"I take it you do not realise that every action has its consequences, your highness." The queen said as the doors closed behind us. She turned around and looked at me, and she still wore that look on her face; the one that held no expression on it.
"Stand straight." She ordered.
"You are a princess, your head should be held high always." She continued.
She walked over to her reading table and gently placed her weight against it as if leaning, but still completely straightened. She narrowed her gaze at me, and we made eye contact for what seemed like half a minute before turning her gaze in another direction. Her eyes held no emotion at all, and it scared me. My stomach began to ache, and the air in the room suddenly got thicker. I tried to think of something to distract myself with, so I looked around Mother's room.
I'd been here a couple of times, but today the room felt all new to me. I looked at the curtains, then the drawers, and then her reading table, which had a shelf above it. The shelf had a lot of old books on it, which looked quite new, thanks to Mother always dusting them before and after reading. It was no surprise that she enjoyed spending time in her small library, as she liked to involve herself in the kingdom's history and politics. Something I, too, had now come to enjoy...except politics. On the lower part of the shelf was the reading table, and on it was her favourite cup. One that had been a gift from my late grandmother on the day that my father got married to her.
It was a rather peculiar gift, and Mother loved it not for the worth in the antiques market, nor the trouble it took to acquire it, but because of the rare design it bore. Around the rim of the cup, it had an engraving of thorns and crawling branches, but no flower. A weird gift in my opinion, but Mother loved it and said it held a deeper meaning than just a drawing of thorns. Still, a thorn-engraved cup was not a good parting gift from a mother to her daughter. The unease in my stomach seemed to have gone away, and I was happy to have successfully distracted myself, but I had also paid no attention to anything Mother had said during that time.
"...and do you wish to become an enemy of the state?" Mother asked, her brows raised.
"No," I answered. I couldn't say yes. Although I was distracted, I wasn't dumb.
"You seem rather distracted, Elise." She hinted.
"Come with me, Elise" She took my hand in hers and led me out to the balcony.
Mother had the most spectacular view of the kingdom from her quarters, and you could almost see everything from up there. I suddenly started to imagine what it would've felt like to watch the yearly 'Fish-rain' from here; absolutely breathtaking.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Mother started to say.
"It is indeed, your majesty."
"Yet all this could easily go to ruin if you make one silly mistake. Breaking the one rule all up-siders hold so sacred."
"But Mother, he was just a child. I don't think-" I defended.
"And do you think, Elise, that their rebellion and savagery magically spirals as an adult?! No!" Mother snapped.
"They are taught these things right from infantry. It stems from the womb; the very essence of their being." She continued.
"He becomes an adult and carries on the so-called ancestral legacy to bring destruction on a kingdom your ancestors gave blood and sweat to build!"
"And then you go ahead to try to associate yourself with these savages whom you very well know are a high-level threat to our kingdom. What image do you think you'd portray with such careless behaviour?"
I hung my head low, Mother was right. If it hadn't been she who saw me, I would've been arrested for treason regardless of my position as the kingdom's princess. Mother always said someday I'd be the one to represent the kingdom in Father's stead, and a scandal like this in my early years would automatically mean I was unfit to oversee Father's kingdom.
"Raise your head when I speak to you, child." She said, raising my chin with the tip of her fan so our eyes met.
"You would do well to stay away from those...creatures, is that understood?" Mother said, clearly expressing her disgust but her eyes still didn't show it.
"Yes Mother...I understand." I sighed.
"I will be in my quarters all week...if that makes you happy." I said under my breath.
Ahem! Mother looked at me, puzzled.
"I mean, your majesty...ma'am."
"You are dismissed. In the meantime, the council meeting by evening..." She added while making her way towards the door.
"See to it that you're in attendance."
"Yes, your majesty." I curtsied.
"Early too." She said looking over her shoulder.
I relaxed myself as soon as Mother left; standing straight all the time made my back hurt. I went over to the balcony again to enjoy the view of the kingdom. I couldn't do much earlier because of Mother's scolding, but now I had the luxury of time on my hands. Speaking of time, I remembered Mother had a long line of old books. At least something in there would contain the history of the kingdom, and that of the downsiders included. I hurriedly made my way to her reading table and began to flip through the pages of Mother's slightly dusty, old books in search of anything that could help me understand who made this rule and why no one had ever opposed it.
After what seemed like an eternity of looking, I found a rather interesting page in one of the oldest looking books. The History of Kunga: Re-birth. Kunga? That was odd. I'd never heard of it. Was it an ancient city? Did the current kingdom evolve from this Kunga place? I began to read the story, but I only got more confused. The descriptions didn't seem to match that of the current kingdom. To begin with, our kingdom was called Ocsic, and the structural layout was nothing like the one Kunga had. Unlike Kunga, Ocsic didn't have fertile farming lands as majority or her residents were technologists and scientists. The only similarity between these two places was that they both mentioned 'The Crevice'. I began to wonder if Mother had gotten the wrong book mixed up with another book from someplace else.
"Oh no!" I gasped.
The meeting...I had totally forgotten about the meeting!
I tore out the 'odd' pages from the history book and set Mother's reading table back in place. After making sure nothing was going to give away the fact that I'd been loitering around, I made my way out of Mother's quarters and towards the council hall.
I opened the doors and I was greeted by the scary pair of eyes from the council members. But the scariest of them all were my Mother's. This meant trouble. Serious trouble! Mother's face had an expression on it! And it was anger.