Mariela called for so tea and waited until it was served with a plate of what appeared to be a variety of doughnuts before speaking. "I do believe these are from your world, correct?"
"Yes," Abby said cautiously. "I can't believe Katie told you about that."
The queen laughed lightly. "And I cannot believe you are actually here. Katie told that the land of Arizona was too far away to visit. Is this your real body or did you end up inside soone else too? You look like you could be from Annalaias. How did you end up in my holand?"
"this is my real body. The author sent here."
Mariela tilted her head in confusion. "Author? What author? Co to think of it, how did you know to find ? She said contacting you was impossible."
Oh great. So Katie told her she was from another world but didn't bother to tell her they were inside a novel?! This would be difficult to explain but she did her best, starting from finding the book with details of her dead sister's life and ending with her desperate plea for the author to write her into the story.
The queen pursed her lips. "Your story is even more fantastical than hers wasyet I find myself wanting to believe you because I cannot think of another way you would have been able to know the things that you do. You say Alamar knows this as well?"
Abby nodded. "Yes, Katie told him shortly before the court passed the law to allow commoner representatives."
"That explainsa lot, actually. That girl! No wonder she wanted to run away. She did not wish to ruin the plot of that novel. I do believe she will find it amusing that it was completely changed after all."
Mariela snapped herself out of her silent reminiscing following that statent a few monts later and smiled at Abby. "Tell . What do you wish to know about your sister? I shall endeavor to do my best; we were quite close while she lived here."
This woman was way too accommodating! But she wasn't about to turn down free information. "Everything," she said firmly. "Please tell everything you can."
An hour later, Abby left the side room full of new information that left her an emotional wreck. Katie had such a hard ti adjusting here! It must have been terrible shouldering all of that alone. At least she had let Mariela and Al know at least parts of the truth eventually.
The queen had given her a letter she had been planning to send with the next batch of rchants headed to the mountains to deliver to Katie. And a warning. The road to the main Kanta settlent, known as Ilmir, was treacherous and difficult to travel.
She even gave Abby a docunt stamped with the royal seal that would allow her to purchase a horse to get up the mountain once she got closer. When she asked why Mariela was so willing to help her, she said sothing that broke Abby's heart.
"She has missed you more than you could possibly know. As her friend, it is my duty and honor to help the two of you reunite."
Abby couldn't even imagine. Thinking soone was dead and missing them was completely different than being thrust into a new place where you have to hide your identity and know you have no chance of returning ho.
She returned to Blaise's side brushing away tears. He jumped to his feet imdiately. "What happened? What is wrong?"
With a shake of her head she pasted on a brave attempt at a smile. "Nothing. The queen was very generous with her ti and told everything I wanted to know. She even offered a horse and gave a letter to give to my sister."
A brief look of confusion crossed his face. "Then why are you crying?"
"Because she had such a hard ti here all alone!" Abby sobbed, finally losing it at the slightest show of sympathy.
===
Blaise was taken aback at the sight of her tears. His sisters were all much older than him so he didn't have much experience comforting weepy won. He hesitantly reached out to pat her shoulder, at a loss.
This entire incident in the palace didn't make sense. How did her sister, who had married a mber of the Kanta clan, know both the king and queen of Annalaias? They had both called her by the diminutive form of her na.
It hit him like a bolt of lightning. The young leader of the Kanta clan had been raised as the third prince of Annalaias. So the woman supposedly behind all of the innovation in the Kanta region was Abby's beloved sister?!
Well, she had said her sister was smart. Smart indeed. She had revolutionized a people known for being backward and stuck in their own history without causing any riots.
But wasn't the wife of the Kanta leader supposed to be a noblewoman from Annalaias? How could she possibly be related to this foreigner from a faraway kingdom?
Blaise didn't know what to think, especially when Abby's sobs beca more forceful. He didn't want to overstep his bounds but the only thing he could think of that might comfort her was a hug. That was how his sisters cald down their crying children.
He gathered her up in his arms and her sobs quieted into hiccups after a while. It seed to be working.
"Please do not cry," he said softly. "You will see your sister soon."
Abby frantically swiped at her cheeks and gave him a watery smile. "About three or four more weeks on the road from what I heard. The mountains are on the other side of the country."
A knot ford in the pit of his stomach when Blaise was reminded of how little ti they had left together. She would stay with the Kanta and he would go back to Shibatsu. Then what? Traveling would not be nearly as interesting without her around.
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