Anrui’s lonely night and the royal decision

“The next two days, nothing much happened, and I began to believe it was all a weird dream. Maybe my sister had given up trying to get Taishi, maybe Anrui and Taishi didn’t get along after all… Who knows. Daryia and Matoe were together a lot, they got along great and everybody was positive they would get married and Matoe would move to Madash. My life kind of went on as it always did, anyway. I was still at the dinners and everything, but I had my own life and the excitement of the first day was wearing off. They were ponies like us, after all, and they weren’t at the castle during daylight anyway, they were visiting parts of the country with my mother or other family members. If only I knew back then what was going on below the surface, but even so I don’t think I would have been able to do a thing about it.”

Twinkle Star sighed. Her mother kept teasing them, and she could tell her story very well, because she couldn’t wait for her to continue, but her mother wanted to drink something. Fleur and Ivy were whispering something, but Twinkle Star couldn’t figure out what it was about. She looked at the tree behind her mother and once again wondered why her mother had picked this spot.

She still didn’t really understand where the story was going. It was just a love story after all… What had happened that was so bad? She wished for her mother to continue, but she was still relaxing. Would the story help her discover about the true heir? Maybe… Reine sounded like a good girl in the story so far. Would the story be about royal stones? Would they have anything to do with it? A clue about the mysterious stone? So many questions roamed through Twinkle Star’s head, that she didn’t know what she wanted to have answered first. But all she could do was wait for her mother to continue.

“On one evening, I think it was on the fifth or the sixth day of the visit, my mother asked me to go get something out of the garden, I think she wanted some herbs for her herb tea.” Regina continued after a while of thinking and drinking. “I went outside with my little basket, and I noticed it was becoming increasingly cold at nights. Autumn was coming. I even noticed trees were losing some of their leafs and they were turning a different shade of green, no doubt becoming yellow within a few weeks. Anyway, it was almost dark, and I went into the garden to find the herbs for my mother. While I was picking them, I noticed someone walking on a path to the large gates of the garden. I didn’t pay attention to it first, I mean a lot of people were walking down that path at that hour, but I was interested in her when I noticed it was Anrui. Why would she leave the castle? I was sure it had to do something with Taishi, as she was definitely not someone to leave the castle like that, on her own.

I wanted to go after her, but I had to bring the herbs to my mother first, because I was sure she would be extremely mad if I would be too late. So I quickly got the last of the herbs, ran back to the castle, delivered the herbs to my mother and I excused myself, only to race back outside. Of course, this all took time and it was also hard for me to sneak out of the gates unnoticed. It still wasn’t completely dark, so I had to be careful, but somehow I managed to sneak out.

Did I tell you how the environment of the castle looked like, Fleur and Ivy? No? Well, it was on the foot of the mountain on the east. South of the castle were some hills, some of them covered in trees, some of them not. West of the castle ran the Fiume river, and behind the river were some fields were farmers made food for the castle. In front of the gates, which were facing north, were some nice flower fields, not unlike the ones in front of our castle, but there were a lot more trees here and there that were pink with blossom in spring. But the most peculiar thing was one large hill standing on a cliff. The hill had a very steep side facing the castle, but you could climb it from the other side. It was standing on a cliff, and on the foot of it ran the main road to the castle. On the foot of the other side of the hill, which you couldn’t see out of the castle, stood a really large, old tree. Oh, it was so much larger than this tree we are sitting under right now, but yes, it is the reason I picked this spot to tell you this story.

Anyway, when I left the castle, I didn’t see Anrui first. She was simply nowhere to be seen. I began to wonder if it really had been her, when I noticed someone moving behind the peculiar hill, or watch tower, as we used to call it. I ran to the other side of the cliff where you could climb it, I sneaked closer to the little hill, and my heart skipped a little beat when I noticed it was Anrui. I hid myself next to the hill, where I could watch her. I felt a bit bad back then, I remember, for inspecting her like that, but my curiosity won over my conscience. I was sure she was there waiting for Taishi. She was humming a bit, not really singing, but it sounded happy, and she looked so happy I was sure it was going to be a meeting with Taishi. So they were still seeing each other. How many times had they met, I wondered, and had my sister really given up?

Time went by, and Anrui became more quiet. She wasn’t humming anymore, and she sometimes softly spoke to the tree.
‘Do you see him yet, old tree?’
‘Surely he has not forgotten, has he, big old tree?’
 ‘Oh, Taishi will come, I know.’ She giggled.
It was weird to see, but I know Anrui was convinced plants had a soul too, and they could hear you, so why not speak to them? But the clock kept ticking and slowly the sun disappeared entirely, but Taishi did not come. It was completely dark, and Anrui was still standing there underneath that large tree, alone, waiting for Taishi. I felt so bad for her, but I knew Taishi would come. He loved her after all, I was sure of that.

I was thinking of leaving for the millionth time, when suddenly Anrui moved, and I knew why. I heard the voices too. Though I only heard someone laughing far away, I knew that was why Anrui was moving. I didn’t hear who it were, but maybe she did. She ran up the weird hill, and I climbed down next to it, hoping she wouldn’t notice me. I wanted to know what the voices were, too, especially since it concerned Anrui so much.

I literally felt my heart sink when I saw who the ponies were, walking down the road, laughing and having fun. It were my sister, Reine, and Taishi. No doubt they had been off somewhere fun that day, and now they were returning, already enjoying the memories they made together. I looked up at Anrui, but I couldn’t see her, I still don’t know what her reaction was that moment, but she must have felt horrible. Taishi, the one who said he loved her so much, was almost on a date with Reine, and he simply forgot about Anrui. I was really angry with him at that point, but I was also confused. He looked like such a nice pony! Why?

Of course I remembered what I had heard a few days before. Reine wanted some time to get to know Taishi better. I was sure this was their time for that, but still I couldn’t believe Taishi would let Anrui down so much. When they had entered the castle gates, I noticed I didn’t hear anything from Anrui. I looked up, risking to be seen, but she was gone. I didn’t see her anywhere. So I ran back to the castle, but when I entered the garden gates I didn’t see Taishi and Reine either. I ran back to the castle, and after some searching I noticed Reine and Taishi talking outside, probably saying goodbye, because not long after Reine left and walked back inside, and Taishi disappeared into the guest house. They both smiled when they said goodbye, and to be honest I was even surprised they didn’t kiss, though of course I was happy they didn’t.

What I did next, I still don’t know why I did it, but I felt I had to, and I couldn’t find a reason at that time why I wouldn’t do it. I ran towards the guest house as soon as Reine had disappeared, and I almost literally ran into Taishi when I entered it.
‘Regina!’ He said, ‘What are you doing here?’ I was out of breath, and I muttered something about Anrui waiting.
‘How do you know that?’ He asked sharply, as soon as he realised I knew.
‘I… I was outside and I saw her, that’s all, and she was wondering out loud where you were, and later I saw you and Reine, and I just wondered…’
‘Don’t tell Anrui, okay?’ He asked.
‘Why?’ I asked, frowning at him. Was he cheating on her?
‘Because it means nothing with Reine. My mother asked me to go out with her one day for fun. Sure, I said, and so I did. But I love Anrui, and I will never do anything to hurt her, but it’s a secret still so I couldn’t tell Reine that I had to get back soon. I’ll make up something okay. I don’t want Anrui to get hurt.’
He told me, and he turned towards his door to look for Anrui.
‘Oh and Regina,’ he added, ‘Don’t interfere with this business again. It doesn’t concern you.’

Sometimes I wished I had done just that, letting them mind their own business, and I wished I had stopped sneaking around, but I was way too curious to do that. Anyway, I went to my own room after Taishi had left, and nothing happened anymore that night.

The next evening though, it felt as if everything happened, and it felt as if I was the only one who knew it was a bad thing. We all had dinner again in the large dining room, but I noticed it was much more crowded than usual. Were there more ponies? There definitely were more family members, I was sure. Younger sisters of my mother were there, even their children, which was really quite unusual, especially since most didn’t even live at the castle anymore. They were there for a special reason.

When everybody was inside and seated, my mother rose and everybody became quiet instantly. My mother was wearing her crown again, and I knew she was going to say something important.
 ‘welcome, everyone,’ she started, ‘to this special dinner. I have invited all of you here, because I and the queen of Madash have a special announcement to make. Our friends from Madash came here on a friendly occasion, so the bonds between our countries could become stronger. Now, our countries will soon be combined in the strongest bond we know. First, I would like to announce the heir to the throne of Madash, Daryia, is engaged with Matoe, the son of my beloved sister Medava.’
Of course, everybody began to cheer and clap, but nobody really was surprised. After all, everybody knew this was the sole reason the ponies from Madash came here. The bonds were just fine. But to my surprise, and I am sure I was not alone with that feeling, my mother did not sit down after the clapping stopped.

‘Next to this wonderful news, I have something else to announce, for Daryia and Matoe are not the only ponies who got engaged these last few days. With pride and honor, I would like to announce the engagement of my oldest daughter, Reine, and Taishi, the son of queen Tafide of Madash.’

Of course, ponies began to cheer and clap even more, and I did so because I was supposed to, but lots of questions roamed through my head. What happened? Didn’t Taishi promised me the day before that he would never hurt Anrui? Didn’t he say it meant nothing with Reine? Then why on earth would he be engaged with her? I looked around the room as fast as I could, and I could see Reine smiling with pride, and looking at Taishi with love in her eyes. But Taishi, even though he was smiling as well, he didn’t look too happy, in fact, he looked just as confused as I was. I searched the room for Anrui, and I was shocked when I saw her. She was crying, I know she was. I heard later she told the others she was crying with pride for her country and family, but I knew it wasn’t true. She cried because she lost the one she loved. he had deceived her, she was thinking of that.

I remember I was determined to find out what had caused this situation to be. Why had Taishi changed his mind? Why did he hurt Anrui so? But at that moment, there was nothing I could do, and at that moment, all I could do was wonder what the hell was going on.”