The Kingdom

Chapter Two

"Demitri?" I look into her deep blue eyes, the last time I saw them red was in the woods when I found her, and then once again the night I put her to sleep. She blinks multiple times and moves her head look to the other side of the room out the window into the dark night sky surrounded by stars. She pulls her hand away from mine and pushes herself to sit up. She scratches her arm and then rubs her head.
"You put me to sleep...I remember it, you had a witch cast the spell binding us, to never touch me because it will wake me, that was the price she said you would pay. How long has it been Demitri?" She pushes the blankets off of her and try to stand but falls into my arms. I help her back onto the bed and sit besides her.
"I can't walk." She says to herself.
"How long has it been Demitri?" She says her hands shaking.
"Where are the girls? I want to see them." She says about to try to get back up but o grab her arm to stop her from falling.
"It's November 5th." I tell her.
"Mercy's birthday. How old is she turning Demitri?" She pushes my hand off her arm and looks at me with tears in her eyes. She grabs her arms holding herself and looks at me.
"It's her 16th birthday." Ashamed to tell her I look away from her face that's ready to leak every tear possible.
"Nine years? You left me to sleep for nine years?" She gasps quietly, tears staining her face in pain and agony, her trust broken.
"How could you do this?" She says.
"I needed to give the girls a home, a kingdom to take care of after us, you were a mess, you couldn't get over our sons death, you couldn't handle the urge for blood, you couldn't stop, you kept destroying everything my family built, I needed to give our girls the best chance. So I let your powers grow into you and not spiral out of control, once I regained the kingdom back and got the girls back into a routine and where they felt safe I planned to bring you back."
"When did that happen?" She asks. She slides both her feet to the floor and used the bed as a ledge to balance with.
"Four years ago." She pushes her fists into the bed as her arms tremble, she stops fighting and keeps her head down, her hair falling around her face blocking it. I went to reach for her arm but she shouted no and being crying loudly gasping for air.
"You left me here for four more years? I missed four more years than I had too? You took away my choice, my babies." She cries.
"You took away my home." She looks at me and tries bending her legs as the tears fall down her face, her lips trembling, she was ashamed of me.
"I lost my home." She says still bending her legs. She uses one hand to hold herself while she wipes her face.
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't touch me! Just don't, don't touch me." She freaks when I try to grab her hand. I pull away from her and stand up off the bed. She stands on her own but hasn't tried walking.
"Where are my daughters?" She says looking at me with heavy read eyes.
"At the ball. Mercy's asked me every year since you were out under the spell to wake you up, Raven is pretty distant, but she's in pain, she needs what I can't give her but you can, Mercy lives for the popularity and the royalty. Raven lives for others and the universe. As much as Raven looks like me and has my attitude, she has your personality, and I can't give her what you have. It was time."
"Yes you took away my relationship with my children. Raven doesn't even know who I am! I don't even know who they are!" Her words brushing each part of my heart.
"I'm sorry, please, forgive me?" She looks at me tilting her head.
"Forgive you? Demitri I can't even look at you. I need to see the girls." She takes a small step towards the door when I stop her by standing in front of the door.
"You need to at least look presentable, put on a dress I'll have someone do your hair real quick."
"I want my old room, I don't want to be near you for a while." I move out of her way and open the door for her watching her walk into our room, grabbed a dress and walked past me and down the hall into her old room when she was pregnant with Mercy. She shut the door quietly but still locking it behind her. I request security detail on her room and one maid with her at all times and I also requested a stylist to just give her a quick bun. I pace the hall aimlessly until she finally comes out. She's in a deep red corset lace dress. Her hair slightly curled in a bun and I noticed she's wearing flats. She stops at her door noticing me at the beginning of the stairs.
"I can go alone." She says.
"I'd rather you be with me, it's your first appearance, people are still afraid of you. Please you don't have to speak with me but just stand besides me. I won't let anything happen to you."
"Like you did for the past nine years? Let's go, I want to see my daughters." She walks past me holding onto the railing as she goes down the steps slowly taking her time I stand besides her at a distance just to insure her safety since she hasn't walked in almost a decade. We make our way to the ball room when Pearl pushed through the doors. She stopped dead in her tracks staring at Artemis. Artemis stops dead in her tracks too.
"Artemis?" Pearl gasps.
"Pearl I-" Pearl rushes up to Artemis and hugs her tightly. Artemis slowly wraps her arms around Pearl and hugs her tightly too.
"He finally woke you up." Pearl sighs relieved.
"Yes almost ten years later. I need to speak to you." Artemis tells her.
"Later, right now you need to make your entrance at your daughter sixteenth birthday, to your kingdom." Pearl says. The whisper to each other for a few minutes.
"I'm scared Pearl, everyone's going to be afraid of me."
"Give them time, you weren't yourself nine years ago." She says. I turn to Artemis after giving them there space and hold my hand out.
"Are you ready?" I ask, she looks at Pearl then at me and grabs my arm and tightly squeezes it from the nervousness. The doors are shut and our names are called from the other side gaining the attention of everyone inside. The doors slowly opens revealing a light shining through onto our faces and I take one last breath before the doors are fully open, the soft music once playing now stopped and the crowds murmuring below us. I look besides me and watch Artemis nervously take a deep breath and somehow finds a way to put a smile on her face. She looks around the ballroom looking for particular people. I nod my head and the music starts play again and slowly but surly people started talking again, except this time is was about their Queen. We go to head down the right side of the stairs when behind us we are met with Mercy and Raven.
"Mom?" Mercy says standing at the top of the other stairs. Artemis turns around slowly and stares at both of them. Mercy runs into her arms crying happily and Artemis kisses her forehead crying too.
"You brought her back?" Raven asks.
"You deserve to have your mother too Raven." I tell her, Mercy let's go of Artemis and gives room for Raven to give her a hug too. But she never does. Instead she backs away out of the room.
"I don't remember my mother. I'm sorry." She backs away quickly her voice cracking as she apologizes. I watch not only my daughters heart break but also her mothers. Mercy stand shocked in between us not moving.
"Demitri you need to go to her, she needs her dad." Artemis says.
"She needs you, she's had enough of me." I tell her. But she disagrees.
"Go to her please, I can't." She trembles.
"She doesn't know me. I'm a stranger." She finishes. Mercy grabs her hand and squeezes it gently.
"I'll watch mom, go to Raven, she's totally freaking out right now, plus me and mom have a lot of catching up to do." I look back and forth at both of them and watch them both push me out the room. I look at Lincoln standing outside the room and nod my head. I walk past him out of the room as he walks in.
"I'll be watching you while Demitri is out." I hear Lincoln announce.
"You're still alive too?" She asks him before I lose the conversation to distance. I start looking for Raven in the one place I know she will be, the flower field.