Ariel - The Next Generation: Kayla White

Wolf opened the door. “Er… Mr. Sampson?”

Both Tony and Gregory turned to him, surprised.

“Yes, sir?”

“You can come in.”

“Oh… thank you.”

As Gregory entered the cottage and Virginia showed him into the dining room, Tony glared at Wolf.

“What the hell are you two thinking?” he hissed.

Wolf shrugged. “Virginia said we should let him in,” he whispered. “Besides, let’s see what else he has to say. He could be of help to us, Tone.”

Tony grumbled in reply, but he didn’t argue anymore. He glanced down at Warren, who had been silent. “What do you think, Warren?”

“I think he’s telling the truth.”

Wolf grinned. “That’s my boy!” he said, and went to join Virginia and Gregory in the dining room. Tony and Warren followed him.

Virginia made tea for them all and sat down the table. “So, Mr. Sampson… you think Kayla is here?”

“I do, Lady Virginia,” Gregory replied, and Virginia blushed.

“Virginia, please,” she said.

Gregory smiled. “As you wish.”

“Cut to the chase,” Tony interrupted. “Why do you think Kayla is here?”

“Because, Sir Tony, you are Kayla’s most beloved friends. Am I wrong about that?”

“Well, I should like to think so,” Wolf said proudly, but Virginia cut in.

“Yes, Mr. Sampson, you’re right about that.” Wolf looked at her oddly but said nothing.

“Gregory, please,” Gregory said kindly.

“Cut the crap!” Tony yelled, making everyone jump. “Look, Mister, I don’t know who you think you are, but –“

“Kayla is here, I know she is!” Gregory said, equally fierce. “Now, I can help you if you’ll only hear me out.”

“Hear you out? I think we’ve heard enough! What are you going to do, run back to your precious queen and tell her everything?”

“I know that Kayla is innocent, for crying out loud! I came here to try and help!”

“Sure you did. You let Wendell drink the damn cup!”

“I didn’t know it was poisoned! I just saw the powder!”

“Oh, yeah, like that makes sense!”

“QUIET!” Wolf growled, and the room fell silent. “Cripes! Now listen to me, Tony. We have to trust him.”

“We have to trust him,” Tony mocked in a high-pitched voice. “What makes you say that, Mr. I-Know-Everything?”

“I’m a Wolf, Tone. I know these things. Warren, go get Kayla.”

Chief Farmer motioned for his soldiers to be silent as they crept among the trees by the house. “This is where the princess is hiding,” he whispered.

“Do you want us to go in now, Chief?” a soldier asked.

“No, not yet. Unless you see her try to leave the cottage, wait until I give the word later tonight.”

“Gotcha, Chief.”

The soldiers spread about the house, keeping watch, awaiting the command from Colin Farmer.

Kayla froze when she saw the young man sitting at the table.

They’ve betrayed me. Oh, Warren, you’ve betrayed me…

“It’s all right, Honey,” Virginia said gently, motioning for her to come into the room. “This is Gregory Sampson. He’s here to help us.”

Gregory Sampson…Gregory Sampson…Where have I heard his name before?

Of course. Gregory Sampson. The son of Lord Sampson.

“How do you do?” she asked tentatively, walking into the room with Warren.

“Ah, dear Princess,” he said, getting down onto one knee and kissing her hand.

Kayla blushed. “Oh…please get up,” she said with a little laugh. “And, please call me Kayla.”

Gregory stood and bowed. “As you wish.”

Virginia took Kayla’s hand. “Gregory saw the queen put the poison into your father’s cup, dear,” she said softly.

The room whirled around Kayla. She reached out to grab something, but she was pulling at the air. Someone caught her from behind.

“Kayla! Oh, Kayla, I’m so sorry.”

Kayla opened her eyes when her dizzy spell faded. She was at a loss for words.

“Mother… father… p-p-poison…”

She burst into tears and buried her face in Virginia’s chest.

No… No, it’s not true…

Virginia rocked her and murmured comforting words into her ear, but she knew that nothing she could say would ever make up for what the poor little girl was going through. She knew what it was like to lose a parent, even if they hadn’t always been around.

“I know, Kayla, I know,” she soothed. “Shh.”

Kayla hugged Virginia tighter than she ever had in her entire life. She’d heard about how Virginia had been forced to poison and kill her mother in self-defense, but now it was all coming face-to-face with her.

“Kayla?” Warren’s familiar touch on her shaking shoulder made her body tingle with delight. “I’m sorry.”

Kayla sniffed and turned to face him, rubbing her red, puffy eyes.

“Thanks, Warren,” she whispered, and managed a small smile.

Wolf glared at Tony, who was staring at the table, looking ashamed.

“Just say it, Tone,” he whispered fiercely. “Just say it!”

“All right!” Tony blurted out. “I’M SORRY!”

Everyone turned to stare at him, bewildered. Wolf muttered an audible “Cripes.”

Tony turned red and cleared his throat. “What I meant was… I’m sorry, Gregory. I… I’m just not a very trusting guy, that’s all.”

Gregory smiled, relieved that their bitter argument was settled. “Apology accepted.”

Virginia smiled, her arm around Kayla. “Great,” she said. “Now, what do we do about everything?”

No one said a word, and her smile faded.

“Well, Gregory?” Tony said, breaking the silence. “You came here to save the day. So what do we do?”

Gregory cleared his throat and loosened his collar. “I was kind of hoping one of you would have a plan…”

Queen Jasmine smiled when she received the letter from Chief Farmer, which had been delivered hurriedly by one of her trusty messengers.

Your Majesty,

I’ve located K’s whereabouts. Waiting until dark. Bad news: Gregory Sampson has betrayed you, and is coming up with lies. Claims that you put the poison in King Wendell’s cup.
Will kill K and imprison the others.

Your Faithful Chief of Police,
Colin A. Farmer

Her smile quickly disappeared as she skimmed the neat cursive.

“Gregory Sampson has betrayed you, and is coming up with lies. Claims that you put the poison in King Wendell’s cup.”

This man, Gregory Sampson. He had seen her. He knew the truth.

He could not be allowed to live.

She turned to her messenger, who was standing at the doorway, head bowed. “Elliot! Come here this instant!”

Immediately, Elliot the messenger was at her side. “Milady?”

“Return to Chief Farmer. Tell him to imprison no one; he must kill all of the people whom he refers to in this letter as ‘others.’ He is not to return until he has proof of their death, or it will be his head.”

Elliot bowed and sprinted out of the palace.

The queen sighed and walked slowly to her room of Magic Mirrors.

We have problems… She entered the room and stood before a small circular one, with an eerie design of vines twisting around the frame.

“Mirror. Wake from your sleep.”

The surface of the mirror rippled with a dull sound.

“How does this Gregory know what I have done?” she demanded.

“He is the son of Lord Sampson,” the mirror replied in an old, raspy voice. “He was sitting at your table during the Winter Ball and watched you out of the corner of his eye.”

Queen Jasmine cursed under her breath. She should have been more careful.

“I have sent my men to kill him,” she said. “Was that wise?”

“You are serving the past queens well,” the mirror said, and Queen Jasmine smiled at the compliment. However, her smile soon faded. “But Gregory is strong. He, and the others, can hurt you.”

“Who are the others?” The queen groaned. Why had she not just located Kayla using a mirror in the first place? How very stupid she was.

“A woman, two men, and another child.”

“Show me.”

“I cannot.”

“What?” Queen Jasmine asked, stunned.

“Someone is protecting them.”

“Who?” she demanded. How dare they!

“I cannot say.”

The queen cursed out loud and ordered the mirror to shut off, which it did immediately. Fuming, she stormed to another mirror, and, tossing her hair, muttered, “Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”

“You are, my queen. You are.”

She took a deep breath. There; she felt better already.

“Oh, that’s just wonderful!” Tony said sarcastically to Gregory. “You come all the way here to ‘help’ us, and you don’t have a plan!?”

“Well…”

“Wait!” Wolf said in a hushed tone, holding up his hand. Everyone was silent as he sniffed the air. Warren sniffed as well, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Dad, I don’t think we’re alone…”

“Shh,” Wolf murmured, and fixed his piercing brown eyes on Gregory. “Were you followed here?”

“I…I don’t think so,” Gregory replied nervously.

“Well, obviously you were,” Wolf said, much to the fright of everyone else. “Kayla, you aren’t safe here.”

“But the trap door –“

“Forget it. They’ll find it. I recognize this guy’s scent. It’s the same one who came after my parents.”

Virginia gasped, her eyes misting. “Oh, Wolf…”

“Not now, Virginia,” Wolf said. “Kayla, you’re going to have to run.”

“She can’t just leave,” Tony protested. “Not in broad daylight, at least. And the streets are being patrolled by soldiers. There’s no where she can hide but here.”

“Yes, there is,” Virginia said quietly.

“Oh, yeah?” Tony asked. “And where might that be?”

“New York. The Tenth Kingdom.”

Tony shook his head. “It’ll never work, Honey. The mirror is in Wendell’s palace.”

“We can do it,” Warren said fiercely, and everyone looked at him, surprised. “We can get Kayla into the palace somehow. We must. Don’t you see? As long as she gets through the mirror, it doesn’t matter about us anymore. She’s the only heir to the Fourth Kingdom’s throne. As long as she’s alive, there’s a way to get it back from Queen Jasmine.” He paused. “It doesn’t matter about us. It matters about her.”

Tears sprouted in Kayla’s eyes. “Oh, Warren…” She struggled to keep from running to him and giving him a kiss. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about me. But…I don’t want you all risking your lives because of me.”

“I’m with Warren,” Tony declared, and everyone else said the same in turn.

Kayla shook her head. “No way, you guys. There has to be another way. If any of you got hurt because of me –“

Virginia took her hand. “Warren’s right,” she said seriously. “This isn’t about us. This is about you and the Fourth Kingdom’s future.”

Gregory nodded his head in agreement. “All right then, it’s settled. Here’s what we’ll do…”

He didn’t give Kayla a chance to cut in and say thank you, but it didn’t matter. Her gratitude was written all over her glittering eyes.