77__Too good to be true

The sound of the morning was different today.

There was no sparkling sunlight shining through her curtains to annoy her nor was there the faint hum of birds outside. There were no distant howls nor the excitement of adventure in the air.

What there was, was a sky heavy with dark clouds of thunder, the distant sound of sharp metal against metal, indicating a sparring session somewhere nearby. The air didn’t smell of adventure, it carried the odour of beer, swords and tyranny.

Without moving a muscle, Natalia let her eyelids open. She stared at the intricate designs on the ceiling of her bedroom and blinked tiredly.

She hadn’t slept much.

She hadn’t been able to.

Her gaze lowered and she looked across her room at the closed doors with a sigh.

There were the very obvious sounds of shuffling behind her doors and she could imagine what was making that sound.

Tiredly, she sat up, scooted to the side of her bed, and stood on her aching feet.

She walked to the balcony and threw the doors open, immediately rewarded by the blowing up of the curtains and an attack from the wind.

She closed her eyes against the wind and rather savoured the icy prickle it drove into her overheated skin.

Turning around, Natalia walked, barefooted, to the doors where the shuffling noises continued.

In a single, fluid action, she held the door hands and pulled open her bedroom doors.

A tangle of dresses, ribbons, arms and legs fell at her feet with a loud thump.

“Ow!” cried Jade.

“W-we weren’t spying!” denied their mother as she quickly rose to her feet and faced her eldest daughter.

Natalia glanced down at Milana and Jade on the floor and back up at their mother who looked cautiously at her.

Silently, she sighed.

She and Milana had arrived late last night. She hadn’t told her sister anything.

She’d just taken her and left.

Her mother was definitely shocked to see her back if the wide-eyed look on her face was anything to go by.

Natalia stood there silently her hands resting on her waist through the thin night shirt she wore. Her hair was open and fell down her back and around her face, but she didn’t care about looking neat right now.

“What’s… what’s happened?” asked her mother in a cautious whisper.

Milana grunted as she got up and helped her younger sister up. “That’s what I’d like to know.”

“Lana swears she knows nothing,” Jade said with hands on her hips. “She’s lying, isn’t she? Did you two get in trouble in Zaire? Did the Alpha King kick you both out? Hah! I *knew* it!”

Natalia’s dark glare silenced the girl and she shrunk away, eyes widening.

Monica looked worriedly at Natalia. It was something huge. After their argument last time, it had to be something big for Natalia to willingly come back this way.

Reaching out, she took Natalia’s hand and held it. “When you’re ready, you can tell us. Couples fight all the time, my darling, you can make up.”

“It isn’t like that,” murmured Natalia.

Her mother raised a brow at her. “How is it then?”

Lowering her gaze, Natalia swallowed her words. “Later. I’ll tell you later, I need to bathe.”

“Your father wants to see you.”

“Tell him to wait.”

Monica sighed. “Natalia.”

Raising her gaze, Natalia gave her mother a tired look. “Tell him to wait, Mother. I will see him. I have much to discuss with him, myself, so I won’t be avoiding him at all.”

Her mother pursed her lips, the look of worry in her eyes deepening. She knew better than to push Natalia, so she held back. She nodded. “Okay. What about everything else? What about Amethyst?”

“I have her gemstone.”

They all gasped. “What?!”

“Is… is this true?!” asked the Queen, her fair face paling even further and her green jewel-like eyes widening. “Is it really?”

“I didn’t know that!” said Milana.

Gently pulling her hand away, Natalia walked back to the chair besides her bed where she’d dumped everything she’d taken off last night. Grabbing her coat, she reached deep into the inner pocket until her fingers closed around something hard and cold.

She pulled out the gem and turned around to face them as they huddled inside her doorway.

When her mother saw the gem on Natalia’s open palm, tears immediately sprung to her eyes and she hurried forward with a deep gasp.

“Oh… dear God!” whispered Monica.

Jade peered down at the gem with interest. “Aah! This was what it looked like then? I’d forgotten.”

Milana stared at it in wonder. “This is… what we’ve been praying for for years now!”

“How did you get it back?” Monica asked, joyful tears blinding her as she picked up the gem with both hands. “You are remarkable, Natalia! Remarkable! What a daughter I have!”

Natalia studied her mother’s beautiful face as it lit up with joy, her green eyes sparkling as she stared at the gem. Even though Monica cried, she was smiling. She smiled with joy and hope. Hope for Amie to be well and hope for their family.

Raising her gaze, their mother looked at Natalia before she grabbed her and engulfed her in a hug.

“Oh, darling,” she wept on her shoulder. “My darling daughter! What would we do without you, Natalia? What would we do?”

Natalia let herself be held, laying her hands gently on her mother’s back as a quiet storm of emotions began to gather in her heart. Pressing her lips together, she fought against the tears.

“What would we do?” her mother whispered heartbreakingly.

Natalia slowly patted her back. “Don’t cry, Ma. It’s going to be over soon.”

Pulling away, Monica smiled tearfully up at her. “I’ve dreamt of this for years. Thank you, Natalia.”

Natalia shook her head. “Don’t thank me, Mother. Protecting Amie is my duty, protecting all my sisters.”

Her mother gave her a proud smile and gently pet her cheek. “What do we do now? Do we get an enchantress to perform a spell? How do we put it back on Amie?”

Pursing her lips, Natalia thought to herself. “First, I must take the gem to the Kingdom of Cassius. It won’t take me long, I’ll be gone for a day. I’ll get it revived by the most powerful Sorcerer they have there for any price they ask. Once that’s done, I will get instructions on how to put it back on Amie and will do so upon my return.”

It was nearly too good to be true. The news was even better than Monica had expected and she was happy, she truly was. It was just that her thoughts were starting to pierce through her joy as she listened to Natalia speak and she couldn’t help but study her face.

The joy was momentarily nudged aside by worry.

“What’s wrong, my heart?” she asked softly. “You don’t look happy. What are these tears in your eyes?”

Natalia slowly shook her head, waving it aside. “I’m overjoyed, Mother. Only tired.”

Her mother wasn’t fooled. “Was… was it very difficult to find the gem? Where did you find it? Why is it that your aura is so heavy, my dear?”

Lowering her gaze, Natalia sighed. Her mother was ridiculously intuitive. There was a reason why Milana was the way she was, she’d gotten it from their mother.

“It’s nothing, Moth—”

“It is something,” said Monica. With a firm expression, she tilted her head towards the door. “To the table, girls.”

*************

They sat uneasily around the confession table. This place had been somewhere the girls would be brought when their mother wanted them to spill whatever little schemes they were plotting. Usually, it was just Natalia, as she had stressed out their mother the most, growing up.

Now she sat, back straight and gaze ahead, working out in her head, how to avoid revealing the truth. There was something about sitting face-to-face with Monica, Queen of Gadon, which made you say a little more than you planned to. Her mother used her Vampire abilities like a charm.

“Well?” she asked, her fingers steepled over the gem she’d laid on the table. “We haven’t all day, Amie will wake up soon and we’ll need to go tell her the good news.”

The image of Amie well and able to carry out her own day-to-day activities sprung into her head and made Natalia smile a little. Very soon.

“Talia?” called her mother.

Natalia looked at her, noticing the curious looks her sisters were giving her. She sighed. “Oh, my God, I’ll tell you later.”

“And in the meantime, you carry the burden alone and walk about with that frightening sadness in your eyes,” said her mother. “No, my girl. Let’s talk about it. What is it?”

Groaning, Natalia put her face in her hands.

Milana watched her sister with worry. Her gut feeling had been very strong since yesterday. Something bad had happened to Natalia or she’d discovered something bad. Milana had a feeling it had to do with Alpha Raiden.

How could it not? She would never forget the haunting look of grief in his eyes as he watched them walk out of his home. It had all been so sudden and so confusing. She’d wanted to ask Natalia what had happened, but her sister’s hands had been trembling. It had been enough to silence Milana.

Finally, Natalia sighed and looked around at them. “I can’t get into it now because… I need to stay focused. I can’t get distracted by these thoughts, not until Amie is well and everything else is done.”

Her mother’s worry doubled. “Did something bad happen, Natalia?”

Pursing her lips, Natalia thought the question over.

Something bad? No, of course not. It had been good. Too good. From the start, it had all been far too good to be true and she’d known it.

She should have never let herself fall in love with him.

Clenching her jaw, she bit down on the tears burning her throat.

“Well…” She cleared her throat. “We’ll talk about it later. All you guys need to know for now is that… when it comes to our family and all that has hurt us and all that we’ve faced together… my loyalty is here. With you guys. If the mere sight of something is enough to break your heart and remind you of pain then I… I must get rid of that thing. Even if... it’s the most precious thing to me, I will…” Slowly, she stood, refusing to let them see her tears fall. “I will be loyal to you. That’s what family is.”