Restored (A Caleo Selection)

11 ~ An Anxiety So Great

I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped inside the dining hall the next morning. No one bothered to glance my way. A flurry of somber whisperings passed around the room, and none of the royal family was present.

I took my place, and instantly noticed the empty chair near me. "Where's Thalia?" I asked.

Reyna chewed her lip. "She refused to come out of her room for breakfast when I went to see her. I don't know what's wrong with her."

I glanced around again, noticing several empty chairs. A few seats away, a girl with blonde hair was crying silently. "What happened? Where is everybody?"

Jade leaned over. "Last night, two Selected girls went missing. They haven't been seen since. No one knows where they are."

I gaped at her. Then another thought occurred to me. "Are we sure Thalia's still here?"

Reyna blanched. "She....she answered from her room when I checked on her an hour ago," she said uncertainly.

"Should we check on her?" Jade suggested with worry.

"She might not like it, but I think we should," Reyna answered, her dark eyes full of worry.

I shoved a couple pancakes into a napkin and stood. "Let's go now and see if we can't find out anything about her."

Jade and Reyna hurried with me out of the dining hall, Reyna barely containing herself from running. I wondered why Reyna seemed so worried about Thalia, but didn't dwell on it.

I dashed up the flights of stairs back to the third floor and down long, twisting hallways. Jade had to practically run to stay next to me. "How do you remember how to navigate these hallways so well? I constantly get lost," she mentioned.

I didn't answer, because Reyna pulled ahead of me, hurrying down a side corridor in the opposite direction from my room. At the end, she stopped at a side door. Without waiting for an invitation she swung it open and entered. Jade and I followed her.

"Holy cow! Haven't you snoops ever heard of knocking?" Thalia jumped up from her desk, shoving papers into a drawer. I breathed a sigh of relief at seeing her.

"Sorry. We just wanted to check on you after the, uh, the disappearances last night," Reyna stammered.

Thalia's angry eyes softened. "I see."

"What were you writing?" Jade interjected.

Thalia lifted her chin. "Private things." She folded one of the papers and slid it into an envelope.

A shout from outside caught all of our attention, and Reyna darted to the window. "Is that...?"

I quickly joined her and saw a two girls stumbling out of the forest. Both were bruised and dirty, and one girl was nearly carrying the other. "The missing girls!"

Thalia threw open the balcony doors and swung a leg over the railing against the wall. "What are you doing?" cried Jade.

"I'm going down. Duh." Thalia gripped the bars of a ladder on the wall, intended for a fire escape. I looked at Reyna. She shrugged, and I followed Thalia's lead. Reyna came next, and finally Jade. The ladder shook a little, but it was sturdily built and held our weight.

I leaped off the bottom rungs and ran to meet the two girls, who by now were surrounded by palace guards. Upon close inspection, I could see that the first girl, a small brunette, had a gash across the side of her head, and could barely stand. The second girl, an auburn-haired girl with a black streak down the side, had truly been carrying her. Both looked utterly exhausted and frightened.

"It's alright, miss. You're safe now. You can tell us about it later, miss." The guard coaxed the nearly-sobbing brunette to allow the guards to carry her inside to the infirmary.

The second girl raised her chin bravely. "I must speak with a member of the royal family, or a council member of some sort. I have urgent news."

"Yes, of course, milady, but may I ask what happened in the woods?" A third guard inquired.

The girl looked away. "We did not get lost, if that is your thought, sir," she said coldly. "We were kidnapped."

. . .

A few hours later, I met up with Reyna and we walked to Thalia's room together. I'd agreed to meet them there to discuss the turn of events, but when we reached her door, I heard voices coming from behind the door. Reyna knocked in an exaggerated manner, and both voices stopped.

"Come in!" Thalia yelled, and I opened the door. To my surprise, the auburn-haired girl was sitting on the bed in conversation with Thalia.

"Girls, this is Skye Hawthorne. Skye, this is Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, and Calypso Nightlock." Thalia gestured for us to sit. I joined them on the bed, and Reyna settled herself in the desk chair.

Skye nodded at us, her clear blue eyes full of thought. She had small bruises and cuts all over her arms and legs.

"Are you doing alright?" I asked, pulling up my legs.

Skye laughed without happiness. "Under the circumstances? Fine. Rattled, but surviving."

"I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve that." I wondered who would want to hurt a lovely girl like this.

Thalia cleared her throat. "Skye, would you mind telling them what happened?"

Reyna threw a look at Thalia. "You don't have to if you don't want to," she said gently to Skye.

Skye sighed. "I will." She took a sip from the mug of coffee she held, and then began her story.

"Chloe and I were walking in the garden last evening. We just wanted some fresh air, and we'd been told it would be safe. But when we neared the woods....something grasped me from behind, and someone in black threw a cloth over my head. I fought, but he caught me by surprise. I heard Chloe scream and knew they'd gotten her, too." Skye winced as if the memory still hurt.

"They dragged us away, deep in the woods. I don't know how long we traveled for. I thought for sure they would shoot us and be done with it. It was well into the night before they dropped us somewhere, and bound our hands. Someone tied a note to my arm. Then they left. We managed to get the cloths off our heads and untie each other. The ropes weren't tight -- just meant to slow us down. We spent all night trying to find our way out, and Chloe fell on the rocks. I had to carry her most of the way, because she couldn't walk well."

Skye shuddered, and I lifted a hand and rested it on her shoulder tentatively. "We finally found our way back to the gardens, and I gave the note to the council. But I remember perfectly well what it said."

Reyna leaned in closer, and I found myself drawn in to the brave girl's story as well. "What did it say?" Reyna blurted.

Skye took a deep breath. "It said, 'We are coming. And we will not stop until we take back what is ours'."

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A/N: Shoutout to Elf-King for giving me the inspiration for Skye!