"I-I beg your pardon, your majesty." Jasmine said with a frown not of frustration but of habit.
The Queen leaned in closer even though both women were still very much apart on the table.
"I thought I saw something glow on your neck." Queen Rose pointed out.
"Oh yes." Jasmine gently dropped her tea on the saucer and said. "It is a necklace that my mother gave me."
"Oh." The Queen said, leaning back, her curiosity taken away. "Luna Maria would give her child something that belongs to her."
Jasmine smiled stiffly.
"I’ve had it since I was a baby." She said as she touched the necklace.
It was good, and the pendant was hidden inside the front bodice of her dress so Queen Rose could not see it.
"Family heirlooms." The Queen commented. "I’ve always admired that. We have in our family too. I gave both of my daughters different necklaces. Corral had a blue pendant, and Scarlet had a green one. They had belonged to centuries of our ancestors."
Jasmine’s lips lifted in a smile. "Green. Mine, too, is a green pendant. Although it’s broken."
"Broken?" Queen Rose expressed as Jasmine still fingered the necklace. "Would you let me see? Perhaps I could get the Royal jeweler to fix it with a real emerald for you. And I do love to see what style of pendant it is."
"Of course, your majesty." Jasmine said.
Jasmine gently started to pull the necklace away from it, which was hidden in the bosom of her dress.
They were interrupted just as she was about to pull out the pendant to view.
"Sister. Where have you been?" Cherry asked as she came into the garden with Belle and Corral. "We’ve been looking everywhere for you."
Queen rose and turned to see her sister.
Jasmine quickly got up to her feet and curtsied for them.
They ignored her as usual.
"I had told you that I would see Xaden and Jasmine." She said.
"Yes, you did. I went to Xaden, but he has you and has already left." Cherry informed.
"Grandma, is it true that you were speaking about that slave to Xaden?" Belle asked with a snort. "I do not understand it, Mother. She is evil. Why do you speak to such a creature?"
Belle was speaking as if Jasmine was not even present.
Then she saw the tea and open seat. "Goodness, grandma. Are you now dining with peasants? How dreadful. "
"Who I speak to is none of your business, Belle." Rose snapped in rage. "Mind your tongue because before I am your grandmother, I am still your queen."
Belle closed her mouth and then glared at Jasmine as if to blame her for being scolded.
"Father has changed his mind about going by the roads after the attempted assassination, and with all that has happened lately, he decided that we go by sea on the ship," Corral said. "We’re ready to set sail. We were looking everywhere for you."
"I had no idea." Queen Rose said.
Jasmine adjusted and pulled her hand away from her bosom, returning the pendant back in place.
Cherry looked at her sister. "Why were you doing this?"
"Oh." Rose said. "Jasmine was going to show me a pendant she had on. Green, and it had broken. I just wanted to take a look."
Cherry and Corral made sharp looks at each other, but no one noticed it.
It had been as fast as lightning.
"Let me see it, Jasmine." Rose said.
Cherry jumped in quickly. "Rose, you do ought to leave. The tide is uncertain, and we may not know how the wind will take us. We can not afford to waste any more time here."
Rose started to argue. "I know, but it’s just looking at a-
"Grandma, grandpa is really upset." Belle said. "And I believe he was initially upset about something else."
Then, it occurred to Rose that her husband was still angry at the fact that she had allowed Cherry to come along with them.
Rose sighed reluctantly.
She didn’t want to make any further drama, and they were right; with the wind, they never could know.
She rose to her feet.
"Alright." She said.
All the three women went on ahead and then Queen Rose turned to see Jasmine.
"Will you come to pay me fair well?"
"Of course, your majesty. It will be my honor." Jasmine curtseyed.
And then she hurried went to the Queen and kissed her hand.
"I owe you my life," Jasmine said.
Belle turned and saw them and gave a disgusted scowl.
"The only reason I am so happy to leave here is because I will no longer have to see that leech." Belle sneered to her mother and grand aunt.
But then Queen and Jasmine did not hear
The Queen smiled. "Come now."
Together, they all went to the castle gates, where the party to take the royal family awaited.
A crowd waiting to cheer for the Royal
Family as they left.
Jasmine quickly went to the shadows to hide away from prying eyes, and then she saw Loren.
"Jasmine." He said, looking at her with so much relief that she was alive.
Loren, who was usually grumpy, looked extremely happy and, most of all, relieved.
"Thank the goddess, you are safe." He said. "I tried my best to get you out of there."
She nodded. "I understand. And I do not harbor any ill feelings towards you."
"Who freed you?" He asked.
"The Queen. She spoke to Alpha Xaden, and he agreed." Jasmine opened up as the crowds cheered.
"I know you didn’t have a hand in what happened." He said. "But we shall not discuss this here. When we get to the quarters."
And then Jasmine noticed something odd.
Princess Cherry was getting into one of the Royal carriages.
She frowned. "I assumed that Princess Cherry no longer lives with the Royal family."
He looked at Jasmine, puzzled. "You didn’t hear?"
"Hear what?"