in California
Kyra in Faith; Chapter 2; Dream
There was thunder and lightning. I was in a stone built chamber. In the corner I saw Charlie in chains. He looked awful! His golden skin was pale, almost yellowish. His glistening eyes were full of fear like they were trying to tell me something. I tried to scream him name but no sound cam out. I tried to step forward but my feet would not budge. Someone grabbed me from behind and kissed me! I recognized his face. It was Derek.
I woke up screaming. My goose feathered bed was damp from my own sweat. I was panting like I had run around the palace twice. It took me a
“Kyra what’s wrong! I heard you screaming!”
“I’m fine father. I just had a bad dream”
“Thank god! I thought you were hurt!”
“No, but thanks for coming in”
There was a
“Have you made your decision yet?”
“Yes I have! I already told you, I am not going to marry Prince Derek!” I screamed
“That’s a shame. Edwin will be very disappointed.”
“Why does he want me to marry Derek so much?” I asked
“He has been talking about taking over some of the other neighboring countries and he needs more troops for his invasion.” My father informed me.
“But you don’t want to invade other countries, do you father?”
“No daughter, but I do want a new queen for our kingdom. Since your mother died, it has not been the same”
I didn’t like when he brought up my mother. She died when I was 12. I missed her everyday. Talking about her only made it worse.
“Oh”
“It’s not bad marring someone you don’t love Kyra”
“I know. But Derek is not a ‘someone’. I would describe him in more of the pig category.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, you are being overly rude!”
“I’m sorry father, but that’s just honestly what I think!”
“Kyra Lee Jane Lovett! When you come down to breakfast I want your attitude changed! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?”
I didn’t like when he called me by my first name.
“Yes father” I slumped
He slammed my bedroom door and I was left alone. It made me angry. Not necessarily at my Father but myself. Any normal girl would fall for Derek at first sight. He was known to be the handsomest and richest person in the kingdom. Why couldn’t I just be normal? I tried to picture Derek and me living together for the wrest of our lives. I saw him taking advantage of my kingdom. I saw myself feeling awkward whenever we made an entrance together. I saw him take pity on all the peasants. The thing that hurt the most was that I saw Charlie’s broken heart when ever he tried to kiss me. Derek would forbid me to ever see Charlie again. I would never be happy with him. I and Charlie would be miserable.
To distract myself from all the unnecessary, stressful thoughts, I changed from my nightgown to a light yellow dress with gold stitching. This was my mothers dress when she was my age. My grandmother had made it out of a simple role of silk thread. It was one of the trinkets I had to remember her. It hit the floor and had a strip of lace at the waist. I had Hattie come to my room to do my hair. She took the first front strands of hair and braided them. They she pulled the braided parts behind my head to tie a ribbon in them together. My hair now looked decent and I walked out of my room for breakfast.
The dinning room was large. It could fit about 15 people but only two people usually sat at it, my dad and me. However, this time there was and additional guest. Edwin was here. Gloom filled my body. I sat down on the opposite side of the table. Edwin did not look happy. I had a feeling my dad spilled the news about my stubbornness. I nibbled at my breakfast, not paying attention to what I was eating.
“Kyra, Edwin is here. Why don’t you say hello?” said my Father
“Hello” I felt stupid by the way my father talked to me, like I was a child.
They chatted again. I wasn’t really paying attention but I herd some of the conversation. It sounded something like this; the weather….will she leave…have you made that decree...is Derek on the same page…I see. I didn’t finish my food by the time I was sick of sitting there.
“May I be excused?”
“Yes you may” said my father, hardly looking to see if I ate anything.
I left quickly and ran around the corner to listen in on the conversation.
“She doesn’t love him Edwin!” my father said
“That doesn’t concern me. What really matters is our kingdoms becoming one. Together we could take over numerous amounts of cities. Derek would make a fine king for you kingdom!” Edwin snapped
“And so would my Daughter!”
“We both know she is too weak to run an entire kingdom”
“Don’t you ever say that about my daughter! You have no right! GET OUT OF MY PALACE!”
“I can see this is not going to work Harold. But you will regret this someday! Mark my words! You will see the advantage we could have had!”
I could hear his footsteps march out of the room. Then I heard a door slam that made me jump. I ran to my room, afraid of being caught by one of the maids. I slammed the door and jumped onto my bed, thinking about everything they said. I ran over each line in my head until I uncovered everything they were discussing. I rested my head on my pillow and thought about the rest of the day.
. . . .
The next day I got up early to go see Charlie. I needed some fresh air to shake off all my worry. Being with Charlie always calmed me down a little.
The carriage was ready for me at noon. I climbed in wearing a light blue skirt and white blouse. Since his shop was at the very end of town, it took us a while but we finally got there. I stepped out of the carriage carefully and gazed out at the shop. It was made out of adobe brick with a thin wooden roof. The sign next to it said “Closed”. That was weird. Charlie’s father never closed the shop except for on Sundays. I walked in, a little bit frightened. It was dark, darker that it had ever been. Nobody was there. This was another weird sight. The furniture was knocked over and parliament was ripped and on the floor. I was scared. I should have screamed to my carriage driver, but something stopped me, though I didn’t know exactly what it was. I turned around twice, taking in all that was around me. A sword was lying on the ground covered in a red sticky substance. The blood was half dry, indicating that the people who had come had not left long ago.
“Hello?” I yelled
“Helllloooooo?” I yelled again only louder
Something caught my eye. A note in delicate handwriting was sitting on top of Charlie’s workbench. I stepped slowly toward the note. My heart race increased.
Princess,
Charlie is unhurt…for now. To see him breathing again, you will come to the old sawmill outside of town by the next full moon. If you decide to bring company, Charles will die a slow and painful death. If you try anything to save him, we will find out. You and your friend will die. Sleep tight Kyra.
My heart stopped all at once. Someone had Charlie. I felt dizzy, almost light-headed. The next full moon was only a week away. I thought of all the possible suspects. The most likely one would be Edwin. He had been mad at my father so he is taking advantage of me. It seemed simple to hurt me for my father’s power. By taking Charlie, he would have me. But what could I do? My thoughts were jumbled. I was thinking of the possible outcome of passing out. My driver would come in and see the mess. I had to stay strong. I fought to think of the promising options. I thought of two. The first one was to tell my Father about the note and Edwin. The second was to travel to Edwin’s kingdom and rescue Charlie before the full moon.
The first one was hard to consider. I was afraid of Edwin finding out. If he did Charlie would die. I couldn’t take that risk. The second one however, would be a challenge. I shivered at the thought, or maybe it was just how vacant the shop looked. I didn’t know. I would have to be undercover and make it all back in time. However, I couldn’t do the first choice. I looked at the page again, rubbing my hand over the surface. I would have to save my best friend single handedly. Could I really do this? I knew my answer. I left the shop and went back to the carriage to go home.
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