After gesturing the guards to put their guns down which were far more advanced than the toy like thing her mother carried, but she was sure that both the guns would do their job. To kill. As her mother stepped forward giving murderous eyes to the guards who had managed to save themselves from the former Queen's wrath, she maintained the posture until pulling Ella to hug tightly. "Now you can put the gun down Mom." Her muffled voice was clearly heard by the party present in the entrance. Any pleasantries shared between them was over with a last smile Emma gave to her daughter after pulling away, she hurriedly pointed the pistol to the guards one by one until stopping to point at Roy. He held his hand up to indicate the guards to not take any action, after all he was yet to welcome her peacefully. Hopefully.
Clicking the safety open, Ella got nervous to think what her mother was doing, she glanced at Roy to find him unfazed by her mother's treatment. "I can never put the gun down from my daughter's kidnapper." Roy took a step forward or tried to when Emma shoved the pistol to his heart warning him not to move anywhere. "Actually, that phase was over a long time back, Mrs. Kingsly."
"I am not going to be tricked by your nonsense like you do to my Ella. Stay. Away. From. Her." Shoving that, in the next second Emma was turning away from there inside the palace with her daughter's hand in her grasp. "Good to see you too Mrs. Kingsly! We were just talking about marriages." He called back on their departing forms where he noticed and grinned when her mother paused slightly, listening the word 'marriage', then resumed to go upstairs. He sighed with deadly stare-point at the guard fellas, "What kind of guarding were you doing, allowing an armed woman in the palace grounds?" The men shifted on their toes, one of whom was limping holding his back and showing that he wasn't hurting. "You all are lucky she didn't blast your heads." He said that shaking his head at such incompetent people and passed through them to enter the building.
The things Ella thought to experience from a man while making love to her was performed unfortunately by her mother who was rougher than the touch she expected. "Did you get hurt?" She asked while whirling her around to examine her body for wounds. The feeling would have made her feel better except that the 'feeling' expressed by her mother was actually hurting her, with the way she was shoving her arms and legs one by one in the air. Thankfully she can't put her stomach in air, all the contents inside would sprout right out. And then she will be really, really hurt.
"I swear I will kill that man if he di-" Emma's words died on her mouth when she saw the bandaged shoulder Ella had managed on her own, which only gave a tiny wince if clutched too tightly, but how was she going to explain the furious shocked face in front of her. "Mom. It wasn't Roy." "As if I'll believe you!" Her mouth hanged open listening to her mother. "Why won't you listen to me? He saved me from the men who did this." Okay it wasn't entirely true. The black woman was at fault as well, but in the midst of the encounters she endured, it was hard to make out who hurt who. Also, another reason being she can't tell anything about the lady without knowing whether her mother was supposed to know about her. Placing that thought aside she busied her next minutes, confiding her mother that she was well and made her rest on the bed of the room. Only then did Ella look around to see it was her parent's room; even in distress her mother seeked to choose this room among all as a place for safety.
Ella sat with her mother hugging her by the side to let her know she was fine and happy that they were together now. "You didn't bring any luggage?" "I didn't come London for touring around. I came to take you back with me." She continued tired, "I was shocked when I heard about the marriage to the Prince, I know he was dangerous. You almost got stuck in it before and I... I was trying to escape your aunt's nagging but she won't let me go to see you. Who does that to her own sister?" Her daughter guessed, "The loving kind. She was worried about you and I am thankful that she didn't let you come here. It wasn't safe for me enough," talking about her injuries as an example, which wasn't very great to take up as one because her mother turned rigid and pulled away from her forcing her chin to look at her.
"Are you marrying Roy Knight?" She sprouted disgusted. Ella knew her mother didn't hate Roy until what he did after her father died, but she also never completely liked him. "No! I am not marrying anyone in the foreseeable future. Rest assured Mom." "I will assume I didn't hear anything after you said 'No'." Ella narrowed her eyes at her mother in return who innocently claimed, "You can't expect a mother to tell her daughter you will never marry anyone. It is just I can't let you marry that one. He is a very bad influence." "Your return in London is having an opposite effect Mother. Guns then swears. Papa would be so proud." She chipped excitedly which her mother didn't support to act upon. Rather Emma sighed, showing her weariness from the travel to escape her aunt to reach here.
Hugging her back Ella said, "I am glad you are here. Rest now. I will see you in the morning." Her mother kissed her cheek, smiling at her. She got up to freshen up and was surprised to see everything being backed up just like how it was previously. The toiletries were reinforced with valid expiry dates as if no one has ever left this place. Moving over to the closet she was welcomed with her dresses and her late husband's coats with trousers arranged like they were using every day. Spare for the dust settled on the plastic covers of the coat she would have believed that she had never left this place.
Ella watched her mother picking one of her father's tie smelling it and sniffing her nose to indicate she missed it. "He didn't throw them away Mom. He wasn't having a choice other than run this legacy until I came back. He isn't that bad of a person." "He isn't a good man." "I never said he was. I have hardly met any good men to know the difference."
Emma placed the tie back to its place, turned to her daughter, "You are staying here? I thought you came back to get away Ella, but you are staying!"
"I have to."
"He has manipulated you." "Mom." "He is doing the same thing he did with your father. And you have fallen in his trap!"
Ella shouted, "What do you want Mom? To run away, and run where? This is my destiny, just like it was for Papa. We don't run away from our responsibilities."
"Your father is dead because of those responsibilities! Why can't you be responsible only to your family. The government can handle these matters, there are skilled people there too." Her mother argued.
"If that was the case, then why is the legacy still alive after the governments and parliaments came over?" "That is what you have to change!" Ella scoffed at that.
"Giving away that much power to those greedy onlookers would only lead to a chaos. I am staying here, Mom. You can always support me but I can't go away."
Her mother let go of her hands and made her way to the bed to sit on it, the wrinkles around her cheeks showing the days she has spent with the Kingsly. "You are just like Mark. Ambitious, Responsible. Brave. Stupid." "Mom-"
"I am not finished!" Ella let her mother continue, "He was a good man. When I met your father, he was the man any woman would wish for. Handsome, wealthy, kind. Until he went too deep in reigning the lineage," she looked into her daughter's eyes, "I didn't recognize him then. I felt like I was living with a stranger, when he stooped so low to sell his own daughter..." Tears spilled on Emma's cheeks, which she gracefully let them, Ella wished her mother didn't know about that. They had never spoken about it, they just ran away together, putting their lives behind to look forward.
Ella's eyes glistened looking at her mother, she didn't look helpless rather she accepted her fate and cried for it. A short silence later, Emma spoke, "You are also my daughter, Ella. Reign better. I haven't had the chance to meet the other rulers, but I have seen your father and I will pray that you will do better. Better than him." She shifted her eyes to see her mother looking at nothing in particular, she hurried up to her putting her arms around her tightly, reassuring her that she would do better. Emma responded back, patting her head, uttered, "We don't run away from our responsibilities."
"We are the Kings." Both women chanted together. "We don't run away."
After seeing her daughter out of the room, Emma locked the door, checked the windows, drawing curtains while keeping an eye around. She went through her husband's closet, searching for something which was supposed to be hidden from the prying eyes. Finally finding the pouch she had hidden under one of the drawers, she teared the zip apart, retrieving a locket. The locket was made by Mark Kingsly after he had discovered that he had another daughter with a different woman. Emma stared at the photo of the girl in the photo, which was supposed to be gifted to Ella by her father as an initiation of the extended family.
Tearing the picture out of the mantle, she lighted a match to burn the last existing Kingsly muttering, "The reign shall belong to Ella. Just how it should be." Her eyes glinted in the fire eating away the photo, being reminded of the time she had discovered his bastard daughter.