tyran, I tried to prepare myself for what I might see. The lights were low in the hospital and there were a few patients there still recovering from the injuries they received in the battle. The two Healers on duty, Rebecca and August, looked exhausted and frustrated. When Rebecca saw me coming, she ran to my side.
“Queen Jasmine, he’s still not awake and we’ve done everything we can think of.”
“What happened?”
“He wasn’t injured by anyone other than himself. He drained himself too much using his power the way he did.”
“How long before he is healed?” I asked.
“We’ve done everything we can, but at this point, it’s really up to him.”
“Has anything like this ever happened before?”
“Not to this extent. Everyone who possesses magic knows not to do this to themselves,” she said frustrated.
“Rebecca, he saved me, you, Lilliana and who knows how many other people. I don’t think he was really thinking about himself at all.”
“I know. It’s just…it would be such a shame if we lost him.”
“Can I see him?”
“Of course. He’s sort of in and out of consciousness so he may not answer you.”
“Thank you Rebecca.”
As I walked to the end of the aisle of beds, I thought of the last time I was here, visiting Orion. I felt the same sense of doom now, but I tried to push that away to the recesses of my mind; somehow I had to have a positive attitude for Tyran. When I saw him lying in the bed, he just looked like he was sleeping. He wasn’t pale or sweaty like Orion was. It didn’t make any sense that he was on the verge of death.
I held his hand and whispered in his ear, “Tyran, don’t you dare leave me. You need to get better. This kingdom needs you too much, I need you too much.”
I sat with Tyran
as long as possible, then I had no choice but to leave and adess other matters at hand. I made sure that Rebecca would inform me of any change in his condition regardless of what I was doing.
As I made my way back to my quarters, I saw Cali talking with some of the Guards. I didn’t want to interrupt so I just gestured for her to come up to my room when she was done. The feeling of complete failure washed over me as I sat on my couch. In such a short time as Queen, people died, farmland was destroyed, it felt like everything was falling apart, and it was my decisions that had led to it. Maybe I was incredibly selfish taking the crown; the people of Tamporlea deserved someone so much stronger than I.
I heard a phone ring and had to think of where it would be coming from. Orion never showed me a phone when I went on a tour of my new place. My pager wasn’t vibrating so I guessed it had to be the computer. I shook the mouse and the screen came to life to reveal Queen Aella’s face.
“Queen Jasmine, where is she?”
“I’m here,” I said wondering if she could see me.
“Not you,” she sneered. “Lilliana.”
“She's here.”
“I am coming to get her,” she declared.
“You most certainly are not.”
“She belongs in Pyrencia. It’s the only place she knows.”
“Well, that’s your fault then isn’t it? The only reason you want her back is because you think she might give us some information that could jeopardize your security.”
“Queen Jasmine,” she said calmly. “Please don’t fight me on this; Lilliana needs to come back here.”
“I must warn you that if you come here without permission, we will immediately declare war and we will show no mercy to anyone who crosses our boundaries.”
She nodded her head slowly and said, “I understand. We cannot have that. Half of our troops were killed by your Guards.”
“Is there anything else?”
“No, thank you for your time,” she said. Before the screen went black, I could have sworn I saw a tear in her eye.
Cali knocked on my door shortly after the conversation between Queen Aella and I ended. She had an extreme look of concern on her face and when I asked what was wrong she started crying.
“Sit down Cali, tell me what is going on.”
“I don’t know. I think it’s that the realization of everything is just hitting me now. I mean we all lost too many people in this ridiculous war. Why couldn’t Aella just let it be? Why did she have to start a war based on a ridiculous grudge from over two hundred years ago?”
“She really feels as though she is entitled to our land Cali. She wants our power, and to be honest, I can’t really blame her.”
“What?”
“I think if I were in her position, I would have done the same thing. I wouldn’t have got Lilliana involved, but I would like to think that I would fight for what I believed belonged to my kingdom. I am sure that was what the entire kingdom believed of Pyrencia - believed to be true.”
“I know,” she said as she wiped her tears away.
“I need to tell you something.”
I filled her in on my conversation with Queen Aella and the current condition of Tyran. She thought Aella could be lying about how many of her troops were killed, but I wasn’t so sure. It didn’t seem like Aella even meant to tell me that information at all.
“So, what are you going to do with Lilliana anyway?” Cali asked.
“I don’t have a clue. I don’t know how the rest of the kingdom is going to react to her being here. You didn’t say anything about that did you?”
“No, I wasn’t sure you wanted me to.”
“Alright, I think we need to call a meeting with the Heads so we can figure out what to do next.”
“I will let everyone know.”
“Give them about fifteen minutes to come up to the platinum room and ask them to get a head count if possible. I need to talk with Lilliana first.”
When I let myself into the gold room, Lilliana was crying with her head resting on the table. I sat next to her and waited a few minutes while she managed to control herself.
“Lilliana, I know this is really hard for you. Do you need anything at all?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“I will have someone bring you something to eat. You have to be getting hungry,” I said thinking of my own growling stomach.
“Thank you.”
“I wanted to let you know that I am going into a meeting for awhile and we are going to discuss where you should stay.”
She tried to hold back her tears as she nodded in understanding.
“I won’t let anything bad happen to you Lilliana. You saved my life. I will do whatever it takes to make sure you are safe.”
“Don’t go out of your way Jasmine. I know I’m not really wanted.”
“That’s not true, I want you here. Also, I did talk to Queen Aella and she wants you too.” I left out the fact that Aella just wanted to keep her secrets safe.
“Don’t make me go back there. Please, just banish me or even kill me but don’t make me go back.”
“No one is going to send you back to Pyrencia. I just wanted you to know that the Queen does want you too. Listen, I should get going to the meeting. I will be back in a little while, okay?”
“Alright. Jasmine, do you think I could get a notebook? I really just need something to do to keep my mind off of everything.”
“Oh, sure Lilliana. I will have someone bring it when they bring your lunch.”
“Thank you.”
I went to the kitchens and asked the workers to bring us lunch in the platinum room. I couldn’t have them bring lunch directly to Lilliana considering no one knew she was there and they would probably panic when they saw her. I would have Kelly take Lilliana a plate and a notebook when it was time.
All of the Heads were sitting in their seat when I made it to the platinum room. I couldn’t help but look at Tyran’s empty seat and wish he was here. When I shut the door, everybody quietened down and waited for what I had to say.
"Alright, everybody thank you for coming. I know there are probably many rumors on what has been going on. I want you want to know that I did leave Tamporlea for a time with Tyran as my Guard. We went to get Lilliana from my mother's house. On the way back we did run into some trouble and Tyran was hurt which is why he's not here now. He is currently in the hospital wing being healed."
"Is going to be okay?" Kelly asked.
"He is very strong. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he is up and running again. For now, we really have a lot of things to talk about. First thing is that my sister is currently in the gold room waiting to find out what we should do with her. I know many of you probably aren’t going to like this but I think she should stay here."
As expected, there was a sudden muttering around the table but it didn't take long for them to settle down.
"On the way back to Tamporlea, Lilliana actually saved my life. There was a Guard from Pyrencia who was about to kill me when she came up behind him and stabbed him. If it wasn't for her, I would probably be dead right now and I owe it to her to keep her safe. The problem is, I don't know where she should stay, and we really need to keep her from leaving. That would be a security risk to Tamporlea and we can't have that happen."
"Queen Jasmine, I think that she could stay in one of the guest quarters. We could set some enchantments around the door so that she cannot leave without us knowing immediately," Kelly said.
“I know she saved your life and everything but I don't think she should stay here. She is one of Queen Aella’s pawns and I think she should be sentenced to death," Runner Simon said.
"Simon I don't think that's necessary. She has shown that she wants no part of her old kingdom and that she wants to be kept away from Aella and all of Pyrencia. I think Enchantments around her room will work perfectly fine. I don't think she is at risk of leaving to be honest, I just don't want to take a chance.”
&
nbsp; “Isn't this something we should vote on?” Simon asked.
“Absolutely not. She is my sister and I am putting my foot down on this matter. I really don't think we have a right to keep her as a prisoner, but I know that none of you would agree to have her walking around our kingdom freely. Having her locked in her room is the only compromise I am willing to make on this matter.”
There was a knock at the door when one of the Commoners came to bring us lunch. I told Kelly to bring Lilliana her lunch as well as a notebook that she had requested previously. When Kelly returned, she said that Lilliana looked tired and very sad but didn’t say anything other than thanking Kelly for her lunch. I told the Heads that they were to all treat Lilliana with respect and not disgrace her in any way. I hoped they understood and would take my request seriously or I would make them pay for anything they did to her.
As we ate our lunch of vegetable soup, we discussed further what we should do with Lilliana as far as food and other matters were concerned. We decided to tell the kingdom at dinner tonight that Lilliana was in our kingdom and was not to be harassed.
When we had finished eating, I had Simon take down all of the dishes to the kitchen to be washed. When he returned, we decided to continue our conversation about what was going to happen with the kingdom. I wasn't sure if Cali had told them that we had acquired the land of Jarnay so I filled them in on the details.
“What are we going to do with the land?” Mykel asked.
“I'm not sure yet but we did offer that the residents could come to our kingdom if they wished. We expected them to arrive before now but that's not to say that they won't come soon.”
“Where the hell are they going to stay?” Simon asked outraged.
“I think we will have to consolidate all of our people to make room for the people of Jarnay.”
“It's not fair to ask anyone to do that.”
“Listen, we are going to have to make a lot of compromises right now. Although Aella has declared peace between the two kingdoms, it is still a stressful time between us. We need to do whatever is necessary to keep our kingdom thriving. There is no way Cali or I could let those people go into the real world without knowing where to find a job, where to live, or anything else. We all want the Gypsy community to stick together as much as possible. I am not asking any of you to share your house with the people of Jarnay; however I am expecting you all to treat them with respect and to do what it takes to keep all the people under our kingdom safe.”
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