Royal Affliction (The Anti-Princess Saga) (28 page)

Clifton stood beside me.  “Drina, this is my Zezka, Princess Quartessa.”

I looked at him with a delighted surprise.  He had never called me by my true name before.  But I was a little perturbed by his tone.  He obviously wanted to hurt the woman who had hurt him so bad.

“I, I need to sit down,” she stuttered looking close to fainting.  She stumbled in her haste as she made her way to the couch and plopped down hard.

Clifton dragged me over to the couch opposite her, and we sat down.  We remained there, sitting in silence for minutes that dragged on.

I looked around at Drina’s suite.  It was very colorful and inviting, decorated with extravagant fabrics and paintings lining the walls.  This room looked expensive.  She had been a queen in Kortis, and it seemed that she was still living like one here.  I wondered how she was paying for her extravagant lifestyle.

“So,” said Clifton, breaking the silence and drawing attention on him.  “Are you going to tell me why you faked your death to get away from me?”

She looked up at him with deep sorrow and regret evident on her beautiful face.  “I did not do it to get away from you Clifton, you must believe that.”  When he said nothing, she continued.  “The night the Boru came to kill us, your father made me cast a spell to save my own life.”  Tears began forming in her eyes.  “Though I did not want to leave his side, he made me vow that I would.  I duplicated myself and hid you from them.  I placed a protective spell on the closet that I put you in.  Only after I knew that you would be safe, I slipped out of the bedroom window, knowing that to separate myself from you would ensure your continued safety.  They did not know about you and I did know that you would be better off without me.  I have kept myself hidden these past years.  Since they killed my twin, they thought me dead already.”

“Duplicate?”  It seemed to be all that I could say after her story.

“Yes, I was a borderline witch back home.  I had some power, but not enough to be classified as a real witch.”

Clifton looked angry, rather than sympathetic from his mother’s story.  “If they thought that you were dead, why couldn’t you take me with you?!”

“I did not want the life that I have now to be the life that you had.  I didn’t want you to have to hide.  I left you behind so that you could do better than me, free from the ongoing rift between the Boru and the Zolera.”

I could tell that Clifton had understood, but that didn’t make it any less heart-wrenching to hear.

“Why contact me now, after twenty years of silence?”

“There have been many times that I have tried to call you Clifton, but I just couldn’t bring myself to follow through with it.  I knew that you would hate me for what I had done to you.”  She sighed.  “I just could not go another day without seeing you.  And, even if you never wanted to see me again, I just want you to know that I love you.  Not a single day has gone by that I have not thought of you.”

Clifton’s face was unreadable.

“So, why did you leave my father?”  I had kept quiet so that she could explain her desertion to her son first.  But with that done, I couldn’t hold myself back any longer.  I needed to know why she had hurt my father so badly.  “He loved you, and I know that he still does to this very day.  Why did you do that to him?”

She stopped crying long enough to look at me.  Mascara was running down her cheeks, making her look much less attractive.  “Your father ascended the throne after his parents were killed.  In those times, you could not be King unless you had a Queen.  It was my father who made the decision for me.  He gave me to Dobbin without considering my feelings in the matter.  I eventually grew to love my husband, and I still very much do.  But the throne, and the responsibilities that came along with being queen, were something that I never wanted, nor felt that I deserved.  Everyone expected more from me than I was able to give.  And in time, the responsibilities grew too great.  I had to escape.  One night, I paid a witch to concoct something that would make me appear human.  She helped me to cross over to this world.  I have thought of going back from time to time, but I could never bring myself to do it.  I am sure that King Dobbin would not want to see me after all this time.”

As she spoke, I could feel her pain.  She was like me, a woman on the run trying to get away from her royal responsibilities, though I had been born into mine whereas she had been forced.  We had both traded our lives for a chance at a normal human existence.  I could feel no more resentment towards the woman sitting across from me.  Instead, I felt compassion for her, for what she had been through.  Though, I was sure she was wrong about the part about my father not wanting to see her.  I was sure he would, but I wouldn’t tell her that.  I didn’t want this woman to return to Kortis and ruin my parent’s marriage.

“I understand.  I too ran here to escape a marriage that was to take place against my will.”

“You did?”

I rubbed Clifton’s thigh.  “Besides, if you didn’t run away then I never would have found my great love or even been born.”

Though tears still leaked from her eyes, she looked relieved, maybe even a little happy.  “Do you feel the same way Clifton?”

He looked at me and then back at her.  “I understand your reasons for leaving, mother, and I would like to have you back in my life, that is, if you want to be.”

She smiled big, looking happy for the first time since we’d arrived.  “I would love that.”  She held her arms out to him and he hugged her hard and buried his face against her.

I stood up.  I now felt like I was intruding on a private family moment.  “I will leave you two alone.  Clifton, I will meet you downstairs.”

I started to leave when she called out to me.  “Who is your mother, Quartessa?”  It seemed that she needed to know who had replaced her as queen.

“Avalon.”

“Oh.”

I didn’t give her a chance to say anything else before I left.  I knew that her and my mother had been good friends back home.  She probably wasn’t too happy that her old friend had taken her place.

It was a long walk down those five flights of stairs.  I stopped off at the hotel bar because, after everything that had happened this week, I needed a drink.

I grabbed a bar stool and ordered myself a strawberry margarita with an extra shot on the side.  I threw back the shot and had just begun going to town on the margarita when I heard someone call out my name.

I turned to see a familiar face walking towards me.  “Why hello, Officer Michaels.”  He wasn’t wearing his uniform.  Instead, he was dressed very nice in a dark navy suit and loafers.

He pulled up the stool next to me and sat down.  “I am off duty, and I distinctly remember asking you to call me James,” he said, flirting a little.

“Sorry, James.  So what brings you here?”

“Blind date.”  He looked around nervously.  “A coworker of my sister, let me know if you spot a short brunette wearing a floral dress, will ya?”

“Will do.  You get a good witness account of the car?”  I really hoped the person hadn’t seen mine.

“Yeah, it was a white Ford Explorer and a blue Prius, though they didn’t get the license plates.  Your Prius was blue right?”

“Along with everyone else’s.  I think it’s the company’s favorite color.”

“Right, well, we still have the fingerprints to go off of, but nothing so far.”

“Let me know.”  I was glad to know I wasn’t a direct suspect, but those fingerprints were bugging me.

“I like your dress.  You were wearing it yesterday too right?”

“Mhm.”

“Hey, Tessa?”

“Yes?”

“Do you, maybe, I don’t know, want to go do something sometime?”  I flashed him a weird look.  He understood my expression and added, “You know, if this date doesn’t work out and all.”

James’ eyes held more depth than any human I’d ever encountered, as if I could know him for a thousand years and still not know him.

“That sounds nice James, but, I am here with my…”

“Tessa?” called Clifton.  He had impeccable timing.

“Over here!” I called back to him.  “I am here with my boyfriend.”

“Isn’t he your cousin?”

“What?  No, this is my boyfriend, Clifton.  The other two were my cousins.”

“Oh.”  He abruptly stood up.  “I think I see my date so I will leave you two alone.”  He lied, but I didn’t call him on it.  It must have been awkward for him to ask me out right before my lover showed up.  “It was nice to see you again, Tessa.  I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you soon.”  He whispered something in Clifton’s ear before walking away.

I eyed Clifton with amused interest.  “What did he say?”

“He said to take good care of you or he would hunt me down,” he said with a chuckle.

“Well that was a direct order from the police.  You had better do as he says or I’ll have to turn you in.”

“Is that so?”

Clifton took my hand and guided me to the small dance floor.  The music was slow and Clifton moved far more graceful than I could have thought.

He kissed me as we danced, a moment of true romance.  I felt so loved in his arms.  I felt as a woman should feel when she is in love: no worries, no impending doom.  No one else existed in that moment, except for Clifton and me.  I wished that the song would never end, but like all good things that you wish could go on forever, it would never last long enough.  Though the song ended, and nothing but chatter replaced it, we stayed there, still dancing to a melody that we could feel inside of us, a tune that sung of love and devotion.  It was an eternal melody that would go on forever, long after we were both gone.

“We should probably go,” I said, not wanting to.  “The guys are probably wondering what is taking so long.”

He rested his head on my cheek.  “Ok.”  He pulled away but put his arm around my back as we walked out of the lobby and out into the beautiful sunny day.

“Do you want to drive?”

“No, I think that I am good for the day.”

I was inwardly thankful that Zolera have a high tolerance to alcohol as I got behind the wheel.  I could drink an entire bottle of vodka to myself and barely get a buzz.

Pleasant memories of Clifton filled my mind as I drove with a big smile plastered across my face.  I had enjoyed our alone time, it pushed far from my mind the events that would transpire the following day.

Though I came to this realm to live a human life, I had merely just existed.  It wasn’t until my first night with Clifton that I first truly felt alive, like my life finally had purpose.  Even though the events that followed our meeting weren’t all pleasant, they held excitement, breaking the monotony of everyday life.  My life would never be normal.  I was beginning to accept that.  I now realized that I didn’t want that.  I wanted excitement.  I wanted uncertainty.  Life was pretty dull without it.  I silently swore to myself that if I lived past tomorrow, I would live life to its fullest and never take it for granted again.  What’s the point of living if you can’t enjoy it?

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

As we approached Clifton’s apartment I heard a familiar voice coming from within.  I opened the door to find Gader standing just behind it.  He was alone and I wondered who he’d been talking to.

“Hello, sister.”

“Hi Gader.  I thought you would have left already.”

He smiled.  “Trying to get rid of me, are you?”

“No, I just thought…Where’s Gwinny?”  I was reluctant to believe that her presence wasn’t here until I was sure of it.

“At the spa, I am hoping they can massage some of the annoyance out of her.”

“I seriously doubt it.  I might be able to pound some fun into her if you let me.”

He chuckled.  “We decided to stay for a while in town and, after Gwinny is done at the spa, we will be returning home.”

“Well, I hope that she had fun,” I said trying to sound cheerful at the thought, though it came out more sarcastic than cheerful.

“I am sorry to hear the Yaro proved untrustworthy.  But the human seems to be a help at least.”

“Yeah, Kyle’s great.”  I didn’t want to even think about Loach

He suddenly looked stern, as if he was done making small talk and was now about to reveal the real reason that he was here.  “So, are you going to tell father, or should I?”

“About what?”

“About Drina?”

“He doesn’t need to know.  Why cause him the pain when there is no reason for it.  He thinks her dead, and I think that it is better that way.”

“She should be dragged back to Kortis and punished for her desertion!”

“Please Gader.  The poor woman has been through enough already.”

He looked at me, obviously intrigued by my words.   “Why do you take her side, sister?”

“If you are not mad at me for running away, then you cannot be mad at her for doing the same thing.”

“You were born into royalty, she chose it.”

“It was chosen for her.  She never wanted to be Queen, nor the responsibilities that came with it.”

A look of complete understanding was staring back at me.  “So, you feel like you are kindred spirits do you?  Both trying to escape from your own lives?”