Vankara (Book 1) (11 page)

“Perhaps just the Queen,
her daughter and I should go down first,” Gabriel suggested as he held his hand
out to me to follow him into the cage.  It was only then I realized we were
entering a lift.  I had heard of their existence but I had never ridden in one
before.

“Would you mind if
I joined you?” Thomas asked.  He had an urgent look about him causing me to
assume he had more important information to impart to me.

“Of course,”
Gabriel said graciously.  “It looks like the Queen has some business to attend
to today,” Gabriel said to the three left in the ante chamber.  “We’ll see you
all at the party this evening.”

Gabriel closed the
doors and pushed a ruby red button on a panel to his left.  I involuntarily
grabbed Gabriel’s coat sleeve as I felt us sink into the earth, at least that’s
what it felt like to me.

It didn’t take
very long before we came to a stop and Gabriel reopened the doors. 

I stepped out into
a hallway with dark green painted walls and white marble flooring.  Columns of
the same marble were spaced out at equal intervals along the hallway.  At the
end of the corridor, I saw a larger than life size painting of the Queen
dressed in a gown of gold silk staring directly at me.  I remembered the dress
and realized the painting must have been done on the day of her coronation.

I followed Gabriel’s
lead down the corridor, the heels of our shoes clicking against the hardness of
the marble in a staccato rhythm.  I kept my eyes averted from the scrutinizing
gaze of the Queen fearing her spirit might convey some displeasure in how I was
handling matters thus far.

We passed a few
doors along the hallway before Gabriel finally came to a stop at one.

“Why don’t you
take Dena up to her chambers, Emily?  The Queen needs to handle some matters of
state,” Gabriel said.

I had
intentionally avoided looking directly at Dena but plucked up my nerve to face
her again.  She had her thumb in her mouth and stared at me with wide,
uncertain eyes.

“She hasn’t had
her mid-morning snack yet,” Emily said.  “Maybe that’s why she’s acting so
peculiar.”  I was getting tired of Emily’s apologetic expression.  She had done
nothing to be sorry for and the added guilt of her worry over Dena’s odd
behavior was more than I was capable of dealing with in that moment.

“That’s a good
idea,” I said.  Before Dena could react, I leaned towards her and kissed her
lightly on the cheek.  “Mummy will see you later.”

The child was
quickly whisked away by her nanny who probably thought it might be prudent to
leave before Dena
did
react.

Gabriel walked
into the room and held the door open for Thomas and me.  The room was a well
appointed study with a massive, intricately carved rosewood desk directly
opposite us, sitting in front of a wall of glass.  Two beige wing backed chairs
with a coral floral pattern weaved into the fabric sat facing the front of the
desk. Voluminous yards of vanilla colored silk draperies and white sheers
covered the glass wall, pooling elegantly against the cherry hardwood floor. 
The walls were a faint peach color with arched white painted book shelves
standing against them at evenly spaced intervals.  A fireplace of yellow marble
was built into the wall to my left with a lounging area made up of two settees
with a coffee table in between.  Hanging from the high pitched ceiling in the
middle of the room was a large crystal and gold chandelier with flaming
candles.

I was a little
uncertain about what to do.  Should I stand somewhere?  Should I sit behind the
desk?  What would the Queen normally do when talking with her advisors?

I took off my coat
to buy myself some time to decide what would be proper.  Gabriel stood beside
me holding out an arm for me to hang my coat across.

As he turned to
hang it on a gold coat tree by the door he said, “Why don’t you sit at your
desk, your majesty?  You should try to rest as much as you can.”

I nodded to
Gabriel, silently thanking him for discretely providing me an answer to my
dilemma.

Gabriel and Thomas
sat in the wing backed chairs in front of the desk.

Thomas opened up
his little black book and removed a small pencil from an inside pocket.  He
looked down at whatever it was he had written in the book and quickly scratched
through something before looking back up at me.

“We’ve had another
incident with the Plague-bringers,” Thomas announced.  “They staged a
demonstration outside of parliament the morning you left demanding they be
allowed inside to speak with the members.  We were able to quell them before
things became violent, but I’m afraid it’s just a matter of time before they
become more adamant in their requests to voice their opinions to you and
parliament directly.  I understand your reluctance in speaking with them but
perhaps you should reconsider having a private audience with their leader, Adam
Bellas.  He seems like a reasonable man.  In fact, he was the one who urged the
members of his faction to leave by promising to do his best in gaining an
audience with your majesty as soon as you returned.”

I looked at
Gabriel.  “What is your opinion on this matter?  Do you think it prudent to
meet with such a man?”

“No, I do not,”
Gabriel was quick to reply, not hiding his disgust with this Adam Bellas.  “I
fear they would take it as an admission that their claims have merit.  Having a
formal meeting with their leader would only fan the flames of support from his
followers.  I advise you not to speak with him at this time, your majesty.”

I looked back at
Thomas and noticed he was nervously tapping his pencil against the open page of
his book.  It was obvious he wholeheartedly disagreed with Gabriel’s assessment
of the situation. 

“I tend to agree
with Gabriel,” I told Thomas as gently as I could to avoid ruffling his
feathers any further.  “Is there anything else you wished to discuss with me?”

For the next
half-hour, Thomas ran down the list of items written in his notebook,
scratching out each as we finished discussing them and jotting down notes here
and there.  Some items up for discussion included the opening of Parliament the
next day but most were simple things such as arrangements for guest who were to
attend Dena’s birthday celebration later that evening.  Gabriel took charge of
answering most of Thomas’ questions since I didn’t have the faintest idea on
how to properly address them.  Thomas didn’t seem to find Gabriel’s control
over the conversation odd which made me wonder just how much influence Gabriel
actually exercised on royal affairs.

I was excited to
hear Dena’s birthday celebration would be centered on a circus theme.  There
was to be a show held outside in the palace gardens underneath an extravagantly
large tent.

“The acrobatic
troupe wanted to know if it would be all right to invite the princess into one
of their acts near the end of the show,” Thomas said to me.

“She wouldn’t be
in any danger would she?” I asked immediately, feeling concern over Dena’s welfare
like any mother should.

“No, your
majesty.  In fact, they said her feet would never leave the ground.  She’ll be
perfectly safe.  I assure you.”

“I suppose it
would be all right,” I agreed, “as long as she is willing.”

Thomas wrote
something in his notebook and closed it before looking back at me.

“That’s all I have
for the moment, your majesty.  If you will excuse me I need to leave and attend
to some details for this evening’s celebration.”

“Thank you for
taking care of things while I was indisposed, Thomas.  I appreciate your
loyalty and service.”

“You are most
welcome, your majesty.  We’re all just glad to see you feeling better.”  Thomas
stood from his chair and bowed to me before turning and leaving the room.

After Thomas
closed the door behind him, I looked at Gabriel and asked, “Do you think he
suspects anything?  Did I do anything I shouldn’t have during the meeting?”

“No, you handled
yourself just as the Queen would have,” he replied with a proud smile. 
“Though, I supposed I should have told you Emma always addressed Thomas as Mr.
Gaines.”

“Ahh,” now his
expression of surprise earlier on the platform was brought into context.  “When
you live in the countryside, first names are always used,” I explained.  “I
should have remembered things were more formal here in the city.  Should I stop
addressing him so informally?”

“No, you should
keep calling him Thomas now that you’ve started.  I’m sure he’s taken it as a
sign of your friendship and trust in him.  Going back to a formal Mr. Gaines
would just make him suspicious.”

“Yes, you’re
probably right.”  I leaned back in the comfortable brown leather chair I sat in
and let out a silent, relieved sigh.  Pretending to be the Queen hadn’t been as
hard as I feared only an hour earlier.  As long as I kept my focus on our mission,
I felt certain I could pull off the ruse and eventually become accustomed to my
new lot in life.

I heard Gabriel
clear his throat discreetly, like he was about to broach a subject he was
uncomfortable bring up. 

“I know Aleksander
can be charming,” Gabriel began with great hesitation.  “But you need to keep
in mind he not only wants the Queen but also everything Vankara has to offer.”

I felt my cheeks
burn with embarrassment by Gabriel’s reminder of my physical reaction to
Chromis.

“Is the Queen not
allowed to have natural human reactions?”

“No.  Not really. 
You have to temper your emotions and keep in mind what is important.  The way
you respond to things is always noticed.  The slightest misstep can be
construed as a weakness the Queen cannot afford to display.”

“I will try to do
better next time,” I promised him, not having a clue how I would find a way to
shield my natural womanly responses with a man like Aleksander Chromis trying
his best to woo me.  But reminding myself of the fact he was doing his best to
woo me out of a country was quite sobering.

“Sarah,” Gabriel
said, “I just want to let you know how proud I am of you.  There aren’t a lot
of people who would have the fortitude to do what you are doing.”

“I hope Fallon
comes around and sees that.  The man despises me, Gabriel.  I don’t know why
the Queen thought he would be a good advisor.  He can barely look at me without
letting me know just what he thinks about what I’m doing.”

“Give him some
time.  He just needs to deal with his feelings over losing Emma.  He’ll come
around once he sees the wisdom of her plan.”

“I hope you’re
right,” I sighed.  “At the moment, I seriously doubt he’ll ever see me as anything
but an imposter.”

“He’ll accept you,
in time.”

“What Chromis said
on the platform about Fallon being the Queen’s Marshall, what exactly does that
mean?  I’ve never heard of one.”

“The Queen’s Marshall is a position that’s gone vacant ever since Leopold’s King’s Marshall died about
twenty years ago.  Basically the job requires the Marshall to lead the Queen’s
guard and be the Queen’s liaison to the other two major branches of the
military: the field army and the navy.”

“Why has it gone
vacant for so long?”

“Leopold saw no
need to fill the position since we weren’t at war.  Fallon was offered the job
as soon as Emma was crowned queen.  He’s simply been refusing her offers all
this time.”

Gabriel stood from
his chair.

“Why don’t I take
you to your private chambers?  You should try to spend some time alone with
Dena before having to be seen with her in public later this evening.”

I stood from my
seat and followed Gabriel to the door.

“Why do you think
Dena reacted the way she did to me?”

Gabriel shook his
head.  “I have no idea, but you’re going to have to find a way to connect with
her, preferably before the party tonight.  We can’t have people wondering about
her behavior towards you.”

“Do you have any
suggestions on how to work such a miracle?”

Gabriel grinned as
he opened the study door for me.  “I’m afraid you’re on your own when it comes
to dealing with the princess.  She’s a mystery I have never been able to
solve.”

As I walked out of
the room, I sent out a silent prayer to the heavens asking for divine
intervention in finding a way to connect with the Queen’s daughter before her
behavior towards me triggered doubt in the minds of others.

Chapter 7

The Queen’s
quarters were located in the east wing of the palace.  They were far simpler
than I would have imagined royalty living in.  As you walked into the suite of
rooms, you were welcomed by a well appointed drawing room with white pine
hardwood floors and buttercup yellow walls.  On the far wall, there was a
fireplace made of white marble flanked by two sets of glass doors adorned with
flowing white silk curtains.  The doors led to a private veranda leading down
to a small garden area.  The furnishings were comfortable and inviting.  A
large wool rug with a floral pattern in shades of yellow, beige and light green
was situated in front of the fireplace with a plush beige sofa, coral chaise
lounge and wingback chair situated on top of it making a warm cozy sanctuary
from a winter evenings.

There were four
rooms leading off from the main room, two on each side.   Gabriel informed me
each was a bedroom with their own private bathrooms attached.  He indicated
which one was mine and told me it connected to the room beside it which
belonged to Dena. One of the other bedrooms belonged to the nanny and the other
one was left empty for special overnight guests.

Gabriel and I were
still standing in the main room when Emily tiptoed out of Dena’s bedroom,
gently closing the door behind her to minimize sound.