CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"I have a million questions to ask you two"Queen Eleanor said.

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Derek released Queen Eleanor from his hug and smiled at her.

"And we'd love to answer all of your questions mother but I think the first thing to do right now is to find a shelter"Shane said.

"Of course"Queen Eleanor nodded.

Shane smiled and went back to meet the people, leading the way to the cave.

Brenda smiled,holding Queen Eleanor's hand as they walked with the rest of the people.

The people were now seated, mostly in circles but the biggest circle was that of Brenda,Queen Eleanor,Derek,Shane and Bryan.

Bryan was not seated too close to them though.

"For the record,I would have recognized you long before Shane did but -"

"But you didn't"Brenda interrupted Derek's sentence "How could you not have recognized our mother? She cooked and served you food for twelve whole years"

"I actually began cooking prisoners foods at Griffin Empire just a few months ago"Queen Eleanor said.

"I was going to say that before Brenda interrupted me"Derek frowned at Brenda.

"I hate this uniform,I can't wait to get out of it" Derek said,looking at the uniform on his body disgustingly.

"How were you able to find me"Queen Eleanor asked.

"I...kept having dreams and -"

"You still have those dreams?"Queen Eleanor asked Brenda and she nodded.

Queen Eleanor smiled

"I'm still learning how to get the hang of it" Brenda said.

"You will"Queen Eleanor assured her "it must have been hard getting into Griffin Empire. How were you able to get in without getting caught?"

"We...had help from a friend"Shane glanced at Bryan.

"You made a friend with one of Griffin Empire's guards?" Queen Eleanor glanced at Bryan .

"No,Bryan is not a guard. He's a soldier,one of our kingdom's soldier" Shane said "You'll get to know him"

Queen Eleanor turned to look at Bryan.

He bowed, feeling awkward

"Speaking of the kingdom,is your father aware that you both came to rescue me?"

"Uh..."Shane swallowed "Father passed away two years ago"

"Oh"Queen Eleanor muttered sadly "I thought I was going to see him again"

Brenda wrapped her arm around Queen Eleanor's shoulder and rested her head on it

"It's okay mother, we're here for you"Brenda forced a smile on her face, trying to cheer Queen Eleanor up.

"Shane is now the king of Cyan Haven" Derek said.

Queen Eleanor raised her head up to look at Shane

He smiled.

"But..."She said after a while "if you're here now, who is leading Cyan Haven? And if I can remember correctly,you were the first to come to Griffin Empire to rescue me before Brenda came because you were the only one I saw in the dungeon. Who did you leave in charge then also?"

"I left Brenda in charge" Shane answered.

"Brenda? I thought only male heirs were allowed to rule the kingdom"

"Yes but,Brenda is my twin sister and owing to our striking resemblance,I didn't have any trouble putting her in charge. She just had to dress like me and trick people into thinking it's me"

"So,if both of you are here right now, who's ruling Cyan Haven presently?"

"I...Um" Shane stammered.

He had not really thought about it at all.

"I actually took care of that plus we'll be leaving this jungle very early tomorrow before people begin to suspect anything" Brenda said.

"I'm so proud of you both"Queen Eleanor smiled at Shane and Brenda"You two also"She smiled at Bryan and Derek.

Bryan went outside of the cave wanting to get some fresh air and to clear his head.

"Don't you think you should address these people?"Derek asked Shane.

"I will but first,we have to get them something to eat. Get a few men to follow us so we can go out to get some fruits"Shane said to Derek and he stood immediately.

"Thank goodness you said that, I'm starving"

"Will I be going with you?"Brenda asked Shane.

"No"Shane said.

Brenda smiled and stood up, leaving the cave.

"Where is she going?"Queen Eleanor asked.

"Probably to see Bryan"Shane stood and went to join Derek and the men he gathered.

Brenda smiled when she saw Bryan sitting under a tree and went to join him.

"What are you doing out here all alone?"She asked, sitting beside him.

"Getting some fresh air"

"Mind if I keep you company?"

"You just got reunited with your mother today,you should be with her" Bryan said.

"I know, I'll join her in a few minutes"She smiled.

"Must be nice, seeing your mother again"He smiled also.

"Happiness is an understatement"She giggled.

Bryan stared at her,he could tell she was really happy.

"Um..."He cleared his throat after seconds of silence "I thought about what you said the other day"

"What?"She turned to face him.

"About me thinking I was not ready to be among of the three leaders of our kingdom's army" He said "And,you were right. I was feeling scared that I may not have all it takes to shoulder that responsibility but you've made me understand that it's alright to be scared but with time,that fear is eventually going to fade" He said "Thank you" He smiled at her

She gave a short smile before looking away

"Thank you" She suddenly said, turning to look into his eyes

"What for?"He muttered slowly

He was expecting her to say ' You're welcome ' or something else relating to that after he said thank you to her

He also noticed she was being less cheerful and more serious

Her smile was still there but it wasn't as bright as it was when she first joined him under the tree

"For being a good teacher,for keeping my secret,for coming to rescue me at Griffin Empire yesterday,for helping Shane and I rescue our mother..."She exhaled "is there anything I'm leaving out? I'd hate to be an ungrateful person to you. You've helped me so much and I know my thank yous' is not enough to show how grateful I am but I just want to let you know that I really appreciate all that you've done for me"

He stared at her

"Why does this feel less of an appreciation and more of a goodbye?" He asked

"Well,after today, we'll be returning to our kingdom and we might not get to see each other again"

Bryan could feel his heart skipping beats at the thought of not seeing Brenda again

His smile slowly disappeared

"And, you're okay with that?" He asked

She stared up at him.

Of course she wasn't okay with.

This man sitting right beside her makes her feel in a way that always makes her want to be with him and his smile alone makes her heart flutter but she could already picture what it would be like after they return to their kingdom

She would go back to being the princess and Bryan was obviously going to get promoted, making it hard for the both of them to see each other again and as much as she didn't want to get separated from him,she had no way of stopping it

She smiled,trying to hide the fact that she wasn't happy about it

"It doesn't really feel fair, getting separated from the first friend I ever made"She said "Although I was pretending to be king during the times we were together,we still shared some good memories" She chuckled, remembering the times they spent together "Oh, that's right. How could I leave that one out" She said "Thank you...For being a good friend...My first friend"She said slowly, looking into his eyes

He stared into her eyes also

"As much as being the princess's friend...First friend for that matter feels like the biggest honor to me"He held her face "And it doesn't just feel like the biggest honor. It is...the biggest honor but would it be okay to ask for more?" He asked, staring deeply into her brown eyes

TBC...