XIII

"Serenity!"

I turn around to find the voice. It's Miss Emery.

"Yes, Miss Emery? Anything I can help you with?", I asked.

"No. But the King and Queen want to meet you now," she told me.

"But why?"

"I don't know. Seems important. You better go now. Don't make them pissed."

"Okay."

I run to the meeting room. As usual, I knock on the door. After they grant me to come in, I opened the door and bowed to them. They then asked me to sit.

"What can I help my King and Queen?", I asked.

"We would like to ask you some important thing, Serenity. Hopefully, you can help," said Queen Elizabeth.

"If I know the answer, I'll do what I can," I replied.

King Alexander hand me a picture. I take it and take a look. They seem to focus on my reaction.

I was in that picture. I mean, mini-me. There were also Claudia, Evander, Maverick and Azazel. I begin to confuse. We never have a picture together. So, who took this picture? It seems old enough since the paper turns yellowish already.

"I know you know who is in the picture," said Queen Elizabeth.

"I know. Where do you get it? We never have a picture before," I asked without hesitation.

"Let me explain everything. You might believe it. But, please. This is what my vision tells me."

"Okay. I try to believe it. But, I think it's necessary to call them too."

"Okay."

King Alexander then asked Miss Emery to call the others. A few minutes later, they arrived at the meeting room. Claudia was shocked since I was already there.

"What's wrong?", she asked.

I shook my head. They sit and Queen Elizabeth begins to explain. The picture has been passed around.

"All five of you already met before. That picture, I'm the one who took it."

"But how?", Maverick asked.

"Before the Carnations attacked the Shadow Kingdom, all of the six kingdoms' royal families always meet up. We have meetings, tea or even dinner parties. And you always meet each other since all of you were royal blood-related. It's hard to believe that you still manage to stick together."

"Woah, I'm done hearing about my origin yesterday so I don't think I want to hear these things now!" said Evander. Evander stands from his chair and wants to leave the meeting room.

"Don't you dare to leave!", King Alexander stop him.

We begin to panic since Evander already pissed the King. I went to Evander who was already in front of the door.

"Evan, please. Stay. At least until I know who I am," I said.

In his eyes, he still wants to leave and didn't care about the punishment. But, he stays.

"I apologize, my King," he sat down back.

"It's okay. We understand your feeling," said the Queen.

"So, shall I continue?"

We nodded. Evander seems to have no interest, just sat there like a statue.

"Claudia Mircalla, I told you before that you're from the Emerald Kingdom right?" she asked Claudia.

"Yes, my Queen."

"You're King Delray Silvius and Queen Regina Silvius's daughter. To be honest, you're not being left at eight-month, but seven years old. It's just one of the witches already manipulated your memories so you remember nothing about it."

"But why? Why they left me? I'm a witch who doesn't even know witchcraft?! Do they know how I feel? I feel dumb! I feel useless! They're not my parents! My parents never left me! They abandoned me!", Claudia's tears fall down her cheek.

I hug her to ease her feeling. I understand her feeling. Abandon is the best word to picture the situation.

"Please, let me finish my explanation first," said the Queen.

"Go on, my Queen," said Maverick.

"Evander Ezra. You said before that you're done hearing about your origin today. Perhaps, you know who you're already. But do you want to know what happens actually?", the Queen asked Evander.

"Yes, my Queen."

"You're also seven when those things happen. You already know about how the Carnations attacked your kingdom. The main reason why you need to run from the kingdom is not just because you're the crown prince but because the Carnation Kingdom's planning to use you as a hostage.

They want to kidnap you so they can have the land as collateral to save you."

Evander clenched his fits. I can see the grit of his teeth to hold the anger. I can't ease him since Claudia still hugging me. I hope he can endure it.

"King Caspian Hart and his queen, Queen Victoria Hart didn't mean to leave you. But, it's for your safety and also the kingdom. I hope you understand the situation. They love you and hope you come back."

"Hoping me to come back? Why they didn't even try to find me?", Evander asked.

His eyes turn red. We panic seeing him like that. We are still traumatized due to what happened to Azazel. I hope he didn't turn into a bloody vampire now.

"Evan, please stay calm," said Maverick.

"They try. But fail in any way. At one point. They gave up. They thought the Carnations who manage to escape already killed you with the guard who follows you," Evander stares down.

He holds back his anger. I want to hug him, but I can't. There's no reason to let Claudia go. He shook his head full of frustration.

"Maverick Trivalor. I simply recognize you since the first day you were here. But the King told me to wait for the right time. And the day finally comes. We finally meet, my prince."

"Your prince?"

"You're our child. We are so sorry, dear Maverick. We can't protect you at that time. But, now you're here. We'll promise to always protect you," Queen Elizabeth begin to water.

I know Maverick will accept the truth since he hates arguing. So, he smiles and nodded.

"But, why you left me?", he asked.

"I'll explain to you later. So, now we move on to Serenity Gloria."

I looked at the Queen. Hoping that this time she'll give me the answer.

"The Azure Kingdom always waiting for you."

"I'm always there," I begin to piss.

"But, you're not with them."

"Who?"

"King Ferdinand and Queen Mikaela Viotto. They always waited for you to come back home. But you never come back."

"I can't believe it. I guess they don't want to meet me. I'm inside the kingdom my whole life! Why they can't find me?"

It's pain. It's hurt. I'm inside the Azure Kingdom this whole time but nobody comes to find me!

"I'm sorry. I was just shocked," I apologized.

"Azazel Byron. Perhaps, he knows who he is now. The Mauve Kingdom must have noticed it already."

"Who is he?" Maverick asked as Azazel is his best friend.

"Azazel is King Oberon and Queen Tania Driscoll's son."

"Huh, we all end up royalty. What kind of joke is this? Stop messing around with our feelings!", said Evander.

"I'm not trying to mess around. I just tell you the truth. The whole things happen for one reason! To save you! Before the Carnations attacked, the giant and the trolls already begin a war with all six kingdoms. We fight to the death. Our kingdoms almost fall. But, we manage to fight back. A few days after the war begins, Carnation's king took advantage to attack the Shadow Kingdom. We're busy fighting so we didn't manage to send help. They were lucky cause the King and Queen to manage to use their powers."

"Before we almost fall, we send all of you to the Azure Kingdom. At first, King Caspian didn't want to send Evander to the Azure Kingdom but after the Carnations attacked, he agrees. We choose the Azure Kingdom because there is no use for the troll and giant to attack the kingdom since they have the most powerful defence system," the King added.

We keep on quiet. We are still shocked. And the fact that they can't find us is just miserable. I was in the same kingdom but they still can't find me. Ridiculous!

"The reason why we can't find you is that the nymph cast a spell on all of you so we can't find you. We try to break the cast thousands of times but fail. With the spell that we cast to you to make sure you don't remember anything really turns out bad."

"We will send you back to your kingdom," said the King.

"What?! No! I don't want it! I rather stay at the Azure Kingdom!", said Evander.

"Evander, you already know your origin. There is much chance that you'll start to thirst for blood. You might kill people after that. So please understand!", the Queen told him.

This time, Evander doesn't care. He left the meeting room with a single glare.

"I'm sorry for Evan's behaviour, my King and Queen," Maverick said.

"It's fine. Go rest now. You'll be deported to your kingdom in two days. Be prepared."

We left the meeting room silent. Claudia already stops crying but is still shocked and pissed. Maverick just remains calm. His family is already here.