Changing Love Chapter 21 Answers: Part One
ChaoChao: This is kind of a bridge chapter for the next one *cough* few more *cough* We are getting towards the end, yeaaaah! Just hang in there for a little longer, but I'll tell you we still have a lot of drama and sadness to come for our future queen. Anyways, this chapter is still important so get reading, all right! REVIEW pwease...
Enjoy!
Ben walked up the soft plush red carpeted steps to the hall leading to three different rooms, Rena's personal quarters, the throne room, and the war room. A maid came out of Rena's room, "Excuse me, is the princess in?" Ben asked pointing behind the middle aged woman.
She shook her head, "Sorry, sir, Princess Rena never came out of the war room last night, I would assume she is still working...on what I do not know." the maid informed the blond captain.
"Thank you for the information." Ben smiled with a slight nod as he headed towards the closed door of the war room.
"Sir!" the maid called out after him.
Ben turned back to face the woman, "Yes?"
"If you do find her, tell her majesty that she is making a certain maid's job harder than it needs to be, she'll know who you're talking about." the woman winked at him before heading down the steps he just came up.
Ben scratched his head in confusion but shrugged anyway that he would past on the message if he saw her. He walked forward to the closed door and knocked lightly, no one answering, he knocked harder still no one answered.
He turned the door knob which turned out to be unlocked and pushed the door open a crack so he could see inside. He could only see an empty couch, he stepped inside quietly, but still didn't see Rena anywhere.
"Where could she possibly be?" Ben asked himself quietly out loud as he searched around the room for her.
He strolled over to her desk which had multiple stacks of parchments waiting to be looked at. He noticed a doorway with steps leading down, he walked over and noticed that the steps led to the castle treasury.
Ben whistled seeing the piles of gold sitting around, "Dang, that is a lot of gold..." he trailed off in awe.
He snapped out of his trance and turned back to the room he was in, looking for anything that would give him a clue to where he could find Rena at. He walked over to another doorway with a small hall that lead to a balcony that over looks the castle grounds.
"Bloody nice view..." Ben murmured as he looked out at the scenery before heading back inside, kind of giving up slightly.
As he headed for the door to exit the war room he noticed a doorway on the other side of the room that looked like it led down into the castle. He hurried over and grinned that he found out that it did in fact lead down into the castle.
He walked down the new found steps into a room, he looked around and then he heard soft breathing coming from the next room over. He headed towards the soft noise and came to a door, he softly opened the door to see Rena sleeping at a table with her head in a book...literally. He smiled gently at the adorable and peaceful view of Albion's future queen that is suppose to be an ice princess...at least that is what the townspeople are calling her now.
He watched her breathe in and out quietly with a slight smirk spreading out on his face. She looked too innocent and beautiful while sleeping that letting her sleep crossed his mind, but then when she did wake up she would find out he let her sleep and drool and she would kill him so...yeah not a good idea.
He quietly made his way to her side and shook her gently awake, she whined with a pout, groaned while lifting her head up with her eyes closed when he wouldn't let her go back to sleep. "Time to get up, drink some tea and spend some quality time with a certain captain." he smirked as Rena finally opened her eyes to see him leaning over her closely.
She frowned slightly, "I was sleeping, Ben, I could have you in prison for touching the Princess of Albion and future queen." she stated with a raised eyebrow.
Ben chuckled and leaned closer, making her back up slightly in her seat, "You wouldn't, love, when I saved your life multiple times and even taught you how to shoot." Ben smirked with a playful wink.
Rena rolled her eyes with her own playful smirk, "Yeah, but people change, for example yourself in Aurora..." she trailed off giving him a wink as she pushed her chair out and stood up to stretch her stiff muscles.
Ben pouted and crossed his arms like a child, "So...you're mean when you wake up." he stated, earning a loud snort and chuckle from the princess.
She covered her face and blushed slightly in embarrassment which made Ben burst out with laughter, she started laughing right along with him.
Soon they pulled themselves together, "So...what have you been reading that had you staying up all night...must have been really interesting, huh?" Ben asked trying to sneak a look at the book on the table she was sleeping at.
Rena jumped in surprise and closed the book quickly to hide the book's contents. "N-Nothing!" she stuttered, earning a confused and worried look from Ben.
Ben raised his hands up in surrender, "Fine, I don't need to know what kept the future Queen of Albion up all night. Oh, and some maid told me to tell you that you are making her job harder then it needs to be." Ben said with a shrug.
Rena smiled and laughed to herself, earning a worried look from Ben for her sanity. She shook her head and explained, "That maid is Katherine, she was my mother's personal maid before Logan and I were born. She was Logan's for a couple of years before I arrived and she's been with me since I was born and has been like a mother to me since my mother died and Logan became King and didn't really have time for me anymore."
"Oh...that makes sense now." Ben stated.
"Yeah, she always said that when I didn't want to go to bed and she would tell me stories about my mom. I haven't seen her for like almost two years now..." Rena said with a blank look as she rested a hand on the cover of the book still on the table.
"Well, you should catch up with her." Ben suggested with a bright smile, Rena shook her head, making him frown.
"Not yet at least...I have to find the right question to my answer so I can find out the truth." Rena stated.
"That doesn't make any sense." Ben frowned, making her sigh as she plopped down in the wooden seat again.
She pinched the bridge of her nose before she motioned for him to come to her side. He followed her order, "So what are you trying to figure out, I might be able to help?" Ben suggested really wanting to help her out.
She sighed opening the heavy book. Ben looked over her shoulder at the pages in front of them.
"Births..." Ben trailed off in confusion.
"Specifically mine." Rena said flipping a few more pages in slight hope that she would find it but doesn't.
Ben heard her sigh sadly, "What for exactly? We all know that you were bore by the Old Hero Queen." he asked.
Rena closed her eyes in frustration and opened them to look at Ben's azure colored eyes. She pulled out two necklaces, the Guild Seal on a chain and her mother's locket. "The Guild Seal is what allows me to effectively use will and this was my mother's...she hid something from me and Logan and everyone in Albion. I-I need to know the truth before I become queen to right her wrongs and erase her husband's decisions from history. He was one of the worst rulers Albion has ever had to witness come to power after all of my mother's hard work to defeat Lucien."
"I understand, Rena, but you can ask your friends for help too." Ben smiled as he flipped a huge stack of the pages in the book.
She smiled slightly up at him and shook her head at him trying to joke his way into finding something she can work with. "Hey look..." Ben stated seriously, pointing at something in the book.
"What?!" Rena asked excitedly as she leaned forward close to him to see the clue he found.
"Your mother's birth, it's on my birthdate." he smiled with a wink.
She slapped his head playfully, "It's not, dummy..." she trailed off.
Ben looked up to see her expression, "What?"
"My mom...you know how it says who the lucky parents are?" She asked pointing to some other random names on the page.
"Yeah, so..."
"Well, see how there are two, one for each parent..." She stated.
Ben nodded, "Yeah!" he nodded.
"Well, look at my mother's birth information." she stated pointing at her mother's name in the book.
Ben frowned, "There's only one...does that mean she's hiding who your grandfather is...is that what your looking for?" he asked curiously.
Rena shook her head, "No this isn't what I was looking for, but it could possibly lead to where I can find the info I do need though." she smiled brightly.
"Annika Scottsdale...you're a Scottsdale, never heard of them before." Ben said.
"That's because..." Rena trailed off as she got up and hurried over to the shelves of books. She aha happily when she found and pulled an old book off the shelf. She sat back down at the table and opened the book so they could see it.
"This was my mother's favorite book, she got it as a child growing up in the slums with my aunt for one of her birthdays. She use to read this to Logan and I before we went to bed." Rena explained as Ben and her started reading the first page to themselves.
"Sounds fake..." Ben stated, turning to face her.
Rena looked up, "That's what Logan and I always thought, but I remembered that it talked about the Scottsdales. See!" she semi-yelled happily as she pointed out the passage.
"A wealthy family that lived in Oakvale...where's Oakvale?" Ben asked.
"I've never heard of the place before..." she trailed off as she stood up once again to get an old map, Ben and her carefully rolled out the map.
Ben pointed to the location on the old map of Albion, "That's where Wraithmarsh is now." he informed her.
She looked up at him curiously, "How do you know that?" she asked.
Ben smirked, "I use to be a pirate and I've been to Bloodstone before, the villagers told us to stay away from Wraithmarsh because of the wraiths and balverines there, dangerous place." he stated.
"I hope you weren't stupid enough to go." Rena stated, Ben smirked devilishly.
"I'm here now, what do you think?"
She rolled her eyes and went back to the old story book. "It tells about the family a little..." she informed Ben. "Great great grandparents were farmers and eventually became the go to farm for everything, they then made a general store and that grew until they had enough gold for life. They had six children, five guys, one daughter. The guys were rebellious as children...Annika being the only sensible one. Bandits came and burnt the village to the ground killing her whole family..." she trailed off.
"What happened?" Ben asked in excitement.
Rena smiled slightly, "Apparently, her brothers started a scuffle with these bandits and died, they didn't like being messed with by stupid children and destroyed the village to prove a point. Annika was somehow saved by a traveler, barely alive. She woke up in a bed patched up and a monk came into her room. He welcomed her to the hero guild..."
They looked at each other, "No way..." Ben trailed off in awe, Rena nodded slowly.
"This is possibly the only evidence left in existence that explains my families' background and how we became and found out we were heroes." Rena said in amazement.
"I say that was a nice clue, right?" Ben smirked proudly.
Rena nodded slightly, "But, it's still not what I'm looking for though, not close enough...yet."
"Come on this is like the holy grail of information!" Ben stated excitedly. "What else could you be looking for?"
Rena sighed, letting her bangs fall down in her face, Ben sighed and carefully pushed the lose strands behind her ear. "Hey...listen, I'm sorry, I'm really trying to help you out." Ben said gently with a sad depress frown.
"I know, Ben, thanks, but I need to tell you something that has been eating me up inside since I was alone in the desert." Rena stated quietly.
"I'm here, whenever you're ready." Ben soothed.
"I-I saw my friends and family in the desert."
"You did?" Ben asked, she nodded quickly.
"Ben, I saw my mother and her husband, the Crawler was using my family, friends, and you to weaken me. IT told me something that I think is true, but know that it can't be..." Rena explained.
Ben took her hands into his, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." he said softly.
She shook her head, "No, I need to tell someone to know that I'm not going crazy and that it was just the Crawler messing with me."
Ben nodded for her to go on, "I-I saw Kevin after I gave up on making it out of that desert...after seeing Jack and you tell me that I will die alone after bringing a life into this world..."
Ben's eyes widen in shock, "I-I would never say that..." he trailed off speechless, realizing what they did together.
She bowed her head in shame, "E-Elliot raped me when I was captured and h-he y-you know..."
Ben stood up silently and marched towards the door like he was a man on a mission, "Ben..." Rena trailed off grabbing his arm to stop him from going to the dungeon.
Ben turned around and growled angrily, "He did that to you...I'm going to kill him..." he stated, pulling away and heading out into the garden.
Rena followed after him, "Ben...Ben. Ben! Will you bloody damn stop?" she yelled, making all of the nobles turn in their direction at the commotion they were causing.
Ben snapped his body around to face her again. "I'm not going to let that monster get away with this, Rena!"
"He won't, I'll make sure of that." Rena stated. "He will go on trial for his crimes, I promise, Ben." she begged him with her eyes.
Ben sighed as she stepped closer to him for his answer, "Fine, if that is what you want, but he will pay for it with his life, even if I have to do I myself." he death glared the ground.
"What's going on?" Walter asked, walking over to them.
Ben gave Rena a challenging look. "Nothing that I can't handle, Walter. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go get ready for a very important meeting." she said before quickly walking back inside through the castle library.
The nobles went back to whatever they do, Walter watched Rena walk away with a worried frown on his face.
"Ben, what's going on with her?" Walter asked as he nodded for them to start walking deeper into the garden for privacy.
They strolled into an empty area and stared off into one of the fountains. "She would kill me if I told you, but I'm going to anyway because you need to know what that monster did." Ben growled, stuffing his hands angrily into his uniform pants pockets.
"Let me guess...Elliot." Walter sighed, surprising Ben slightly before he nodded slightly in confirmation.
"Yeah, that bastard...raped her, Walter, he raped her." Ben said with a guilty look on his face and pain laced in his voice.
Walter bowed his head solemnly, "I know..." he sighed.
"But...how?" Ben asked with his eyes wide in complete shock.
Walter shrugged, "He threatened her all the time to do that, I'm surprised he's waited this long. He's always been attracted to Rena since they were children, especially when he punched another boy to defend her honor and he got into a bloody fight. Rena handed him her handkerchief and thanked him for the help, she then innocently took his hand and dragged him towards the kitchen to get ice cream. Ever since then he's always been at her side, King Charles noticed and manipulated him into thinking he'll one day become the King of Albion and have Rena as his. I should have seen this coming and stop it before it even had the chance to start..." Walter sighed.
"It's not you're fault and it's definitely not hers either...but why won't she let me kill him like he deserves." Ben pouted angrily as he glared at the clear water at his feet.
Walter sighed, "I don't know...all we can do is support her decision...whatever it is that she does choose."
Ben nodded slowly, realizing something also, "She told me that Jack and I told her in the desert that we were going to watch her die painfully...alone."
Walter turned to Ben, "We both know that would never happen." he smiled slightly.
"Yeah...but the Crawler has convinced her that she'll die by bringing a new life into the world..." Ben said softly.
Walter raised a concern eyebrow, "She..."
Ben nodded silently. "Exactly what I was thinking..." Ben sighed, running a hand through his unruly blond hair.
Walter stared silently at the water, processing this new information, "That fucking bastard..." he growled.
Ben nodded, "Yep, see why I want to see his eyes stay close." he stated.
"I need to go talk to her about this." Walter said as he turned and headed back towards the castle. "I'll fix this bloody damn mess like I should have done a long time ago."
"Good luck!" Ben called after Walter, he growled angrily as a reply.
Ben shook his head and strolled to the garden railing where you could see out on Industrial and stared silently off into space.
Walter marched through the kitchen and into the main castle area, all of the servants getting out of his way in fear of the huge man, who looked like he could kill someone with his bare hands which no one doubted.
He hurried up the main staircase, taking two steps at a time when he saw Katherine cleaning a vase. "Katherine, where's Rena?" he demanded, making the middle aged maid jump by the anger in his tone and carefully turned to face the more muscular man. The other servants watched in fear and slight curiosity of what is going on, glad that they weren't the ones speaking to the buff man.
"Um...she is changing right now, would you like me..." she trailed off as Walter barged open the doors to Rena's room.
Rena snapped around to see an angry Walter at her door and servants looking in, their eyes growing huge in shock at what she was wearing. She finished with clasping her corset. "Close the door, Walter, we don't need people to watch me dress."
Walter nodded slightly and closed the door behind him softly. He stayed facing the door to give her some privacy to finish changing. She pulled on her sky blue dress with a gold trim as she spoke. "What do you want, Walter, that made you barge into my room while I'm trying to change for a stupid meeting that I have to go too, hm?" she asked as she tried to tie up the dress with some difficulty.
Walter looked over his shoulder and noticed and walked over and did it for her, "Thank you." she stated quietly as she turned to face him.
Walter stared down at the ground before slowly lifting his head to look at her straight in the eyes. "How come you didn't tell me what Elliot did to you?" he asked with slight anger flaring up with mostly guilt.
Rena sighed heavily, "Walter, we were too busy trying to get Logan off the throne and gaining allies so we can be here now." she explained.
Walter frowned angrily at her and raised his voice, "That's no fucking damn excuse, Rena! He bloody damn raped you and Logan let him!" he yelled furiously, loud enough so the servants cleaning outside could hear.
"Walter, it's fine."
"It's not, Rena, he should be put to fucking death right now for his crime against you and the rest of Albion, he's betrayed the crown can't you see that!" he semi-yelled to get his point across, Rena just stood there calmly, letting him take out his anger verbally on her.
Once he finished she spoke softly but firmly to get her point across, "Walter, I won't let him get away with anymore, he will get what he deserves, but I don't want his son to live the rest of his life knowing that his father is gone because of me, he's just a boy, can't you understand that?"
Walter silently stared at her in thought, "If the people knew that his father was this monster that raped me, they wouldn't see him as a person, but as a monster just like his father and no one deserves that especially a young boy like him." Rena stated soothingly as she rested a hand on her mentor's shoulder.
Walter laid his hand on top of hers, "I understand completely now, but I'm just worried about you after...the desert." he stated quietly with pure worry shining in his fatherly eyes.
Rena smiled slightly as he gave her an unsure frown, "I'm fine, Walter, really I am. I'm just worried about how you're holding up." she said.
He raised an eyebrow in slight worry for her misplaced concern for him, "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" he laughed loudly, with a hint of nervousness in his voice which he hoped she didn't hear.
She smiled slightly more as she nodded happily, he sighed inwardly in relief that she didn't notice. "Now, will you escort me to my meeting and help me out with Lord and Lady Gray." she pleaded with her innocent blue eyes.
Walter laughed heartily, "Fine...fine, I'll be your advisor...for now anyway." he winked playfully as he made her pout childishly up at him as they headed out of her room and down the stairs earning glances from the servants cleaning as the people glanced back at each other, communicating silently to each other over what they heard the two discussing earlier.
Lord and Lady Gray were waiting at the bottom of the stairs by one of the windows close by the entrance to the castle. Rena and Walter strolled over.
"Princess Rena, it's so good to see you again." Lord Gray smirked as he bowed to her while his wife stood from the expensive couch and curtsied politely.
Rena smiled brightly with a slight nod, "Thank you, it's wonderful to see you both again. I hope your family was safe during the revolution." she said holding out her hand for him to shake in greeting.
Lord Gray nodded, "Yes, we were not affected by it so do not fear, Princess." he smiled as he kissed her knuckle softly, she was mildly surprised but recovered before either of them noticed.
Walter shook his head and chuckled softly to himself, earning a glare from Rena. Lady Gray noticed the look between the two, "Who is this, Princess?" she asked politely, her husband nodding in agreement.
"Walter Beck, Princess Rena's personal advisor." Walter introduced himself holding a hand out to Lord Gray to shake which he did.
"It's our pleasure to meet you, Sir Beck." Lord Gray said as his wife nodded in agreement.
"Let's get to business, shall we?" Rena stated as Ben and Kevin walked into the castle from the outside.
"Princess!" Kevin called, making the four of them turn to the two newcomers.
He hurried over while Ben strolled over slightly behind. Ben glared at the princess, Lord and Lady Gray noticing his anger at the young princess.
Rena sighed, "Yes, Sir Kevin?" she asked politely, surprising the man, Ben, and Walter at the formal title she used.
Kevin broke out of his slight surprise and recovered quickly, "Paige and Kidd, told me to tell you that they need to speak with you." he said.
Rena nodded slightly with a frustrated sigh as she glanced at Ben, who was still glaring daggers at her. "Please tell Paige and Kidd that I'll stop by to talk to them later this afternoon when I have some time, but if you will excuse me and my guests, we have some very important matters to discuss, Sir Kevin...Captain Finn." she said shooting Ben her own quick glare.
Ben looked away as Kevin nodded quickly, "Okay, I'll tell her, let's go, Ben." Kevin said nudging Ben as they hurried away.
Ben glanced back over his shoulder at her before turning around to follow Kevin to Industrial.
Rena sighed inwardly, "Please follow me." she smiled at her guests as she led them up to the war room to discuss business.
Ben glared straight forward as he walked beside Kevin. "Ben, seriously, stop with the glaring it's annoying." Kevin said with a pout.
Ben sighed in frustration, "I have a damn right to be mad with her, Kevin, I don't care if it annoys you." he growled.
Kevin sighed exasperated, "Fine, be mad with her, but stop seriously glaring, you're scaring the children!"
Ben stopped and looked around at their surroundings and indeed he did scare them away, they were all grouped together behind their mothers, who death glared at him.
He sighed while ruffling his blond hair, "You're right, I'm sorry..." he looked at the gray stone ground shamefully.
Kevin smiled slightly and patted his back, "No problem, she'll come around eventually." he said, making Ben look up at him in surprise. He noticed that Kevin kind of had the same smile as Rena at times.
He shook his head quickly. He's losing his mind...
ChaoChao: REVIEW! :D