Based on where Yujin is, I should be able to cross this hall without anyone noticing me.
Turning the corner has me aware that won't happen. "Mom..."
The queen stands in the middle of the hall before the emblem. There's no way I can get past her. If she notices me, I... No. As long as I'm close to her, she's aware where I am. Why is it she always know where I am and how to stop me?
I'm seven not three. I can walk on my own.
I sink a little. They know where I'm trying to walk to. Odin and Mom are the ones who deny me more than anyone else. I'll need to... Just accept it. Act like I came to Mom not try to leave again.
One day they won't watch so closely.
Mom turns to me as I approach. I reach her side and get lifted into her arms. Now I'm really caught. Mom is in no way a pushover. She truly is everything that one expects for a royal and she married in. "Hello, Thomas."
"Hi, Mom. I was... Looking for you."
"You were? Why not come to my wing, then?" Mom smiles at me. She knows exactly what I was planning to do.
"I just... Assumed... You'd be elsewhere."
"Mhm. That makes some sense." Mom's smile brightens. She is very aware of what I was trying to do. "I was looking over the emblem again. The symbol of our nation. Do you like it?" Mom has me face the shield hanging on the wall.
The wings without a body at top to symbolize freedom. The sword and bow crossed in the center to suggest offense. The symbol at the bottom to grant hope. But I never understood what that symbol was supposed to represent. A circle with expending petals. But a flower would be more uniform. Or is that part of why it is the way it is. To say Hope isn't exactly how you think it should look. "I like it."
"Has Emerald given you a lesson on the emblem yet?"
I shake my head. I've seen it my entire life. The emblem is found on everything marked to the king's castle. Even my clothes often have it. Because I am marked to the country. "Is there something special about it?"
"Many countries use a pair of weapons over a shield. To say we will offer both offense and defense."
That makes sense. To say I'll defend the country properly. I stare at the sword and arrow. They're simple. "Why a sword and arrow?"
"Each of the four pieces relates back to the founding team. Those who landed here and took claim to the shoreline. Bragtin was our first capital. We're far inland compared." Mom knows the history. I really don't. Emerald has a lot to teach me. "The angel wing's was to offer a place to those who died in the action."
Angel wings... I was half in a thought to think bird. But it's only the wings. When someone dies... We place angel wings on their pictures to say that. I should've realized after seeing the last funeral pyre for Grandmother. She... Died a few months ago. Her final picture...
Mom rubs the tear from my cheek. "Were you trying to find me because you were thinking of her?"
I shake my head.
Mom offers a smile. "The previous queen was a strong woman. I'm glad she died as she wanted."
I frown. How? Died as she wanted? Who wants to die? I glower at my mom then at the emblem. The angel wings to symbolize those who died for the country. I freeze. When I die... I'll be symbolized with those same wings.
"It's okay to cry. Crying while acting as king may be concerning, but there should be no reason you don't cry before me." Mom kisses my head. "The sword refers to the knights who stood forward first. And the arrows for the back guard who made a difference from behind."
"Knights..."
"You'll be a knight one day." Mom snuggles with me. She was a knight once too.
That's the expectation. What if I just... Left instead? I sigh. No one lets me leave. Knighthood may be my first real chance at escape. "What's the symbol below?"
"That's the sun."
I blink. I have seen the sun before. It doesn't look like that. I stare at my mother. It definitely looks closer to a flower.
Mom only grins at me. "I thought the same when I was younger. It's more of a flower, right? But this is meant to symbolize the sun. To say as long as another day raises over our great nation, there is hope for a future of our own making."
"Why'd we come here?" I ask the emblem even if the question is to my mother.
Mom squeezes me. "You'll learn the brutal history one day. For now, I think we can have some cookies and tea in the playrooms."
I sigh. I'm going back to my rooms, then. Stuck in my wing with my mother watching me. I'll never escape if she's nearby. It's impossible. "Our history doesn't sound the best."
"I see Emerald has been teaching you."
"I'm making inferences. She keeps not wanting to answer me when it comes to why. Just as you did. Brutal? Our country is only a few hundred years old. Why did we come here? What about those who were here beforehand?"
"You'll understand when you're older." Mom kisses my head. "Maybe you need a nap."
I freeze, eyes widening. She doesn't suggest; she's threatening with it. I'd get a sleep spell that works. Mom... "I'm going to eat cookies and read a book." I nod.
"A nonsensical fairy tale?" Mom asks me.
"Sure." Anything is better than being forced to nap. Mom is dangerous. Everyone knows to stay on her good side.
As long as she's watching me, I have no chance for escape.