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“Ma’am, it’s not good.” It appears that Alzerion is not the only one missing,” she said briskly.
Queen Evalyn grabbed Isabella by the hand and pulled her to the side, away from anyone who might overhear their conversation.
“What do you mean? Tell me at once!”
“It’s … Aironell. She’s not in her room. Maybe she went with Alzerion?” Isabella suggested, then gulped.
“She’s missing? No, no, no.” She paced around Isabella while digging her nails into the skin around her fingers.
“Your majesty? Maybe it is some sort of coincidence?”
She loved Isabella for trying to calm her, but she knew better. Now it was time to panic. Her lips parted to reveal a half smile and then she turned on her heels and strode toward the thrones. Instead of sitting down she smoothed out her hair around her crown, took a deep breath, and turned to face the room. Isabella followed her and stood at attention nearby. Queen Evalyn pressed her fingers against her vocal chords and muttered an incantation.
“Dearest subjects,” Queen Evalyn’s voice boomed. It adjusted to reach just the right volume without sounding like a warning. “The king and I have enjoyed our gathering, but I have just received word of some pressing matters. King Francisco will say his closing remarks and we look forward to our next town gathering.”
King Francisco sauntered toward his wife, faced the crowd and gave his formal good-bye. As he did that the queen forced her diplomatic smile as she shook hands with her subjects as they passed by her and the king.
Queen Evalyn could feel her cheeks getting warm, and her cerulean blue eyes stung. The moment the last person left the Great Hall, she closed the door, she pressed her eye lids closed, firmly, and blinked. Tears started to cascade down her face as she opened them up. It was like a volcano of hot tears erupting all her feelings and fears. Her beautiful eyes were a bit pink and puffy from crying. King Francisco wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
“Your Majesty, I can send the Royal Army out as a search party if you’d like? We need to stay positive,” Isabella bowed her head.
“I think dispatching the army is a great idea,” the king stated. “In fact, Isabella, please go now and do that. Alert Quairken, he will know what to do and how to contact the men.”
Isabella nodded and left.
King Francisco’s muscular arm turned the queen around, and then escorted her to the throne. Queen Evalyn watched as her husband sat down on his throne, next to hers. She saw him staring at her. His eyes narrowed like those of an animal surveying the environment. She needed to regain her calm before she could do anything. She did smooth out her gown and sat down, too.
“Dearest,” Francisco broke the silence, “what’s wrong? When we parted earlier you seemed to be in better spirits. Now, you look like you are carrying the weight of a thousand mistakes on your shoulder. I want, no, I need to know that you are alright.”
She could hear the concern in his tone. She dabbed the wet spots on her cheeks. “Thank you for always being so good to me. There is cause to worry. Actually, if I didn’t blame myself, I’d say there is cause to be frantic,” Queen Evalyn replied, looking at her husband.
“Alright,” he said as he shifted a bit on his throne beside her. “Tell me what happened.”
“Isabella went upstairs to wake up Aironell and get her dressed for me, and she had some difficulty.”
“What do you mean? Are you trying to tell me she couldn’t dress a one-and-a-half-year-old when Alzerion, has no problem?”
“It’s not that, dear. It’s much more troublesome. She went into Aironell’s room and, well, she wasn’t there.” Now the Queen’s tears continued to stream down her cheeks.
“Wait! You mean Aironell is not in her bedroom? Where in the world would she be?” His voice rose.
“I don’t know,” she sobbed. She just felt the hot tears pouring like a bad rainstorm. She couldn’t seem to make them stop, no matter how many times she tried to take a deep breath. Pain and anger oozed off of the king. There was nothing she could do. How she wished she had made a different decision.
“Evalyn, we will find her. I hope I’m not upsetting you, more?”
She could hear his tone shift from anger to sincerity and she looked into his eyes. King Francisco took her hands in his, pressed his lips to her hands, and kissed them gingerly. She felt the warmth of his face against her hands and felt some of her fears steady. This helped her to regulate her breathing. She slowly took her hands back and wiped at her eyes. The king handed her a handkerchief from a small pocket.
“Isabella suggested maybe she’s with Alzerion.” She sniffled and wiped her tears with the handkerchief.
“I’m not sure. Alzerion would know how worried we would be. Could he have such a lapse in judgement?”
“I don’t know.” She was there but not really. It was like all the thoughts had finally invaded her whole being. She felt numb. She heard Francisco exhale and watched as he rubbed at his chin.
“At least we sent out help,” Francisco broke the silence. “You know Quairken is very good at tracking, too. I am confident that he will find them, whether they are together or not.” They sat side by side in stoic silence.
While most of the town was present at the palace, there was a small group of people who did not attend the royal gathering. Alzerion laid on the sofa and did not feel as scared as he did. He was still worried but not quite as frightened since Warren and Ulbrick were not going to kill them. He sat up and watched Aironell, who was still sleeping. He sighed and shook his head. In the passing years Aironell would not know the truth about any of this. None of it seemed right.
“Alzerion,” said Warren. “What are you doing?” he asked with narrowed eyes.
