YOU CAN NEVER GO HOME

 
She had managed to get a simple dress from one of the servants, and was down in the main hallway. She heard raised voices and was about to pass the door when she heard her name in a heated conversation. It sounded like Gareth. Without thinking twice, she knocked on the door. Heavy footsteps sounded and the door flung open.
“Gabrielle! We were just discussing you.” Gareth stood in the door, a light sweat on his brow.
“I heard my name, so I was rude enough to barge in.” she smiled and Gareth took her arm, leading her into the room.
“No, no, not rude, you look much better this morning. Please, have a seat.” he gestured to a chair that was across from an oversized wooden desk. Gabrielle had almost sat down when she spotted the King at the desk, smiling at her. A gruff older man, his kindness shown in his eyes. She immediately bowed in his direction and he waved her off.
“Stop, please, I’m getting too old for this time-wasting nonsense. I know by now that I’m the King.” his eyes shone with humor. “What on earth are you wearing? It looks like Quincy’s playdress from when she was twelve!”
“It might be, they said it used to belong to one of your daughters. Maybe that’s why I want to go run outside and play tag?” Gabrielle bantered lightly with him, until Gareth cleared his throat.
“Now, back to the business at hand.” he gave a stern look at the King, who tossed his quill at him.
“Commander of the troops and a royal pain in my behind, Gareth.” the King sighed. “Go on.”
Gareth focused his eyes on Gabrielle. He was all business now.
“I understand you met our guest last night.”
“Dantien? Is she a guest or something else?” Gabrielle met his gaze evenly.
“She’s a- she’s an uninvited guest, shall we say.” the King interjected.
“She’s a threat that needs to be dealt with immediately.” Gareth snapped.
“They found her unconscious at the side of the road, and brought her here.” the King tapped his fingers on his desk. “It seemed the right thing to do, she looked like a lady that needed help.”
“If I’d known who she was, I would have killed her at the roadside then and there, and been done with it.” Gareth gestured across his throat with his fingers, and shook his head.
“She didn’t seem all that much of a threat to me.” Gabrielle said quietly. “She was very kind.”
“And did she ask you any questions while she was being so kind?” Gareth growled.
Gabrielle thought a moment. “Yes….she-”
“See!” Gareth slammed his fist into the wall. “I knew it!”
“She asked me what I had eaten. She wanted to know what made me so sick.” Gabrielle bit her lip to hold her temper.
“Well, that will bring the kingdom down, knowing what Gabrielle eats for breakfast!” the King looked at Gabrielle and they gave each other a quick smile, which only served to make Gareth more angry.
“I tell you,” he began to pace about the room “I tell you that her presence here is a death warrant for us all.”
He looked at Gabrielle, who was shaking her head. He marched over to her chair.
“A death warrant for all of us…you too, if you stay here, Gabrielle.”
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