AN: Two hours into Nano and I've already got a chapter written from the word count of 0! I'm impressed and expect more updates than usual due to Camp Nano!
Chapter Thirty-One
Tuesday, November Nineteenth
There is someone shaking his shoulder awake. Louis forgot he's not the only one on this plane.
He rubs his eyes, the light from the plane windows pouring in. He's back in Angeles. A guard stands beside the open door. They've landed.
He starts to stand when the guard shaking him up grabs his shoulder, "Your Highness, I must share terrible news with you, but we were instructed to wait until you got to Angeles."
"Well," Louis asks, "What is it?"
"The planned attack on the Sumner Rebel Base has left no rebel survivors." He breaks the news, "Princess Charlene's body was not recovered, but considering the state of most bodies, it's not surprising that they couldn't identify her remains."
Louis blinksーonce, twiceーthen snaps, "What do you mean they couldn't identify her remains? Is there a body? Did they kill my sister?"
"Sir, Sir please," The guard starts to speak, but Louis pushes him out the way. He heads towards the car and slams it's door behind him. To the driver, Louis commands, "Step on it."
He drives through sunny Angeles. Louis starts to tap his foot rapidly, making his leg bounce up and down. The driver speeds ever so slightly, eager to get the mad prince out of the car.
They pull into the palace. Before the car stops, Louis is already out the door, booking it towards the maid waiting on his arrival.
"Where is Lady Anna?" She asks. Louis recognizes her as one of Anna's maids, but he asks back, "Where is my father?"
"W-Where did Lady Anna go?" She asks again.
"Eliminated!" He yells, "Now, where is my father."
"I-I don't know," she replies, "I assume his off-office."
He turns, stomping off to the King's office. Unlike he usually does, he doesn't stop to look at the portraits on the walls. Kings prior, his ancestors, old men just like his father are on the wall. Soon enough he'll be able to take them down, he doesn't need them.
Louis opens the door. His father is alone here.
"When was the attack?"
His father turns towards him and stands, not letting Louis tower over him. He says, calmly, "Sit."
"No." Louis replies.
"Sit Louis."
"When was the attack?"
While Louis' voice gets louder, King Jonothan's mellows.
"Yesterday," he answers, "Louis, sit please."
Louis pulls out the chair, scraping it against the wooden floors. He sits, "Now, why did you attack?"
"I had to," King Jonothan tells him, "I gave you a time limit and you didn't come up with an idea."
"I can't rapid fire off solutions to issues, especially when you've given up!"
"You will have to." King Jonothan tells him, "It's the mark of a good king to have solutions to every problem in a timely manner."
"Twenty-four hours is not a timely manner!" Louis screams.
"Five years isn't either." King Jonothan sits, eye-to-eye with Louis, "Five years of trying to non-violently stop the rebels hasn't worked. Now, we must fight fire with fire."
"You killed Charlie!"
"She was one of them."
There's a pause; Louis and Jonothan lock eyes.
"What?" It's the quietest Louis has been since he's woken up. He asks, "What do you mean that she was a part of them?"
"There has been evidence that Charlie was working and in a relationship with the rebellion, going as far as meeting the rebel leader."
"How do you know that?" Louis slams his hands against the desk, standing in the process, "How the fuck do you know that?"
"Cora Holland."
"Former selected Cora Holland?" Louis asks, going quiet again.
King Jonothan stands, "After a seventy-two hour interrogation, we were able to get her to confess."
"When was this?"
"The day I gave you the deadline." Jonothan replies, "We found her hiding out in an old warehouse in Fennley, a former rebel base, and she eventually relented."
"Why wasn't I told this?" Louis asks, slumping into the chair, "Why did you keep this from me?"
"Your mother and I, we both don't want you heavily involved in this." King Jonothan replies, "You're nineteen, barely an adult. I want you to live your life, not worry about everyone else's."
"Too late for that." Louis sits up.
"I know," King Jonothan replies, "Your mother and I are sorry, Louis. Extremely sorry."
"Where is she?" Louis asks, "Mother I mean?"
"Planning the funeral and announcement Report with Gwynth."
"Are you sure she's not drinking? Louis asks, "Sorry, that's uncalled for."
"You must learn to hold your tongue," Jonothan replies, "but I don't know. She hasn't wanted to see me since yesterday."
"Understandable." Louis responds.
Jonothan stands, "I did the right thing. The rebels must be stopped before you rule. I want you to rule in prosperity and peace."
"You killed her daughter." Louis stands, heading towards the door, "That will never be the right thing."
Louis shuts the door, leaving and starting to seek out his mother.
Louis opens the door to the parlor, his mother's second favorite place in the palace, and steps inside. The sun beams through, but the light switch is on. Louis turns off the unnecessary light before saying anything.
"Hey." His eyes are watery, tears threatening to spill out if he doesn't continue to hold them back.
"Louis!" His mother grabs him, wrapping him in a tight hug. Her head barely reaches his shoulders. She grips onto him as if his life depends on it. "You're safe!"
"Yeah, I am."
He returns the hug. Louis misses this, the constant love and affection this family showed before Gwyneth was sent away, before the rebels, before Charlie died. When she unleashes him, Louis notices the alcohol on her breath and the tear stains on her face. Her hair is disheveled and her voice is raspy. She's been drinking most of the night. The hug's been ruined, just like their family.
"Louis," the voice of his sister is unwavering. It hasn't changed, "I'm glad you're back."
"I'm glad to be back too." Louis sits down, in front of their plans. It's attendance size and the shape of her coffin. The plans for a closed casket funeral since her body can't be found. The plans for including Charlie's future fiance and his mother, the remnants of Spain's Royal Family and what to serve as food in honor of her.
Charlie's seventeen. This makes Louis sick to his stomach.
His mother turns the chairs, "Louis, you don't need to worry about this."
"I shouldn't be worried about this?" He repeats, "It's my sister's funeral."
"Your father told you." Rosalind replies.
"Damn right he told me!" Louis starts to get riled up again, "Charlie is my sister!"
"Louis," Gwen rests a hand on Charlie's shoulder, "please go."
"No!" Louis replies, "I want to help!"
His mother grabs his hands, looking into his eyes, "We don't need you help. You focus on your selection."
"No!" He gets up, "Charlie is my sister and I'm to be King, stop treating me like a child all of a sudden. I don't need to be thrown into the deep end one day then shielded from the world the next. I want to help!"
"Louis please," his mother tells him, "Focus on your selection and stay safe. You doing this is something for the public to root for and something that will help you become King. It's what is best."
Louis looks at his mother, she's lost sleep and is trying to cope with the loss of her daughter. He sighs, guilty, "Alright."
"Plan another trip," Gwen says, "Get away from the castle."
"I was just gone!"
"Louis please," Rosa pleads, "for us."
"Fine." He replents, "For you two."
"Stay away from the southern provinces." Rosa tells him, "The rebel count is rising there."
Gwyneth continues, "Take Lady Madison, she's from Lakedon. That's up north."
Louis hugs them both, "I will be back by Friday. I want to speak at that Report."
"Alright." His mother nods, wiping her eyes.
Louis walks out the door with a renewed sense of purpose, something to do, and an insight into what happens next.
