"She's rested enough. She will be able to leave today," a nurse says to us. The queen nods from where she's sitting on the counter and watching the nurse look over Gold. They didn't have to sedate her this time, as she didn't have to get any shots because it was just a quick check up.
"I suppose we should have a feast before you leave, yes?" The queen asks, jumping down from the counter. Gold looks like she wants to leave right then and there but Bree quickly accepts the queen's offer before Gold can say anything.
The queen claps her hands and gestures for us to follow her out of the room. I pat Gold on the head as you hear her grumble beside me and tell her quietly that we'll get there soon enough. She sighs and nods her head, still somewhat reluctantly following the queen.
"Chefs! We are having a feast!" The queen tells as she walks into the kitchen. The chefs look very happy at this prospect and start bustling around the kitchen and preparing food. I catch a sight of the chef who cooked for us the other day and I wave to them.
They see me and Bree and wave back, smiling at us before going back to their work. I think I hear the queen say something under her breath about giving them a promotion as she sees the exchange between us. I smile softly and hope that the queen does give the chef a promotion, knowing that they definitely deserve it.
"The feast should be done in an hour. For now, go up to your rooms and someone will be there to pack .you some stuff, but you won't really need much as you'll meet Queen Jagaur and Queen Pitbull there, " Queen Gerbil says, waving us off.
We walk up to our rooms, Gold almost bolting up the stairs. I laugh and me and Bree follow after her at a much more sociable pace. We make it to our room and see two hamsters there, loading up the saddle bag that's lying on the floor.
Bree gets some money out of the bag and hands it to them, making them stare at her in shock for a minute before thanking her and going back to their work. She leans her head against my shoulder as we watch the hamsters work.
They finish and walk out the door, thanking Bree again before closing it and leaving us in the room. Gold paces around the room, looking half anxious and half excited. I walk over and place a hand get my on her back, making her jump and turn towards me.
"Hey, it's okay. Just me," I tell her softly. She relaxes slightly and paces a bit more until I realize that it's almost time for the feast. Me and Bree out the saddle onto Gold and we walk out of the room for the last time. I close the door and we walk downstairs to the ballroom.
"Wow," Gold says as we walk in. There are streamers and confetti literally everywhere, flowers set down on the table a near the food. We walk to our seats, luckily being some of the first ones there which means we don't have to push through a crowd.
We sit down and I smile at the queen, silently thanking her. She nods and smiles at me as people start to come into the room, jostling each other about as they try to find their seats. Finally everyone is sitting down and the queen bangs a hand on the table.
"Let the feast begin!" She declares. I smile and I grab some food off of the platter situated in the middle of the table. When I imagined having royal feasts, I imagined more of a fairy tail type of feast, not one with chicken strips and macaroni salad, not that I'm complaining.
"If they all have kingdoms of animals, wouldn't this be weird between them?" Bree asks me quietly as she takes some chicken strips off the table. I think about it for a minute before feeling the blood drain from my face.
"I don't want to think about it," I whisper back to her. She laughs, drawing the attention of some of the rodents at the table. She smiles apologetically and they go back to eating and talking to each other as if we never interrupted.
I finish off my macaroni salad just as the chefs get up from the table and start clearing dishes off. I grab the rest of the chicken strips and put them in a paper bag, stuffing the bag into one of Gold's saddle bags. She looks at me like I'm insane but I just take the last chicken strips off my plate and take a bite of it.
The chefs clear out all the plates and start bringing out a whole assortment of different desserts. As they finish I realize sadly that they don't have any ice cream but then Bree points at my favorite cake and I smile happily.
I take a piece of the carrot cake and put it on the new plate that a chef gave me, taking a bite of the delicious cake. I see Bree looking at me from the corner of her eye as she eats her piece of lemon meringue pie. I smile at her and she looks away from me, blushing brightly.
Soon, everyone gets done eating and the chefs clear off the dessert plates before returning to the table. The queen stands up from where she's sitting and everyone immediately gets quiet. She stands there for a moment and then smiles.
"We are thankful to have such wonderful guests, but they must leave now," she says. A collective groan comes from everyone and my eyes widen in surprise. Bree doesn't seem surprised that they are sad about us leaving and she throws an apologetic look at everyone.
"Thank you for having us, " I say to the queen. She nods at us as we get up from our chairs and walk to the empty side of the ballroom. We get onto Gold's back and wait for the queen to say something but before she can, a bunch of little rodents come over and start petting Gold.
Gold let's them per her, even though it is clear that she really wants to get going so she can find her mom. Eventually the queen steps in and the kids to back to their parents while the queen stands beside us. She pats Gold on the head and smiles at us.
"Until we meet again," she says and walks a good distance away from us. I smile at her and wave as she stands watching with the other rodents. Good starts running around the ballroom faster than I've ever seen her before.
Then the bright yellow light surrounds us and we're gone.