The Crown's prisoners
The friends who protected the princess must now face the Crown's judgment.
Anastacia still had Flor in her lap when she heard the first crash.
The princess, King Alfred's daughter, was in the Hidden Village, a community of dudurimas concealed in the forest. She had arrived with Flor, her baby dragon, and Satobear and Gili, two bears who had been freed from a force that controlled them.
In the elder Elyra's house, Anastacia was beginning to find some answers. The dudurimas' leader knew the dangers threatening the forest and had just revealed that she had cared for Flor before the princess had. Anastacia wanted to know more, especially about the voices that had lured the bears into a cave.
The second impact shook the wall.
Mili opened the door. The little dudurima, one of the village's defenders, held her staff in both hands.
“They're coming in through the forest passage.”
Elyra stood.
Outside, villagers ran between the houses. Other dudurimas tried to hold the invaders back with their staffs. They were forest creatures, but they moved erratically, striking everything in their path.
Satobear and Gili were near the entrance to the house.
“They're just like we were,” Gili said.
Anastacia recognized the dark eyes. She saw one of the creatures change direction and rush toward her. Mili stepped in front of the door.
“They followed me,” the princess said, backing away with Flor.
Elyra watched the animals' path.
“Then we need to get you out of here.”
“What about the village?”
“We'll move away from the houses. Come with me.”
The elder went out through the side and called Satobear and Gili. Mili followed, keeping her staff between the group and the approaching creatures.
Anastacia ran after Elyra. Flor leaped from her arms and flew low beside her. They crossed a narrow passage between two houses and entered a path covered with roots.
The elder knew the way. She pointed out where to step and pushed branches aside before the princess could run into them. Behind the trees, they could still hear the impacts and the calls of the other defenders.
Anastacia looked back once.
“Keep going,” Mili urged. “I'm here.”
They only slowed down once the sounds of the village had faded into the distance.
Satobear stopped beside a tree trunk, breathing hard. Gili looked down the path they had taken. Flor landed near Anastacia, who gathered her into her arms.
Elyra raised a hand for silence.
Someone was ahead.
Between the trees, Anastacia saw royal armor. She recognized the soldiers before making out the man leading them.
“Father!”
King Alfred was with the men searching for her. When he saw her, he hurried closer. His eyes swept over her dirt-stained cloak, Flor and the two bears behind her.
“We've finally found you.”
Anastacia stepped toward him.
“The village was attacked. We need help.”
Alfred looked at Elyra and Mili. Then he turned back to the bears.
“Come here, Anastacia.”
“They helped me get out.”
The king signaled to the soldiers.
“Arrest the creatures.”
Anastacia stopped.
The men spread out around the group. Satobear growled when a spear came close to his chest. Gili backed away until she found another soldier behind her. Mili raised her staff, but Elyra caught her arm.
“Father, you're not listening. They're my friends.”
A guard grabbed Anastacia's arm. Another came forward to take Flor from her lap.
“She comes with me,” the princess said, pressing the baby dragon against her body.
“Hand the creature to the soldier,” Alfred ordered.
Flor clung to the cloak. Anastacia tried to push the guard's hand away, but he caught her wrist while the other took the baby dragon.
“Be careful with her!”
Flor gave a shrill cry. The princess tried to reach her and was restrained again.
Alfred led his daughter to the horse and put her in the saddle in front of him. Behind the soldiers, Mili was still trying to explain who Elyra was. No one answered her.
“Take them all to the castle,” the king said.
Anastacia turned as the horse began to move. She searched for Flor among the suits of armor, but the soldiers had already closed the passage.
At the castle, the guards took the prisoners another way.
Anastacia tried to follow them, but Alfred called her before she reached the stairs.
“The council meets tomorrow. Be ready.”
“Where will they put Flor?”
“The guards will see to that.”
“I want to know where she'll be.”
Alfred signaled for the men to escort her. The princess was taken to her room, and the lock turned after the guards left.
She remained near the door for a few moments. Her arms still hurt from when they had taken Flor from her.
She went to the window. From there, she could see the gardens and some of the capital's streets. She had known that place since childhood, just as she knew the men who would sit at the council table the next morning.
They represented the great families that divided the kingdom's lands. They owed Alfred allegiance, but competed with one another for command of soldiers, protection of the roads and influence over the Crown's decisions.
The kingdom had good harvests and full coffers. Even so, disputes between the families and attacks on the villages meant every meeting ended up discussing security.
Anastacia knew how her friends would be presented: creatures found in the forest, some of them involved in attacks. The councilors had not seen Gili frightened by her own memories, or Elyra showing the princess where to step so she would not fall during their escape.
She had to tell them what had happened before they decided for her.
She spent part of the night ordering her memories. She separated what she had seen from what she only suspected. The bears had been controlled. The butterflies had freed them. Mili and Elyra had welcomed the group. And all of them had helped her when the village was attacked.
The more she went over the facts, the harder it was to accept that they were imprisoned for it.
The next morning, a guard opened the door and escorted Anastacia to the council chamber.
The prisoners were not there.
The princess searched for Flor for a moment before realizing she would find only the councilors, her father and the men guarding the entrances.
Alfred indicated that she should stay near his seat.
To the king's right sat Charles, Alfred's brother and Anastacia's uncle. He was also the father of Aurora, the princess's cousin. Anastacia sought her uncle's gaze, but he remained absorbed in the other councilors' conversation.
A few seats farther along sat Leon, Aurora's husband. He too belonged to the council, alongside his father-in-law, Charles. Noticing Anastacia's arrival, Leon greeted her with a brief nod.
When everyone had settled, Charles spoke.
“The attacks are increasing. Yesterday, the king's daughter was found among those creatures. We must prevent this from happening again.”
“They were helping me,” Anastacia said.
Charles turned toward her.
“After attacking you.”
“The two bears attacked me while they were being controlled. Elyra and Mili did me no harm.”
Across the table, Arthur Raven followed the discussion with his hands resting before him. His family, the Ravens, was one of the most influential in the kingdom, and he represented it on the council.
“How can you be sure they were being controlled?” he asked the princess.
Anastacia explained what she had seen in the animals' eyes and how they had changed after the butterflies arrived. She told them Satobear and Gili did not remember the attacks and, once recovered, had followed her to try to understand what had happened.
Arthur listened to the end.
“Can you guarantee they won't attack again?”
Anastacia took a moment to answer.
“No. But Elyra knows this force. She can help us find out what's happening.”
“Then you admit they're still a risk.”
“I'm saying we need to hear them.”
Charles, Anastacia's uncle, leaned over the table.
“While we try to understand, people are afraid to leave their homes. We can't send those creatures back into the forest and hope everything will be fine.”
Some councilors agreed. Others pointed out that the group had protected Anastacia during the escape. Voices began to overlap.
Leon, Aurora's husband, pushed his chair back and stood. Until then, he had listened to Anastacia's account and the other councilors' objections without intervening.
“Imprisoning them may stop those two bears from attacking again,” he said. “But there were other creatures in the village. What will we do about them?”
Charles folded his arms and looked at his son-in-law.
“We'll fight them if necessary.”
“And then?” Leon asked. “How many more will appear while we still don't know what's causing the attacks?”
Councilor Arthur Raven turned to Leon.
“Are you proposing that we release the prisoners?”
“I'm proposing that we consider everything that happened. They attacked, were freed from something, and then helped the princess. That change needs to be explained.”
Anastacia looked at Leon. For the first time since returning to the castle, someone in that room seemed willing to act on what she was telling them.
“Elyra didn't have time to explain everything,” she added. “The attack began while we were talking. I need to speak to her.”
Arthur addressed the king again.
“Your Majesty, the princess has grown fond of these creatures. That is understandable. But the safety of the villages cannot depend on that affection.”
Anastacia felt her face grow hot.
“I was there.”
Arthur kept his eyes on Alfred.
“And we are not responsible only for those who were there.”
Leon placed his hands on the table.
“Exactly. If something can control the animals of the forest, we need to find out how to stop it. Keeping these prisoners in their cells does not answer that question.”
The debate went on. Before long, the councilors were discussing the distribution of soldiers, protection of each family's lands and old decisions some still held against the king.
Anastacia tried to follow, but her friends' names vanished from the conversation. They spoke of creatures, risks, borders. She looked back at her father.
Alfred remained seated, listening.
At last, he raised his hand.
“We will vote.”
One by one, the councilors said whether the prisoners should be freed or remain in custody. Anastacia counted the positions in silence. When Arthur Raven voted for imprisonment, she realized they would not get a majority.
The result confirmed it.
The prisoners would remain in their cells.
Anastacia looked at Alfred, waiting for him to say something. The king stood and swept his gaze along the table.
“The majority has chosen detention. For now, that is what will be done.”
Charles, the king's brother, began gathering the papers in front of him.
“But this matter is not closed,” Alfred continued.
Movement around the table ceased.
“These creatures helped my daughter. There are also reports that they attacked others. We need to understand what happened to make them act both ways.”
Arthur leaned back in his chair.
“We have already discussed the risks, Your Majesty.”
“And we still don't know their cause.”
Alfred rested one hand on the table.
“Tomorrow, at the same hour, this council will meet again. I want you to bring answers.”
No one challenged the new summons, but some councilors rose without looking at the king.
Anastacia stayed where she was as the chamber emptied. The decision could still change. That morning, however, she had not managed to bring back a single one of her friends.
On her way out, she asked the guard whether she could see Flor.
“I haven't been authorized, Your Highness.”
He escorted her down the corridor. Anastacia walked silently to her room and opened the door, leaving space beside her legs as she always did to let Flor go in first.
She waited a moment before realizing.
Then she went in alone.