The Antelope's Journey

37. Free King and Queen

“You guys ran away from the feast last night.” Said the rebel woman, “the men I’d asked to follow you around couldn’t locate you anymore. They said they went about looking but you just vanished… Just like many years ago. You vanished; I couldn’t track you anywhere. You’re a very hard woman to locate, Lady May.” She then said, “Anyway, what are you up to this time, you guys?”

“Oh, um… Shouldn’t you be with your gang?”

“I’ve sent a few of my men and women to go stand watch on that place. They watch who goes in and who goes out. We’ll strike at night when the villagers are safe in their homes.” She started walking on, gesturing their movements as well, “Come, let’s go there.”

“To the palace?”

“Yes, I hear it is very quiet. I probably should go look inside and see what’s up with that place… I’m starting to think that there is no one in there anymore.”

Mrs. Peterson nodded to her little ones and they all started following the woman. It was their plan in the end to go back inside the palace for the portal to open again so that they could send Kali off. They stepped on heading to the palace…

There appeared Mrs. Peterson’s bandits. These bandits stopped right in front of them. There was confusion as they saw that Mrs. Peterson was walking with the woman who had proclaimed herself an enemy. The rebel woman stood and glared at the bandits. She knew them well. They were the ones that threw her out of the palace ten years ago. These bandits had been protecting the secrets going on inside the palace. It had been very hard to access the palace because of these bandits. She had always been running a chase with these bandits. They would harass every person they saw interacting with her. It made her agitated being seen walking with Mrs. Peterson. Mrs. Peterson had become her favourite person in the world. This admiration started after Mrs. Peterson apparently saved the woman's son's life. It would hurt her feelings if Mrs. Peterson was hurt because of her.

“You have a new friend.”

“So?” she rolled her eyes at the bandit. “You want to hurt her as well?”

The giant man now stood there; his eyes continued to wander over Mrs. Peterson. He was very puzzled seeing her very cosy with the woman who hated her. He was hoping that at some point, Mrs. Peterson would hint at something to him. Just anything to make the situation make sense.

Mrs. Peterson shot up a fist while she was standing behind the rebel woman and all the bandits saw it. It made sense to leave her alone for now. They all opened a path for them to walk.

“There you go,” said the rebel woman as she walked into the path they opened up. “…show respect for me now. You can’t drag me like you did back then. Now, we’re come for you all. We are coming in our numbers and you are all going down.”

They proceeded. They proceeded to the palace. It was shocking how easy it was to open the gate and walked in. No one came by to stop them or hold them back. They strolled in. The rebel woman had collected a few of the watch-guards to follow her in. They all proceeded with caution. They had been turning their heads side to side, and they had their eyes popped looking for anything suspicious. Mrs. Peterson, Francina and Kali were also there, pretending to be anxious as well.

They were now inside. The guards had been running around the entire palace searching to find anything useful. “It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone.”

“Shoot. They must have left when I announced in public that we’d be tearing down the palace. Where can we find them now? I don’t know if it’s just one person or many. And if they have merged into the crowd, we wouldn’t know what face to look for.”

But then another guard also came by and said to her, “You have to see this.” He then led them toward the direction of the palace prison. This was bad for Mrs. Peterson. She knew what the tone of voice meant when he said, “You have to see this.” It meant something was big and now they were heading towards the prison. She had kept the king and queen in there for years. She had been visiting the king and queen when she was bringing their food, and so they knew her face. She had to make sure they did not see her or they would point her out. “Oops!” Mrs. Peterson said, “I have to go use the restroom.” She rushed off.

Francina and Kali followed on, they wanted to see what that was about. In fact, they started stepping forward. They entered the prison. It was properly kept. It was clean and there was enough light from the sun. They went further in. They then saw the ‘royal cell’ where the King and Queen were locked in. They had their own giant bed, they had a small table for their meals and a small corner for their hygienic purposes.

This said a lot about Mrs. Peterson. Or rather, the person who locked them in there. It amazed the rebel woman to see her king and queen locked in there. They had aged after all those years of captivity and stress. They were in their 40s but looked in their 50s. She was shocked at the culprit’s audacity to do this to royalty. However, it was admirable to see them comforted like that. “Get the key,” she said to one of her guards, who then went on to look for the key among the many.

“Your highnesses,” she said to the royals, “we’re here now. We’ve come to make things right.”

The queen stood from the sofa, “Isn’t this…” she was racking his memory. “You were my personal server… Bella.”

“Yes. Yes, it’s me, your highness.”

The guard had found the key. He slotted it into the key hole and unlocked it. They brought the king and queen out. Each had a guard helping them to walk. They seemed very tired to walk. They each had tears running down their faces seeing as they were freed after a period of ten long years. This felt like a cry for freedom. They were overjoyed over their blessing in the end.

They had to get the king and queen out of that prison. It was a traumatising place to be in. That place a memory of ten long painful years for them. It only made sense to get away.

There was that silent moment as they were escorting the king and queen to the living room. Their footsteps were very silent. Even Mrs. Peterson did not hear them walk into the living room and found her sitting at the table. All three of them locked eyes.

Shock, intensity and suspense.