Chapter 18

Dinner was delicious! The queen had many delicacies made that we don’t really get in the palace back home. There were also dishes that we never had before and the queen decided to play with everyone’s food with her magic by putting on a show with the food. I never thought a queen could be so much fun! We all had a great laugh and we had a good time with her. When we were done eating she showed us to our rooms. After Tiberius closed his door the queen followed me into the room I had.

“I didn’t want to say this in front of your brother, however if your uncle came home and your father is getting sick, he doubtlessly has the same plan as before. I don’t know what the circumstances were before but whatever he’s doing in your home, can’t be good. There’s a reason as a child he did what he did. Be careful. Be vigilant. And do not underestimate him. Should you need any more assistance from me and my people on this, hold this crystal in your hand and you will be able to speak directly to me in your mind. There are no good omens when a killer comes to your door.” She gave a brief smile and started walking out the door. I jogged after her, “your majesty?” I asked. And she turned around and laughed, “You can simply call me by my name child. Call me Aster.” She said. I smiled and nodded , “thank you Aster” I said then closed my door. I walked over to my bed and thought about everything aster told us today. It was so much. I’m not sure I could swallow it all. I expected answers but not this many. It was overwhelming. I got off the bed and walked to the window to look out at the sunset. We would be heading back home in the morning.

I decided to test out the crystal so I pulled it into my hand and tied to send the mind message, “Aster?” I asked. It was quiet for a few seconds then I was startled when I heard, “Immyria? Are you alright?” She called back to me. “Yes, I just wanted to make sure I understood how to use this before I left. Can anyone else hear you when you talk back to me?” I asked. “Don’t worry, no one can hear me outside your head. That’s one of the perks of the crystal. As long as you are holding it I can hear you talk and hear whatever is around you if they are close enough.” She finished and I responded “Thank you again, goodnight Aster”. “Don’t fret child, get some sleep. You have a long journey ahead of you in the morning.” She replied and I put the crystal in my pocket then went to the bed to lay down. It was dark before I fell asleep, and I’m not sure when I finally fell asleep thinking about everything but when I did, the sun came too soon. It felt like I didn’t sleep at all.

When one of the maids came to wake me up for breakfast I was slow to get up. I almost fell back asleep. Then Tibs came in and made sure I got up. I moaned and finally got up and we both headed down for breakfast. Aster didn’t join us this morning so I assumed she had things to do or was still sleeping herself. We ate then went to the stables to ready the horses, the queen decided tibs needed his own horse though so that he wasn’t riding with me the whole way. He sent a messenger to thank her for her generosity. And we set off back home. Thankfully, it too went smoothly and this time I didn’t feel like someone was watching us. Which was definitely a plus. Tibs was getting annoyed with me though. I was basically ignoring him when he tried to talk to me because I was deep in my thoughts thinking about everything Aster had said before. It was so much. Especially finding out there’s a chance we aren’t royals at all..

When we finally reached our gates I was relieved to be back home. Everyone was smiling and greeting us and waiving as we passed by. When we finally got to our palace stairs we let the stable hands take the horses back. Just as we reached the palace door Rose ran up to us. “Immy! Tiberius! Mom is so mad at you brother! No one knew where you were until we received a letter from Queen Aster!” She blurted out. Tibs just smiled and started walking past rose when she spoke up again, “When you were gone father became really sick, you should go see him.” She finished and I nodded looking at Tiberius who had a scolding look on his face. We walked to our father’s room and our mother was waiting outside the door. “Mother why are you outside the door?” I asked her. She looked up and came running over to us. She hugged me but she hit Tiberius on the head for worrying her. “How dare you run off like that Tiberius! If it wasn’t for the Queen we would’ve been sending search parties out to find you!” She looked genuinely worried. I couldn’t blame her though. “Mom,” I reminded her and she sighed then looked at me. “A day after you it left your father became very sick. He wasn’t feeling very good before you left but it got much worse after. The healers have been visiting him regularly to try and figure out what’s wrong with him but no one can figure out anything. He isn’t responding to any treatments.” She said allowing a tear to fall from her eye.

Before I could say anything I smelled that foul odor again, I started looking around to see if I could find the smell but I couldn’t see anything that would be causing that kind of smell. A minute or so later my uncle came around the corner while talking to a guard. My mother snorted and asked “What are you doing here Tobias?” He looked offended at her. “I’m simply here to check on my brother dear sister. Is that so wrong?” He asked. “I know what you’re up to Tobias. You’d best stop now before I get involved.” My mother said with a very serious expression and voice. She was becoming hostile very fast. The guard by my uncle excused himself and left. But my uncle was persistent. “Dear sister, is that any way to speak to family?” He said with an amused tone.

“Family?!” She almost reached, “That word isn’t even in your vocabulary Tobias. How dare you even try that with me.” She crossed her arms and stayed silent. I thought of something then, Aster said no good omens can come when a killer knocks at your door. What if he was responsible for my father? He already tried to kill him once. What would stop him from doing it again? My next thought came like a train, what if we found a way to have all his visitations with my dad watched? And if he was behind it or doing something to my dad we could catch him in the act! “Mother, he’s simply here to see father and check up on him. He’s showing that he cares for father. We should let him.” I said. I turned and gave her a look of amusement and winked that my uncle couldn’t see, that way I don’t seem suspicious in any way. She understood I had something planned so she reluctantly agreed. I sent Tobias in with Tiberius when the healers came out and I stayed outside with my mother to tell her everything that happened with Aster and what I was thinking.