Atarah's Realm

Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

After the announcement of the king and queen’s arrival, both Mr. Ward and I are escorted to the throne hall. My heart is pounding in my chest but I couldn’t understand why. Is it because it’s my first time seeing real royalties? Or perhaps I’m just simply scared to mess up since I’m not the person they think I am? Whatever the reason is, the weird sensation from within is making me nuts.

“Second floor,” says an automated voice then the translucent dark glass doors slide open. Once we get out of the elevator, we are greeted by massive corridor where men in bodysuits are standing on both sides of the walls, guarding the place. I’m astounded and embarrassed at the same time whenever they salute everytime I pass in front of them. I press my palms against each other and joggle my head as an appreciation to their action while whispering ‘thank you’.

A hand squeezes my arm and a cough rings in my ears, prompting me to turn around and look at the person behind me, Mr. Ward.

“Just look ahead and walk. It’s their job to pay respect to you,” he says before rolling his eyes.

“Got it.”

“One more thing.” He looks around and hesitates to continue but he does anyways. “Do a curtsy.”

“A what?”

Again, he scans for people’s reactions. The men don’t budge a muscle and maintain expressionless faces as if they are some sort of mannequins while the ladies seem baffled like me. Mr. Ward’s gaze deviates back to me. He stands up straight then put his right leg behind the other, bends his knees, slightly bows his head and pauses for a few seconds.

“That’s curtsy. And you need that when presenting yourself to the king and queen. Now, do it.”

“Easy breezy. I’ll do it once we’re inside. You just give me a cue when to do it,” I say then turn around without waiting for his response. Even though I can’t see his face, I can imagine how upset he is. However, I’m confident that I could do this so-called curtsy without the need to practice.

Since I’m walking ahead of everybody else, the gilded glass doors open the moment I step on the black wool carpet. A lady who wears the same uniform with the same tattoo as Micah and the others gestures for me to enter the room and when I do, an automated voice speaks, ‘Princess Atarah enters the throne hall’. My lips part when my photo with my personal information is shown on a human-size stand’s screen.

“Cool,” I mumble.

My eyes are affixed to the photo on the screen.

I can’t believe what I’m seeing, I look exactly the same as the princess, from her almond-shaped eyes to her button nose to her thin lips to her small face. Everything is a carbon copy except her expression – something is off with her expression which brings chills to my bones.

I’m snapped back to my senses when the screen changes to Mr. Ward’s photo and information and the automated voice says ‘Alexis Ward enters the throne hall.’

“Princess,” he says before sighing sharply. “There are still other people waiting to be scanned.”

'What a great way of saying get out of our way!'

I fake a smile and move along. Another glass door opens after the identification process. The hall is long and different that I expect it to be. The ceiling is white with medium-sized crystal chandeliers that hang from it. Gold colossal columns are etched with intricate patterns. The floor-to-ceiling windows occupy the entire left and right walls which allow you to peek through the outside. But what really noteworthy is the levitated platform at the furthest wall where two people, whom I assume are the king and the queen, are sitting down on their thrones. At first glance, you’ll think that the platform is hoisted but as I move nearer and the details get clearer, it is not. It seems as if there’s some kind of strong magnetic force which makes the platform floats from the ground.

There are other people standing beside the elevated area and as I walk closer and closer to them, my heart sinks the second my sight lays on Elise, smirking and raising her eyebrow at me. Every tick of the heels of my stilettos against the shiny marbled floor is like a ticking bomb that’s about to explode. I stop, trembling, when I reach the edge of the platform. The wariness overshadows the tiny calmness in my heart as I stand in front of the king and queen. The king looks like at his 40’s. He has sleek hair with a well-groomed beard and he’s wearing a dark grey coat but he doesn’t have a crown. Sitting next to him is the queen. Though she has a lighter and more vibrant hair color and she looks finesse in her shimmering jewelries and red dress, I will never forget her face – that droopy hooded eyes that stare like a hawk. The most evil human being I’ve ever known, Magda.

'Please, don’t tell me she’s my mother and Elise is my sister in this world.'

I break our eye contact first when a finger pokes my upper back as a familiar voice whispers ‘curtsy’.

It takes a split second before what he means sinks in. My legs wobble out of nervousness so when I bend my knee, I lose my balance but Mr. Ward is able to grab my arm and pull my weight back up before I completely flop to the floor, avoiding a greater humiliation. I cast my vision on my feet, refusing to see anyone’s faces.

My breathing eases when someone commands for everyone to take a seat. Mr. Ward directs me to a white cushioned chair nearest to the platform then he sits to the chair next to mine, other guests do the same except for the ladies in uniform who remain standing behind us. When I dare to lift my chin, in a very unfortunate chance, Elise is sitting at the chair nearest to the platform, exactly across to mine. Her aura changes from earlier and when I think about it, the presence of Magda gives her the audacity to act superior to me. These train of thoughts that’s bothersome is ceased when a deep voice calls out my name.

“Atarah.”

My eyes search where that person is. As I try to figure out where the voice comes from, Mr. Ward whispers with an irk tone. “The king is calling you.”

I frenetically angle my body and my sight to the king’s direction. “Yes?”

The king just stares at me and doesn’t say anything and much to my surprise, others start to chortle. Oblivious to what I could have done wrong, I shift my gaze back to Mr. Ward who gestures for me to stand up and so I do. Since we’re now the focal point of everyone’s attention, Mr. Ward also stands up then bows down.

“Please forgive me your highness. I wasn’t able to teach her everything she needs to know.”

“And why is that?” asks Magda.

The visible panicked is written all over his face as ‘uhm’ breaks free from his mouth several times but unable to provide an explanation.

I look at both the king and queen in an attempt to defend Mr. Ward. “I’m at fault. I always cancel our class.”

Magda’s eyebrows wince as she leans her back to her throne. “You’re still as hard headed as always. You prove me wrong for thinking that once you live in the palace you would at least gain some manners.”

Her words are like daggers, stabbing my ears.

Then she switches her scrutiny to Mr. Ward. “And you. You’ve been receiving huge sums of salary for the last three years. I think it’s about time that we should fire you and hire someone else who could do the job properly.”

“I have no excuse to say and I respect whatever your highness’ decision,” he replies.

The king, who’s silent the whole time, lets out a heavy sigh. “Take your seats.”

I sluggishly sit on my chair while examining Mr. Ward’s face but he doesn’t look at me back.

“Mr. Ward, I’ll give you one last chance. The kingdom of Kevel accepted my invitation. The prince will arrive here in two weeks to see Atarah. This meeting should go according to plan. If you fail, you know what will happen next,” the king says.

Mr. Ward stands up again the bows down. “I understand, your highness.”

He gawks at me when I grin while giving him a thumbs up. I don’t like the idea of a possible marriage but I don’t want to put Mr. Ward in a bad light once more.

-----------------------------

The night falls fast. While Micah is fixing my bed, my eyes are glued to her knuckle and my curiosity no longer holds back.

“That tattoo, I noticed that all of you have those. It varies in shapes and colors though.”

“Oh this!” she says, rubbing the tattoo on his knuckle with her fingers. “It embodies one’s status in the kingdom. Yellow represents low-class workers like me, blue is for high-class workers like Mr. Ward. There’s also red for the soldiers and white for the outcasts.”

“That’s horrible! Why do they labeled people as if they are items in a grocery store?”

Micah bites her lower lip. “But…but you said it’s one of the best laws ever implemented.”

“I did?”

She nods.

I push her gently to the chair next to the bed. “It’s time for you to tell me everything I need to know. What happened before I wake up this morning?”

Micah crouches her head as she wrinkles her eyes. “You were proclaimed dead by the doctor last night but your heartbeat suddenly returns after almost an hour of being dead.”

I gasp. Unable to comprehend Micah’s words.

“Since nobody, not even the doctor, could figure out the cause of your death and your revival, the doctor begged the witnesses not to tell this to the king.”

I stare at her eyes with intensity, urging her to continue.

“If the king finds out, all of us will be in danger.” She grips my hands and kneels down. “Please, princess.”

“Hey, you don’t have to do that.” I assist her back to the chair then I sit to the bed close to her. "It may sound crazy but the memory that I have is I was in an accident then I had a dream, I was talking to a tree, then there was an earthquake and when I wake up, I’m already here.”

She goggles while giggling. “You managed to encounter the magical gnarled tree in your dream?”

“What do you know about it?”

“Do you want to see the tree? I can show it to you.”

A spark of enthusiasm strikes my core. This might give me a hint what my mission really is. I need to talk to that tree once again.

“Yes, I want to see it.”