It was evening when Silica woke up to the sound of voices outside her bedroom door. Once she was a little more awake she recognized the voices outside. They belonged to her brother, Chezem, and the minister, Balam.
Balam was going on about her and Chezem's inheritance. And how it would help the country. In what ways, Silica didn't want to know. To be frank, Silica didn't to know what his true intentions were, and really didn't want to know. Whether good or evil. She never really trusted Balam when she first met him. He was just a greedy, corrupt politician to her. She didn't want uncultured swine near her brother. Or any of them for that matter.
The confrontation sounded like it was getting worse. Silica jumped out of bed to help her big brother. She rushed out of her bedroom and pushed Balam away from Chezem. "Stay away from my brother!" Silica exclaimed. She wasn't sure how many times she had pushed Balam away.
Chezem put his hands on her shoulders as a sign that he backed his sweet, kind, loving sister up. They've have always been close.
Balam was getting annoyed. He knew that both siblings would inherit the oil reserves and diamond mines their mother owned. He never liked Chezem's little sister. She always got in the way of what he wanted. Balam noticed that Silica's arm was still outstretched. "Why don't you be a good girl and give Chezem your half of the inheritance?" Balam asked really irritated. He grabbed her clearly intended to force her to give Chezem full control over it. He didn't care what he had to do to make her give it up.
Silica's face showed complete and utter terror. Balam had never showed any intention on getting her to hand over her half of the inheritance. This was the first time she saw just how greedy the minister truly was. "Let me go," Silica stammered. She struggled to get free of his grasp. He was much stronger than she was.
Silica and Chezem's brothers ended up coming to their rescue. To least help anyway.
"Let our sister go." They were all angry with Balam. He should have known better than to mess with their sister. She would always be protected no matter what came her way.
Balam did what he was told and let her go. He left there shortly after.
When Balam let Silica go she fell backwards into a pillar. Chezem rushed to her side. He picked her up and held her close. "Are you okay, sis?" He asked softly.
Silica nodded. "I am. Thanks." She clung to him.
"We won't let him hurt you again," Alvah told her. "You're way too important to us."
"Take it easy for the rest of the day. Let us know if there's anything you may need." Lambert spoke in a very confident tone.
She nodded. "Thanks everyone. I don't know what I would do without you." Silica was really lucky to have a family like them around. "I'm very lucky to have all of you."
They all smiled at her.
"Don't worry, our princess," Melchiorre had said. "We all have your back. You can tell us anything." Melchiorre messed with Silica's hair making her giggle.
Chezem took Silica into the bathroom adjacent to her room. Since she was the only girl living in the palace; she got her very own bathroom. "Let me help you get washed up." His smile was gentle. And all Silica could do was nod. Chezem had always been like this. Whenever she was hurt he would always make time to help her. Whether if he was busy or not.
After Chezem helped her he went and got her some food.
Silica sat on her bed as she waited for her brother to get back with some food. She held her wrist where Balam had grabbed her. It still hurt a little. Chezem did bandage it up before he left. She hoped he would bring back some ice for it. She didn't want her wrist to be hurting anymore.
"What's wrong, Silica? You look down," Chezem said in some surprise as he walked into her room with food.
She jumped at the sound of his voice. Silica looked at him in confusion. She didn't know what he meant particularly.
He set the food down on her nightstand and sat down next her. He grabbed a piece of food that was left over from breakfast and put it in her mouth and watched as she acted younger than she actually was. It made him happy to be able to see her like this. He recalled how she would always be excited to eat. The two of them would always tend to feed each other. It annoyed everyone at the table, but they ended up laughing seeing them act like that. It wasn't proper etiquette to do that in the palace, but they were young. Chezem seemed to remember that Melchiorre had carried them to bed when they fell asleep in his room whenever he decided to read to them.
Silica wrapped her arms around her brother's waist. "Thank you, brother. I don't mean to worry you and the others. I don't want to choose between you and everyone."
After awhile Chezem left. He had asked if Silica wanted him to read to her. For old times sake. She told him that she'd be fine and that she might go to him before she went to bed. Maybe even fall asleep there.
Silica walked over to her desk and started writing a letter to Ivan. She started off with something sweet.
Dear Ivan,
I'm telling you this because you are the only person who won't judge me because of my decision. I'm really sorry, but I have to go. Having to decide the next king is ... is too much for me. Please look after my brothers for me. You've always been a big help to me. I wish the talk we had could keep me here, but sadly it didn't do much to change my mind and I still have to go. Please tell Jun that I'm sorry as well. He tried to calm and talk me out of it as well. There's too much pressure about the right of succession on my shoulders. I don't know if I'll ever come back to the palace. Maybe if my father decides that I won't be choosing between my siblings. I will never choose between them. I've hidden the bracelet in my room; when you find it please give it back to my father. Be sure to tell him that I will never choose between my brothers. They all have qualities to become king and rule this country. Take care, Ivan. I'll miss you. Please don't tell them I left. This decision was very hard for me to make.
Good-bye, Ivan.
Love,
Silica
As Silica wrote about the bracelet she didn't realize that Jun had taken it and had given it back to their father. After Silica was done writing the note, she began packing the rest of what she would need for her trip. She grabbed all the money she had been saving up. It was mostly allowance money her father and mother had given her over the years. Her allowance made everybody's allowance around her look like pocket change.
A couple years back Silica persuaded her parents to get her a cellphone. That it was a good idea for her to have one just in case something happened to her and they needed to find her quickly. Mostly because of when she and Nagit have been kidnapped. Silica having a cell would make it easier to pinpoint their location if that ever happened again.
Silica flinched as she recalled the most recent abduction. Nagit tried everything he could to try and calm his younger sister, but nothing seemed to work. The kidnappers planned to get two ransoms from both the youngest prince and princess. They wanted more money from her since she had the royal bracelet of succession. And she was the only princess the king had. The kidnappers were getting a good amount of money for her brother and had sent him back to the palace; while they asked for a much bigger payout. The ransom for Nagit was payed for and he was able to go back to the palace while Silica had to stay behind their kidnappers. Silica didn't even have the guts to tell her brothers what the kidnappers wanted to do her. Silica was grateful when her brothers and Ivan had finally shown up. She had ran into Chezem's arms. Silica needed the comfort of her big brother's strong arms surrounding her.
Silica shuddered at the rest of her memory. It was something she didn't want to remember. It scared her for quite some time. Even now she wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. She held her tears back as she put the final articles of clothing into her bag. Silica closed her bag. She knew this palace like the back of her hand. Which helped since she didn't want to be seen by the servants and asked why she was sneaking out of the palace at this time of night. Thankfully everyone was already asleep and made it easier for her to run. Silica prayed she wouldn't run into any of her siblings or Ivan. As she feared she heard voices in the hall. She recognized the voices immediately.
"Are you trying to win Silica over?" Alvah asked angrily. "Do you want to be king so badly? To get inside your own sister's head. You know Silica looks up to us."
"You have no clue what Silica is going through right now, Alvah. How stressed she from choosing between us," Jun retorted. He was starting to see the big picture after being blind to it for so long. He blamed himself for not noticing sooner. She always smiled when she was around him. Like there was nothing wrong. Jun recalled how Silica enjoyed her studies more hen she spent time with him.
"What do you mean I don't know what she's going through? Silica got kidnapped because of that stupid bracelet and choosing between us. Silica can't choose because she loves us all to death. She'd do anything for us." Alvah raised his voice even more. He loved his little to death. He couldn't see her taken away again. Alvah asked their father to tighten security around her because of his fear of losing her for good.
"Lord Alvah please keep your voice down," Ivan butted in. "I'm sure Silica wouldn't want to wake up to the sound of you and Lord Jun arguing. Please go back to your rooms before someone else wakes up."
Jun and Alvah nodded. Silica stayed hidden behind the pillar. She held her tears back as best she could. She didn't realize how much they truly cared for her. The love they had. Hearing Jun and Alvah say what they did made her decision even harder.
Before Jun entered his room he looked back to where he and Alvah had been arguing. Jun swore he heard crying. He shrugged it off and went to bed.
Silica hurried to the entrance of her home. Thankfully no one else was in sight and she was able to get away and to the bus station that would take her to the airport. Silica planned on catching a plane to Japan. She knew that is where Nagit's mother is from. Silica recalled some memories of when she was alive. Nagit's mother taught both of them the tea ceremony and everything she could about Japan before she had passed.
Once on the bus, Silica checked her phone. She saw that she had a message from one of her closest friends. He was a prince of another kingdom. Whenever her father went on diplomatic matters to Agnapolis and he always brought her and Melchiorre with him. Silica always played with Cecil when she was there with her family. She smiled when he told her that he would be there once she landed. Cecil also told her that he would bring some of his friends with him.
I'll see you when I land. Silica sent as she made it to the airport. Thankfully the bus wasn't all that packed when she got on. And she as able to get a seat by herself. She had gotten in contact with Cecil a few days about different agencies as she was looking for one to join. Silica had heard he had joined Shining Agency a while back. Silica had sort of lied that her father was okay with her joining an agency.
Silica walked onto the plane and waited for all the other passengers to board so it could take off. Once all the passengers were on the plane took off and headed towards Japan.
Slight Trigger Warning. I do reference what happened in this version of the chapter. That is one of the reasons why this is at the end rather than at the front. other than the trigger warning everything is pretty much the same.
It was evening when Silica woke up to the sound of voices outside her bedroom door. Once she was a little more awake she recognized the voices outside. They belonged to her brother, Chezem, and the minister, Balam.
Balam was going on about her and Chezem's inheritance. And how it would help the country. In what ways, Silica didn't want to know. To be frank, Silica didn't to know what his true intentions were, and really didn't want to know. Whether good or evil. She never really trusted Balam when she first met him. He was just a greedy, corrupt politician to her. She didn't want uncultured swine near her brother. Or any of them for that matter.
The confrontation sounded like it was getting worse. Silica jumped out of bed to help her big brother. She rushed out of her bedroom and pushed Balam away from Chezem. "Stay away from my brother!" Silica exclaimed. She wasn't sure how many times she had pushed Balam away.
Chezem put his hands on her shoulders as a sign that he backed his sweet, kind, loving sister up. They've have always been close.
Balam was getting annoyed. He knew that both siblings would inherit the oil reserves and diamond mines their mother owned. He never liked Chezem's little sister. She always got in the way of what he wanted. Balam noticed that Silica's arm was still outstretched. "Why don't you be a good girl and give Chezem your half of the inheritance?" Balam asked really irritated. He grabbed her clearly intended to force her to give Chezem full control over it. He didn't care what he had to do to make her give it up.
Silica's face showed complete and utter terror. Balam had never showed any intention on getting her to hand over her half of the inheritance. This was the first time she saw just how greedy the minister truly was. "Let me go," Silica stammered. She struggled to get free of his grasp. He was much stronger than she was.
Silica and Chezem's brothers ended up coming to their rescue. To least help anyway.
"Let our sister go." They were all angry with Balam. He should have known better than to mess with their sister. She would always be protected no matter what came her way.
Balam did what he was told and let her go. He left there shortly after.
When Balam let Silica go she fell backwards into a pillar. Chezem rushed to her side. He picked her up and held her close. "Are you okay, sis?" He asked softly.
Silica nodded. "I am. Thanks." She clung to him.
"We won't let him hurt you again," Alvah told her. "You're way too important to us."
"Take it easy for the rest of the day. Let us know if there's anything you may need." Lambert spoke in a very confident tone.
She nodded. "Thanks everyone. I don't know what I would do without you." Silica was really lucky to have a family like them around. "I'm very lucky to have all of you."
They all smiled at her.
"Don't worry, our princess," Melchiorre had said. "We all have your back. You can tell us anything." Melchiorre messed with Silica's hair making her giggle.
Chezem took Silica into the bathroom adjacent to her room. Since she was the only girl living in the palace; she got her very own bathroom. "Let me help you get washed up." His smile was gentle. And all Silica could do was nod. Chezem had always been like this. Whenever she was hurt he would always make time to help her. Whether if he was busy or not.
After Chezem helped her he went and got her some food.
Silica sat on her bed as she waited for her brother to get back with some food. She held her wrist where Balam had grabbed her. It still hurt a little. Chezem did bandage it up before he left. She hoped he would bring back some ice for it. She didn't want her wrist to be hurting anymore.
"What's wrong, Silica? You look down," Chezem said in some surprise as he walked into her room with food.
She jumped at the sound of his voice. Silica looked at him in confusion. She didn't know what he meant particularly.
He set the food down on her nightstand and sat down next her. He grabbed a piece of food that was left over from breakfast and put it in her mouth and watched as she acted younger than she actually was. It made him happy to be able to see her like this. He recalled how she would always be excited to eat. The two of them would always tend to feed each other. It annoyed everyone at the table, but they ended up laughing seeing them act like that. It wasn't proper etiquette to do that in the palace, but they were young. Chezem seemed to remember that Melchiorre had carried them to bed when they fell asleep in his room whenever he decided to read to them.
Silica wrapped her arms around her brother's waist. "Thank you, brother. I don't mean to worry you and the others. I don't want to choose between you and everyone."
After awhile Chezem left. He had asked if Silica wanted him to read to her. For old times sake. She told him that she'd be fine and that she might go to him before she went to bed. Maybe even fall asleep there.
Silica walked over to her desk and started writing a letter to Ivan. She started off with something sweet.
Dear Ivan,
I'm telling you this because you are the only person who won't judge me because of my decision. I'm really sorry, but I have to go. Having to decide the next king is ... is too much for me. Please look after my brothers for me. You've always been a big help to me. I wish the talk we had could keep me here, but sadly it didn't do much to change my mind and I still have to go. Please tell Jun that I'm sorry as well. He tried to calm and talk me out of it as well. There's too much pressure about the right of succession on my shoulders. I don't know if I'll ever come back to the palace. Maybe if my father decides that I won't be choosing between my siblings. I will never choose between them. I've hidden the bracelet in my room; when you find it please give it back to my father. Be sure to tell him that I will never choose between my brothers. They all have qualities to become king and rule this country. Take care, Ivan. I'll miss you. Please don't tell them I left. This decision was very hard for me to make.
Good-bye, Ivan.
Love,
Silica
As Silica wrote about the bracelet she didn't realize that Jun had taken it and had given it back to their father. After Silica was done writing the note, she began packing the rest of what she would need for her trip. She grabbed all the money she had been saving up. It was mostly allowance money her father and mother had given her over the years. Her allowance made everybody's allowance around her look like pocket change.
A couple years back Silica persuaded her parents to get her a cellphone. That it was a good idea for her to have one just in case something happened to her and they needed to find her quickly. Mostly because of when she and Nagit have been kidnapped. Silica having a cell would make it easier to pinpoint their location if that ever happened again.
Silica flinched as she recalled the most recent abduction. Nagit tried everything he could to try and calm his younger sister, but nothing seemed to work. The kidnappers planned to get two ransoms from both the youngest prince and princess. They wanted more money from her since she had the royal bracelet of succession. And she was the only princess the king had. The kidnappers were getting a good amount of money for her brother and had sent him back to the palace; while they asked for a much bigger payout. The ransom for Nagit was payed for and he was able to go back to the palace while Silica had to stay behind their kidnappers. Silica didn't even have the guts to tell her brothers that the kidnappers tried to force themselves on her. One of the males forcefully kissed her; while his accomplices started undressing her. She was weak and vulnerable. More so since Nagit went back to the palace. She couldn't do anything to stop them from doing what they wanted to her. And that terrified her, even now. Silica was grateful when her brothers and Ivan had finally shown up. She had ran into Chezem's arms. Silica needed the comfort of her big brother's strong arms surrounding her.
Silica shuddered at the rest of her memory. It was something she didn't want to remember. It scared her for quite some time. Even now she wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. She held her tears back as she put the final articles of clothing into her bag. Silica closed her bag. She knew this palace like the back of her hand. Which helped since she didn't want to be seen by the servants and asked why she was sneaking out of the palace at this time of night. Thankfully everyone was already asleep and made it easier for her to run. Silica prayed she wouldn't run into any of her siblings or Ivan. As she feared she heard voices in the hall. She recognized the voices immediately.
"Are you trying to win Silica over?" Alvah asked angrily. "Do you want to be king so badly? To get inside your own sister's head. You know Silica looks up to us."
"You have no clue what Silica is going through right now, Alvah. How stressed she from choosing between us," Jun retorted. He was starting to see the big picture after being blind to it for so long. He blamed himself for not noticing sooner. She always smiled when she was around him. Like there was nothing wrong. Jun recalled how Silica enjoyed her studies more hen she spent time with him.
"What do you mean I don't know what she's going through? Silica got kidnapped because of that stupid bracelet and choosing between us. Silica can't choose because she loves us all to death. She'd do anything for us." Alvah raised his voice even more. He loved his little to death. He couldn't see her taken away again. Alvah asked their father to tighten security around her because of his fear of losing her for good.
"Lord Alvah please keep your voice down," Ivan butted in. "I'm sure Silica wouldn't want to wake up to the sound of you and Lord Jun arguing. Please go back to your rooms before someone else wakes up."
Jun and Alvah nodded. Silica stayed hidden behind the pillar. She held her tears back as best she could. She didn't realize how much they truly cared for her. The love they had. Hearing Jun and Alvah say what they did made her decision even harder.
Before Jun entered his room he looked back to where he and Alvah had been arguing. Jun swore he heard crying. He shrugged it off and went to bed.
Silica hurried to the entrance of her home. Thankfully no one else was in sight and she was able to get away and to the bus station that would take her to the airport. Silica planned on catching a plane to Japan. She knew that is where Nagit's mother is from. Silica recalled some memories of when she was alive. Nagit's mother taught both of them the tea ceremony and everything she could about Japan before she had passed.
Once on the bus, Silica checked her phone. She saw that she had a message from one of her closest friends. He was a prince of another kingdom. Whenever her father went on diplomatic matters to Agnapolis and he always brought her and Melchiorre with him. Silica always played with Cecil when she was there with her family. She smiled when he told her that he would be there once she landed. Cecil also told her that he would bring some of his friends with him.
I'll see you when I land. Silica sent as she made it to the airport. Thankfully the bus wasn't all that packed when she got on. And she as able to get a seat by herself. She had gotten in contact with Cecil a few days about different agencies as she was looking for one to join. Silica had heard he had joined Shining Agency a while back. Silica had sort of lied that her father was okay with her joining an agency.
Silica walked onto the plane and waited for all the other passengers to board so it could take off. Once all the passengers were on the plane took off and headed towards Japan.