• My Old Story by IU •

Jade sighed, turning. Coming from behind the staircase was a chair with wheels, and sitting in it was the woman who the Queen thought was far more worthy than herself to run the kingdom of Jahima.

It was in her blood, after all.

"I thought I heard you," she said, turning the wheels to proceed towards the siblings. A figure ran past them to assist her - the fiesty teenager with the buckets. "Thank you, Onika," Peri raised a defending arm. "But I can manage. Please tend to the Queen."

"The Queen?" Onika turned from Peri to Jade, her face now uncovered, and went red. She covered her face with her hands and bent her head in front of the monarch. "I'm sorry for-" she started to say but Jade stopped her.

"It just means my disguise was perfect. Anyway, it'd be great, Onika, if you could.." Jade raised a finger to her lips.

"Of course." The girl bowed again, before leaving.

Jade had now shifted her whole concentration to the woman in the chair. She looked well slept, for the early hour that it was, and healthy. Her black hair was shining, her dark skin was glowing, and her blue irises were curious and wide. "You were saying?" Peri transferred her fingers from the wheels to the edge of the table, and urged her friend on with a soft smile.

"You were right," Jasper started for his sister. "The note didn't come from Jadie."

"Just as I thought," Peri conjectured, leaning back into her chair. "And what exactly happened?"

Queen Jade took a deep breath and started to narrate the happenings since the day she left Jahima with Sillia and the soldiers she thought were on her side. Maw brought them food, while Onika made sure the front and back doors were bolted so nothing would disturb them.

The redhead queen spoke of the High Princess in detail - a speech that garnered many sideway glances between Jasper and Peri. When she finished, she still had no idea about the future, about where to take Lari from Kalk. She didn't know if she even wanted to go anywhere from there, or if she had had enough adventure for the last two weeks and just wanted to go home.

"If Princess Larimar wants to return home," she stated. "And if her instinct tells her to give me away, I'd let it happen."

"What the actual fuck?" Peri questioned. "You're willing to give up everything for the fucker's daughter?"

"Peri, don't forget.."

"Yes, I know," the noirette thumped her fist on the table. If she could, she would have stood up to make the point. "I know," she repeated. "I'm not very fond of the fact, you know that. And I'm not really asking you to get beheaded for me."

"She isn't either," Jade gulped, and her brother could almost hear it. He pushed the glass of water towards her, but she shook her head. "And.." she looked up at him, and then at their father, and then at their friend. "What's there to give up?"

"What about us?" Jasper asked. "The people of Jahima? You'd be giving up the realm, Jadie."

"Sillia made sure of that happening when she betrayed me." Jade bit her lip. "And, if you ask about avenging the dead, I.. never intended to kill Laz. I just wanted to defeat him and dethrone him. There's no way that's happening anymore. Even if the Princess doesn't rat me out, someday I'll be caught. How long will I be in hiding? On the run? That too, with the Princess with me?"

So we'll have to find a way, Jade could almost hear the words. A voice she didn't remember anymore.

"So we'll have to find a way," Jasper said them out loud. "That's what Mama would want us to do. She wouldn't have wanted you to give up."

"What way, Jasper?" She asked, undeterred in her pessimism.

"Why don't you bring the Princess here?" It was Onika who suggested, standing behind Peri's chair, going redder with every uttered word. "My Queen," she added with an averted glance.

"And, then what?"

"She could meet Peri, you know," Maw spoke up. "I'm sure the Princess would love to meet one of.."

"I don't think she knows," his eldest intervened, and reflexively, Peri laughed out. And although everyone could tell it was a mock laugh, nobody had the guts to stop her.

"She doesn't know?" She asked, still taunting. "She has no idea, does she? Who did you say her patron Arcana was? The Moon? It ought to be The Fool."

"It's not her fault, you know," Jade defended her. She was exasperated, and had been so since she had arrived at her hometown. The journey, the constant tireless cycling to reach here.

In retrospect, Jade asked herself why she came here at all. She had only one reason to leave Larimar alone and put the entire Nokimetsa between the two of them. This, she realised, was what she had come for, what she had risked getting caught for.

Home, the company of her friends, the advice of a father, and the sass of a teenager.

"Sillia didn't come back here, I'm guessing," she said aloud. Her peers shook their heads.

"If she had returned without you, she'd have been questioned," Maw reasoned. "But I am sure she has her spies keeping check. Kulta, I'm glad to have you here but I am not sure if you're safe here."

"The disguise worked," Onika reminded. She was the first and only one that morning to get a small smile from the Queen.

"I do plan on leaving for Kalk tonight," she informed the table. "And reach The Princess by dawn tomorrow. The festival is an opportune moment to get in and out of here with least visibility. If all of you agree that bringing the Princess here is a good idea, I'll try that. Maybe you're right, Papa. Maybe it is indeed time for her to meet Peri. And the one from Kalk, what's her name? Does she still live here?"

"Amber," Peri replied. "And no, she moved to Primorska as far as I know. I can ask around if you want Larimar to meet her as well."

Jade nodded. There was finally a calm settling at the table, like a sixth member, making its presence known by intimidating the others from speaking. The Queen quietly chomped on the simple ham and cheese sandwich, keeping the supple berries for last and the milk to wash everything down.

She was on the last chug of milk when a loud rap came from the direction of the front door. It made the youngest look between her Queen and her boss, both of whom nodded. When she looked back before unbolting the door, Jade had already put her disguise up.

"Maw, you gotta at least open early during the festival," came a voice, and a ruckus followed close behind. Regulars at the diner were starting to gather with the expectation of breakfast, and Jade's father had to steal himself from his children.

"See me before you leave, kulta," he suggested, and Jade agreed.

"Do you wanna go to my place?" Peri asked, "you look like you could use some sleep."

"Should I come with?" Jasper was quick to ask.

"Why? Don't you have to help out here?" Peri replied with another question. "Don't bother. The chair is already helping me enough. Thanks for that, okay?"

"It's not like you owe me anything for it," he stated, promptly leaving the table.

On their way to Peri's house, Jade pushed her chair and numerous people who walked by waved at Peri, rendering the Queen anxious and constantly pulling at her headwrap. By the time they finally reached the porch of the noirette's house, she had broken a sweat in winter. Her friend chuckled at her, before producing a key from a pouch in her lap.

The door creaked open and the Queen was welcomed by something utterly precious, a furry delight, a mewing doll. "He missed you," Peri declared as she rolled herself into the scene of a familiar-human union.

Jade had in her arms a beautiful, black cat with thick fur, especially around his neck and along his tail. His eyes were the colors of a gemstone named after them. "Salem, my love," she heaved, kissing her pet over and over again, on the top of his head, near his whiskers, his paws, and his little belly.

"The Princess also has a feline familiar, you know," the Queen muttered, shortly missing her friend's attention, before speaking to her feline friend again. "You'd like her, Salem."

Jade spent the rest of the day sleeping in an armchair, constantly drifting in and out of wakefulness. Salem visited her multiple times, usually finding a spot for himself in her lap. When she finally woke, the ache in her neck was enough to knock her out again for the rest of the evening. But the overwhelming smell of spices coming from the direction of the kitchen, and the sizzling of something in a pan made her get up to her feet.

"What in the Devil's realm are you doing?" She scolded her friend, walking in.

Peri was upright now, her chair discarded in a corner. She stood on one foot on the ground, and the other remained twisted inward, like a golf club's head, the way it had always been, ever since she was born. When she walked between cabinets, or even to grab something from an arm's distance, the quick shifting of her weight from one foot to the other, and promptly back to the normal one made her wince, but only softly.

"Couldn't I have cooked for you?" Jade asked, still scolding a little.

"Please," she returned. "I do this every day. It brings me peace. And really, I'm enjoying cooking for you. Why don't you.. umm.. take a walk or something? By the time you're back, I'll be done."

"Take a walk? Are you out of your mind?"

"Yeah," her friend replied. "Why not? Your headwrap will keep you safe. Just look at the stalls, buy something if you want to. Maybe.. for the Princess?"

The Queen blushed, it didn't evade Peri's eyes. "Yeah," the former scratched underneath her messy bun. "I'd have to bring the cart from Citra too. I'll just go to.."

"Yes, go." Peri smiled. "Just be out of my way when I'm cooking."

Jade put her scarf on her head and wrapped her entire hair into it, pulling the loose end of it about her nose, leaving only her eyes to the public view. Quietly as she came into the house, she walked out of it, thanking the cold wind to justify the protective gear. She drew the cardigan she borrowed from her friend closer to her chest and walked away.

It was still the golden hour. The Sun was still coloring the sky all shades of his own rays, refusing to let Lady Luna take over.

As she walked, she thought to herself. Although, all her thoughts only ever consisted of the Princess. A vision flashed through the front of her mind, a vision of Lari smiling, her glow could do away with all the cloudiness of her mind, and put her at ease.

"Lari," she tried again, going scarlet under her disguise, but it still didn't feel right. Maybe the 'a' was too short, or too long, or she was trilling the 'r'.

Exhilarated, she moved on to another thought. The Princess' hands. The smooth hands that she had made calloused in the last two weeks with all the workout and relentless archery practice. The fingers that artfully flipped Tarot cards, telling her what she should expect.

Jade smiled, wondering what she would have to say when she'd go back and tell her how she had faced no real conflict in this journey. It was doubtlessly a long day, but there were no considerable disagreements.

With that she gave her thoughts of Larimar a pause. For she had reached the back doors of Malinpuu. On entering, she was heartily welcomed by the family, and asked to have tea with them. Although the shop was open and there was no dearth of customers, Mali left it to a couple of his younger employees and spent some time in her presence.

When it was time for her to leave, and take the cart with her, she noticed little Avento tugging at his mother's sleeve like the child he was. "What is it?" Jade asked Citra, because she knew he wouldn't answer.

The mother giggled, a little embarrassed, and said, "oh, it's nothing," only to make the boy even more restless.

She sighed. "He wants to go back to Kalk with you."

"Oh," Jade wondered. "Is the festival not to your liking, little sir?"

Avento hid behind his mother, who then responded for him, "he says he forgot a book he was planning to read. We told him to read something else for the time being, but it seems he wouldn't go a day without that specific book. He wants to go with you, and we were wondering if that'd be okay. And if you plan to return, you can bring him back, otherwise he can stay there with you until I get back."

The Ironwood Warrior smiled. "No big deal," she said. "If you trust me with your child, I'd love to take him there and.. I was actually thinking about bringing the Princess back with me, so we can also bring him back to you in a couple of days."

Mali and Citra were more than happy to hear that, although Avento seemed the most at peace. So Jade took him with her, made him sit in the cart while she drove it back to Peri's. There they had supper with the lady of the house and Jasper, and before they finally left for Kalk, the Queen made a short visit to Jalo to bid her father adieu.

Again seeking assistance from the Moon, Jade, with Avento, left the bustling town, and drove into the darkness of the forest. This night was no different than the last, if only for an overwhelming tightening around her heart.

Jade knew she could list several things that may have caused it - leaving her hometown, going to meet the Princess, or realizing that she'd have to disclose many unpleasant secrets to her in the next few days. Or maybe just the ambience of the Nokimetsa. It was definitely eerie. When it was safe only 24 hours before, it was creepy now.

Halfway through, she realized she had experienced a similar feeling before - in the courtyard of Paláti tis Metensárkosis. But what was this feeling?

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Translations:

• Kulta - a term of endearment

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A/N: If you liked this chapter, please consider leaving a vote. Thank you for reading.