A True Soul

The doors were opened, and Blair led me through the corridor. We turned right at the end of the hall. Three or four yards away, on the left side were another set of guards wearing the same styles of tunic’s as the ones outside of Blair’s room. “Angie meet Danny and Samuel. These are the night guards; they’ll be here till 6 in the morning when Traci and Devon will take over.”

“I take it that this is necessary?” I asked sheepishly.

Blair had an sympathetic expression on her face. “For the time being, yes. Not to worry though, they’re not here to keep you locked in. You’ll be free to move about as you like. They’re here to make sure no gets in.”

As much trouble as my existence had already caused everyone, the guards did seem practical. I wouldn’t argue. Instead I held out my hand, which both guards shook, and proceeded to stare confusingly at me. “Although I wish you didn’t have to be in this position, thank you.”

“It’s what we were trained for Miss, it’s no burden at all.”

“It is an honor.” They opened the doors for the two of us and we walked in. Unlike Blair’s room, this room was decorated with colors from the cooler range of the spectrum, with pale grays, blues and greens. In many ways it reminded me of home. My room was laid out similarly to Blair’s, only smaller. It didn’t have a balcony, but it did have large windows.

“So over here towards your right is your bed chamber, and to the side is your personal bathroom.” My suitcases were stacked neatly by one of the couches. We stepped into my bedroom and I stopped in awe of the king size bed with its canopy and soft blue material draping towards the carpet. I’m sure my mouth fell open as I saw the size of my bathroom, with its huge marble tub.

“This… this is…wow.” Even though this room was so unique, somehow it still seemed to fit.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. Let Danny or Samuel know if you need help finding your way back to the dining hall.”

“Actually, I don’t mean to seem ungrateful. But, is there any way I can be alone for dinner?” I had had no time to myself for the past few months. I felt if I had even a few hours alone I might fell a little better.

Blair’s face relaxed a little. “That’s perfectly acceptable. I’ll have someone bring you dinner. If you change your mind later and decide you want company, you’ll find me in my room. You’re welcome anytime.”

After she walked out, I pulled my suitcases into the bedroom. I haphazardly organized my clothes, I still felt unsteady in this new place. Half the clothes ended up in drawers and the other half lay sprawled out of the suitcases.

I ripped my brush though the tangled mess I called hair, which did very little to help after a full day of traveling. The marbled tub might be better at fixing my tension. I filled it was hot soapy water and completely emerged myself. I held my breath for as long as I could and came up gasping for air. While the hot water eased my muscles, my eyes closed and body sank deeper into the tub.

Maybe for the first time in my life I was safe. Or maybe I just wanted to believe I was. I ran my hands alongside the mark that ran down the side of my ribcage. The mark branded me different from everyone. I might not be out of the woods yet, but someday I would be and someday everything was going to be okay.

I leaned back and let the warm water lull me to sleep.

Bad idea… Freezing, ice cold water made my body jerk awake, goose bumps covered my skin. I jumped out of the tub and grabbed a towel. No matter how hard I rubbed the towel against me I still felt freezing.

With the towel still wrapped around me, I ran into the bedchamber and searched the walls for a light switch. After several minutes of running my fingers across the walls, I hit the switch causing the lights to finally click on. I pulled on my clothes and wrapped myself in the comforter that was on the bed. Unfortunately for me I was now wide awake and didn’t see sleep coming for me anytime soon. I grabbed my cell phone. No reception. Great! I thought sarcastically. It’d be amazing to hear my dad’s voice. I looked at the time before throwing the useless phone on the floor and grabbed the towel. I squeezed the towel around my wet hair. My phone had said it was almost one in the morning

The alone time had done me some good. I didn’t feel as jittery as I had earlier. I was irritated I couldn’t talk to my father yes, but overall I’d felt calmer. Now I wanted to talk to Blair. One in the morning probably wasn’t the best time to waltz into her room and start a conversation, but I had a feeling that she’d be ok with it.

Barefoot, and still a little chilly, I opened the door to the hallway. The guards looked at me inquisitively, but did not ask for an explanation. But I felt a little awkward not giving them one. “Um… I’m just…” I thought better about telling them the truth. If I told them I was going to talk to Blair, there was a chance they wouldn’t let me see her. “I just need some fresh air.” I quickly headed down the hallway trying to remember which direction Blair’s room was. Luckily for me her room wasn’t too far away. It also helped that she had guards outside her room, even though it had worried me a little.

“There you are Miss Angela. The queen has been expecting you.” This made me nervous.

I quickened my pace towards them. “How’d she know I was coming?”

“The Queen always knows when she is needed.” The guard on the right said and they opened the doors.

“Please, call me Angie.” I thanked them and walked in.

The balcony doors were open and the curtain was blowing. A flood of warm wind filled the air. Blair pulled the curtain aside and motioned for me to step out with her.

“So, you were expecting me?” I turned to her. She was wearing a white and blue rob that was tied in a bow around her waist. Her lose hair was blowing gently in the wind. “How’d you know I was coming?”

“It is part of the connection I share with you and the Natural Born s. I can feel if I am really needed. I have a duty to my kind to make sure people are taken care of. The kings and queens of the past haven’t always done the best job of complying with people’s needs. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some wonderful rulers, but there have also been those who are greedy and power hungry. Some can ignore the pain of those suffering. But, that’s not the ruler I am. I will do what’s right, and not everyone will be pleased with me.” Blair gave me a comforting glance. “To simply put it, I knew how uneasy you felt. Would you care to talk about what’s bothering you?”

“I just feel so out of place. It’s just hard to know where I belong in all of this.” I leaned against the edge of the balcony. “I needed to hear my dad’s voice, but I don’t get reception on my cell phone. So there’s no way for me to get a hold of him. He’s been my rock though this whole thing and now I don’t have him.”

“I know it’s hard. This adjustment can’t be easy for you.”

“I didn’t even know I was a True Soul till after the car accident.” I proceeded to tell her about the accident and how Cain had stage the whole thing. Blair stood quietly, listening intensely.

“Cain is sick and cruel. He is never allowed back on the palace grounds.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, there is a limit to my power. Those who are the strongest among our kind, can stop my connection over them. I won’t be able to sense them all the time. That makes them extremely hard to track. That’s the reason it’s taken so long to capture Cain.” She gripped the railing. “I feel like it’s my weakness. I should be able to sense him, but the majority of the time there’s nothing. Then there will be busted where I feel him. As soon as I feel his presence I send out a team to track him, but by the time they get there it is too late.”

“It’s not your fault. You’re trying.” I said trying to comfort her, though I wasn’t for sure why.

“It’s my job to protect everyone. That’s why we have Natural Born schools. Here at this school, the students also learn how to defend themselves and fight for themselves as well.”

“This is where the twins, and Faux, learned to fight isn’t it?” I thought this was correct, but I wanted to make sure.

“Yes, along with others. You see we have different levels and types of defensive training. Your friends graduated at the top of our defensive training. Faux’s older brother also graduated from that program as well. It’s called the guardianship program, and only those who have unique talents are chosen to complete it.”

“The guardianship program? What kind of training is that for?” What that the type of guardian she was talking about earlier?

“Like I said there’s different types of training. There are the guards like the ones outside our rooms. Some guardians track people like Cain. And other guardians are assigned to Natural Borns to help watch over them. Guardians are insure that the Natural Borns have the support they need in order to function both in our world and in the human world. They watch over their charge, some are more involved than others. Some Natural Borns do not need a lot of extra care from their Guardian. So, they might not know they have a Guardian. In those cases, the Guardians are only assigned as a precaution.

“That would mean Sadie and Spencer are my Guardians’ right? I mean they were there for me, and trained me. Why didn’t they just tell me?” I asked her.

“Well, no. They’re not.” She looked a little distraught at this. She turned her gaze over the rainforest in front of her.

This surprised me. “Oh… So I don’t have a guardian.” The only other person that might fit this description was Faux. But she would have told me, wouldn’t she have?

Blair portrayed a grave look. “Actually you do… Things simply didn’t go as planned. The best laid plans of mice and men…”

“Who are they? Why weren’t they here to guide me in all this mess?” I asked. The selfish part of me, the dark misunderstanding part, wanted to blame my so-called guardian for not being here. They didn’t do their job. Little did I know this was far from the truth.

She shook her head at me. “Angie, it’s really not what you think. They’ve been there for you, they’ve sacrificed more for you than even they probably realize.” Her face turned from a considerate look, to anger, to disgust. “The fact that they’re currently unavailable is completely unacceptable…They’re job is far from finished…” She ended her statement in an almost inaudible mumble.

“Why isn’t my guardian here now? Who are they?” I pleaded with her to answer me.

Her eyebrows creased, “They’ll be here soon enough. They don’t have a choice.” She sighed. “It’s not as complicated as it seems. I promise. It’s just something your guardian should explain to you themselves.” She looked troubled, almost worried.

“It seems complicated. I didn’t mean to upset you,” I said.

“Oh, you didn’t upset me at all. Sometimes things don’t go how they’re supposed to. People can be difficult, but it’ll be fine. Everything will turn out ok, you have my word.” She smiled and held out her hand. I took it and she squeezed mine. “I want you to come with me, there’s something I’d like you to see.”

“O-Ok, sure. Where’re we going?”

“It’s in the garden.” She pulled me through the door. The guards didn’t question us, but let us passed without a word.

As we roamed through the palace corridors, a feeling of excitement ran through me. Blair laughed at the expression on my face. “Where… Where exactly is the garden?” I panted.

“It’s outside of course!” Blair smiled and winked at me.

I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t worry I won’t get you lost.”

“I’d hope not.” I smiled at her.

We were back in the dining room, but instead of going through the doors that lead to the throne room, we passed through another set of arches that passed the kitchen and led into another hallway. This one had two large glass doors that opened into a garden filled with plants I had absolutely no knowledge to speak of.

She pulled open one of the glass doors. The hot breeze hit me at once and cold chill I had felt inside my room was completely gone. “This is absolutely beautiful.” Even at this time of night my eyes adjust quickly. There was an amazing variety of smells.

“Wait till we reach what I have to show you.” We followed a golden cobbled path through the garden. Sleeping animals would turn to look at us, but quickly tucked back their heads and drifted off.

A ways back within this jungle garden, I saw a pair of pale gold angel wings. As we got closer, I could tell there were actually two angles. Their wings spread out, with their hands reaching to touch one another, but they didn’t quite make it.

Under the angles was a plaque that had the words, “Here lies Ember and Eve Knox, devoted wives, mothers, sisters, and friends.” Underneath that it read, “My blood is your blood. Where you go I will follow. You are never truly alone.”

I dropped to my knees and traced over the letterings. “Ember Augustine Knox-Silverwood, Evelyn (Eve) Justine Knox, July 5 1962- August 10 1999.”

“Ours moms are buried here? But I thought my mom’s grave was back in New York?” I crossed my legs underneath me and laid my head against the plaque.

“She’s there too. When our mothers were cremated half of Ember’s ashes went back to New York with you and your father, the other half stayed here so we could make this shrine for them. That way she could be both places.” Blair explained.

“This is so… wow…” I felt honored that my mother was remembered like this. This was absolutely breath taking. The palace had a shrine devoted to my mother and her sister, to show how much they meant to this world. It made me feel a great deal of gratitude for her. “She meant so much too so many people. I honestly had no clue how much of an impact she’d made until just recently. God, I just wish I could remember her. I can’t even picture her whole face in my mind anymore.”

“She’s loves you. She’s looking down at you with so much pride.”

I ran my fingers through my hair and stood. I felt like I could finally grasp onto this reality. My mother’s presence grounded me to this place.

Blair grabbed my hand again. “I know this is a lot to take in at once, but there’s a journey that you’ll go through. Not all of it will be easy. I need you; we need you to stay stronger. Don’t let Ember’s legacy die.” Her eyes seem to glass over a little, but she remained free of tears.

“I promised a friend back home that the lives lost wouldn’t be wasted. Quitting is not an option. I need to prove to my father and Dax how resilient I am. I shouldn’t have treated them the way I did.” I stammered with frustration.

Her eyes met mine. “You’re father knows how difficult this is for you, and he loves you so much. Dax, well, Dax is Dax. He is a pigheaded stubborn person, who’s chosen the hard way for a lot of things. But, he has a good heart. Right now I can feel that he’s unsettled. He’ll pull out of it.” Blair tried to reassure me.

“I’m sure you’re right…” I’d only met Blair a few hours ago, but I was feeling more and more connected to her. After all Blair and my father we’re the only blood family I had left.

“There’s one other place that I need you to see, but not tonight.” Blair gazed up at the stars before continuing, “You probably already know that our mothers died in this castle, and that Cain’s mother tried to kill you while you were here.”

“Yes, my dad explained it to me. It was a hard conversation to take in,” I said. I rubbed my arms to try to shake the unwanted feeling off.

“Sometime soon you should be shown what’s left of your old cottage. It’ll probably be painful, and it might even bring back memories, but it’ll be better for you to know.”

An unwilling laugh escaped me, even though none of this was remotely funny. “Nothing these past few months has been easy. I just can’t let these obstacles break me; if I am to keep my promise I have to become a stronger person.”

Blair smiled. “From what I can remember of her, you are a lot like your mother. And I mean that as I compliment.”

“I wouldn’t take that any other way.”

I could honestly say that I had a genuine smile on my face when I went to bed that night. I knew I still had a long ways to go, but I was hopeful, and sometimes all it takes is one spark of hope to ignite a fire.

It was well past noon when I was finally able to pull myself out of bed. I looked in the mirror and immediately grabbed my brushed again to try to tame my unruly hair. I threw on some clean clothes and made my way to the door.

One of the new guards stopped me on my way out the door, I couldn’t remember either of their names though. “Miss Angela.”

“Angie’s fine thanks,” I told them.

They nodded in unison. “Angie, the Queen said to tell you she had some things to attend to today. She would catch up with you at dinner, if you choose to come tonight.”

“Oh, she didn’t mention anything to me last night.”

“Yes, I believe that something came up this morning,” The female guard said.

“Alright.” I sighed and decided to visit the garden again.

As I walked I heard a group of kids laughing. One boy playfully pushed another. The boy who feel quickly changed into a ferret and ran after the kid who pushed him. His clothes fell to the floor. Their friends hung back and laughed. Whatever was going on they seemed to be having a good time.

I slipped against the opposite side of the wall so I wouldn’t be in their way. The rest of the short walk to the garden was empty of people.

I threw open the glass door. It was even more beautiful in the daylight. I squinted my eyes at first, but they quickly adjusted to the brightness of everything. The stone walkway almost seemed to glow. And immediately I was drenched from the humidity. It was still an amazing just to be exposed to this place of beauty.

I turned the corner and jumped when I ran into Spencer, I hadn’t seen him, or anyone else since they’d left Blair’s room.

Spencer was in one of his yoga position and relaxed when he saw me. “Hello there Angie.” He smiled and pushed his glass against the bridge of his nose.

“Hey Spencer, where’s everyone else?” I asked.

“Well, Sadie and I helped with defensive training this morning. At lunch we got a call from our mother. She perceived to get into a heated decision with Sadie. So I believe Sadie’s sparing to blow off some steam,” he explained.

“Oh? How’d your mom piss Sadie off?”

He laughed. “They never agree on anything. Everything sets the two of them off.” He paused. “Faux took some extra pain medicine after lunch, but I’m sure she doesn’t want me to mention anything to anyone. My guess is she’s probably still sleeping. I haven’t seen Freddie at all since breakfast, but I’m sure he’s wandering around somewhere.”

I sat next to Spencer. I nodded towards the shrine. “Blair took me out here last night. I couldn’t. She must have known that though.”

He smiled. “Yeah, your mom was something else. One of the strongest willed women I’ve ever met. Ember and Eve definitely deserve that shrine.”

“All I have is a few pictures, but they don’t seem to do her memory justice.”

“I know you heard this before, but she’d truly be proud of how brilliant you’ve become.”

“So I’ve been told.” I smiled at him.

“You have a long hard road ahead of you, but you can face it head on, I know it.” Spencer reached into a bag he had next to him. “Hungry?”

“Um…” I hadn’t thought about food, but my stomach let out a menacing growl. “I guess I am… Oops.” We laughed and he tossed me an apple, which I gulped entirely too fast. “Blair told me almost the exact same thing last night.”

We heard footsteps. I turned my body around and saw Faux walking our way. Her blonde curls were left lose and bouncing around her. She kept her hand held on her side, but tried to show that she wasn’t in pain.

“Morning Sunshine. Or rather, good afternoon would be more correct,” Spencer said.

“Afternoon Spence. Hello Angie.” She parked herself next to me.

“How’re you feeling Faux?”

“I’ll be alright, no need to worry.”

Spencer’s phone started ringing; he reached into his bag, his eyes glistened when he saw who was calling. “Amelia!” He covered his phone and turned to us, “I’ll see you guys later.” He walked off passed the shrine and into the garden.

“Who’s Amelia?” I asked Faux.

“She’s the girl who stole his heart. No matter how far apart he is from her or how long he goes without seeing her, he remains completely captivated by her.”

“How come he doesn’t talk about her much?”

“It’s really hard for him I’m sure. She’s a special kind of teacher at the Natural Born school in England. So they don’t get to spend a lot of time together.”

I picked at one of the stones. “So I have a question for you, Faux, but I’m not sure if you can answer it or not.”

“Go for it. It never hurts to ask.”

“I’ve pretty much figured out that Spencer and Sadie are Guardians, whatever the hell that is, but they’re not my Guardians. I can’t figure out is who mine is. I asked Blair, but she said…” I trailed off and looked away.

She sighed. “You’re smart. I’m sure you can figure it out without me having to tell you, but don’t dwell on it. Things will work itself out.”

I nodded and decided I’d drop it for now. I pulled my hair back. Sweat trailed down the back of my neck.

“Why don’t you come with me? I’ll show you where you used to live.” She stood and dusted herself off. “Before Blair took off this morning, she said that she was going to show you. But, the two of us haven’t spent too much time together, and I’d like to be the one to show you.”

I smiled at her and pushed myself off the ground as well. “That sounds great actually.”

Faux led me past the empty throne room where we’d first entered the castle. She groaned a little and grabbed her side.

“Are you sure you’re ok? I thought you’d heal by now?” I asked.

She tried to put on a pleasant face. “I mostly am. I’ve overdone myself lately; it’s hindering the healing process… And this is something most people don’t know, but…” She turned right outside of the palace where a string of cottage where standing a little unevenly. Each cottage had their owners personality reflected on the outside. I looked back at Faux. Her lip trembled a bit and she tried to steady her breathing. Faux took a deep breath before continuing. “Back when Freddie still worked here, under Queen Mubaka, he was order to administer medicine to a group girls that would help with puberty. This all turned out to be completely unnecessary of course. Natural Borns aren’t supposed to be exactly like humans… Anyways the medicine affected all of my hormones and made me really sick. The medication also negatively affected my immune system. Even though I still healed quickly, the process eventually slows and it takes a lot longer for my body to heal than it should.”

“Holy crap... I had no idea.” We kept walking forward. I could see something a couple hundred yards ahead of us that looked chard and ruined. “It’s just up ahead isn’t it?”

“Yes, we’re almost there.” She slowed her pace as we walked. “Everyone has their own sob story. I’ve except my fate a long time ago. This slowed healing rate really wouldn’t be so bad, accept..” She exhaled again. “When I was twelve, I was in training for the guardianship program, yes, I’m technically a ‘guardian’ as well. There was an incident. When Natural Born girls start their period, they typically have theirs ever three to four months instead of every month. We also produce more eggs and have an increase change of carrying multiple offspring’s. However, when mine came, it didn’t stop. There were no warning signs, no cramping or bloating, nothing. I just kept bleeding, and I began to feel increasingly worse. Freddie was concerned and when he did an ultra sound he discovered my uterus had become severely deformed, infected and covered in tumors. It was all directly related to the medication that he was told to give me. The morning after he discovered what was wrong Freddie did a complete and total hysterectomy. He had no choice.”

“At twelve they gutted you?” I was more shocked and appalled than I had ever been in my life. “Why would your parents allow you to take that medicine? Couldn’t they have fought it? My periods aren’t like that, they’re normal and regular.”

“It was a trail ordered by Mubaka. It was believed to be best for the girls doing the testing at that time. With you being a True Soul, you probably won’t be any different than a normal human girl. The mix between humans and animal DNA is a little different between a True Soul and a Natural Born.”

“That makes sense to a point. But what they did to you was totally wrong! They completely screwed with how things are supposed to naturally be. You can’t do that to a person!”

Faux pushed her hands in a downward motion to get me to relax “Yes, yes I know. Freddie convinced them of that, but the damage was already done. As bad as it is, there were only seven of us in the trial program and it ended there. We may never be able to bare children ourselves but we stopped other girls from having to endure the maltreatment.” She smirked. “Well, that was a long explanation. Life moves on. You can look at it as my way of telling you not to let the bad things in life hold you back.”

“Yeah, a lot of people have been telling me that lately. As I’ve been saying, there’s a lot I have to live up to. There’s no way I can let myself break apart now,” I said. I felt so bad for Faux; I honestly had never thought anything like that had happened to her. Why would Mubaka allow something so horrid? I was going to find out, there had to have been a deeper reason.

Faux stopped. The last cottage hadn’t be fixed or repaired in anyway. “They left it like this. The Guardians decided it was better left as a reminder of what had happened. To show people that True Souls are worth fighting for.”

I sucked in my breath; it was a hard site to take in. There was no roof or ceiling. Everything was burnt and black. The only parts really left were pieces of the floor, the main support frame to the house, and the walk way. No grass grew around the cottage either; it was entirely void and empty of life.

It hit me like a punch in my stomach. It almost made me want to vomit. “I was in here wasn’t I? They locked me in here to die.” I grabbed one of the rotting beams for what little support it offered. My nightmares were real. And he saved us. Oh my god, did he really save me? “Where’s?....” I stuttered inaudibly, but I knew it was pointless to even ask. “Never mind.” I said more to myself than to Faux. There had to be way a way for me to help heal all this pain that so many Natural Born s had suffered.

“So you do remember being here?” Faux asked me.

I turned to face her and walked back to where she was. “I wouldn’t say I remember being here. But, almost every night since the car accident, I’ve had this dream… This nightmare really, that I was trapped in a burning room. Right before I wake up though, someone saves me.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that you’ve suppressed the memory. I actually wouldn’t have been surprised if you had forgotten about it completely.”

“Maybe it’s my mind’s way of trying to protect me. It’s trying to keep me from remembering because it’s too painful.”

Faux gave me a content look. “Spencer would probably tell you not to let the pain control you. Use it to help you overcome whatever obstacles are in your way. He’s better at giving spiritual advice.”

I laughed. “That’s something he would say.” I turned to look at the remains of my old home. “We should head back. Too many emotional encounters last night and today. Besides I’m not used to this heat in December.” It really was December now. It would be Christmas soon and I wouldn’t be home with my dad.

We headed back to the castle. “Spencer said that Sadie doesn’t get along with their mom? Why is that? Come to think of it, they never talk about their parents really.”

“That’s because their parents are greedy, money hungry people who only care about power. Clarisse and Gerald Pierce also don’t approve of their children being guardians. They have basically turned their backs on the Natural Born community. As for Sadie and her mother, well, I’m sure Sadie isn’t hiding anything, but that’s something personal for her and you’d be better off asking yourself.” Faux told me. “If you really want to know I’m sure you can talk with her about it at dinner.”

“If Sadie wants me to know I’m sure she’ll tell me, besides it sounds really personal like you said.”

Faux chuckled. “Actually I bet she thinks you already know. Really it’s not that big of a deal. Their mom just can’t accept her kids for who they are; she never has and never will. Gerald is distant and unconnected with them, so that doesn’t help either.”

I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the castle grounds. The physical training grounds were off towards the back end of the castle. The training area looked as if it was a mini boot camp. There were several different types of obstacle courses the students went through both in human and animal form. I waved at Sadie when I saw her assisting the designated teachers.

There were a few classes taking places outside. I figured the rest were probably in one of the many hallways that the castle possessed. Sometime soon I’d attend classes here. It would be a whole new type of culture shock.

Around six that evening I put on a nice skirt with a light green top and made my to the dining hall. I figured since Blair would probably be wearing something elegant, I might as well look decent. I clipped my hair to the side to try to get it out of my face too.

I was right not to wear shorts and a t shirt, I would have look horridly out of place that night. Sadie was wearing a short red dress, and Spencer had on slacks and a tie. Faux was wearing a light blue sleeveless dress.

I took an open seat next to Sadie; Spencer was on her other side. Freddie and Faux were sitting across the table with people whom I did not recognize sitting on either side of them.

“So does everyone always dress up for dinner here, because I feel more than a little out of place?” I asked Sadie.

“Well, more often than not, if you choose to eat in human form anyways,” She replied.

“Human form?” I questioned, but as more Natural Born s gathered around the room I saw many of them were in animal form. I guess I didn’t notice at first because I could hear human voices all around, but then again animals did talk in this world.

“So you must be Ember’s daughter, the True Soul?” A water crane asked from next to Faux. Her voice was snobbish and unwelcoming.

“Yes, I’m Angie. Please to meet you.” I held out my hand not realizing how awkward this was, as I was about to pulled away the crane shook my hand with her long black feathers.

“I doubted that you’d ever come back here, but I guess I was mistaken,” the crane said.

“Don’t mind her, some of the former ladies in waiting were prude and uppity.” Spencer leaned behind his sister to whisper this in my ear.

“You don’t say?” I asked sarcastically.

“Leave the poor girl alone Mitilda, she must be overwhelmed to be back. It’s a completely new experience from living in the human world,” a deep voiced salamander said.

The two animals bickered amongst themselves. I tuned them out and put my napkin on my lap.

“Hey Sadie, there’s something I wanted to ask about…” I said hesitantly.

“What’s that?” Sadie asked. Spencer raised his eyebrows at us.

“Faux said earlier today that there’s something you think I already know. But, I obviously don’t. And I keep feeling like I’m missing something,” I said and straighten out my napkin. Maybe I was being rude and overly inquisitive, but that went away after Sadie laughed.

“Oh I know what you’re getting at. You’re making it seem like way more of a big deal than it is.” Sadie looked highly entertained.

“You mean you haven’t figured it out yet? I thought Sadie made it blatantly obvious.” Spencer smirked.

“I’ve obviously missed something big…”

Sadie smiled at me, “Angie, I’m gay.”

I blinked a few times. “Oh… I honestly had no idea.”

Even Freddie and Faux were laughing with the twins. “Ang, it matters about as much as my hair color. Our mother just doesn’t realize that it’s not a choice. I can’t change who I feel attractive to, it’s part of who I am, but it isn’t my defining trait.”

I wanted to say something, but kind of stuttered. I had to clear my throat and thought for a minute. “ You’re still absolutely the same Sadie. I wish your mom realized that too. I just can’t believe I didn’t figure it out.” It really did seem very apparent now, the way she sometimes looked at other girls. Or for examples, some of her outfits, while still feminine, were in a way boyish.

She pushed my shoulder a little. “Sorry sweets, I didn’t mean to make you feel awkward.”

“I feel more foolish than awkward.” I laughed a little.

“Spencer seems more like the one to be gay than I am, I know,” Sadie winked.

“Hey now!” He nudged his sister.

“She’s got a point you know, if Amelia hadn’t come along when she did I would have wondered myself,” Faux smiled.

“Enough with the poor boy,” Freddie said and shoved a fork full of food in his mouth.

“So, Freddie what did you do to pass the time today?” Sadie asked.

He shrugged, “Nothing really. I just walked around recollecting memories from way back when.”

“You know you look really young for an old guy,” Sadie teased. “Sometimes the way you talk is weird, it’s a half modern and half I don’t know what.”

“Sister!” Spencer snapped at her.

I choked on my food trying to stifle a laugh.

“I suppose that’s true enough,” Freddie chuckled.

“Does anyone know where Blair is? I haven’t seen her all day,” I asked our group. A cloud of fur and feathers flew in our direction from a couple seats away from us. There seemed to be a disagreement of sorts.

“She didn’t really say much, just that she had something come up. Blair was actually really vague and I was too tired to ask. She is the Queen, I can’t really question her.” Faux took a few bits of food. “I still feel amazed that I had no clue that Blair’s the new Queen. I know I felt a distinct pull when the stitch happened, but I would have never guessed that it was Blair.”

“I, for one, think it’s a good thing. The Natural Borns seem more content and there is a different spark here. Blair was a much needed change,” Freddie said.

“I agree with that one. Mubaka was… interesting, but there was something off. Things changed after Asim and Hasani died.” Spencer whipped his face with his napkin.

People started to watch us, so the conversation died. I hadn’t said anything out loud, but my gut agreed with Spencer. There was something off about Mubaka. But I’m sure she still had ears everywhere.

After dinner I decided to do a little exploring. The twins went to go prepare the next day’s training. Faux went to bed early and Freddie excused himself to talk with some of the school’s instructors.

Instead of turning into the garden when I reached the kitchen doors, I kept walking. Nothing was restricted to me, so I figured why not? I continued my random path behind the palace walls. At first there were music blasting, laughing, claws scampering down the halls. I murmured hi to the students I saw, which they nodded politely in return. I felt almost like a normal teenager. No one thought it was weird that I could change into whatever animal I wanted, whenever I chose to. I could see myself making friends here, but not yet. Not before I figured out my place in their world.

After a few more turns everything became silent. The air conditioning was off now. I found myself in a long hallway made of glass windows. They were slightly open on both sides and letting in golden beams of light from the sunset. I lifted a piece of my hair and gazed at my reflection; in this light I almost glowed.

There was a handle on one of the pieces of glass that I had presumed was a window. Much to my idiocy, turned out to be yet another door. I clicked it opened.

It was completely open out here. There were a few trees sporadically spread around, but from the most part just a thick layer of grass covered everything until the eyes reach a lake out in the distance. It was shiny and mystical looking. On the other side of the lake was the rainforest that curved along the body of water.

I walked out to the lake, there was a small breeze, but it felt good against my warm skin. I took off my shoes and held them in my hands as I continued my way to towards the glistening water. Once I’d crossed the grass and reached my destination I dipped my hands into the water. It was crisp and relaxing.

There were ripples spreading from my fingertips. They stopped before quickly reappearing. Bubbles popped to the surface in quick bursts. Something was in the water. I jumped back just far enough to be out from reach of dozens of sharp teeth that snapped in front of me. There was a large smack from the strong jaws of an alligator.

I fell and scrambled back farther in the grass, my shoes fell somewhere out of my reach. What did I possibly do now? I thought I was safe here.

The gator made its way out of the lake. “Silly girl. You really need to be more conscious about what you are doing. That’s a very easy way to get killed.” It was Mubaka’s voice.

“You .. you can’t kill me! It’s forbidden to kill another creature on the palace grounds!” I pushed myself on my feet and was about ready to phase when she changed first.

Mubaka flipped back her wet hair and looked at me like I was the easiest prey in the world. “No, I can’t kill you. I just wanted to let you know how vulnerable you still are. You think you’re training has help? I could have snapped you like a twig. Maybe you’ll pay more attention next time.”

“Mother!” A tall bronze man in a pair of white shorts walked over to us. “Mother, you’ve over done it.” His voice was an octave above normal.

“I’ve over done nothing Naeem! Natural Born s need to be prepared for everything. And considering you’re a True Soul, that applies even more so to you.” She walked towards me squinting and arm stretched outwards as if to grab me. “I won’t hurt, girl. I was the Queen once; I know how to take care of my people. If you don’t want more people to lose their lives because of you, try not to make it so easy to kill you.”

There was a loud roar, and a large tiger leapt out in between Mubaka and me. Another set of large paws quickly followed, this pair belonged to Blair in her lion form.

Mubaka’s eyes got huge and even she took a step back, covering her mouth with her hands. “No… no you’re dead.”

“On the contrary, I am most certainly alive.” The faded orange and black tiger smiled.

“Blair! My daughter, you’ve been keeping secrets.” Mubaka glared at her.

“No, Chloe. I protected what was in the best interests of my people. Jack wanted to reveal himself when he thought the time was right. Now if you don’t mind me saying so, your teaching method this time was more than a little harsh.” Jack? The same one the twins were looking for in Egypt?

“Oh, but darling it was a lesson our dear Angela is not soon to forget. She needs to know that there are creatures out there that are very likely to hurt her.” Chloe Mubaka said.

“I don’t believe that that was a necessary lesson, Chloe. Now why don’t you take that petrified boy back inside the castle? It doesn’t look like he’s quiet filled his brothers shoes.” Jack growled at the old queen.

“Jack don’t be mean, please.” Blair pleaded with him.

The tiger merely bowed in Blair’s direction.

“Mother, who is that?”

“Oh, quit your whinnying boy and get inside. Blair, my sweet Blair, you have to understand my purpose. There was no harm intended.”

“I know you would never do such a thing, you’ll always be a queen in your own right after all.” Blair said in an easy voice.

“Why don’t you accompany me back to the castle, after all you missed dinner?” Mubaka said.

“Naeem needs you more right now. Brother, don’t act so scared of things you don’t comprehend.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Naeem said in what seemed to be an uneven voice.

“Off to the palace, Chloe we’ll talk about this later.” Blair ordered.

Mubaka bowed. “Oh, yes. We will.” With that she turned and escorted her son back in the house.

“Are you alright Angie?” The tiger turned to me.

I gawked at the huge cats and nodded. “I’m fine. She makes me a little nervous.”

“Don’t let her.” Jack said. “Mubaka is no longer queen; she chose to step down, so don’t let her fool you into thinking she can control you.” He said sternly.

I shook my head. “I won’t. I’m not scared of her. I just wasn’t expecting a 500 pound alligator to come snapping at me.”

“Good. She can be a little over the top sometimes. Her ways worked once, but as her successor, it’s my job to take care of people now,” Blair said.

“Speaking of your people, you might have to calm some of them. I’m sure in just a few moments there’ll be talk of my return to the palace. You’ll need to quiet some of them down,” Jack explained to Blair.

“You’re right as always Jack. Angie you’re in good hands, I have my utmost trust in him.” Blair bounded her ways back towards the castle.

“So you’re the Jack that everyone’s been looking for? Faux said you were dead.” I cocked my head to the side. There was a familiar look to him. Where had I seen him before?”

“Yes, but as you can see I’m very much alive.” He nodded at me and changed into the orangutan that’d stopped me before I’d gotten to the castle.