The Locket (9 page)

King Fredrick cocked his head to the side. “Whatever gave you the idea that I was?” At her silence he continued. “Listen, Savannah, deaths happen all the time. I know that it was very sudden for you, and will certainly be a loss to this kingdom, but you must know that it is all right to be upset. No one would judge you or be uncomfortable if you showed your sorrow on occasion. In fact, I’m sure you would be much more judged if you were to not show any kind of despair.”

She nodded, knowing that he was right. It would be unhealthy for her to not cry every once in a while. After all, she did just suffer a great loss, so how could she not? “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The king gazed briefly at the sky, then took a deep breath of fresh air. “Well, I would say that it is about time for supper, wouldn’t you?”

As they left the garden, Savannah remembered there was a question she had burning in her mind for a while now. “Fredrick?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you remember when I was talking to you about my visions?”

“Yes.”

“Would you happen to have any idea why I have them?”

The peaceful look he had on his face was soon replaced with one that was less settled. Without looking at her directly, the king replied. “Ah, now that’s an interesting question. Well, for the individuals who protested against your parents’ marriage—”

“People protested against their marriage? Why?”

He gave her a cautious, though friendly, glance. “I was getting to that.” Savannah closed her mouth. “As I was saying, the individuals who protested against your parents’ marriage would say that it was because of your change in dimensions, that because you switched worlds you were cursed. But for the very few who supported their marriage, they would say it was because you had received a fairy gift. Either way, I would say that your gift is not one that could be explained. My personal opinion would be that you’re kin is from a realm of magic, so it would make sense that they brought some back with them into the mortal world.”

Savannah nodded, considering this. The whole idea of being in a fairytale kingdom was still not being fully accepted in her mind, but it was too difficult to think of any other possibility for why she had such a strange power. “Now as for your mother … what did you say her disease was again?”

“Leukemia.”

“Yes, Leukemia. When you were telling me about it, I was trying to think about why it was so abrupt and rapid. My theory is this: you see, no one has traveled through the locket before, and thus we have not had anyone to test whether it worked or not. Assuming that it did, we also had no idea how it would affect the people who traveled through. Due to your parents going through the locket, they could have interfered with their biological clocks and some internal systems, therefore causing a disease. Do you get it?”

“I suppose,” she said, still a little unsure about how all this was possible. It didn’t matter anyway. The point was that her mother was gone and she wasn’t coming back.

Seeing that now she needed a topic change, he obliged her. “Are you excited to meet the royal family?”

Savannah gave out a little nervous laugh. “Yes, but I’m incredibly anxious, strangely.” She didn’t expect to have a parade of butterflies in her stomach at the thought of being in front of a bunch of people she had never even heard of until now. Not to mention that this whole world and everything happening was all probably just a hallucination, or a result from going to bed on a sugar rush.

“Why strangely?” he inquired.

“Well.” Great, how do you tell someone you think that they’re nothing but a figment of your imagination? “To be honest, Fredrick, I don’t know how much I believe this place to be real. I apologize if you take offence to it, but how can I not think this is all a dream or that I’m going crazy? I just lost my mother, I’m living in a strange new city with my aunt and uncle, my life is going through many changes right now, and somehow, someway I just traveled through a piece of vintage jewelry via portal.” Pausing for a breath, Savannah looked directly into the king’s eyes. “Can I really believe that all of this is truly happening?”

The king was silent for a moment, considering this. She started to worry that he would be angry she spoke her mind and send her off to be beheaded. Then again, it didn’t matter if none of this was real. “You know, Savannah, I don’t imagine that there is a way to prove one way or the other. I imagine that life is full of unanswered questions, and many, many choices. While some choices may not be all that important, such as what to wear or what to serve at your wedding, others may be imperative and will lead you down different walks of life. We all fall sometimes, my dear, whether it is because of our own clumsiness or whether it be because of a wind we could not control. Yet it is a grand show of character, as to if you get back up or stay down because you’re too afraid to trip again.” Savannah nodded, understanding. Things are never going to be the same again, but that doesn’t mean that has to be a bad thing.

“Now believing,” he went on, keeping his hands folded behind his back as he walked, “that is something you must choose. Of course to believe in something’s factuality depends entirely upon the situation, bearing in mind that not every situation will be exactly the same. To believe is to have faith, Savannah, and to live a life without faith is to live an empty life. Those who are considered cynical have no faith in the things or people around them, and therefore live life without those things or people. You asked me if you can believe that all of this is happening, and now I have a question for you. Can you live an empty life?”

Savannah knew it was a rhetorical question, especially once the king started to hum to himself. Even so, she thought about what he said and wondered if it applied to her. Well of course it does, she realized. I’m cynical, or so I’m told. Maybe it’s time for a change. Or maybe not.

“So tell me about your family,” she said, longing to break the silence. “This way I won’t make a fool of myself when we’re at the dinner table.”

“Well,” he began. “I have a wife and two sons. My wife, oh, she is the best judge of character. Right away she can tell if someone is being genuine or not. Her heart is pure and she rarely has something unkind to say about another person.” He smiled at this. Clearly, Savannah thought, he loved his wife very much. “Now my sons, they are two wonderful sons; strong, masculine, but polite. The strong, masculine part they get from their father.” Savannah giggled when he winked. “But their politeness, kindness, courage, sweetness, and wisdom all comes from their mother. I’m sure if either of them were up to it they could have any young lady in the kingdom that they so desired. Although I would not recommend it.”

“Why not?” She inquired in surprise. “Wouldn’t a future king have the choice of any girl in the kingdom he wanted?”

He smiled, and then sighed. “You would expect that, wouldn’t you? But no, they cannot. It would be breaking tradition and the law.”

“What law?”

“Oh,” he sighed. “The marriage law was erected hundreds of years ago, and before that it was merely a tradition. Basically it states that only a peasant may marry a peasant, an aristocrat may marry only either another aristocrat or royalty, and royalty may marry only other royalty or an aristocrat. The trick about being a member of the high class is that royalty must be the one to make the first move toward the relationship, or else that aristocrat who stood out of line would be sentenced to death for not showing respect to the royal family.”

“How is asking someone to marry you not showing respect to the royal family?”

“Because, depending on the age of the crowned head asked, the king and queen may have already chosen a prince or princess from another kingdom to wed their son or daughter. You see, my dear, marriage here is not always, if ever, based on love. It is based on politics, money, and family ties. I’m not particularly fond of the law, but my general, the magician, is, and I am very dependent on him for many things. He is irreplaceable, and, consequently, I keep to tradition on that subject.”

The king brought his attention down to her. “It has been a long time since we have gotten word from your parents. How old are you now? Fourteen? Fifteen?”

“Sixteen,” she confirmed.

“Ah, sixteen. My youngest is seventeen, turning eighteen shortly. He will be getting married any day now and once he does he can finally inherit the throne from me.” Savannah gulped at getting married so young. “My other is nineteen, and as much as I would like him to inherit the crown, being the eldest, he does not quite have the … intelligence for such matters.”

“Wow, that is quite impressive.” To be ruling over a kingdom at eighteen was almost unthinkable. Not that it hasn’t been done before, she thought, but still, you must be very wise to rule so young.

“Yes,” he smiled, as he appeared to be drifting into thought. Then bouncing back to their conversation, he turned to Savannah. “Did you know that your mother was the general’s daughter?”

Savannah was about to say something, but stopped short. Great, now her mother was a general’s daughter? What else has she hidden from her for all these years? So many questions raced through her mind while her mouth stayed soundless. She knew she could only ask one at a time, and somehow the only one that came out was, “My grandfather is a magician?”

“No, your grandfather died. The magician is my new general.”

“Oh.” Before Savannah could ask any more about her mother, Lance-a-Lot approached the two of them, clearing his throat. “Dinner is served.”

“Savannah Morgan, Your Highness,” she finished for her, bowing her head in respect.

A slight twinkle flashed in the queen’s deep green eyes, reminding Savannah of the stars in a country night sky. “Welcome to our home, Miss Morgan.”

“Thank you.” Looking around her, she could tell that she was in good company. A servant, who was standing against the wall apparently waiting for orders, came rushing over to seat the king. Following his lead, three of the other four servants came over to sit the queen, prince, and Savannah down. As Savannah’s servant approached her side, she held a hand up to stop him from getting closer. “I’m fine, thank you.” Seeing that she did not need any help, he bowed, and found his place once again against the wall with the rest of the servants.

At last being able to sit and relax a little, she gawked at the lavish dining hall. The table itself took up quite a bit of space, although occupied not nearly half of the room. Stretching across the table was a velvet maroon runner, stowing three meal’s worth of food, all of which had steam floating up into the air, making the room smell of fresh breads and hot vegetables. The fire roared behind them, filling the dining hall with not only its harmonizing sounds, but also its soft glow and a snug, warm temperature.

Noting how they were in a much less modern era than she was used to, Savannah took in how the only lights that brightened the room were the roaring fire and the fading sun. There were no windows per se but one could see through the open spaces in the wall, where glass should be, the soft, evening sky.

There was a long silence when they began eating, as Savannah hoped that there would not be. Being in the presence of royalty was not all that nerve wrecking, but undoubtedly left her clueless as to what to say. Taking another glance here and there in the room to find something interesting to talk about, her eyes were drawn in to the sight of Prince Rupert staring at her. He had risen and eyebrow and was giving her a cheesy smile that, truthfully, made her sick.

Thankfully, Queen Sophia saved her from embarrassment. “Where is your brother, Rupert?”

The Prince did not take his eyes off of her, making Savannah want to run away screaming. “I am not sure, Mother. The last time that I saw him, he was in the study, reading his book. Then he left for his room.”

As if this situation had happened before, the queen, seeming to know exactly what to do, sighed and called over one of the five servants. “William, could you please—”

“Your Highnesses!” shouted a voice from the other room. All eyes were now directed to the doors leading to the kitchens. “Your Highnesses!” One second later, Lance-a-Lot appeared, racing to the king’s side, taking a quick bow, and kneeling down next to him. “Excuse me, Your Highnesses, Savannah. But we have a dilemma.” Everyone’s attention was toward Lance as he panted for breath. “The Prince has run off again!”

The atmosphere filled with tension and worry as the king and queen looked at each other with panic, the fear shining in their eyes. Savannah recognized that expression and knew that she had seen it once before—when she looked in her mother’s mirror the night she was told of her disease. “Again?”  They asked.

“Again?” Savannah echoed in question.

“Yes! This time, by using his bed sheets as a rope to climb down his bedroom window!”

The queen was shocked, the king was impressed, the prince was snickering, and Savannah did not know what to do or think. True, it was upsetting that the family with whom she had just made friends had lost one of its members, but, on the other hand, why should it affect her? Who’s to say any of these people or this place is real. Besides, even if they were, how far could the prince have gotten? It’s not like he could drive away in a car or a bus.