Secrets in the Shadows

Chapter Three

" Queen Nadia, may you please explain to me, what is going on here?", Maev asked trying to maintain a calm voice, after all, she was addressing the Queen of the White Kingdom she couldn't show any disrespect even if inside she was screaming.

Queen Nadia walked towards the bedpost where her hands were tied up. She placed a hand on the rope around her right wrist and it disappeared, Maev used her free hand to do the same with the other side. It came as a surprise to the both of them that the Vampires were allowing them to use their magic inside the Kingdom. But they shouldn't abuse their privilege and try to do anything stupid, otherwise, they would suffer serious consequences, even the walls could be watching them. Once you set foot inside this Kingdom ,you are never safe. Maev sat up rubbing her wrists softly, when you have magic fingers it could easily cure any wounds. That was her placement on the witches hierarchy in the White Kingdom, she was a healer witch.

Every young girl in the Kingdom officially receives their witch's gift on the day that they graduate from school. This is done in an extraordinary ceremony that involves loads of spells and magics. It is also known as the most colorful night in a girl's life in the Kingdom, they dance around the multicolored flames chanting ancient words and singing to their ancestors under a full moon. The young men don't take part in this ceremony, they receive their gifts at the age of 21 compared to the girls at 26. The children in the White Kingdom are classified as soon as they are born. The wisest witches who were better known as the " Circle of the Divine" are the ones who define their destiny by reading their birth chart and combined their birth star with that of their parents . She was told that her soul was too pure for her to be anything else. Maev was extremely happy when she received the gift of healing. For some reason it made her feel closer to her mother since she must have been a healer as well as most of the girls often take after their mother. Even if she had no clue who her mother was, she always had this thing about making her proud wherever she was. It is impossible to make someone you've never met or will never meet proud of you, but in her mind, Maev had drawn her own picture of her mother and that was the woman she was making proud.

Maev looked at the Queen and for some reasons she observed that the Queen was avoiding making eye contact with her. Nadia walked towards the entrance door and then she turned and looked back at Maev. Maev narrowed her eyes as she looked at the Queen , wondering how could she be related to this woman, the most important person in their Kingdom. Even if there was a King , it was almost like he wasn’t there. Every decisions had to be taken by the Queen only.

" We hid the truth from you for so many years because we didn't want you to get hurt. Now I want you to listen and then you can ask questions", Queen Nadia said looking at her with a serious face.

Maev nodded yes as she moved to the edge of the bed , crossing her legs over each other with her hands clasped tightly together . She sat there looking at the Queen impatiently waiting to hear what she has to say.

" My sister Bernadette, was as beautiful as you are. She was as strong-willed as you and her soul was as pure as yours. She was also a healer .As a young girl Bernadette always had this thing about being a mortal. Our parents forbade her to speak of that word, but nothing and no one could stop her from doing so", Nadia stopped, paused, and then cleared her throat before she continued.

"She met your father and after they were married, one year later you were born. We thought with your arrival, you will change her mind about being a mortal and stay with us. But one night she left us and traveled to the Salona kingdom", the Queen's words made Maev look at her with wide eyes. She had heard of that Kingdom before, also known as the Forbidden Kingdom, a place that no one should speak of.

She had heard many gossips about this place. It was a Kingdom where many witches would run to , to exchanged their gifts and in return they were granted the gift of becoming human. Maev listened attentively to what the Queen was saying. Her mother never came back to the Kingdom. Since the day that she abandoned her family, her father always said that her mother was good as dead to him and to everyone else especially for deserting her flesh and blood, her daughter. Nadia noticed the tears which had clouded Maev's eyes and she stopped talking. The truth? Is that the truth about my mother, she left me for her to be a human...Maev silently said to herself as tears rolled down her cheeks. If that was indeed the truth, then it was hurting her.No child what's to hear that she was abandoned by her mother! Her mother could still be alive or even dead in that human world and what hurt her the most was the fact that now she had lost all hope of ever knowing who she was. Does that mean that she was going to let her guard down and give up? Would she simple believe the words of a woman who never told her that they were related until today? Now that she knows part of the story ,doesn't this mean it is a piece of the puzzle which she had been searching for and she needed to find the other missing pieces? But how will she find the other pieces if she's stuck in here !?

" Are you ok?", Queen Nadia asked interrupting her thoughts.

Maev wiped the tears from her face and looked at Nadia, " I'm fine", she softly answered. The Queen walked towards the small window which was the only window in that room and she took in a deep breath before she continued.

" I married the King through an arranged marriage and became the great Queen that I am today. I was forbidden to speak of my sister's name in the Kingdom and everyone else respected my wish for her name not to be mentioned ", The Queen continued with a serious tone . She turned and looked at Maev and could see a thousand questions written all over her face.For a moment Maev was wondering how come she never questioned the history of the Kingdom. They learned only the things that the witches wanted them to know, but from what she was hearing the Kingdom has a very interesting history which was making her curious to find out about its secrets.

Though she had many questions to ask the Queen about her mother, she preferred to wait until she was face to face with her father. That is if he was still alive, she wouldn't believe anyone until she sees his face for herself. Everyone in the Kingdom had kept this secret from her and now she understands why her father didn't want her to go to the human world without a chaperone. As if this woman would walk up to her and say hi I'm your mother, I was once a witch. I abandoned you so that I could follow my dreams. Maev pushed those thoughts aside, there were other important things for her to deal with, like for what reason did that old man say that she will be the sacrifice for her people!

"So your Majesty, what sacrifice was that grumpy old man talking about?", Maev said and the Queen looked at her with wide eyes and put a finger to her lips as if she was asking her to be quiet.

" You don't speak like that about the King's uncle", Nadia softly said glancing around the room.

Maev didn't care if it was the King's father himself, she was not going to be any sacrifice whatsoever! She stood up and walked towards the small window and looked through it. She noticed that it was already dark outside and she could barely see anything else. Even if she would have wanted to escape, she wouldn't even fit through that window. Maev turned and looked at the Queen waiting for an answer to her question which the Queen was taking her time to answer.

" Last night the little brother of the King of this Kingdom died and they said it was due to a very rare witchcraft. Your father's men were spotted in that same place that the young Prince died and now all eyes are on us. And as you may know, the Bloodworth clans are a very difficult clan to pleased and their remedy to their grief is only by killing and destroying whoever dared to end the life of one of their family member ", Nadia said and she walked towards Maev who was staring at her with wide eyes.

" So what do I have to do in all of this?!", Maev said with a serious tone and the Queen looked at her with raised eyebrows before she continued.

According to the Queen, after what happened last night and today at the Kingdom when those Vampires invaded the White Kingdom. All the other Kingdoms, the witches of the North Kingdom, the vampires, the werewolves, the Zodiacs, all of them were pointing fingers towards the White Kingdom and the Bloodworth for disturbing the peace in the Underworld. Things have been quiet for a while and every Kingdom hoped that no war will break between the Kingdoms because they had seen enough bloodbaths in the past. News about a possible war in the Underworld travels throughout the different Kingdoms faster than a wildfire. Even if her father had told those Vampires that they were not responsible for the death of the young Prince they didn't believe him and after him punching down one of their men, that was the final straw! The Bloodworth didn't like to be intimidated by absolutely anyone! They are investigating the death of their Prince and since they didn't trust the witches, they will keep one of their kind in their Kingdom until the truth comes out. Their proposal was accepted by the oldest sorceress of the White Kingdom court but still Maev couldn't understand why she was here. They could keep someone from their Kingdom as a prisoner or something, soon this situation will be resolved and her father's men will be found innocent and this will be a thing of the past.

"That's why you are here... like a peace treaty, you have to marry their King!", Nadia said finishing her sentence with a serious tone and Maev heard it as if the Queen was ordering her to marry the Bloodworth's King!

" What?! Marry the vampire King, hell no!", Maev said and laughed out loud as if this was the funniest joke that she had heard in a long time.

" There's nothing funny Maev! The King had requested for your presence as you are the daughter of the man he thinks gave the order to kill his brother! Your father got you in this mess!", Nadia said and the smile on Maev's lips quickly disappeared. Anger was brewing inside her as she looked at the woman who called herself her aunt. What type of aunt was she for allowing something like this to happen to her. Of course, she wouldn't sacrifice any of her daughters, it had to be her.

" What?! Why me?! You have your daughters why don't you give one of them as a sacrifice .. !", Maev snapped and the Queen turned and looked at her in anger.

" I'm not marrying that man!", Maev snapped as she clenched her hands into a fist.

" Then you can say your goodbyes to your father , like I said he was the one who put you in this mess !", the Queen coldly said that Maev could feel goosebumps in her skin.

Maev was shocked by her answer and she felt afraid, as chills ran down her spine.

"We have to prove to them we ain't the kind who will kill one of their kind", Nadia answered trying to keep her voice calm.

There is no way out! There is no way out!, Maev said to herself as the Queen's words about her father echoed in her head over and over again, making the room beneath her feet spin. She nervously ran her hands through her hair. The Queen tried to approach her but she put up a hand telling her to stay away.

" When will that wedding take place ?", Maev asked, her lower lip quivering.

" Tonight... at midnight. Both Kingdoms will be present as well as others who are observing us. Maev... I know it's hard for ..", The Queen started to say when Maev interrupted her.

" You have no idea your Majesty how I feel right now! My whole life is a mess! I'm being forced into marrying a man whom I don't know anything about. I've never been with a man .. how do you think I will keep him entertained!? I will not see my family again .. my Kingdom... Let's just say today I died! Maev doesn't exist anymore!", Maev said with a sad voice as tears rolled down her cheeks.

" Maev ...", Nadia whispered, she couldn't say anything to console her niece, and the way she had said, "Your Majesty" signaled that she didn't even consider her as her aunt.

Maev quickly wiped her tears away, she took in a deep breath and looked at the Queen,

" Guess there is no need for those now! There will be plenty to come until this whole mess is resolved and my father is free. I'm doing this for him because I believe in his innocence ", Maev said.

" Maev please don't make it any harder..", Queen Nadia was saying when the door to the bedroom opened and a small plump lady walked in carrying a dress and another young maid walked in carrying what looked like a huge suitcase.

“ The bathroom is through that door on your left”, the young maid said bowed and left the room.

" Queen Nadia, the wedding will start soon. Get her changed!", the plump woman said in an ordering tone.

" Is this how you were taught to speak to a Queen!", Maev snapped at that woman trying to release some of the anger from inside her.

" And who are you to tell me that... you are just going to be a slave to our master!", that woman shouted back at Maev with a sarcastic tone.

Maev walked up to her with her hands raised but Nadia magically pulled her back.

" Why did you stop me?", Maev shouted as the woman ran out of the bedroom.

" Can you remain calm! Is this the first impression of their soon-to-be Queen that you want to give them?", The Queen shouted at her.

" Queen! Didn't you hear what she said I'm only a slave here and this wedding is a farce? Everyone in this Kingdom knows it regardless of the made-up peace treaty image that you want to portrait",

Maev said standing up and looked at Nadia anger flashing in her eyes. She was so mad that she fell that her soul was on fire!

" I want to see my father before the wedding!", Maev said crossing her arms.

" He will be there to walk you down the aisle", the Queen replied as she looked at the wedding dress.

It was a beautiful white dress with diamonds all over it. The Bloodworth were flashing their richness, the Queen thought.

" Maev it's time to get ready", Nadia said and Maev flashed her a sarcastic smirk.

Oh really! They wanted a bride, I'll give them a bride, Maev said to herself.

" First of all, I'm not wearing white to this farce of a wedding!", Maev said pointing towards the dress and then she continued, “secondly leave me alone”.