[Music Recommendation: Icarus ~ Phildel]
Oriana blinked. Why now? Why was her family suddenly asking her back now, after such a long time, and she had just... Oriana gripped her gown tightly.
"I will return tomorrow; it’s night already,"
The guard bowed, "I’m sorry, but Her Majesty asked that you return to the palace today."
"Big sister, who are they?" Freya asked, coming to stand beside Oriana, holding her hand tightly.
Louis, who already knew the flag of Orion, sighed. He knew a day like this was coming, but it came so soon. His daughter had already grown fond of the princess.
"Freya, it’s my family. They have asked me to return to the palace. We can all go and live in the palace," Oriana announced with a smile. At least she would be able to return the favor Louis and his daughter had given her. She turned to look at the guard,
"Very well then, let us pack what we need, and we will be on the road,"
The guard cleared his throat, "Her Majesty asked that you be brought back; she didn’t order me to bring anyone else with you. I’m sorry, Princess Oriana," the guard bowed.
"My mother said that because she doesn’t know the situation here. I’m ordering you now as a princess to take these people with me," Oriana’s voice held command in it.
The guard didn’t budge, "I’m sorry, Princess Oriana. Her Majesty gave the order to use force if you refuse to come willingly."
"What?" The absurdity of the situation marveled the young princess. She wasn’t just banished and abandoned; now she was being forcefully taken back like a slave.
Louis noticed the rebelliousness in the princess’s tone and how other guards readied themselves to obey the command of their leader. He decided to intervene,
"There’s no need for force; the princess will be leaving with you." The man said, his voice now sounding weak.
Oriana shook her head, "No...not without you and Freya," she held Freya’s hand tightly.
Louis inhaled deeply, he said to the guard, "Can the Princess take at least the girl with her? She would serve as a palace maid," he tried to bargain with the guards to take Freya so his daughter wouldn’t rot away in a dying town with him. The girl still had her life ahead.
"I don’t take orders from commoners," the guard said to Louis, and turning to Oriana, he said, "Princess Oriana, if you don’t walk with us now, I’ll be forced to carry out the orders given."
Louis bowed deeply, "There would be no need for that, Princess Oriana. Not to worry, we will come visit you soon. Leave now, please." The man raised his hand, indicating that Oriana should leave.
"Big sister.." Freya muttered, holding Oriana’s hand tightly. "Are you really leaving?"
Oriana bit her lips; she really wanted to take the family with her. She turned to face Freya, "Freya, do something for me. Take care of your father until I come back, okay? It won’t take long; I’ll be back to take you with me. I just need to go and see my family, and I’ll be back, okay... no... don’t cry, don’t do that... In the palace, we have a library full of books; I’ll let you read as many books as you want,"
"Really?" Freya dried up her tears immediately, and when she saw Oriana nod, the girl smiled.
"Yes, but I can’t fulfill that promise if you keep crying; big girls don’t cry." Saying this, she hugged the girl tightly. When she pulled away, she bowed to Louis, who had his head already bowed with respect.
"I’ll be back; just wait a little longer," Oriana said, before walking towards the carriage.
"I’ll be waiting, big sister!" Freya waved, watching as the carriage started moving. She ran after the carriage, with tears in her eyes. "Please don’t forget to come back,"
Oriana, with her head out of the window, nodded, "I won’t; I’ll be back. Just wait for me, stop running; you’ll hurt yourself." She waved at the girl. Oriana tried to sniffle back her own tears.
Freya finally stopped running; she turned back to go stand beside her father, "Pa, the princess won’t be coming back, right?"
Louis looked at his daughter for a moment, then at the departing carriage. He also had a doubt that the princess wouldn’t be coming back as soon as she had promised, sensing the urgency earlier in the guard’s voice; something must be going on in the palace.
"Let’s just hope she’s going to be safe," the man sighed, holding his daughter’s hand.
Inside the carriage, Oriana rested her head on the carriage couch. She couldn’t think of any reason why her family would want her back so suddenly, even sending guards to bring her back. Oriana felt the small vial she was holding moving on her waist, then she remembered she had something to do.
"One problem at a time," the princess muttered. She should first deal with what she had done so it doesn’t result in something bigger later. Opening the vial cap, she took the entire content inside her mouth. "Ah!" She felt like someone had slapped her. After some time, the bitter taste disappeared, leaving her with just silence and sadness.
The carriage moved slowly. Oriana tried to think about why her family suddenly wanted her back. She didn’t even know how to act in front of everyone because she still felt betrayed. Did they regret what they had done to her? Maybe now they actually wanted to treat her well. But thinking about how the guard had treated her, Oriana doubted that any member of her family had repented. Her mind tried to think about Adric and what they had done. Oriana quickly shook the thoughts off her head.
She decided to think about Freya and Louis. It wouldn’t take her long; she would come back for them, and maybe they could start cooking for the palace again. The carriage moved the whole night without stopping, but the princess found time to sleep at intervals. When she finally woke up, it was almost morning, and they were at the gate of Orion.
Oriana didn’t know what she felt in her heart, if she really missed her home or she just wanted to be away from here. She carefully came down from the carriage without jumping; slowly she walked towards the palace entrance. There was nobody there to welcome her. Her eyes roamed everywhere; even with her absence, nothing changed, except the short fence she always escaped from in the palace had been repaired.
With nobody aware of her presence, Oriana walked deeper inside the palace. She was going to retire to her room, but then she heard hushed whispers. The voices were ones she recognized because it was Sophie and her Mother.
"...I can’t do it; we should obviously let her do it!" Sophie remarked, "She fits better for that than I do. After all, she’s not even.."
"Who is there?" Oriana turned around to see her personal maid holding a dim lantern. She smiled at the girl, raising her finger to her lips indicating that she shouldn’t talk.
"Bessie, how have you-"
The maid looked away and announced, "Your Majesty, Princess Oriana is back," Bessie’s voice was heard.
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