When the first day of the Midyear Festival came upon us, Catalina had everything set for her wedding to take place the following night. The outside of the palace was set for the festival and for our people to arrive, and the inside was set for a royal wedding. The palace staff was running around like crazed chickens trying to make sure everything was perfect, though I already saw it as perfect.
Right after breakfast, I decided to take a stroll through the festival area as the vendors were setting up their stalls. Every one of them paused to greet me, and most offered me a free sample of their wares. The only one I was not able to politely turn down was a pastry from one of the bakers stalls. As soon as I smelled it, the baby started doing somersaults in my belly and would not stop until I ate the pastry. After I finished it, I could not stop laughing. I couldn't believe that my little princess was controlling me so much already and she wasn't even born yet.
The festival started out just as it was supposed to. I opened it with a blessing and then the public were allowed in to check out all the vendors and the different entertainment tents. Michael and I had a blast socializing with all of our people. A few of the vendors even gave us gifts for the baby. By the time the sun set, not only was I exhausted but I was full of all the delicious foods and pastries we had tried from all the vendors and our arms were full of baby gifts and new jewels for me.
The next day was a little more busy. I could not spend the day just doing whatever. I had to make sure everything was set for my sister's wedding that night. I ran around all morning making sure everything was decorated correctly and making sure the kitchen had everything they needed for the feast. Most of what I was doing I could have and probably should have left to Lysandra and Catalina's handmaiden, but this wedding was my big success. It marked the moment when I was able to fulfill my promise to Lina, so I wanted everything perfect. I ended up spending the afternoon with Lina in her dressing chambers. She was a nervous wreck. I tried to calm her by getting her to soak in a lavender infused bath. It worked a little bit.
About an hour away from the wedding Shealah finally arrived with Lina's wedding dress. It was almost as beautiful as mine. It was a similar style but had no lace. Lina was not a girl for lace. Instead it had gorgeous bead work all over the skirt and the corset was decorated with the most amazing stitching I had ever seen. It was obvious Shealah tried to put in just as much effort on this gown as she did on mine. She had been working on it from the day that I changed the law allowing Lina to marry. We got Lina dressed and I did her hair. Lysandra brought in some jewelry for her from my collection (mine was much bigger than Lina's).
By the time we were finished getting her ready, there were only five minutes until she was supposed to walk down the aisle. We all walked down to the Throne Room together, before leaving Lina outside the doors while we went to find our places. As I walked in, Damyen was standing up front looking just as nervous as Lina had earlier. I smiled at him and motioned for him to breath. He smiled back and took a couple deep breaths. Then the doors opened and revealed to him his beautiful bride.
Lina looked like a goddess. She stood in the doorway for a moment staring at Damyen. She never thought she was going to get to this point, even after I made her that promise, and here she was, about to walk down the aisle. She put a smile on her face and started walking. With each step the smile got more and more genuine, and the smile on Damyen's face grew and grew. I felt so good knowing that I had been the one to bring these two to this point of happiness.
The ceremony went much the same way as mine. When the priestess declared them husband and wife, Damyen kissed Lina and I could see the tears streaming down her cheeks. For the first time in months (maybe even years) Lina was crying tears of joy.
The feast was beautiful. The banquet hall had been decorated with violets and golden candles. The cooks prepared all of Lina's favorite foods and just about every dessert item in existence. We had enough food to feed our family for three years plus. It was a good thing that royal weddings were public affairs, or most of the food would have gone to waste. A couple muses had come down from the temple for the festival and they were dancing in honor of Lina and Damyen's love. A few of their dance routines were prayers, and I swear one of them was a prayer for children (but I could be wrong). Everyone knew that Lina could not have children and I did not think the Goddess would change that now, though my sister would make a wonderful mother.
I awoke the next day to tragedy. The entire festival yard had been burned to the ground. Nobody had been hurt but all the vendors had lost their products they had brought to sell. Nothing like this had ever happened in the history of the festival. And to make it worse, the guards had no leads as to who had done it.
Michael and I walked through the remains of the festival yard. Everything was scorched or completely burned to ash. I looked in every stall, or what were stalls. Not even the smallest scrap of paper had escaped the flames...or so I thought.
In the last stall, which had been the bakers stall who I had visited during the festival setup, things were different. The stall itself was burned along with everything on the counter. But in the back, where she kept her stock, everything was fine. Not a scorch mark to be found. I could smell the scent of the pastries mixing with the smell of burning wood.
I sent Samuel to find the baker and anyone she had helping her at her stall. The stall owner looked scared and upset, and her worker looked like she had better things to do. My suspicion automatically fell on the worker. “Your Majesty, you wanted to see us?” The stall owner said once they were in front of me. “Yes I did. What is your name?” I asked her. “My name is Chelsey and this is my sister in law's daughter Maggie. She has been helping me in the shop and was helping me here yesterday.” The stall owner replied. “Chelsey, I have been looking over the festival yard, or what remains of it, along with my guards. Every stall and its contents are completely destroyed except for yours. Your stall was burnt but your supply in the back was untouched. I thought it kind of odd that of all the stalls yours was the only one not completely destroyed.” I informed her. She looked shocked. She had no idea her stuff was not destroyed. Her niece however did not seem that surprised, so I turned my attention to her. “Maggie, do you like working with your aunt?” I asked her all of a sudden. My question definitely caught her off guard. “It is not bad work. I assume I could have it worse.” She replied matter of factly. “Would you like to keep working with her?” I asked, once again throwing her off guard. “Yes. That was my plan, at least until I marry.” She answered after a moment of hesitation. Chelsey was watching our conversation trying to figure out where it was going. “Then you need to tell me what you know about this fire, right now, or one of my guards over there will be putting you in a cell.” I said finally getting to the point. Chelsey was shocked, but Maggie was not. She had not realized until that point that I suspected her at all. “I do not know anything Your Majesty.” She said trying to play dumb, but I was not a stupid woman. “Okay then. Samuel!” I called. He started walking towards us, and Maggie's eyes almost jumped out of her head. “Okay okay. I am sorry Your Majesty. She said if I told anyone, she would kill my family. I have seen the things she does, and she is not one you want to cross.” Maggie said as she started crying. “Who is she?” I asked. “Her name is Rhiannon.” “How do you know her?” I asked, trying to keep my shock hidden. “We met when we were young. We used to play together out in the woods. She disappeared for a few years but she returned a couple years ago. When she returned, she was different. There was some kind of power that radiated from her, and she seemed like she had a mission to complete. It was like nothing mattered to her except that mission. Then a few months ago, about the time you returned to the kingdom, she changed again. The power was still there, but she seemed as if she had completed her mission, whatever it was. She spent more time with me.” Maggie explained, sounding extremely scared to be saying it out loud. “Did she set the fire last night?” I asked, not really wanting to know the answer
because it would create more questions, like how did she survive her funeral pyre that Lina and I had for her. “Yes Your Majesty.” Maggie said sounding defeated. “Where can I find her?”
The next few hours were spent in deep conversation with my guards. Maggie gave me all the information I needed. We set up a plan to find Rhiannon and capture her. Michael was not too keen on the plan though. “Ana you cannot go with the guards. It is too dangerous. We have no idea how she survived two funeral pyres. Its not safe for you or the baby.” He begged as I was getting ready to leave. “Michael if I do not do it who will?”
It was at that moment that Catalina arrived. “I will. I want to figure this out just as much as you do Stasia and I am not as important to the kingdom as you are. If something happens to you, our kingdom will lose its Queen and its heiress. So you stay here with Michael and Damyen, and I will go with the guards.” “But if something happens to you, I will never be able to forgive myself.” I argued, though I knew it was useless. She was right, as always.
The next few hours were torture. We had no way to communicate with the guards after they left the palace, which left me sitting around trying not to go insane with worry. Michael, Damyen, and Lysandra tried to keep me occupied but it only worked for a short while. No matter how many baby preparations Lysa came up with, or how many people Michael and Damyen brought to me for help, I could not keep from thinking about my men who I just sent into danger, or my big sister who is risking her life in my place.
Almost four hours after everyone headed out, a young guard walked into the Throne Room. Samuel sent him as a messenger to inform me of what has happened so far. It turns out that Rhiannon's hideout was not as well protected as Maggie had thought. My men broke in in a matter of minutes. They fought some guards that Rhiannon had acquired, and walked away with no casualties of our own. All of her men were dead though. When the messenger had been sent back to us, Samuel was getting ready to lead Catalina into the center of the hideout, where Rhiannon would be. After he finished relaying his message, he headed back out to help.
Hearing from Samuel both calmed some of my worry and brought out new worry. I was happy to hear that none of my men had been killed or even hurt in the initial battle. Our guards were hard to replace, and I have been close to many of them for years. But now I was worrying even more about Catalina. I had no clue what she was doing or dealing with, and all I wanted to do was swoop in and save her from whatever it was.
Thankfully, my little princess decided it was time to wake up and play. Feeling her move in my belly helped to calm some of my fears and worries. It also reminded me of why I was doing all of this. I did not want to bring my little girl into a world where she had to watch her back for some evil aunt we had all thought dead years ago. I wanted her to know the happiness and the security that Catalina and I grew up with. This was a peaceful kingdom, and I would be damned if it did not go back to being that way.
A little while later I was sitting in the garden with Lysandra. We were just chatting about life. It was as if nothing was going on. Just two friends hanging out, but then everyone returned. The guards walked up the path from the main gates. I did not see Catalina anywhere. I ran to Samuel calling out for Catalina as I went. Samuel smiled at me...which told me she was not hurt. “Your sister needs to talk to you Your Majesty. She went around back and should be in your office now.” Samuel said with a bow. Without a word I ran inside to my office.
Catalina stood in the center of my office pacing back and forth. At first I thought she was alone, but then I stepped around my desk to sit down and saw Rhiannon sitting across from me. I froze. I had no clue what to do or what to say. I had figured if I saw her alive again it would be in chains seeing how she did murder my mother and burned down our festival, but here she was sitting across from me as if we were just two people in a meeting.
Catalina came around to me and put her hand on my shoulder, trying to get me to calm down and sit. I looked at her briefly, long enough to see her nod at me. Sitting down, I asked to both of them, “What is going on?” “Stasia you have to listen to what she has to say. It is going to sound very bizarre at first but it will make sense afterwards. Please just listen to her.” Catalina said in a pleading tone. “How did you get the guards to allow her to come here without chains?” I asked Catalina. “Samuel was with me when she explained her story to me. He heard everything I did and we both came to the agreement that you needed to hear her out.” Lina answered before Rhiannon jumped in. “If you feel more comfortable having this conversation with me in a cell, then that is fine, as long as you hear me out.” Rhiannon said softly but powerfully. I took a deep breath before turning to look at my baby sister. “Rhiannon, the last time we spoke I was eight years old and I had watched you die. The last time I saw you, you were lying dead on the floor in front of my throne and had just killed our mother the night before. I will give you five minutes to explain everything to me before I call Samuel to lock you up.” I said sounding very much like the queen I was supposed to be in this situation.
Rhiannon nodded before starting her story. “Mother never allowed you guys to speak of me after I died as a kid and no one outside the castle knew of my existence. This was not because of a grieving mother who could not bear the heartache over her dead child. It was because the mother could not bear to think anymore of how that child had come to be. Yes I was the Queen's daughter, but I was not the King's. Mother had gone off to visit the temple for some reason and on her way home she was attacked. Her attackers had no idea who she was, otherwise they would have not done it, but during the attack she was not just robbed. Mother had been raped and nine months later, I was born. Your father convinced her that everything would be alright. That they could pass me off as his, but as I got older that became more and more difficult. It turns out my father was not just some common criminal. He had magical abilities that were passed on to me. As I got older, these abilities starting coming out at the worst times. They started hiding me from the public. Eventually everyone outside the palace had forgotten me and even the staff that did not deal directly with me, had started to forget too. Then that day when we were all playing out in the field, I was running after you guys and all of a sudden I could feel the power in me building until the next thing I knew I was waking up in a cave. After you guys had held my funeral, my father had found my body and brought me back to the caves in which he and his men lived. When I awoke, he explained everything to me. I was not some weird princess meant to be kept hidden. I was the first of his kind to be born in over three centuries.”
“Wait a second. What do you mean his kind?” I jumped in cutting her off before she could continue. She smiled. She had been hoping I would catch that. “My father is not human and neither am I.” She said. “What? If you are not human then what are you?” I asked, starting to get confused and rather irritated. “We are of a magical race that is able to wield magical abilities and after the age of 15 we do not age. My father is their leader.” She explained as if this was not the most bizarre thing I had ever heard. “You realize how ridiculous that sounds?” I asked. “Stasia, think about it. How else would she have survived two funeral pyres?” Catalina jumped in. “Right that reminds me. You did not explain your deaths, and how they did not truly kill you.” I said turning back to Rhiannon. “My first death was when my magic fully awoke. When one of us reaches a certain level of magical use, our body shuts down for a while to adjust. My second death was my body hitting full maturity for my kind. It shut down to complete the change. I will not age another day past the day your guards brought my body to you.” She answered matter of factly. “Okay so what about Mother? You killed her. How are you going to try to talk yourself out of that one.” I demanded, my anger starting to surpass my confusion. “I did not kill her. I can show you who did, but you wont like the answer. Yes I was in the room when she died, but I did not kill her. I confronted her. I figured since your father was gone, it would be easier to talk to her, but I was wrong. She freaked ou
t when she saw me. She thought she was seeing a ghost, and refused to listen when I told her I was not dead, that I was alive and had been all these years.” “What do you mean you can show me who killed her?” I interrupted. “It is one of my abilities. I can show others things I have witnessed in the past.” Rhiannon said proudly.
She took my hands in hers and said to do as she says. I figured I would humor her for a moment, so when she told me to stay quiet and close my eyes, I listened. A few moments later, it was as if I were transported to my mother's room, yet I could still feel my chair underneath me and Rhiannon's hands in mine.
My mother was lying in her bed asleep. All of a sudden the door opened and in walked Rhiannon. She woke my mother up, and instinctively Mother jumped up and screamed when she saw she was being woken up by her dead daughter. Rhiannon tried to soothe her and explain that she was not dead and that Mother was in no danger. Rhiannon just wanted to talk, but Mother would hear none of it. She kept trying to get away and to call for the guards. Rhiannon told Mother that they would not come, because she put a charm on the room so no noise would leave it. This only made Mother more nervous. As Rhiannon was trying to think of how to fix the situation, Mother grabbed a knife. Rhiannon thought it was meant for her and jumped back. As she backed away, Mother brought the knife across her throat and then put it through her own heart. I watched as my mother took her own life to get away from the daughter she never wanted.
Back in the present I pulled my hands out of Rhiannon's and buried my face in them. The tears started streaming down my face. I could not speak or even think. Even when the baby started moving, I could not pull myself out of it. Catalina and Rhiannon tried everything, but nothing worked. Lina sent for Michael. When he arrived, he was first surprised to see Rhiannon, and then surprised to see me in that state.
Divine Royalty (The Descendants Book 1) Page 6