In the morning we returned to the yellow house.
Cara was waiting for us with a portentous breakfast. It was just what we needed. We ate until we were full, or at least until someone brought up the subject we had been discussing a few hours earlier. Nobody told her anything about the discovery in the cave. It had been my explicit request that we not say anything for a while. I was not ready to present myself in front of everyone as the heir to the throne. Much less before a possible war or worse, our extermination.
'Even with a full belly I still believe that going to the old Crescendo is a stupid idea, more than anything else an assured suicide,' said Rich, as he finished his plate.
I looked up at him and then turned to Cara.
'What do you mean, son?' Her confusion manifested itself in her words.
'He is joking mother,' Russell tried to hide our intentions.
He was the only one who had not objected. Something had changed since he knew who I was, as if the resistance to approaching me had vanished and nothing stood between us. As if he was willing to do anything to help me.
The dream I had a few days ago came to me. What if he was really capable of giving up his life for me? How much did I mean to Russell?
I didn't know, but I hoped it was as much as he meant to me.
Cara took a deep breath and pulled the chair back.
Those of us who weren't her blood children didn't understand her expression, but the others did, and it seemed like it wasn't good.
'You left for three nights without telling me where you were going, Milaia disappeared, and then you did. You come back one day to devour my food and really expect me not to ask you anything. Since when did I stop being your mother? Since when do you disrespect me like this?'
All the Laochs lowered their heads and received their mother's reprimand without responding. Cara had done so much for me, it wasn't fair that she knew nothing. I took courage and spoke up.
'It was my fault, Cara, none of them...'
'Oh, I didn't even get to you. Since you appeared, everything has gone out of control. I can be tolerant, but I won't let anyone endanger the lives of my children, much less a girl who ran away from her own home to come and ruin mine.'
Every single word of hers hurt me. But she was right. I had only brought trouble, and now I would continue to create it. If I forced them to come with me to Crescendo, I would put them in danger. I was not going to let anyone hurt them, not even myself.
'Mother, you can't talk to her like that,' Russell surprised me, putting down his fork and staring at his mother.
'Russell, I know you have feelings for...'
Russell got up from the table before she could finish the sentence that would confirm my suspicions that something was going on between Russell and me.
I didn't want to think about it at that very moment, witnessing the mess I had made.
'Mother, you are in the presence of Gaia, daughter of Gelon and Sheba, princess of Crescendo and heiress to the sign of Crey.'
Her gaze dissipated, as if she had been hurt from afar and could not yet process it.
The twins ran out of the room as they heard their brother's words. It seemed strange that they were not present, but it was clear that Cara had ordered them to stay away from the possible argument.
'I don't understand. It cannot be.'
'It's true, Mother,' each of her children confirmed it.
Cara took her face in her hands and the twins ran to my side to begin bowing as they called me "her majesty and our princess."
'I... I'm so sorry'. Cara stood up with the sure intention of copying her daughters' behavior, but I stopped her before she did.
'Cara, wait, nothing has to change. You were right to be angry with me, absolutely right. You have been nothing but good to me since I came into this kingdom, and I do not expect that this kindness will continue to grow any greater than it should. For reasons that I cannot explain sufficiently, I must go to the old Kingdom of Crescendo, and I will go there alone.'
'No, we talked about this.' Russell turned to me, staring at me.
'It's my decision, and if I have to assert myself with this new power I've acquired, I'll do it. No one will follow me; I'll go on my own and you're not going to change my mind. I will go and prepare myself right now.'
I got up and walked past the twins who were still perfecting bows.
Before entering my room, I turned to all of them and said what I felt.
'You are all the closest thing I have to a family, I lost one without having met them, another one left me, I am not going to let anything happen to you, I could not forgive myself.'
I closed the door before anyone could answer me back. I slid through the door until I was sitting on the floor. I hid my head in my arms.
What a wonderful princess they had at Crescendo. I felt like an impostor, I would never live up to the expectations of others. I knew I would surely be killed trying to get to Crescendo, I knew that was the most likely scenario, but I had to try. Even if it meant sacrificing myself, I had to try.
I kept what I had borrowed to go hunting in a small bag. I changed my dress for a pair of pants and a jacket. I tied my hair in a braid and put on some boots. I was physically ready, but not mentally.
I left the room a few minutes later, but no one was there.
Everyone was gone.
I understood, they didn't want to see me leave, or maybe they didn't want to feel responsible for seeing me leave without coming with me. Whatever the reason for their absence was, I respected and accepted it.
Because of that mindset, I didn't expect what was behind the door.
Not one, not two, but hundreds of people were waiting for me on the other side.
The whole town, the whole kingdom, was waiting for me.
The applause overwhelmed me.
I began to walk among the people without understanding what was happening. People moved to the side to let me pass, bowing their heads when I stood in front of them.
I was totally confused until I located the gray eyes. I went straight to him, intending him to explain why the whole town was there if I had made it very clear that I did not want anyone to know my true identity.
'Your Majesty,' he said as I approached.
'What have you done?' My voice instantly silenced the applause, and I even seemed to cut off several people's breath.
'I didn't do it,' he answered without fear or hesitation.
'I did it.' Cara was standing next to him, although I hadn't seen her until she spoke to me. It was difficult to disconnect myself from Russell's gaze. 'We have waited for years for our salvation, our only hope, and we are not going to lose it, even though she is a whimsical child.'
'If you want to go to the old Kingdom of Crescendo, the Kingdom will be with you, you are not alone, not anymore.' Galaga's voice was accompanied by a bow.
Everyone present imitated her. Women, men, girls and boys, all knelt before me. I didn't know what to think or what to feel.
The emotion was overwhelming and then something extraordinary happened.
A light emerged from my hands and chest, a purple light similar to the one I had witnessed in my parents' bedroom. The light spread through the people and reached the top of the dome. The crowd rose to observe the unexplainable. The light was transformed into little wakes that exploded above their heads. Everyone began to cheer whatever had happened.
'I... I don't know how...'
'The King used to do that,' Cara commented, 'it's the light of creation, the light of love.'
Her words filled my soul.
That was what had happened when I was born. My father gave me his light, his power. And now it was in my hands to follow his legacy, it was in my hands to save the Kingdom. How would I do it? I wasn't sure, but it didn't matter. I would do it.
Russell took my hand and whispered so that only I could hear him.
'You are pure magic my princess.'