Well, Dolores seems to have quite a reputation and a very bad one. She must have been a really bad lady. Firstly, she said Luciana was not going to spare her if she ever set eyes on her again, then King Olaf hates her for allegedly killing his wife, and now Queen Penelope was going to execute her if she ever set foot in her kingdom again. Whatever she did just keeps making things difficult for us and she won't even tell me about it till I hear it from the one she offended.
We stood at the gate, halted and being turned away by the Avalorian soldiers.
"You have quite a reputation, don't you?" I said to Dolores. "A reputation that keeps..." I sighed for a moment and decided to eat my words so I stopped.
"Well, I didn't do anything to Queen Penelope. I told you she was close to your mother." Dolores said.
"Hey, let your Queen know I'm here to see her. I'm ready to face the consequences if..." I started but was interrupted by a woman's voice.
"What is going on here?" The voice spoke.
"Your Majesty." A guard bowed.
It was Queen Penelope and standing right next to her was her Crownguard. She was dressed in a lovely silver gown and her corset perfectly outlined her beautiful body. She was a tall woman with long black hair and beautiful brown eyes. She was not awesomely beautiful but she was a graceful sight to behold.
"Eric, what is it?" She asked gently.
She had a soft and collected way of speaking which made her elegance even more enticing. I'm sure she must have been trained to speak gracefully all through her life in preparation for the day she would ascend the throne. Her emission of grace and class was effortless.
"Your Majesty, we did not mean to summon your presence with our little commotion with these ladies..." The guard spoke but Queen Penelope quickly shifted her attention towards us when her eyes landed on Dolores.
"Dolores?" She cut the guard short.
"Hello, Your Majesty." Dolores responded.
"What in the lights name are you doing here?" She asked.
"I'm here to see you, My Queen. I have an offer that you cannot refuse." Dolores said with so much pride and confidence.
"Guards!" The Queen called and they bowed to her. "Let them in, but keep an eye on her." She pointed at Dolores "She's very treacherous." Queen Penelope said and turned around heading back into her castle as her crown guard followed her behind.
"Unmount your horses and follow me." The guard that had responded to the Queen earlier said "You" he pointed to one of the guards "Search them and be sure they have no weapon and after that take their horses to the stable." He ordered.
The guard did as he instructed and then he led us into the palace.
As soon as we entered the palace that looked more like a paradise than a castle, the guard bowed before Queen Penelope and I followed his lead but Dolores didn't bow. Rather she stood there with her right hand proudly placed on her waist.
"Dolores, bow down to her." I whispered.
Dolores wanted to ignore me but changed her mind and bowed slightly.
"Who are you?" Queen Penelope asked me.
"I'm ah..." I thought of a way to introduce myself. I didn't know if to go straight to the point or still lie so I looked at Dolores for help.
"Your Majesty, please, ask your guards to excuse us." Dolores said politely.
After Queen Penelope scanned us for a moment, she asked the guards to leave and they all did except the Crown guard.
"And him?" Dolores motioned towards the guard.
"He is my crown guard. He never leaves my side." Queen Penelope said.
"I know. But, what we are about to say is quite private."
"Go on and say it. He knows about all of my affairs."
"Okay." Dolores sighed. "I found Naya. My sister's daughter." Dolores said grabbing my wrist gently.
"Give us some time alone, but be on alert." Queen Penelope said to her Crown Guard who bowed and left.
Dolores rolled her eyes, "you think I'll hurt you?" She said.
"One can never be too thorough, especially in the presence of an obvious enemy." Queen responded.
"Penelope, you know I mean no harm."
"You said you found Naya?" Queen Penelope asked quickly taking away their discussion from the direction I thought was probably personal.
"Yes. Took me seventeen years but I did." Dolores responded.
Queen Penelope scanned me curiously before she started to question us.
"Do you believe you are Naya?" She asked me.
"Yea your Majesty. I have every reason to." I responded confidently.
"Every reason you say? What kind of reasons?"
"That may not be of any concern to you Your Majesty. I mean no disrespect." I responded.
"Hmph. Fierce just like you Dolores. Where did you find her?" She asked.
"Damitro. The least village you'd expect to find such royal blood. Mara escaped with her after the murder and has since then raised her as her own." Dolores explained.
"As much as I hope that this is truly Naya, I can't even believe Mara let you take her, or else you speak of a different Mara from the one I know."
"It took quite the effort before she did." I said.
"Prove it." Queen Penelope said.
"What?" I asked in confusion.
"Prove that you truly are Princess Naya Mongolia." She said.
Without thinking twice I pulled out the Onyx ring in my pocket and raised it before the Queen.
"If this doesn't prove it, I don't know what might." I said.
Queen Penelope smiled weakly and sadly, "Naya. I see the resemblance." She said with teary eyes.
Queen Penelope asked us what we intended to do and Dolores told her about our plan to usurp King Stefan and get back my throne.
"Without the other kings on our side, our plans might prove abortive." Queen Penelope said.
"We intend to get them on our side. We already have Olaf and you. I hear lord Zhai is a tough one but his quest for power might be our only weapon to entice him. Zhai Zumar can never reject an offer that would make him more powerful." Dolores said.
"After what happened seventeen years ago, I doubt any king will be willing to fight against Stefan. He's too powerful Dolores."
"We already know that. But we'll figure it out. I'm sure there must be a way to bring him down." I said.
Queen Penelope scanned us for a moment, "Dolores, if I ever find out you are lying to me right now and that she is an imposter, I will not look back in my judgment. I'll burn you both on a stake without hesitation." She said.
"Do as you please your majesty, but I can assure you that day will never come." Dolores responded.
Queen Penelope offered us shelter that night, including a change of clothes, food, water, and a decent room to spend the night after our long deliberations with her. That night, before I slept off, I remembered I had left my ring in my old clothing and when I wanted to take it out, the ring was gone...