171 Not Now

"The king would like an audience with you, Miss Blackfire," one of the guards explained.

Vy gritted her teeth, "I'm afraid I will have to decline."

She was well aware of the polite thing to do, which was to never refuse an audience with the King. But she just could not bring herself to do so just yet. What had happened was still fresh in her mind. Who knew what she would have done if they met.

Vy was grateful for what he had done to try and set things right, regardless of whether it was his intentions or not. But Elette was dead, and she was never coming back. The guards, on the other hand, had not expected Vy to decline. No one had ever declined an audience from the King before. How were they going to report back?

"Please inform King Olwin that my brother and I need time to process the passing of our sister. As such, it would not be convenient for us to meet him at this point in time. When the time is right, we will pay him a visit," Vy replied.

With that said, Vy and Lycster followed Elise back to the castle to collect their things. Amongst their belongings were the stuffed animals Elette had gifted them. The stuffed wolf and lamb were still there. Much to their surprise the stuffed bunny, Mr Bun, that Elette had held was also there.

Looking at the rest of their belongings, their clothes, their trinkets, it all brought waves of emotions to both of them. They remembered the time they had shared. They might not have known each other for very long, but they had grown close.

Vy remembered the times Elette had nightmares and how she would hug her and assure her that everything was alright. It was a pity that such a bright flame was blown out so soon. Now they needed to make haste to return to Timbretune, to see her one last time. After all of their belongings were accounted for, Vy and Lycster bid farewell to Elise.

"Have a safe journey," Elise said as she gave Lycster a hug.

Vy gave her a hug too, "If you ever need a change of scenery, you're most welcome in Timbretune."

With that, they left the Capital City behind them and made haste back to Timbretune. To make their journey shorter, they took to their animal forms and stored all of their belongings in their spatial jewellery. They took to their sky forms and soared into the open sky once they were out of the gates.

In the days that had passed, Hazel had arrived in Timbretune with a heavy heart and Elette's cold body in tow. The news she had brought with her shocked everyone. Needless to say, Carole was more surprised than anyone else.

The contradictions in Vy's letters and the truth Hazel brought with her made her uncertain of who to believe. But the still body Hazel had brought back was the undeniable truth. A tragedy had taken place and preparations had to be made.

Carole busied herself with the arrangements for the funeral and Hazel helped her with it. Though Carole had only known the girl for a short period of time, the death of a child was not a common occurrence. It felt as if it was just yesterday that Vy had returned to the town with the girl in her arms.

"Miss Carole, Miss Carole!" a voice called out from down the street.

Carole traced the source of the voice, it was Max, the son of the fried rice stall owners Leila and Donny. As he ran towards her direction, he was waving his hand in the air. When he finally reached Carole, he was gasping for air. He could hardly catch his breath.

"Carole… Caster and his men...they're at the gates! The Baron is back!" the boy finally said after catching his breath.

Old Potto overheard the boy and came over, "That Baron? What's he here for?"

"He has Elette's mother, Coral, with him! They want the girl's body!"

Upon hearing those words, Carole dropped everything and made haste for the gates. She had always felt that Vy was too lenient with the Baron and Coral. It was slugs like them who would find such an opportunity to slither their way back to cause trouble.

When she got there, Carole recognised Hazel from amongst the crowd. Hazel stood next to Caster and in her hands was the document that King Olwin himself had signed off on. It authorised Hazel to bring Elette's body back to Timbretune for burial.

It also included the legitimised adoption papers that made Elette a member of the Blackfire family. But even in the face of an official document from the King, the Baron wanted to have his way.

"How do we know if that's not actually a forged document?" the Baron threatened.

As more people adhered to see the commotion, there were mixed feelings in the crowd. After all, it was the child's biological mother who was here to claim the body of her daughter. Was there really anything wrong with that?

Caster and his men stood guard at the gates, refusing to allow the Baron entry as per Vy's commands. But with the crowd that had gathered, the situation was getting more and more difficult to control.

Carole pushed her way through the crowd, just in time to witness the Baron demanding to see Vy in order to settle the issue. Seeing him face to face also reminded her of the bullying he had done to Lycster. The injuries the poor boy had suffered at the hands of the Baron, she could not let that go.

The Baron only had to sit in the cell for two whole days before he was let off. It was too lenient. So what if the Baron had status and wealth? A man of his position should not have abused the authority and power that he had.

"You need to get out of our town!" Carole proclaimed as she emerged from the crowd.

"Get out? Of your town?" the Baron scoffed.

"You're not welcome here, I think Vy made that very clear when she banned you from Timbretune," Carole snapped back.

"But how can you people deny a mother her own child? Have you no heart?" Coral wailed, trying to garner pity from the crowd.

Carole pointed at Coral, "You have no right to call yourself her mother! You abandoned the poor child, thinking she was cursed! You dare to say we have no heart? What about you?!"

Caster tried to hold her back, but she shrugged him off and stood protectively over Hazel as she continued, "As Hazel had already proven to you with the document that had been signed by the King himself, she had already been adopted officially into Vy's family."

"But she's my daughter! She's of my blood! I raised her! Elette is my daughter!"

"You abandoned her. No mother ever abandons their child like that. Some parent you are," Carole spat.