Vankara (Book 1) (14 page)

Dena, deciding not
to follow the instructions of the circus master, promptly got off of her throne
and crawled up into my lap.  I wrapped my arms around her and held her close
enjoying the comfort and love she now willingly gave to me.  I happened to glance
in Aleksander’s direction and saw him smiling at us.  It wasn’t a lascivious
smile like I would have expected to see considering his interest in the Queen
but one of warmth and kindness at the sight of Dena and I in tranquil repose. 
I politely smiled back at him and returned my attention to the group of
performers entering the ring not wanting a replay of my earlier reaction to
him.

For almost an
hour, we were entertained with acrobatic acts performing death defying feats;
animal acts consisting of a lion trainer coaxing lions through a series of
flaming hoops; and contortionist bending their bodies beyond the reason of any
sane person.

Several acrobats
floated over our heads on long strips of gossamer fabric and hidden wires
numerous times during the night displaying their amazing feats of athleticism.
Dena seemed to be completely captivated by the show and giggled at the comical
shenanigans of the clowns when they were center stage.  The enjoyment I gained
from watching her reaction to things was far more entertaining than anything
occurring in the circus ring itself.  She was pure joy encapsulated into an
earthly form.  And she was mine to love and protect.

At one point
during the show, a solitary woman stood in the center of the stage silently
commanding the attention of everyone within the large tent.  She was dressed in
a gown composed of long strips of blue gossamer fabric which cascaded around
her body like a shimmering waterfall pooling at her feet.  Her long dark curly
hair tumbled well past her waist framing her pale ethereal face.  A spotlight
lit her from behind as the lights in the tent were dimmed giving her the
illusion of an angel newly departed from heaven granting us mere mortals a
moment of her time.  When she opened her mouth to sing, it was like a cascade
of butterflies emerged from the depths of her soul, each one carrying a single
perfect note flying in perfect harmony with one another.  I couldn’t understand
a single word she sang but knowing the literalness of her song wasn’t necessary. 
Her voice lifted my heart on the wings of her butterflies to a place far away
and well beyond my reach.  A vision of my mother and father’s smiling faces
floated in the ether of my mind.  The sudden and unexpected reminder of them
tore through the emotional dam I had been hiding their loss behind.  I longed
to be with them once more even if it were for just a few brief seconds.

I didn’t realize I
was expressing my emotional state physically until the gentle smoothness of a
large warm hand cupped the side of my face, wiping away the trail of a solitary
tear from my cheek.

I looked over at
Aleksander, startled by his unexpected tenderness.

I wasn’t prepared
for the look of pent up longing I saw in his eyes.  He held my full attention
with his gaze as he searched my face for some answer to an unasked question.

He slowly drew
back his hand and rested it on his lap, continuing to stare at me.  Even though
it was dark in the tent except for where the spotlight illuminated the singer,
I felt eyes watching us and scrutinizing our interaction closely.  I turned my
attention back to the performer but not before I saw Fallon out of the corner
of my eye, leaning forward slightly in his seat watching me.  I knew he had
seen the exchange between Aleksander and me, but I chose to ignore him,
allowing myself the luxury to mourn the loss of my parents as Sarah Harker.  To
do anything else seemed disrespectful to their memory.

Near the end of
the show, a female acrobat dressed in a black and white harlequin costume was
allowed to walk past the Queen’s guards up to our dais.  She held her hand out
to Dena.  It was then I remembered Thomas asking if Dena could participate in
the show and realized with a saddened heart the show was almost over.  I saw a
white swing being lowered from the top of the tent to the center of the ring. 
The ropes were dappled with white and yellow daisies.  Dena was hesitant and
shied away from the entertainer to which the acrobat turned to the crowd and
made a sad face.  Someone in the gathering of partygoers began chanting Dena’s
name and most everyone in the tent joined in trying to encourage the little
princess to participate in the fun.

Emily walked up to
us and said, “I think she might feel more like participating if I went with
her, if that would be all right with you, your majesty.”

I looked down at
Dena, her face still pressed against my chest.

“Dena,” I said
coaxing her to look up at me.  When she did, I said, “Why don’t you go?  Emily
will be with you.”

I could see Dena
was torn between wanting to go and wanting to stay within the safe confines of
my arms.  Finally, her adventurous side won out and she crawled off my lap
running to Emily with arms held out wide.  Emily picked her up and followed the
acrobat to the center of the ring.  The crowd immediately applauded the little
princess’s bravery. 

The harlequin
dressed circus performer instructed Emily to sit on the swing with a flourish
of her arm.  Emily did so positioning Dena across the lap of her dress.

With eyes wide in
wonder, Dena watched as a group of acrobats dressed in varying types of
colorful bird costumes flew all around her on wire harnesses causing her to
giggle excitedly every time they passed in front of her.  Suddenly, the lights
in the tent were extinguished except for a solitary spotlight shining on Dena’s
gleeful face.  A drummer rolled his drum adding to the excitement.

The spotlight then
zoomed away from Dena to the very top of the tent.  An acrobat dressed in an
elaborate orange and red feathered phoenix costume stood high above the swing
on a small platform.  His face wasn’t obscured and I instantly recognized him
as the acrobat who handed Dena the rose earlier that evening.  The man jumped
off his perch with wings spread wide in a flourish, flying around the tent as
if he were indeed the phoenix of legend gracefully flying above us.  After a
few seconds, he landed directly behind Dena and Emily.  Dena giggled as the
performer wrapped his oversized wings around them hiding them from the
audiences view.  That was the last image I had of Dena before the spotlight was
extinguished and the phoenix costume burst into flames.

Chapter 9

I immediately
stood from my seat.  Screams of terror swirled through the air around me
filling the tent with the chaotic sounds of bedlam. I desperately wanted to leap
from the dais and rush out to the center of the ring but was hampered by the
pitch black darkness encasing me like a tomb, hindering my need to find Dena.  

As quickly as they
went out, the lights came back on, washing over all of us like a cold fire. 
All eyes were drawn to the center of the ring.  Emily and Dena were gone; all
that remained was a charred empty swing swaying back and forth in the middle of
a ring of ashes.

Fallon shot up
from his chair and turned to three of the Queen’s guards who had escorted us to
the festivities.

“Close every exit
to the palace!  Now!” he barked at them.  The guards scattered in an organized
fashion, each knowing his duty.  The remaining two closed in around me for
added protection.

Absent mindedly, I
began to wring my hands in uncertainty, fearing for Dena’s life.  Gabriel
walked over and stood in front of me shaking his head ever so slightly.  His
message was crystal clear.  The Queen wouldn’t allow her emotions to get the
best of her in a moment like this, even if her daughter had just been abducted,
or worse.

Inara came to
stand at my side.

“We’ll find her
Em,” she said, placing a comforting hand at the small of my back.  “I’m sure
everything is all right.”  Her words were meant to reassure me but she couldn’t
keep the uncertainty of her own statement out of her voice.

I forced my
shoulders back and swallowed all my fear.  I felt Inara’s hand drop from my
waist.  We were both duty bound to at least appear like things were under
control, even if they weren’t.  Now wasn’t the time to allow emotions to get
the better of us. 

“Marshall,” I said
in a more controlled voice than I expected to hear issue from my mouth.  I
turned my head to look at Fallon.  He watched me expectantly.  “Bring me the
master of ceremonies and the woman who took Dena to the ring.  I would like to
have a word with them about the disappearance of my daughter.”

“Yes, your
majesty,” Fallon bowed to me at the waist, not showing an ounce of hesitation
in my request. 

“Oh, and if you
can find him, I would also like Thomas Gaines present.”

Fallon looked to
the remaining two guards.  “Escort the Queen to her study while I look for
these people.  Don’t stop for anyone or anything.”

Aleksander stood
and held out a steady arm for me to take, for which I was thankful.

“She will get
there safely,” Aleksander assured Fallon.

Fallon nodded
once, knowing I would indeed be protected.  He quickly strode off to find the
people I had asked to speak with.

The walk back into
the palace became a blur of motion and voices.  I heard many people ask where
the princess was and question if her disappearance was part of the show.  I
wanted to yell for them to all hush their inane chatter but knew that wouldn’t
be a very prudent reaction from a Queen.  I kept my head held high and face
expressionless even though my heart felt like it had just been stolen out of my
chest, leaving a raw gaping hole of nothingness in its place.     

Once we reached my
study, Aleksander turned to my two guards and his own two.

“Why don’t you all
join the search for Dena on the grounds?  The Queen is perfectly safe now that
she’s inside the palace.”

All four nodded
and quickly dispersed.  I had no idea why we didn’t need them anymore but I did
know I wanted them out looking for Dena more than I wanted them hovering over
me.  I went and sat in the chair behind my desk.  Aleksander and Inara sat in
the wing back chairs in front of me and Gabriel stood pacing agitatedly beside
me.      

“So,” Aleksander
said to the three of us.  “Does anyone have any ideas on what just happened?”

“I would assume
someone wants leverage over the Queen,” Gabriel surmised, as he ceased his
nervous pacing to stand beside my desk.

“But who?” Inara
questioned.  “Who would be so cold hearted to abduct a child to get what they
want?”

I had an idea on
who would do such a thing but I needed proof before I made my theory known.

As the others
discussed different tactics to find Dena, I waited patiently for the one person
I was sure would know the answer to my daughter’s whereabouts.

My daughter.

It was the first
time I had ever thought of Dena in that way.  I didn’t feel any guilt about
it.  It was the way the Queen had wanted me to feel towards Dena and I was sure
some of Emma’s love for her daughter still lingered within me somehow.  Proof
that even death can’t extinguish a mother’s eternal love for her child.

Not long
afterwards, Fallon strolled determinedly into my office with all three of the
people I had asked him to find. 

“Your majesty,”
the master of ceremonies frantically rushed up to the front of my desk.  “I beg
for your forgiveness.”  He knelt on his knees in supplication looking up at me
with eyes pleading for mercy.  Drops of nervous sweat ran profusely down his
face.

I stood and looked
down at the man.  Aleksander and Inara came to stand on either side of me each
casting withering gaze at the two circus performers.  Thomas strolled over to
Gabriel’s side.

“And just what
should you be forgiven for?” I asked the man still bent down on his knees. 
“Were you a willing accomplice in the disappearance of my daughter, sir?”

“Absolutely not,
your majesty!” He was quick to say, standing to his feet.  “No, your majesty,”
he said more calmly, regaining some semblance of control over his fear.  “I
would never harm any child, much less the princess.”  He cleared his throat
before continuing.  “I was merely apologizing for not being more cautious in
who I hired to perform this evening.  I had no idea what he was planning to
do.  He came highly recommended from another circus troupe.”

“I assume you are
speaking of the man who portrayed the phoenix during the act this evening?”

“Yes, your grace,”
the man said, visibly relieved suspicion was no longer directed towards him. 
“He said he could perform a bit of magic to give the princess a birthday she
would never forget.  I just had no idea…”

I looked over at
Fallon.  “Did you find any signs of this man?”

“No, he isn’t on
the palace grounds.” I could tell by the way Fallon’s jaw tensed he was doing
his best to keep his temper in check over that small failure. 

“He’s most likely
wherever my daughter and her nanny are,” I replied.  I looked at the female
acrobat who was crying hysterically by this point.

“I suppose you
have no idea what happened?”  I asked her, already knowing the answer.

“No, my Queen,”
she said wiping at the trail of tears coursing down her cheeks, taking away
most of the white paint covering her face.  “I promise you, I would never do
anything to hurt the princess.  I was simply following my instructions for the
show.”

I looked at them
both and knew neither of them had the answers I needed.

“Let them return
to their people,” I said to Fallon.

Those around me
seemed shocked by my order but did not question it.

The two circus
performers quickly made their way out of my study unhindered in their hasty retreat.