~ King and Queen, Father and Mother, Husband and Wife
The King and Queen fight about their lost daughter.
King Leonard and Queen Rebecca of Corona turned to the opening doors of the waiting room as their seneschal came in.
Someone claiming to be the Lost Princess was in the palace, being tested. No matter how hard the staff tried, there was no way to hide the fact there was a Lost Princess candidate in the palace. The energy of the palace changed, hope and depression warred openly in the corridors, even when no one said anything. You could see it in everyone's eyes, the way they walked, and how they did their duties. So the royal couple hid away from it all, until it was over.
Mortimer Danberry looked at the king. The sad look on his face and the compassion that outlined his eyes said it all even before he shook his head. Mortimer walked to the queen and held out the Lock of the Lost Princess, she took it and looped it over her head. She tucked it under her dress and her hands fell onto the book in her lap.
Mortimer bowed to the royal couple and quietly left. He went to his office to clear the royal schedule for the next few days. He met the Head Woman and told her to prepare some of their favorite foods, send for the musicians and update the list of events in the kingdom that they could distract themselves with.
King Leonard turned back to the window. He could see a carriage escorted by guards racing over the bridge and into the forest. That would be the latest false princess and her "rescuers." They had failed the Test of the Lost Princess and so were exiled, never to return to this kingdom. The thought of having someone that had claimed to have been their daughter still in the kingdom was too terrible. It was dangerous too, to return would mean death. It was the only way to keep them away. They wanted their daughter back too much.
King Leonard turned to look at his bride as he heard soft thumps behind him. Great tears were dripping onto the leather-bound book on her lap, her hands laying open and empty.
Queen Rebecca looked up, rivulets of tears coursing down her beautiful face. "Where's my baby?" She pleaded.
"I don't know." Leonard said in a defeated sounding way.
"Why doesn't she come home?"
"I don't know." Leonard hated having to say that, but it was the truth.
"Why can't we find her?"
"I don't know." Those words twisted in his heart. He was the kingdom's and his wife's knight in shining armor.
"Why did you call off the search?" the mother of the Lost Princess asked.
"Because, the kingdom was falling apart. Everyone was out there looking for her, just like when they searched for the flower for you. Farms were languishing, crops and animals neglected and ships left in port. I let them search longer then I dared. As much as I wanted our daughter back, I couldn't let the kingdom starve." The King of Corona replied.
"Why not!?" The Queen of Corona pleaded.
"Because, I am the king! It is my duty to put the kingdom first!" He began to get loud.
"And without our daughter, what happens to the kingdom then!?" The queen's voice rose to match her husbands.
"Bad things, I know! Do you think we've stopped looking!? I have ordered the officers on every ship to keep an eye out, they visit a fair portion of the planet. I have search parties still out there. I am certain others have sent out people to look as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the Headwoman has people searching the Highlands of Scotland. What more do you want me to do!?"
"I don't know! I just want my baby back!" Rebecca yelled. Angry tears running down her face.
"You think I don't want her back too!?" Leonard shouted.
"You're not acting like it!"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You didn't even go after the kidnapper yourself that night!"
"I'm the king! I don't go diving out of second story windows when I have guards to do that for me!" That hurt a lot. He should have done more. He was supposed to be the knight on a white horse.
"But you stopped me!"
"I had to! I could save you! It was bad enough that our daughter was in harm's way, but you too would have been too much for me." Leonard flings his arm toward the window.
"But it wasn't enough! We still get people coming saying they have our daughter, but they don't! She's still gone!" The queen stood, the book in her hand.
"You think I don't know that!"
"You just stand there looking out the window all the time. Don't you feel anything anymore?"
"No, I don't! I can't feel anything! You feel everything! You do nothing but cry! We don't need tears, we need an heir!"
"You think I don't know that! You think I haven't tried! I've buried thirteen children. I stayed in that bed for years! I poured my whole life into having a baby for the kingdom! But it wasn't enough! Nothing is ever enough anymore! If you were a better king none of this would have happened!" Rebecca shouted, wanting to do something about the terrible hurt in her heart. Hurting the man who she loved most, the man who was her knight in shining armor but hadn't protected their baby.
"None of this would have happened if you made babies that didn't die right away!" In the terrible disappointment Leonard heard in her voice, he struck with the most hurtful thing he knew to say, because she had hurt him so badly.
There was a terrible silence as words echoed through minds.
Rebecca threw the book that was in her hand at her husband. He blocked it, redirected it away from his face, smashing it out and away through the window. The book landed on the soft green grass far below.
The door opened and a maid peeked in. She saw the king and queen glaring at each other looking like they were about to go at it hammer and tongs and heard the snarl coming from the king. The king rounded on the maid and advanced on the door, the terrible look of pain and rage on his face was terrifying. The highly trained Lock Maid dove away from the door and found herself cowering under a table by the door, hiding like a child during a storm.
The king ripped open the door, banging it off the wall and strode away toward his study.
The queen went to the sideboard where some snacks were laid out and with a scream swept them to the floor. She over turned the table and the chair and the other furniture. A maid scurried in with a stack of dishes, to help the queen calm down. The queen smashed the plates against the walls of the waiting room, screaming fit to blast the walls of the palace down.
The king slammed the door of his study closed with a resounding bang. Heavy thuds from within made the walls shake.
The staff was terrified. They knew how to help the queen calm down, but most of them had never seen the king so angry. They had no idea how to help him. They had never seen the royal couple have such a fight. It was like the very foundations of the kingdom were shattering.
Everyone in the palace and beyond tried their very best to do their work the very best they could, not matter how insignificant, if it might make the royal couple feel better. They needed the royal couple to be strong and good, that would help everything be alright, wouldn't it? Many pillows were wet with tears that night; tears of fear, sadness and grief.
Later, near sundown, Rebecca was sitting in front of the marker for her children. There were no more tears for today, just emptiness.
There was a quiet step nearby.
Rebecca looked up. Her husband was standing not too far away, he was looking at her feet.
"I'm sorry. You don't deserve, all this." He gestured to the marker with thirteen names and dates on it.
"No, no one does, but it is what we have. I'm sorry. You are a good man and a good king. You did not deserve that or all what we are going through." Rebecca said hoarsely. She scooted over and patted the space beside her. Leonard sat down and put his arm around her. She put her arm around him and her head on his shoulder.
"I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. Hurting you is wrong, I'm sorry. I do love you." Leonard said.
"I am sorry too. I hurt so much all the time. I'm sorry I took it out on you. I love you too." Rebecca said. Leonard gave her a squeeze.
Rebecca took a shaking breath. "I don't know if I can do it all anymore. I feel so stretched and empty. I am in meetings with so many people that I just want to scream at because they are so meaningless. I really don't care about what flowers are planted in which garden, or how the art is arranged in the third floor corridor on the right hand side. My worry over my baby overwhelms all that. I juggle so many things, I don't want to drop any of them but I know I am and I am not even giving you the attention you deserve."
"Okay, those things aren't so important that the Headwoman can't take care of it. What would you do? You should stay busy, I don't want you falling into melancholy," asked the concerned husband.
"I want to take care of my baby, but she's gone." Rebecca's head and shoulders drooped.
"How about taking care of the children of the kingdom, the orphans and the schools?" Leonard suggested.
"Oh, I love helping them, I never do it enough." Rebecca brightened. Leonard knew she was always fond of children, all of them.
"I'm sure we can find a way to alter your duties and let you focus on the children for your duties. You are a good mother, for our children and our kingdom," said Leonard.
"Oh, thank you." Rebecca said hugging her husband tight then relaxing. Relaxing more deeply then she had in a long time. She was feeling a deep relief by putting down all the things she felt she needed to juggle.
They sat in silence for a long time.
"Leonard, are you alright?" Rebecca asked, feeling the tension in her husband's body. She seemed to be able to feel it so easily now.
"Of course I am," said Leonard stoically.
She sat back and looked him in the eyes. "No, you are not."
She took up his bandaged hands, "I know how I am feeling now and how I was feeling. I know you are feeling the need to be strong for all of us. You are the king, the knight of the kingdom. You have to be strong for the people, holding the kingdom up, but it's okay now. I'm sorry that I haven't let you come down off the white horse and take off the armor and rest. It's okay now. I won't hurt you. You can put it down for a while now. I love you. Please, put it down." Rebecca put her hand on the side of his face.
She could see it in his eyes as he was remembering how to put everything down. It took time, but she was seeing her husband again and not just the king. He took her hand, and he had tears running into his beard. "I love you and I miss our babies so much." They touched foreheads.
"I know. I do too. It's okay. There, there. I love you too," said Rebecca as they held each other close in their openness and vulnerability.
"We are all still alive. There is still hope and we will get though even this." Rebecca said quietly.
"We are all still alive. There is still hope and we will get though even this," intoned Leonard, hoping that it was true.
They leaned against each other for a quiet while.
"I love you. I forgive you," said Leonard.
"I love you and forgive you too," said Rebecca.
They then said the names of all their children.
To remember them forever.
They hugged each other tight and watched the clouds change from white to red and orange as the sun set. As the stars came out, they wished again for their baby to come home.
Author's Note: There is a lot of stress in this family and it will boil over sometimes, but they love each other enough to try and try to fix it.
Wolfram-Hart-Sauron proposed the idea of the royals having a fight. Yeah, they can fight.