Chapter 30 Confronting Difficulties

Angela woke up feeling tired; she had spent à troubled night unable to sleep as thoughts of her mother dominated her mind. She worried that she would not be able to recall her; actually, she had no idea how that worked. She had tossed and turned as she thought of Celestine's reaction and feelings when she met Angela; she was afraid that she would reject her, as she was not as elegant as she was.

"Mother loves you very much, you have nothing to fear," Khisa her wolf told her.

"I'll never get used to hearing voices in my head, did I just sign away my privacy?" she asked pretending to be irritated but secretly glad to have someone to talk or argue with whenever she wanted.

"No, I'm not up for arguments and before you go back to hiding behind sarcasm instead of confronting difficult issues, I said mother already loves you and there is nothing to be afraid of" her wolf was more sassier than Angela, she had finally met her match and they were perfect for each other.

She had learned how to block Mizpah from her mind and she felt this was such a time as she was not ready to argue with Khisa. She pushed her to the back, blocked her from her thoughts, and concentrated on understanding how she felt when she met, a mother she thought died many years ago. She did not need sassy Khisa intruding on her thought and helping her interpret her feelings. She wanted to get there all by herself; the joy of discovering she loved someone who loved her back unconditionally was a foreign concept. Angela needed or rather she felt she deserved to go the whole journey of discovering who she was as a daughter.

She could not stay in bed, it made her feel tired and melancholic. Angela left her bed went to the bathroom to clean herself up before the maids came to invade on her privacy. Since she came to this place, her private life seemed to be eroding inch by inch and now only a few inches left before she would have none left. She took her tire choosing a dress that would feel comfortable unlike those that Greta made her wear that were so tight at her waist that she felt breathless. She found one blue, satin embroidered gown that reached just above her ankles and fit her perfectly. Her hair was a mess but she did not care much for looks so she just collected it in one huge mass of fiery red hair and tied it at the nape with a red ribbon she had found in the dressing cabinet.

When she looked at herself in the floor length mirror, she felt satisfied with how she looked and was about to leave when Greta came in carrying a covered tray of food. The smell was so tantalizing that she remembered that she had only taken an apple last night and skipped dinner. She had been too worried with everything that was happening around the kingdom that she could not stomach any food.

Thoughts of her mother being in danger tormented her that she could eat nothing.

"Good morning princess, I trust the night treated you kindly?" she asked trying to cheer her up after taking one glance at her and knowing she did not sleep because of the bags under her eyes. Her face was dull as well and Greta could not help but feel pity for she understood perfectly what the girl was going through. She had been forced into a world she knew nothing about, forced to accept responsibilities she did not ask for and a life she had no idea she would ever find herself leaving.

Her own life and wellbeing were under threat every waking moment, the life of her mother threatened and in a few days' time, she would be facing an opponent even the most experienced warriors would not dream of being in combat with.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied.

"I brought you your favorite breakfast, pancakes with blueberries, smeared with honey and butter," Greta said. Her efforts to cheer her and butter," Greta said. Her efforts to cheer her paid off because she grabbed the tray and started eating the pancakes hungrily, smearing some of the honey and butter on the side of her mouth.

"Thank you Greta, it was really delicious," she said when she was done eating.

"Now that you are done, I need you to come with me," Greta said sounding so secretive but because of the events of the previous night, Angela did not question her. She followed her out of her chamber silently wondering where she was taking her but not wanting to ask her. She followed her silently watching the maids and guards they met along the hallways and corridors of the palace. They would look at her as though she were an alien; some were hostile towards her because they felt she had come to disrupt the peace of Grundolf. Others were glad to see her as they felt that she would be their hope, most of those were those that had a witch friend or mate or lover.

They would speak to others that Angela was the chosen one, the word spread like a wild fire.

All around Grundolf kingdom, people whispered in low tones in fear of what would happen to them if the emperor knew they were against his rule. The kingdom was split in half as there were some who would rather live under a tyrant than be led by a human. A girl without a wolf was not fit to be an empress let alone an alpha or Luna.

Greta was aware of the conflict that was going on in and out of the palace about Angela being a human girl and she hoped that the girl would be safe from danger inside the palace.

"Greta, where are we going?" she asked not knowing where she was being taken.

"Follow me child, we have to be extra careful not to be so obvious when we leave the palace grounds. The emperor has put you under watch, there are people shadowing you everywhere you go. We need to make sure that you pretend to take a walk before going back inside to change into your training attire and going for your training," Greta explained using a low tone that was almost a whisper.

"Are we going to see mother today? She asked anxious to be going to Celestine but Greta calmed her down and explained to her the dynamics of pretending they did not know where Celestine was or whether she was kidnapped.

They went around the flower garden stopping at various spots to pretend to be admiring the flowers.

"I hate the smell of this flower, it makes me gag," Angela was saying to Greta trying to have a conversation with her.

"Sshshhh…what if someone overhears you?" Greta shushed Angela.

Angela was enjoying the discomfort Greta was going through, she enjoyed the way her eyes dashed from this side to the other trying to ascertain whether someone was listening to them. It brought her so much joy to see her in discomfort; Angela blamed Greta for most of what she had been experiencing lately.

She was smiling so much one would have thought she had no care in the world but the smile hid pain, fear, and discomfort. She took Greta's arm and pulled her, urging her to go back into her chamber as she was done walking in the flower garden. The truth was she was anxious to see Zander; she missed him and wanted to go to the training grounds because she knew he would be there training others.

Greta turned to look at Angela with eyes that- suggested she knew what Angela was thinking, it was a rare sight to see her nervous.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Angela asked feeling a little bit self-conscious.

"He will be happy to see you too, trust me,” Greta replied.

"Humph, why would he be happy to see me and what makes you think I even want to see him?"

"He will be happy to see that you are not allowing fear and uncertainty cripple you to a point you cannot train. What else did you think I had in mind?'" she innocently asked the girl.

"Oh, is that right?" she asked feeling a little bit dumb for assuming that Greta was talking about her feeling attracted to Zander.

"Yes, let's go get you dressed for training; Greta led the way back to the palace. As they were leaving the garden, a pigeon perched itself on Angela's shoulders.

She stretched her hand out to touch the bird and it landed on her arm.

Greta looked at Angela and the bird and asked Angela to check if it had any sort of message for them. She went on to explain that when a pigeon perches on a particular person, if it is a carrier pigeon, then the message belonged to the person.

"So does this mean she has a message for me?" the idea of a message from a pigeon seemed so farfetched that she did not believe such a thing could happen. The pigeon left her arm and perched on her shoulders, then jumped to perch itself atop her head.

Immediately it perched on her head, Angela started to see images from inside a building that was dirty, dark, and full of people she did not recognize. Then she saw a face looking directly at her, her heart lurched when she recognized who the person was.

It was her Camilla!