Amelia Returns Home - Chapter Forty

Amelia and the wizard arrive at the cottage. Beth met them outside and was puzzled to see him with Amelia. 

"Whats going on? I thought the queen didn't want them to have Amelia back." Beth asked. 

"Well I can't explain it, but she's to live here for now until the queen decides what to do with her." he told her.

Amelia walked into the cottage to see several people standing around, staring at her. 

"This is Amelia! She will be staying here for a while." he announced to everyone. 

Amelia was scared and didn't know any of them. She figured that the two adults holding hands were her parents, but wasn't sure about the two older girls.

Kara recognized Amelia immediately as the little baby they took away from her many years ago. She could see so much of herself in her face. She was so happy to see her child again and that they had spared her life.

Kara walked up to Amelia and introduced herself. 

"My name is Kara and I'm your birth mother. I'm so glad to see you again. The last time I saw you was when you were born. They took you to the palace to live."

Amelia reached up and gave Kara a big hug. 

"I'm glad to meet you. I didn't know I had parents until recently. I thought I was the queen's daughter. They treated me well and me and James we were like brother and sister. Almost!" she told her mom. 

"Im very glad to hear that they were kind to you. I hope you will be happy here with us." Kara replied and smiled at her.

Amelia then walked up to the man. 

"I'm guessing that you're my dad?!" Amelia asked him. 

"You guessed right. I'm your father and I'm married to your mother. You have two older sisters, Jane and Sara. You had another sister, Marie, but she died young of a illness. I'm glad to have you back." he told her.

She wrapped her tiny arms around him. 

"I was wondering one thing. I look like James, but you and my mother do not look like me. Why is that?" Amelia asked him. 

"We were once like you. Your mom had you when she was like you, then the wizard found a potion to take it away." he told her. 

"Then why didn't they cure me and James?" Amelia asked. 

"You are far too young and they didn't want to put your lives in danger." he replied

After a long day, Amelia was shown to her new room. She placed the doll on the table that she was allowed to keep. She walked up to the window and stared out wondering where James was and how he would ever find her. Her life would never be the same she thought to herself.

It was getting late and she knew she needed to rest. She was exhausted from the trip and emotionally drained.

As she laid her head down on her pillow, she thought how her life was about to change. Why was she taken from her parents and then told a lie all her life? And now, "why did the queen hate her so much?" she asked herself. She then slowly drifted to sleep.

Before the wizard prepared to head back to the palace, Kara approached him. 

"Are we allowed to keep her and live our normal lives again? Can we move back to our home?" she asked him.

"I can't answer that. I was told to bring her here. She must have displeased the queen. I was told that she was to live here with you and that, when she needed her for her purpose, she would summon for her again." he told her.

Kara's heart sank when he told her that. She was shocked that the queen would be so cruel to her and to Amelia. 

"So there is a chance that she will be taken and even killed?!" Kara asked not really wanting the answer. 

"If that is what the queen wants, then yes." he answered.

"I will not let her have her!" Kara pleaded. 

"You have no choice. She can put your whole family to death if she wants to. I would not push her majesty. She will get what she wants in the end." he replied sternly.

"So this is why we were kept at the castle and mom and dad were here all that time." Sara told her sister. 

"Well I see that they did something to Amelia and that seems so unfair. She's so young and suffers that awful curse. I never even knew she exsisted." Jane replied astonished.

"I wish we could punish this awful queen! She killed our sister, and now she has made so many suffer. She is a plague to our family. If we are to protect Amelia, we will need to come up with a plan." Sara told Jane.

Amelia awoke from a bad dream. She sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She knew she had a bad dream but realized that it wasn't a dream after all.

She couldn't sleep and had to get up. All the thoughts running through her head was almost too much for her to bare.

She walked outside to get some air. It was still dark and it brought some comfort to her. She loved playing outside in the dark, since she slept most of the time during the daylight hours. She felt so alone and despair started to take over her.

She began to cry as she missed what she knew of as home. She just wanted to be in her own bed and to be with James and the ladies that kept her company.

Daylight came and she headed up to her room to be by herself. She took one of the books off the shelf and decided to do some reading to take her mind off things. It worked until she grew tired of reading.

She didn't want to be around anyone. She spent the whole day in her room alone. Kara and Mark tried to get her to come out, but she just wanted some time to adjust.

The next day, she started to lighten up a bit. She went to the toy box and even started to play with some of the toys that she had.

Later she headed downstairs and started to get to know her mom. They sat in the den and talked for hours. She told stories of how good James was to her and how she even had ladies that waited on her. 

"I had a beautiful room with lavish things. James got betrothed to a princess names Julia. She's a spiteful girl. One day me and James was playing with the horses and he kissed me and she saw the whole thing. That's why she sent me away." Amelia told her mom. 

"Now it all making sense. I hate that this all happened to you. I always wondered about you and wished you were here with me. But it sounds like they treated you like their own." Kara replied.

As the night approached, Amelia was playing outside when her older sister Jane came over to talk to her. 

"So you are Amelia. I didn't know I had a little sister. You're cute as a button." Jane said and laughed. 

"Oh now you're being silly. I think it's neat to have sisters." she replied. 

"I will now watch over you and protect you. If you need anything, you let your big sis know and I'll take care of it." Jane told her. 

"I will keep that in mind." she replied as she giggled.

Things were turning around and she started to feel welcomed into her new family. But each night she would stare out the window missing everyone and wishing to be back at the castle where she grew up.

Kara and Mark were so happy to have Amelia back. 

"Life is turning around for us. I think she's going to like it here. It will take her some time to adjust, but I think she will feel the love we have for her." Kara tells him.