Kiram and Sheila 7: Dinner and the Truth
By: Flynn Reynolds
When Kiram, Sheila, and Bailey entered the dining room, a crowd of 22 familiar faces jumped up out of their chairs.
"Surprise! Welcome back, Kiram and Sheila." They all shouted. Kiram and Sheila jumped and Bailey started laughing.
"Damn it Bailey!" Kiram said.
"Oh come on, Kiram, is that any way to greet your brothers and sisters?" Louis asked.
"Yeah. Bailey and Louis have already seen you again, but this is our first time." The youngest of the bunch said, marching over to Kiram sticking her tongue out.
"You're right. I'm sorry, Sarah." Kiram smiled as he picked up his baby sister. He, Sheila, and Bailey walked over to the table and took their seats. After Sarah went back to her seat, the feast began.
"So, Kiram, what's new?" Ashley asked. Bailey began to speak.
"Besides me coming back after four years," Kiram said. Bailey pouted. "and the fact that Sheila and I are officially boyfriend/girlfriend, not a whole lot." The cousins began commenting in a mixture of "you two are a couple? Finally. It's about time. Etc."
"Alright alright. Calm your asses down." Kiram said. "Hey wait. I just noticed Susanna's missing. Where is she?"
"She's in the United Hemisphere touring." Ashley said.
"I thought she was in jail." Sarah said.
"Some of the tourist attractions are prisons, like Alcatraz." Erik quickly said. The others all nodded in agreement.
"Oh. I see." Kiram said. "That's kind of a shame."
"True as that may be, there are other issues to talk about." Bailey said.
"Oh? What issues are those?" Sheila asked.
"Kiram, you are the oldest of all of us." Lucy said.
"And father is dead." Malcolm said.
"Which means that the oldest heir inherits the throne." Pamela said.
"What are you getting at?" Kiram asked. "Bailey is on the throne now."
"Yes. Because we thought you were dead, I inherited the throne." Bailey said. "But now that you're back, we were wondering if you would take your rightful place as emperor."
"No." Kiram said.
"What?" The siblings all said in unison.
"Why not, Kiram?" Sheila asked.
"I don't want to be emperor. I denounced my claim before I left, remember?"
"But now that you're back, you're claim was reinstated." Bailey said.
"It was reinstated AFTER you became empress." Kiram said. "I don't want to be emperor so I'll let you stay on the throne."
"Are you sure about this?" Sheila and Bailey both asked.
"Yes, I'm positive. I don't want to be emperor." Kiram said. They finished eating their dinner and all went about their business. Things settled down for a while after that, but a few days later, things changed. Kiram was walking down the hallway when he heard something he wished he hadn't.
"I know we don't want to piss him off, but we can't keep this secret from him." Christine said. "He deserves to know the truth."
"I know, but how do we tell Kiram that Susanna is responsible for Lady Hirshina's death?" Bailey asked.
"WHAT?!" Kiram shrieked as he burst in the room.
"Kiram." Christine and Bailey said in unison. "What are…?"
"SHUT UP!" Kiram barked. "I HEARD YOU SAY SUSANNA WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MOTHER'S DEATH! TELL ME EVERYTHING!"
"Kiram. Kiram, calm down." Christine said.
"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! TELL ME EVERYTHING! NOW!" Kiram yelled.
"We will." Bailey said. "But we need you to calm down just a bit."
"Kiram, what's wrong?" Sheila said as she came into the room. "What are you screaming about?"
"I just found out that Susanna was responsible for my mom's death and they were hiding it from me." Kiram said.
"What?" Sheila said.
"It's true." Christine said. "We didn't know how to break it to him. He ran away because of this once, we didn't want him to again, especially since he just got here."
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't." Kiram said. "I made a royal promise to Bailey that I wouldn't. Nevertheless, I want to know everything."
"Ok, Kiram, we will tell you everything. Sit down." Bailey said. Kiram and Sheila sat down. Bailey and Christine sat down across from them.
"How long have you known?" Kiram demanded.
"Not that long. It was just before Louis proved you were alive." Bailey said.
"It's true." Christine said. "But it gets worse. Not only was Susanna the cause of Lady Hirshina's death, but it was part of a conspiracy."
"WHAT!?" Kiram barked.
"Susanna was jealous that some of us would inherit the throne before her. You especially. She figured by killing your mom, you would run away in fear of being targeted next. Many people who knew the truth feared for your safety, including father. That's why he acted the way he did when you visited him that day. It wasn't yet clear whether or not it was a conspiracy, so he worried that if he revealed the investigation, you would be killed on the spot." Christine said.
"You mean dad acted like an asshole to keep us safe?" Kiram asked.
"Yes." Bailey said.
"But wait." Kiram said. "I'm not the only one older than Susanna. What about you and Louis? What was her plan?"
"That's just it." Christine said. "Because of the high police activity going on, she had to lay low for a while. All of her accomplices were caught, arrested, and executed before she could make her next move."
"Then what happened to her? Where is Susanna ACTUALLY right now?" Kiram asked.
"She's in the dungeon. And she's going to stay there for the rest of her life." Bailey said.
"I see." Kiram said.
"Kiram, are you ok?" Sheila asked. He nodded.
"There's one last thing." Bailey said.
"What's that?" Kiram asked.
"The guards have been told not to let you into the dungeon unless escorted by one of us. They even have the same eyewear we had when we went to get you so your geass is useless."
"I see." Kiram said.
"I'm sorry, brother. We know what she did was terrible, but you can't kill our sister." Christine said.
"I don't want to kill her." Kiram said. "I just want her to suffer. I think life in the dungeon is a suitable punishment."
"So you're not going to do anything?" Sheila asked. Kiram held her hand.
"Trust me. I promise I won't kill Susanna." Kiram said. I'm just going to beat her up. That night, Kiram snuck to the dungeon.
THE END! FOR NOW!