Chapter 20- The King
The King of Ebella is alive. And the King of Ebella had, um, dated Charlotte's mother. But if the King of Ebella was Charlotte's father, but also Kelilah's father…
"Figured it out yet, sis?" Kelilah smirks.
"Kelilah, be nice," says the King gently. He starts toward Charlotte, but Henry puts an arm in front of her and pushes her back (as far back as she could go, anyway, what with the stone wall) defensively.
"All right, I deserve that," he says, putting up his hands as if in surrender. "So, you must be Henry the best friend?"
"Who told you-"
"We'll get to that. I, uh, I guess I should introduce myself? Uh…" He's so awkward, but who wouldn't be in this situation? "Well, uh, I guess it might be too much to ask you to call me 'Dad' or anything like that."
"Yeah," says Charlotte cautiously.
"Uh, yeah, uh, I guess if you want you can just call be Angel- that's my first name. Kind of ironic, right? Since, you know… everyone thinks I'm dead." Angel swallows. "So… okay, this isn't going well. You probably hate me, right?"
Charlotte isn't at all sure what to say. "Kind of hard to hate someone I'm never meant" is all she can think of. Every cell in her body wanted to wake up, but this isn't a dream. It's real.
"Wait," says Henry, "so you-" He points to Kelilah. "-ran away with him-" He points to Angel. "but he's supposed to be dead, so how did you-" (Back to Kelilah.) "-run away with him-" (Back to Angel.) "-and how did you-" (You get the point.) "-even know he wasn't dead to begin with?"
"We have a lot of explaining to do, we know," says Angel. "Look-"
But then Kelilah nudges her father and goes, "Um, she hasn't explicitly said anything, so maybe she did realize it and just hasn't said so-"
"What are you talking about?" Charlotte isn't sure she can take any more surprises today.
"Okay, she hasn't thought about it yet." Kelilah looks just about ready to spill the beans on something, but Angel puts a hand on her shoulder and says softly, "Maybe I should say it, Kelilah. You're being a bit… blunt."
"Oh, come on, Daddy," Kelilah almost whines. "I never got to speak my mind back in the palace. Never show a thing you feel inside, Kelilah. Don't give me that look, Kelilah. Smile, Kelilah! Don't be bitter!"
Charlotte thinks back to the day of the Princess Crash Course. Never show a thing you feel inside, Jude had told her.
"There were so many rules!" Kelilah really is whining now, but it's... genuine. She's actually really upset. "Be charming, but detached, and yet amused. I'm been practicing that all my life and still don't understand it! But no, I'm not allowed to be confused! God forbid I should be confused about something!"
Angel swallows nervously. "Kelilah-"
But Kelilah's on a roll. "Don't ever stray from protocol, Kelilah! Do everything exactly as you're told Kelilah! You're not walking the right way, Kelilah! No, Kelilah, you may absolutely not wear pants! In order to look your best, you must always wear a dress! No, you can't rest, Kelilah, you're busy! You're sitting wrong, Kelilah. Learn how to sing and play the harpsichord, Kelilah- not that I've ever played for anyone besides my teacher. Correct your posture, Kelilah!" At this point, Kelilah isn't angry anymore, she's… sad. "All these rules, always being told how to live my life! I'm sick of it! I didn't ask to be born a princess, I've never wanted to be a princess, I don't want to rule Ebella. All I've ever wanted is to be a normal girl, who does normal things- I don't even know what normal girls do!" At this point, Kelilah is completely in tears. She isn't even being overdramatic, or wanting attention. Her sassy mask that she appeared in is gone. She really is in emotional pain.
Charlotte again thinks about everything she learned to be able to pretend to be Kelilah. All these rules and ways, and she never had any sort of choice in the matter… it's no wonder Kelilah is upset.
Charlotte takes a step forward, ignoring Henry's "Hey, what are you-" and crouches down in front of Kelilah, who was on the floor, and Angel.
"Normal girls," says Charlotte. Kelilah and Angel look at her. "Normal girls," Charlotte begins again, "go to school. Make friends. Get after school jobs… some of which are very, very strange." Only Henry knows what she means by that. "We read for fun. Watch movies. But normal girls also have to figure out what they want to do with their lives, and learn everything they need to know for that life by going to school, and then they have to figure out how to pay for school. You," she says, "yeah, everything's been laid out for you, but you're guaranteed a career, and things normal girls have to do- laundry, bake, garden work- you have people to do it for you, so you can spend more time thinking about more important things, like learning how to rule a country. That's something a princess gets to have, not a normal girl like me."
To Charlotte's surprise, Kelilah actually laughs, and not in a mean way; like something is genuinely funny. "You're not a normal girl, Charlotte."
Charlotte looks at her, almost blank. "Um… yes, I am. I just told you a lot of stuff normal girls do."
Kelilah laughs again. "That's not what I meant." Charlotte stares at her. "Okay, think about this for a second," says Kelilah. "My father is the King of Ebella, which makes me, his daughter, the princess of Ebella. My father is also your father, which makes you, his daughter…."
What in the world is she… wait. Oh. OH. The realization hits Charlotte like a train, and she jumps back like she had been smacked- which, in a way, she has been. Smacked in the face by the truth she never knew needed to be uncovered. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no! No! No way! I am not a princess!" She's even speaking in italics like Kelilah was. "I'm just- just Charlotte Page, girl from a small city in America. Not a princess!"
"Whoa, breathe, Char," says Henry, squeezing her shoulders and sitting her down on the stone floor. "How about someone-" He looks pointedly at Angel. "-tells you everything you should know?"
Angel shrugs. "That's fair." He gets into a more comfortable sitting position. "Get comfy, everyone. This is going to take awhile."
Happy Reading!