I woke up in the morning, and Father Xavier had set up a priestess outfit prepared for me to put on for our trip to the palace. He greets me with breakfast and says, "The priest's robe looked good on you, but so does the priestess's robe as well." He says, passing me my plate. I eat elegantly as usual, and he giggles, "Some things never change." He goes to the kitchen sink to wash dishes, and he keeps stealing glances at me, smiling. I ask, "What? Do I have something on my face, Father?" He shakes his head, "No, I am just happy you are back home, even if the circumstances are not the best. Seeing your face, I can't help but smile." He says with a huge smile on his face as he scrubs aggressively on a particular dish that he is struggling with. Once I finished eating, we headed to the palace.
When we arrived, we were announced as an envoy from the temple seeking an audience with the king. They allowed us in and shut the door behind us with two guards behind us and the king on the throne in front of us. We approach the throne and bow on our knees, "Greetings, your majesty." King Victor says with a perplexed look on his face, "You look familiar, priestess. Where have I seen you before?" I show my disguise ring and say, "Picture me with dark and longer hair." A look of realization and shock hit his face. He announces to his guards to wait in the hall so we have complete privacy. He then says, wearing a face of concern, "Where have you been all of this time, Lady Ariela?" I replied, taking a shaky breath, nervous about talking badly about his son to his face, "Your majesty, I was on the run from your son and my father seeking political asylum in Patala. I have fallen in love with their princess, and we wish to marry. I am here to officially ask for my engagement to your son to be annulled so we can enter a time of peace with Patala. I told Tristan this, and he attacked me out of desperation. Thankfully, my beloved Lysara protected me during that time."
King Victor shakes his head with an air of authority, "That idiot… This situation is unprecedented, and if talks with Patala work out, we will cancel the engagement officially. Since this will require many long talks, I will send their royal family a communication orb as a gift through the royal delivery-service griffin rider, who hopefully won't get into trouble with their authorities over there. It will take them some time to get there to deliver the orb, but when we start talking, I will let you know." I ask after taking another shaky breath, "I appreciate that, your majesty. If it isn't too much to ask, can you protect me while I am here from my father and your son? They are determined to make me crown princess by any means necessary." As I say that, Father Xavier pulls out the cuffs from his robe pocket, "Your majesty, her father kidnapped her rather forcefully, causing those terrible scars on her wrists. You can even see the dried blood on the inside of these mana-sealing cuffs. Also, the crown prince attempted to forcefully impregnate Lady Ariela during her travels months ago, and I want to be assured that she will be safe here, Your Majesty. Ariela, show him your wrists." He says as I lift my sleeves, showing my now very scarred wrists from repeatedly using my magic in the cuffs.
The king sighs, putting his head in his hand for a moment as he processes this information, "I will do my best to keep you safe here, Ariela. What name did you go by on your travels?" I replied, still in my bow just as Father is, "Ari the wandering priest, your majesty." His expression changes, "Ahhhhh. So you are the famous healer among the people who basically healed and fed people for free as a charity. I would love to reward you for your deeds in my kingdom. Saint Ari, what is it that you desire?" I yet another shaky breath. THIS IS MY CHANCE. I respond, "All that I desire is to be freed from the engagement to your son." The king thinks it over while heavily sighing, then says, "Since you have done so much for this kingdom, I will go ahead and dissolve this engagement as you requested as your reward." I responded feeling a huge weight lifted from my chest as if there was finally hope in my future, "Thank you, your majesty. Before I forget, I have a very powerful familiar, and my lover is also very powerful. They will be coming straight for me and will not be so friendly at first since they are probably expecting me to be imprisoned. Please do not hurt them and guide them to me when they get here." The king responds while propping his head on his fist and smirking with intrigue, "Duly noted. So, how strong are we talking?" I responded, "I may or may not have made the king of the mountain pass my familiar the same night after your son kidnapped me." Smiling, rubbing the back of my head.
The king starts laughing, "Ha! That is amazing. Please regale some of those tales over some tea later. Your travels must be filled with amazing stories." I replied, "That sounds like a plan, Your Majesty." The king responded, "Would you like to be referred to as Ari during your stay here?" I nod, "Yes, your majesty. That would make things less complicated for now. Thank you so much for hearing me out today, Your Majesty." He stands up and walks over and motions for us to stand up, "I have to take care of you so as not to make a very powerful enemy. Think of this as our interests align." He says as he walks us to the door, "Ok then, Ari, let me get one of my retainers to take you to your quarters. Did you have a maid from back home you trust to take care of you while you are here?" I shake my head, turning down his offer, though I can't help but think of the money-loving maid from back home, "I learned to live the life of a commoner on the road and don't need a maid anymore."
The king responds with his noble elegance, refusing my answer, "Nonsense. You were once engaged to my son. I can't have you not being tended to." I sigh and respond, "Alright, Your Majesty, I concede... May from the Romo estate. Money is her motivator. Pay her a good salary and she will do a good job. My father took all of my belongings, including my purse, when he abducted me. So I can't pay her like I used to." The king says in response while waving his hand in dismissal, "Who do you think I am? I can think of an official reason to bring May to the castle and change her orders when she gets here. I will pay her a salary she can't refuse. Don't you worry about a thing, Ari. I can probably get her here as soon as tomorrow evening or the following afternoon." I smile in response, "Sounds great, Your Majesty. Thank you so much." The king smiles back, "You are welcome, Ari." Looking at me with the face Lysara and I make when we pet one of the familiars when they are acting cute. He doesn't pat me on the head and instead opens the doors and signals his retainer over and whispers in his ear. The retainer nods and says, "Leave everything to me, Your Majesty."
The retainer makes eye contact with me and signals me to follow him. Father Xavier says, "I guess this is where we part for now. Please send a message if you would like me to visit or vice versa." I hugged him, "I love you so much, Father. Please be safe." He replied after a light chuckle, "Hey, that is my line. Please call me when your companions arrive. I would love to meet them. Especially the woman who has stolen your heart." I replied, still hugging him, being careful not to hug too tightly, "I have been looking forward to the day I could introduce you to her for a long time." He whispers in my ear, "I'll be back tomorrow so you can feed privately. There are too many eyes here. Can you hold out until then?" I nod and he says, "Good. I love you, Ari. Stay well. May the goddess guide you." I echoed just like we were taught at the temple, "May the goddess guide you." He then leaves, and the retainer shows me where I will be staying.
It seems like a nice guest room. Everything seems clean, as if a maid cleaned it just today. The retainer says, "Feel free to roam the halls for now. When the crown prince arrives, we suggest you resist the urge to leave this room unless necessary." I nod, "I understand. I do not want to run into that pervert again, so I will gladly stay in this room." The retainer says, wearing a warm and slightly worried expression, "I am glad we reached an understanding. A maid will be by later with your lunch. When she is here, please treat her as if she were your maid if you need anything." I replied, reaching for a purse that I know is not there on my waist, "I can't really because my father confiscated my purse when he kidnapped me. I often would tip her well, especially when she would cover for me. Which happened often during my childhood."
He laughs, and that worried part of his expression melted away, "You are my favorite kind of guest." I ask, perplexed as to what he means, "What kind is that?" He responds, "The guest who appreciates the help. We don't get them too often here at the palace who come from noble backgrounds. That Bella Ruiz is particularly nasty to us," He says as he shivers at the sound of her name. I replied while thinking of the past, "She bullied me during my adolescent years. She initially left me alone, but got furious when the crown prince wouldn't stop looking at me. She often would call me a Lez-Dull and torment me in a variety of ways while calling it 'playing', using her dark magic. She came around when I needed her most, though, so I bear no resentment for her. I imagine I would feel that same intense jealousy if I were in her shoes, too. Love makes people do crazy things. Oh, I never got your name." I say, finally realizing I never caught it.
He apologizes and waves his hands as if asking for forgiveness for some offense, "I am so sorry. The name is Ricardo, but please call me Ricky." I replied in a warm tone to set his nerves at ease, "Thank you so much for the help today. I don't want to keep you from doing your duties or anything." He waves as if to dismiss me, saying that everything is fine, "I want to continue to swap war stories about Miss Ruiz later. Please keep me from doing my duties more in the future." He says with a friendly wink and continues, "Please let me know if you need anything." I ask, "Oh! I am probably going to get bored here since I will try to not leave in general, so is it possible to get some books to read?" Ricky responds, "Too easy. I can take care of that right now, actually. What kind of books do you prefer?"
I say without hesitation with excitement, "Novels!" Ricky asks, "What kind of novels?" I say, not sure what to ask for, "Well, I read only one novel as a kid, and I loved it so much. I want to read tons more of them if I can. That novel was a love story between a knight and a princess who weren't allowed to be together because of status differences. They ran away on a trouble-filled journey and eloped to live happily ever after at the end." Ricky asks, "That one is a classic. May I ask why you have only read one novel?" I replied, clutching my priestess robe, remembering the hunger I felt back then, "Father prohibited them since I was only allowed educational books. He was furious when he found that novel that my maid got me, and I got punished. I took the full blame, and he made me go without food for three days as punishment and locked me in my room. My maid snuck me snacks here and there during that time, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been." Ricky, teary-eyed eyed says, "I will grab as many novels as I can carry for you. Just you wait, Miss Ari." He says as he leaves quickly.
I plop down on the bed and stare at the ceiling. Embracing doing nothing. I haven't had an opportunity to just lie somewhere leisurely and do nothing ever that I recall. I was so busy and hardly slept for 10 years. The closest I got to this was with Lysara, but even then, we were actively on the run. I feel like we are on the home stretch of our journey and will soon get our happy ending. Everything seems within our grasp. I hope things go smoothly. I am so tired of fighting this fight and just want to live the rest of my days with Lysara in Patala. I dream of a future where we are married and are living in the same town as Thultu and we visit everyday. Not having to worry about looking over our shoulders constantly in fear of a surprise attack or a kidnapping.
My daydream gets interrupted by a knock, and my door squeaks open. A young maid around my age enters, "Excuse me, Miss Ari. I have brought you your lunch." She comes in and places it on the table. I sit up on the bed and say, "Thank you so much. What is your name?" She replies with a polite curtsy, "Ethel. Is there anything I can do for you today?" I ask because of my new obsession, "For future reference, would it be possible to order something with garlic for every meal? I know that might sound like a strange request. I just really love garlic." Ethel laughs, "We can work something out. Is there anything else?" I think for a moment, looking down and only seeing the priestess' clothes I am wearing, "Would it be possible to get a few changes of clothes? My equipment bag was stolen by my father, and I don't have any spare clothes. If I can have a choice, I prefer masculine clothes, but I will happily take whatever you offer me. Anything is better than nothing."
I smile, remembering the time I used a shirt sleeve as a top. That wasn't that bad at all. Not queen-like at all. That may be why I actually kind of liked that look on me. Ethel gets a gleam in her eyes, "Let me take a look at you real quick. Stand up, please, Miss Ari." I stand up and she looks at me carefully, "Ok, I got your size down in my head. I will be back with some stuff for you to try on." I don't know about that. How did she get my measurements just by looking at me without tape? I will just take her word for it and wait. I walk over to eat as she leaves the room.
After I finish eating, I go over to my balcony and look out. The sun is out, and I instantly feel the weight of the sun on my shoulders as I step onto the balcony. I was thinking of asking them for sunglasses, but they are a little on the expensive side. I didn't want to ask them for something that cost a decent amount of money. I look around real quick while I am out here to get my bearings and see that I am on the third floor. If I were a regular human, this would be too high for me, but if push came to shove, I could jump out this window for a quick exit. I hear a crash outside my door, and I go back inside and open the door to my room to investigate. I look in the hallway to see Ricky on the floor and novels everywhere, "I am so sorry, Miss Ari. Give me one moment." I ask, worried, looking at this mature man lying on the floor surrounded by books, "Are you ok? You didn't get hurt by any chance, did you?"
He shakes his head, "I am fine. Thank you for worrying about little ole me. My knees aren't what they used to be." I asked him, "Would it be ok to heal you just in case? It might help with your knees." He looks surprised, "You would use healing magic just for that and for someone like me?" I responded wearing a warm, elegant smile, "Well, someone like you also deserves healing as well. What is the point in having this magic if I can't use it?" I say as I reach down and place my hand on his shoulder and cast a heal spell on him. He cries tears of joy, "I feel young again. My knees and my back haven't felt this good in many years." I smile, "I am glad. Here, let me help you." I say as I bend down to help pick up the novels, "Let me know if anyone else in the castle requires healing. You can just tell them to come to me if that makes it easier. Try to keep this just between the help, though, as a secret. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who a special female guest with healing powers is." Ricky says while he finishes his stack of novels, "You got it. You take care of us. We take care of you." We take stacks of novels into my room.