“Oh come on!”
“Tyran, it’s true! Do you think I wanted to grow up without a father? Do you know what it’s like to have a twin who died at two days old? Knowing that your face reminds your parents of what they’re missing? Why do you think I’m such an overachiever? It’s because I’m so afraid of disappointing my mom and making her wish she had my sister instead of me. I am constantly trying to make up for her death, and I don’t even realize I am doing it!”
“Miss Jasmine, I’m sorry…”
“And it doesn’t stop there. When I found out why I was brought here, I felt so guilty because it shouldn’t be me! Lilliana was born seven minutes before me. Being Queen is her destiny, not mine.”
“Miss Jasmine, being Queen is your destiny if you choose it! Everything happens…”
“I swear, if you say everything happens for a reason, I will hit you so hard!”
“But it’s true!”
“Tyran, if you honestly believed that, you would have a different perspective on whatever is going on in your life.”
“Yeah…well, maybe,” he said obviously feeling defeated. “I can’t imagine what it was like growing up knowing you were supposed to have your twin by your side. And I never realized the tremendous guilt you felt. However, I do know what it’s like to grow up without a father. I’ve never met mine.”
“Seriously? I assumed Orion was your father.”
After laughing loudly, he finally said, “What on earth made you think that?”
“Your attitude toward him. It’s typical of a rebellious child turning his back on his father.”
“No, Orion is not my father. My mother was a Runner and she fell in love with a man from the real world and got pregnant with my sister and me.”
“Twins,” I said longingly.
“Yes. My mother should have been banished but for some reason, Queen Holly took pity on her and let her stay. However, she was stripped of her magical abilities and was forced to live as a Commoner.”
“Oh my God. That must have been so hard on your mother.”
“Yes, and it was because of my mother that women are no longer allowed to be Runners.”
“Wow. So how are you a Guard then? Wouldn’t you be a Runner or an Other?”
“Geez, how much did Cali tell you?”
“Oh, uh, not much really. Just some basic stuff,” I said.
“Mmmmm Hmmmm…Well, you’re right. Technically I am an Other but my powers were so strong, I qualified as a Guard.”
“And your sister?”
“She is also a Guard. Her name is Angel and she’s married to the Guard, Mykel. They’re expecting their first child in just a couple of months.”
“So have you ever tried to find your father?”
“No, my mom claims that she has no memory of him.”
“You don’t believe her.”
“Not at all. She claims that Queen Holly must have wiped all her memories of my father for the sake of Tamporlea’s security.”
“Well, that kind of makes sense. Not that I agree with it.”
“Queen Holly had a strange view on love. I really don’t think she would ever do that. Either way, I don’t really want to know him. It would just be too confusing.”
“I guess it would be.”
I kept petting Casper’s head as Tyran and I talked even though he was fast asleep. I was pretty tired myself, but I really enjoyed talking to Tyran. He was so easy to talk to and the more I was getting to know him, the more I saw how incredibly gorgeous he is.
“Can I ask you something?” Tyran asked.
“Sure.”
“What do you think you’re going to do?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, I feel like there is so much waiting for me back home. College has always been something I’ve looked forward to. But how does that really compare to being Queen? And then, what do I do about my mom?”
“Can I give you a bit of advice?”
“Sure.”
“Don’t think about all the things you’d be giving up in the real world until you know everything you’d be gaining by staying in Tamporlea.”
“Ok, I’ll do my best.”
“I think we should really go back in. It’s got to be past midnight by now and you’ve got an early morning.”
“Okay,” I said trying to hide my disappointment.
“I’m looking forward to our meeting Miss Jasmine.”
“Hey Tyran? Do you think you could just call me Jasmine? I mean with all we’ve shared tonight, I don’t want to be so formal with you.”
“As you wish. Although, I think I’d better stick to Miss Jasmine while Orion is around. He’s kind of picky about formality.”
When we got back to the guest quarters, I let Casper in and turned back to Tyran to say goodnight.
“Sleep well Jasmine.”
“You too Tyran. It was really nice talking to you.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You will? I thought our meeting wasn’t for a couple days.”
“Yes, but we have dinner every night. I’m sure I’ll see you there, unless you sleep through it again,” he joked.
“Goodnight Tyran.”
“Goodnight Jasmine.”
Chapter 6
G-News
It didn’t take me long at all to pass out when I finally crawled into bed. My restless nap during the day did not affect my ability to sleep tonight. I felt completely rested when my alarm went off and I had to get into the shower. The green apple smell of the shampoo and conditioner was sharper this morning than I had remembered. Casper waited anxiously while I brushed my hair for me to take him out, which made me think about what would happen while I was in the meetings. I wished I had asked Tyran or Cali to take him out at least once before lunch.
When Orion came to get me, I had just finished my bowl of oatmeal. I followed him up the incline to the gold room again, but it was just him and I in the room. He sat across from me and handed me a binder that I flipped through while he was taking out other things from a bag. Inside were many pictures of people and other things that were somehow significant to Tamporlea.
“Inside this binder is a crash course on Tamporlea’s history. I don’t expect you to remember all of this but it’s important that you know what happened in the past to make us the society we are today. We’ll start off with the High Priestess and finish off with Queen Holly. I promise to try to make this exciting, but this is probably going to be the worst part of your meetings.”
Learning about the past Queens was not as boring as I thought it was going to be. When we were going over things that seemed to be a bit mundane like farm equipment, I reminded myself that this was my family’s history. The fact that the women in my family had accomplished so much really was inspiring and the fact that I could be a part of it all put a spark of excitement in me that I hadn’t expected. However, I kept thinking about everything that Cali told me the night before and I wondered if I could really do anything to help.
“One thing you would have to do before crowning is to choose your assistant. Queen Jessenia started this tradition during her third year as Queen. There was a major spike in the population and we had about six hundred people living in the palace walls. There was so much to do and she couldn’t accomplish it all on her own. You may ask anyone you would like, however they have the choice to turn it down.”
“But I thought you would carry on?”
“Miss Jasmine, not that it wouldn’t be a tremendous honor to be your assistant, but I have been in this position far too long. Besides, tradition says that there should be a new assistant with a new Queen. Also, the Queen as well as her assistant is given an aging potion every month to keep them able bodied and quick minded.”
“So could they live forever if they wanted?”
“That is the theory, but obviously no one has attempted it. Believe me Miss Jasmine, being Queen takes its toll and there will be a time when you are ready to move on.”
>
Queen Holly, who took over for Queen Jessenia was by far the most interesting to learn about. She was Queen the longest of anyone, serving over a hundred years. She was a hundred and twenty seven when she died. I wondered just how old Orion was, he had to be around the same age, if not older. He was her assistant for the entire time she was alive. Obviously, he had to still be taking the potion. I wondered if he would still be able to continue to take the potion if I were to be crowned. Obviously he was a vital part of Tamporlea and I would need his advice and guidance for as long as possible.
When Queen Holly took over she had to restructure the way in which they lived. She imposed very strict population controls and banished anyone who did not comply. Most people who were banished went to live in one of the other two kingdoms. For a time, she allowed the Enchanters to have three children so as to be able to protect Tamporlea better in the future. She also cleared more land to expand the crops to help bring in more money for the kingdom. Although cash wasn’t exchanged within the kingdom, it was becoming more important in the real world as trade was beginning to fade out completely.
Queen Holly eventually started to give the people more say in what was happening in the kingdom. They were allowed to have votes on matters that affected everyone. That was how some of the modern technology was brought to Tamporlea. It was also decided that vehicles or anything else that could pollute the air surrounding the kingdom would be forbidden. This explained why the farmers were still using equipment that would be considered antique.
When it was time for lunch, I went to get Casper and brought him out. Cali caught up to us as we were leaving.
“How did it go?” she asked. “What did he tell you about?”
“We went over the history of each of the Queens. I learned about how the High Priestess organized the palace by tiers, the agricultural revolution in the early 1900’s and I learned that I can live forever if I want to,” I joked.
“Oh yes, the Queen’s Potion. I take it you didn’t find everything so exciting?”
“It was interesting, but it was a lot of information to take in all at once.”
“You should be a Reader, we take in a ton of information in no time at all.”
“That would be convenient right now.”
“So, we meet in two hours. What are you going to do with your free time?”
“Just hang out with Casper, have some lunch and maybe watch some mindless TV.”
She laughed and said, “Good luck with that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, you’ll see. I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you in a couple hours.”
“Where do I meet you?”
“I’ll come get you. We’re going on a tour!”
“Ok.”
When I got back to my guest room, I made myself a salad with the veggies left in the refrigerator. I decided to try the lime-garlic dressing, on the side just in case.
I sat on the couch with my salad and grabbed the remote to the TV. It was on a news station so I tried to turn it but it wasn’t changing channels. So this was what Cali was laughing about. I left the TV on just for some noise, but didn’t pay much attention as I ate my salad.
The dressing was surprisingly good, so I poured it on my salad after a couple of test bites. The man on the television was rambling about who knows what. I never liked watching the news. Especially like this where the anchor was talking about foreign lands and the ticker crawl displayed headlines I didn’t understand.
When I was putting my dish in the sink, I heard my name.
“Come in!” I said, thinking someone was outside my door.
“It’s rumored that she arrived in Tamporlea just two days ago, although this is still unconfirmed.”
Oh my god. I was on the news! I sat back on the couch, watching the television intently.
“Obviously the King and Queen of Jarnay and Pyrencia are troubled by this information and are looking into whether Orion, the Head of Tamporlea, has broken any laws by not informing them of Miss Jasmine’s arrival.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This news channel was obviously for the three kingdoms and apparently I was a headline!
“Just who is Jasmine Taylor and does she have what it takes to be the Queen of Tamporlea? Her biography will be on at three this afternoon, so stay tuned. In other news…”
This was the craziest thing I had heard since I met Orion. No, this was the craziest thing ever! I kept watching the news, but there was nothing more said about me except the ticker crawl headline, Is Jasmine Taylor in Tamporlea? rolling across the bottom of the screen, taunting me.
I must have dozed off at some point because two hours went by way too fast and Calalilly was already knocking on my door. When I opened the door, she bounded in like a ball full of energy which only reminded me of how tired I was.
“You ready?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah, but can we be back by three?”
“Three? That’s only an hour. What’s going on?”
“Well, I’ve been watching the news.” This was apparently very funny as Cali was now in the middle of a laughing fit.
“Interesting huh?”
“Well, yeah. I mean considering they are running my biography at three. I found that kind of interesting.”
“What?” she asked with no humor coloring her voice now.
“Yeah, I was eating lunch and apparently there’s a rumor amongst the other kingdoms that I’ve arrived. They’re putting my whole life story on television and I want to see what they are going to say.”
Cali grabbed my arm and pulled me with her running close to warp speed up the incline to one of the gold rooms. She knocked frantically until Orion opened the door.
“Cali, what is it?”
“I need to speak with you.”
“Can’t it wait? We just started a meeting.”
“I’m sorry, but no.”
“Alright, go on back to Miss Jasmine’s guest quarters and I will meet you there in a couple minutes.”
When Cali and I made it back to my room, we sat on the couch and waited for Orion to meet us.
“Cali, what’s going on?”
“G-News is doing a special on you. It’s not a good thing.”
“Why? I have no skeletons in my closet.”
Orion showed up just as Cali was about to respond. He sat on the chair next to the couch waiting for us to tell him what’s going on.
“Orion, I’m sorry to interrupt your meeting. Miss Jasmine saw G-News and they know she’s here.”
“What? That can’t be. What did they say exactly?”
“They said that there were rumors that I arrived in Tamporlea a couple of days ago. Then they said they were going to run my biography at three today,” I told him.
“That’s it?” he asked.
“I think so. Oh wait, they said the King and Queen are looking to see if any Gypsy laws have been broken due to the fact that you didn’t inform them.”
“Calalilly, have you read the laws on transporting the heirs to Tamporlea?”
“Yes, of course. The only thing that they might be questioning is the line that states that the heir will be brought to Tamporlea when she comes of age. Technically Miss Jasmine isn’t of age being only just turned seventeen, but that’s a technicality really. We could easily argue that Miss Jasmine going to college makes her of age. There’s no chronological age stated anywhere in the law books.”
“Well, what about informing the other kingdoms?”
“It only says that we must inform them when the heir makes her decision, nothing about when she actually comes to Tamporlea.”
“How would they know about this?”
“I have no idea,” Cali said.
“Well, Orion, we didn’t exactly hike here in the dead of night. Anyone could have seen us traveling.”
“True, but I highly doubt that. When I left you and your mother for a few hours I was contacting the Enchanters here. I told them to extend the protect
ions to your campsite. If anyone from any of the other kingdoms came close to us, we would know immediately.”
“But you didn’t know I was going to say I would come with you,” I pointed out.
“It was pretty obvious while I was describing Tamporlea to you.”
“What are you thinking then?” Cali asked.
“One of our people had to of tipped them off.”
“What do we do about her biography showing in less than an hour?”
“I don’t think there’s much we can do.”
“Why is that a big deal?” I asked. “I’m sure pretty much everyone here must know my history. I really don’t have any secrets that would make me look like a bad person.”
“I know you don’t, but you have to understand G-News. They broadcast out of Pyrencia and they are like the supermarket tabloids of Gypsy television. There’s some truth in what they say, but you have to sift through the colorful embellishments to actually find the truth,” Orion explained.
“Orion, who do you think would tip them off? I mean there weren’t very many people who knew she was coming.”
“No, I think they were told after she was already here.”
“Why does it even matter?” I asked.
“Miss Jasmine, one of the reasons we brought you here at seventeen was to avoid this type of publicity. There is nothing in your life that would give us any concern. However G-News twists everything. They could turn you being class president into a dark ploy to gain power,” Orion explained.
“Yes, being class president has made me mad with power,” I said sarcastically.
“There’s also the matter of Lilliana,” Orion said ignoring my comment.
“What do you mean?” I asked, suddenly more interested.
“Well, your sister was older and technically she should have been Queen.”
“I know, but she died. Aren’t I the spare?”
“The spare?” Cali asked.
“Yes, when the Queen of England has children, the first one is the heir, the second is the spare,” I explained.
“We have never had a situation like this before. When Lilliana died, we made the decision that you would take her place.”
“Orion, we put that in writing. The other kingdoms were well aware of the situation. I’m sure that if they had a problem with it, they would have brought it up long before now,” Cali said.
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