Chapter 19: Goronglia!
~Flerbery's P.O.V.~
Finally, after hours of listening to Stellan droning on and on about the politics of Goronglia, we arrive at the Palace of Gorongl. It's a beautiful place, or at least was once. It's kind of sad... you can see that shadow of the beauty and joy that was once here, trapped within the sorrowful disrepair. Everything is well kept, yet seems halfhearted in some way. It looks like Stellan if he were a place; smartly presented but not quite complete and a little bit less interesting because of it. I can see the potential for it to be beautiful again. It would be complete if only someone cared enough to make it so. I feel like I could do that. I almost feel drawn to it, as if it needs me.
That's not why I'm here, though. My mother is who needs me now but nobody can know of my plans, so I must be very careful. A thought comes into my head, wanting to make itself known, but it isn't complete and I can't grasp it tightly enough to understand so I wave it away and stand up. Stellan is already up, opening the carriage door. He climbs out and helps me step down. My bottom half is wholly numb from the bumpy ride. I get out and look at the horses. The atmosphere of them is different, something is wrong. I wonder if my horse speak will only work through physical contact, like before. I think maybe I just have to try a little harder and use more power for it to work without touch. I try my best to think toward the horses, asking what's wrong with all my might.
"Ouch! Princess Flerbery. There's no reason to shout!" Say the horses simultaneously.
"Oops, sorry!" I apologize. I think back with less force. "I wasn't sure if it would work without touch."
"It just depends on the person and their magical ability. Byronn's only works through touch." Explains a chestnut gelding.
"Ah. I'm Flerbery, what's your name?" I ask him.
"I know who you are, Your Highness. I am Charlesworth II. It's a pleasure to meet you." He answers.
"Are you guys okay? It seemed like something was wrong." I inquire.
"No, no. Nothing's wrong..." Says one horse.
But another says, "It's just... Byronn seems troubled about something and he won't tell us what, so we're a bit worried. And Lucy hurt her ankle."
I walk over to Lucy and stroke her flank, passing healing power into her as I do so.
"Thank you." She says.
"I'll find out what's wrong with By, okay?" I assure the horses.
They all agree. Byron begins to unharness the horses and lead them to the stables, so I walk back to the carriage and begin to unload my luggage, but Stellan stops me.
"Let the slaves do that." He commands. I knew they had servants here, but I didn't know they had slaves. Or maybe that's just what Stellan calls them. I hope it's the latter, as rude as that option is. It's better than if it were really true.
Just then, several young women -- thirteen year olds maybe -- walk out wearing over-bearing maid's outfits and begin unloading our luggage. Even two to a suitcase, they can hardly manage to carry it. Stellan gives a slithly amused chuckle, as if this is funny to him.
"Here, let me help you." I say, attempting to take my trunks from a maid. Stellan wrenches my arms away, causing the full weight of the trunk to fall into the young girl's arms again. She grunts but manages to keep it. Stellan grips my arms tightly and forces me to look at him.
"I said let the slaves handle it." He snaps. "It's their job, not yours, and if you don't obey me there will be repercussions. You will not do servant's work here."
And with that, he kicks the little girls feet out from under her. She falls in the dirt and the heavy trunk lands on her.
"Stop it!" I cry. "You can't do that to her!"
He gives me a smug look and says, "Watch me."
Then he kicks her in the side and she cries out. "Please," She begs. "Don't argue with him."
I realize that I am only making her situation worse by trying to stop Stellan, so I get down on my knees in the dirt and plead with Stellan to show me the castle. He agrees, telling the maids to take my luggage to my room and make sure it's all ready. I give them an apologetic look and do my best to assure them that I'm here to help. I never realized the conditions were so bad here. I take Stellan's arm and he leads me to the doors of the castle.
"Your room is in that tower there," He says while pointing." Byronn's quarters are adjoined to the side, along with the quarters of your three lady's maids, whom you just met."
Oh no, they must hate me now. I think, feeling guilty. I hope Byronn rescues me soon.
Stellan continues. "Would you like a tour of the castle now, or a few hours to refresh and maybe nap after the journey? Either way is perfectly okay. I can have your maids come and help you gets ready and I'll have a slave show Byronn to his room, also, if you'd like."
"A nap sounds wonderful, actually. Are you sure you don't mind. I don't want to seem rude and I'd especially like to meet Gorongl today if possible." I say.
Stellan nods. "Gorongl and I will be having dinner with you this evening, so feel free to take a few hours to recuperate and such, alright?"
"Alright." I say, and Stellan personally shows me to my room in the tower.
To my surprise, he doesn't leave when we get to the room. He opens the door for me and follows me inside. My heart begins to race as he shuts the door. I hear it click shut behind him. He turns to me, takes my slim hand in both of his burly hands. My gloved hands look so dainty next to his big, strong. He kisses my hand affectionately, more passionately than I would have thought Stellan capable of.
"I hope I haven't given off the wrong impression, Princess." He says. "I know our customs are a bit different, but I hope you'll still be comfortable here with me. I do want you to enjoy my company, even though I can sometimes be boring and uninteresting."
"Of course," I say, although inwardly I'm not really sure what to make of this.
Then Stellan gently rests his hands on my waist and pulls me just close enough to awkwardly kiss my forehead. Then he turns to the door and pushes pasts the three ladies maids, who were just about to knock on the door. The shock is evident on their faces as they see him leaving my bedroom.
* * *
"So, you don't have any choice in the matter?" Asks Delilah, one of the three ladies' maids.
"Not really." I tell her. Byronn is still not back from the stables, so I invited the three young girls inside to get to know them.
"That's terrible!" Cries Dahlia. The third triplet, Dallas, sits quietly in the corner. She is the one who Stellan hurt. Even after I apologized, she hasn't really opened up to me yet. I hope she can forgive me, but I'd understand if she doesn't. I want so badly to take her pain away, but I don't dare reveal my powers to them. Maybe eventually... but not until I'm absolutely certain I can trust them.
"Well, it's what I can do for my country and I want to help if it means the end of this cold war. Peace is important to me." I tell them, and it's not a lie... at least not completely. "You guys can feel free to sit down, make yourselves comfortable."
They look at eachother uncertainly.
"What is it?" I ask.
Delilah says, "It's just that... it's not really proper for us to do that. Stellan said you would be friendly, but that we weren't supposed to go along with it."
Dahlia adds, "He said, 'You are her servants, not her friends, understand?' "
And Dallas adds, "And we aren't supposed to disobey him..."
"Can I show you something? It's a secret." I ask them.
They look doubtful. "I don't think..." starts Dallas.
"It'll be okay." I promise. Then I walk over to Dallas and place my palm on her ribs. She cringes away with a gasp. "It's alright, hold still."
Then I close my eyes and release a burst of power. She is instantly healed. She looks down at where her wound was in awe. "H--How did you do that?"
Finally, after hours of listening to Stellan droning on and on about the politics of Goronglia, we arrive at the Palace of Gorongl. It's a beautiful place, or at least was once. It's kind of sad... you can see that shadow of the beauty and joy that was once here, trapped within the sorrowful disrepair. Everything is well kept, yet seems halfhearted in some way. It looks like Stellan if he were a place; smartly presented but not quite complete and a little bit less interesting because of it. I can see the potential for it to be beautiful again. It would be complete if only someone cared enough to make it so. I feel like I could do that. I almost feel drawn to it, as if it needs me.
That's not why I'm here, though. My mother is who needs me now but nobody can know of my plans, so I must be very careful. A thought comes into my head, wanting to make itself known, but it isn't complete and I can't grasp it tightly enough to understand so I wave it away and stand up. Stellan is already up, opening the carriage door. He climbs out and helps me step down. My bottom half is wholly numb from the bumpy ride. I get out and look at the horses. The atmosphere of them is different, something is wrong. I wonder if my horse speak will only work through physical contact, like before. I think maybe I just have to try a little harder and use more power for it to work without touch. I try my best to think toward the horses, asking what's wrong with all my might.
"Ouch! Princess Flerbery. There's no reason to shout!" Say the horses simultaneously.
"Oops, sorry!" I apologize. I think back with less force. "I wasn't sure if it would work without touch."
"It just depends on the person and their magical ability. Byronn's only works through touch." Explains a chestnut gelding.
"Ah. I'm Flerbery, what's your name?" I ask him.
"I know who you are, Your Highness. I am Charlesworth II. It's a pleasure to meet you." He answers.
"Are you guys okay? It seemed like something was wrong." I inquire.
"No, no. Nothing's wrong..." Says one horse.
But another says, "It's just... Byronn seems troubled about something and he won't tell us what, so we're a bit worried. And Lucy hurt her ankle."
I walk over to Lucy and stroke her flank, passing healing power into her as I do so.
"Thank you." She says.
"I'll find out what's wrong with By, okay?" I assure the horses.
They all agree. Byron begins to unharness the horses and lead them to the stables, so I walk back to the carriage and begin to unload my luggage, but Stellan stops me.
"Let the slaves do that." He commands. I knew they had servants here, but I didn't know they had slaves. Or maybe that's just what Stellan calls them. I hope it's the latter, as rude as that option is. It's better than if it were really true.
Just then, several young women -- thirteen year olds maybe -- walk out wearing over-bearing maid's outfits and begin unloading our luggage. Even two to a suitcase, they can hardly manage to carry it. Stellan gives a slithly amused chuckle, as if this is funny to him.
"Here, let me help you." I say, attempting to take my trunks from a maid. Stellan wrenches my arms away, causing the full weight of the trunk to fall into the young girl's arms again. She grunts but manages to keep it. Stellan grips my arms tightly and forces me to look at him.
"I said let the slaves handle it." He snaps. "It's their job, not yours, and if you don't obey me there will be repercussions. You will not do servant's work here."
And with that, he kicks the little girls feet out from under her. She falls in the dirt and the heavy trunk lands on her.
"Stop it!" I cry. "You can't do that to her!"
He gives me a smug look and says, "Watch me."
Then he kicks her in the side and she cries out. "Please," She begs. "Don't argue with him."
I realize that I am only making her situation worse by trying to stop Stellan, so I get down on my knees in the dirt and plead with Stellan to show me the castle. He agrees, telling the maids to take my luggage to my room and make sure it's all ready. I give them an apologetic look and do my best to assure them that I'm here to help. I never realized the conditions were so bad here. I take Stellan's arm and he leads me to the doors of the castle.
"Your room is in that tower there," He says while pointing." Byronn's quarters are adjoined to the side, along with the quarters of your three lady's maids, whom you just met."
Oh no, they must hate me now. I think, feeling guilty. I hope Byronn rescues me soon.
Stellan continues. "Would you like a tour of the castle now, or a few hours to refresh and maybe nap after the journey? Either way is perfectly okay. I can have your maids come and help you gets ready and I'll have a slave show Byronn to his room, also, if you'd like."
"A nap sounds wonderful, actually. Are you sure you don't mind. I don't want to seem rude and I'd especially like to meet Gorongl today if possible." I say.
Stellan nods. "Gorongl and I will be having dinner with you this evening, so feel free to take a few hours to recuperate and such, alright?"
"Alright." I say, and Stellan personally shows me to my room in the tower.
To my surprise, he doesn't leave when we get to the room. He opens the door for me and follows me inside. My heart begins to race as he shuts the door. I hear it click shut behind him. He turns to me, takes my slim hand in both of his burly hands. My gloved hands look so dainty next to his big, strong. He kisses my hand affectionately, more passionately than I would have thought Stellan capable of.
"I hope I haven't given off the wrong impression, Princess." He says. "I know our customs are a bit different, but I hope you'll still be comfortable here with me. I do want you to enjoy my company, even though I can sometimes be boring and uninteresting."
"Of course," I say, although inwardly I'm not really sure what to make of this.
Then Stellan gently rests his hands on my waist and pulls me just close enough to awkwardly kiss my forehead. Then he turns to the door and pushes pasts the three ladies maids, who were just about to knock on the door. The shock is evident on their faces as they see him leaving my bedroom.
* * *
"So, you don't have any choice in the matter?" Asks Delilah, one of the three ladies' maids.
"Not really." I tell her. Byronn is still not back from the stables, so I invited the three young girls inside to get to know them.
"That's terrible!" Cries Dahlia. The third triplet, Dallas, sits quietly in the corner. She is the one who Stellan hurt. Even after I apologized, she hasn't really opened up to me yet. I hope she can forgive me, but I'd understand if she doesn't. I want so badly to take her pain away, but I don't dare reveal my powers to them. Maybe eventually... but not until I'm absolutely certain I can trust them.
"Well, it's what I can do for my country and I want to help if it means the end of this cold war. Peace is important to me." I tell them, and it's not a lie... at least not completely. "You guys can feel free to sit down, make yourselves comfortable."
They look at eachother uncertainly.
"What is it?" I ask.
Delilah says, "It's just that... it's not really proper for us to do that. Stellan said you would be friendly, but that we weren't supposed to go along with it."
Dahlia adds, "He said, 'You are her servants, not her friends, understand?' "
And Dallas adds, "And we aren't supposed to disobey him..."
"Can I show you something? It's a secret." I ask them.
They look doubtful. "I don't think..." starts Dallas.
"It'll be okay." I promise. Then I walk over to Dallas and place my palm on her ribs. She cringes away with a gasp. "It's alright, hold still."
Then I close my eyes and release a burst of power. She is instantly healed. She looks down at where her wound was in awe. "H--How did you do that?"