A Queen's Order

At castle Xera, Meia paced her mighty hallways for the seemingly hundredth time. Her repetitive movements hypnotized the small guien, which batted at her trailing dress with its tiny paws.

Meia sighed and bent down to pick up the feline creature, who was demanding her attention with every step.

Finally settling herself on her elaborate throne, the troubled queen ran her finely manicured fingernails through the guien's sapphire blue fur. "What do you think, Sian? Was my order too harsh?"

The guien, who was no bigger than her palm, looked up his mistress with his giant golden eyes. Though he couldn't understand her words, he could sense her unrest and began singing softly.

Meia smiled at her pet's attempt to comfort her.

While most animals weren't welcomed within the obsessively clean castle, her little guien was constantly grooming himself, if he weren't cooing or singing to her instead. His voice was like the wind whistling through leaves when he chose to perform.

A truly elegant creature, with his lithe body and curled tail, which he used to hook onto her neck. When Shyana found him, she told Meia the graceful creature reminded her so much of her sister, that it was only right to have it in the comfy castle and not in the harsh wilderness, where its talents would go unappreciated.

Meia sighed, leaning her head back against the throne. There was love between them and now she'd begun to wonder if her orders were too extreme. While she was indeed angry at Shyana and firmly believed she needed to be punished for her insolence, it would kill her proud sister to have her own men turn against her.

Meia continued to stroke Sian, distracted, her fair brow furling as she remembered the many times Shyana had taken off with no regard to her duties or the image of her birth line; especially how everyone seemed to just dismiss her actions with no real punishment.

She pictured that scowl Shyana wore constantly and how it could disarm the staunchest of guards with seemingly no effort. Then she thought of how her eyes would size up Meia and always come back disappointed, as if her sister thought she was nothing, but a sniveling child that needed her pity.

Suddenly her nails became more painful than loving on the guien's fur and he hissed. Meia snapped out of her moment of regret and gathered her resolve once more.

Raising Sian to her eye level, she stated firmly. "No, Shyana brought this upon herself. It's time she starts behaving more like the soldier she is and less like the princess she gave up being. I am queen, why can't she respect that authority? I would have respected hers if she had kept it."

Sian looked to her confused, before extending his long tongue and licking her pointed nose. She smiled and was about to laugh before the doors to her throne room were flung open, Jein running in and bowing before her. "My Queen! Your Highness! We have received news of your sister!"

Meia set Sian down and sat up straight. "Calm yourself, chamberlain. Now give me the message."

He panted heavily, as if he had been running for miles, though by his pudginess it could have been just up the stairs to her throne room.

Jein's blue eyes shone as he delivered the message. "Your Majesty, word has reached us from one of your spies that General Makea entered the Fepican Forest!"

Meia's eyebrows rose, as her violet eyes widened. "But the last word we received stated that she was just spotted on a border town. I assumed she was returning to her men, not going to the forest! Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes, your Majesty."

"How do you know?"

"Your Grace, General Makea's horse was found waiting at the forest line. We tried to move the creature back to your stables, but it only ended up biting the guards who tried to move it. It's our belief that General Makea has entered the Fepican Forest, my Queen."

Meia's voice broke. "By herself?"

Jein rose a hand up and wiped some sweat from his pale brow. "No, your Grace. Lord Akiem's horse was beside hers."

The fair queen's heart pounded in her chest at the thought of her sister entering that forest practically single handedly.

Shyana pulled off some dangerous feats in her past, but this…this was so much more than gutsy, this was suicidal. She turned to face the window, her eyes unfocused, as she flipped through her options, the pounding of her heart unrelenting in her ears.

"What are your orders, my Queen?"

Meia took a breath. "Assemble a search party. Call forth our best warriors, our sharpest hunters, men and women who are not afraid of the forest."

The chamberlain looked up from the pristine white floor, his face clearly appalled at the order. "But your Majesty, that would be unthinkable for anyone to volunteer to go into the Fepican Forest; especially for a rogue general with a bounty on her head. I don't think…"

Meia shot up from her throne, looming over the bowing man. "I am not concerned with what you think! And you will hold your tongue when speaking of Shyana. She may not be in my favor at present moment, but she is still my sister and a member of the royal family! Do you deny the orders of your queen? I commanded you to assemble a search party, so the only words that should escape your mouth are, 'yes your Majesty'. Am I perfectly clear?"

Jein placed his forehead on the marble floor, clearly shaken by the tone he hadn't heard from the young queen before. "Yes, your Majesty! My deepest apologies, your Majesty! I will assemble the search team; we will not rest until General Makea is safe within Xera's walls."

Meia's gaze was cold, as she gave him the dismissal order and waited until he exited the room to drop her determined façade. Her eyebrows came together in a straight line, her hand shooting up to her mouth, as if the words she had roared at her servant came from someone else.

Her fingertips tapped her lips as she began to pace, glancing out the window, as if she would see her brazen sister riding over the hills of Xhaia. When no such vision found her, she dropped her head in her hands.

Shyana had done it; she really had gone mad this time. But still...she loved her sister...her blood. Meia knew that their father would never forgive her, if she didn't at least try to get Shyana back, at any cost.