Chapter 26- Family Reunion

As one would suspect, the two figures in the water are the missing king and princess themselves. They almost stumble onto shore, and not a moment later, they realize that they aren't alone.

Neither Kelilah nor Angel had been expecting to see Henry and Charlotte waiting for them, let alone Adela. Jude had told them about Ray back in the beginning, so they assume this is him and don't ask. In fact, no words are spoken for almost a minute.

"Angel," says Adela softly, looking at the King and breaking the silence. Angel looks down at the water. "Kelilah." Kelilah almost takes a step back. She certainly hadn't counted on seeing her mother again.

Angel doesn't move his eyes from the water, but he speaks clearly to Adela. "So you're probably wondering-"

"I already know," says Adela, cutting him off. "I know everything." Angel's eyes flit upwards for a brief second, then back down.

Charlotte takes a second to look at Adela. From what she's seen, being royal meant keeping calm, no matter what. Adela was staying calm- as in, she hadn't started screaming or punching or anything- but Charlotte can sense the mask of peace Adela always wore was cracking.

Back at the palace, she had embraced Charlotte as if she really was her daughter. But here, she was actually seeing her own daughter and the man who faked his death after cheating on her. It all seems like too much for one person to take in.

Even so, Adela is calm as she speaks. "Kelilah," she says, looking directly at her daughter. "I kindly request that you step away from your father."

Henry and Charlotte look at each other. Had it been either of their mothers, there'd be some yelling, not kind requesting.

"Request denied," Kelilah fires back without hesitation. "And why should I? When he's the parent who listened to me when I said I didn't want to be a princess?"

Adela looks at her daughter in disbelief. "What are you talking about, Kelilah? I listened."

"No, you didn't. Because nothing I ever said got me anywhere, because you clearly didn't care."

"You think I don't care?!" Adela's calm and peaceful demeanor is finally gone. "Kelilah, how do you think I felt? I went through everything you're going through. I trained. I stood by my parents. I learned from them. And one of the many things I learned was that I should consider myself lucky to have this power. I have the power to make change happen. A power that I get to pass on to you."

"Maybe I don't need that power!" Kelilah takes a step closer to Angel. "With Dad, I can do whatever I want without having to bear the title of having all this power."

"Sometimes it is a cross to bear, being royal," says the Queen, more softly. "But Kelilah, I want you to see the possibilities! As princess, you can use the power you've been given to rule your country-"

"I don't want to rule this country!" Kelilah almost shouts.

"Then what do you plan to do?!" Adela almost yells back. "Everyone is Ebella knows your face, Kelilah. You can't go anywhere without being recognized. And neither can your father, for that matter."

"I'll figure something out," says Kelilah, but Adela and Angel can both see just a pinch of uncertainty on her face.

"Kelilah," says Charlotte without thinking, "you could use your power to make changes for you."

Kelilah looks away from her mother and to Charlotte, suspicious. "What?"

"You could change your government," says Charlotte. Adela looks at her, alarmed, and everyone else looks surprised. "You don't have to rule. You could make Ebella a constitutional monarchy, where a prime minister would be in charge."

"You're insane," says Kelilah. "As good an idea as that is, I ain't doing it. I don't want to be a princess because I don't want to do things like that- I told you earlier, Charlotte," her tone softens a bit, but not much, "I just want to be a normal girl."

"I wanted that, too." Everyone looks at Adela. "When I was little, I loved being a princess. I had nannies who were always happy to play. I never had to clean my room. If I wanted something, I could ask for it and get it." Adela pauses to breathe. "It wasn't until I was ten or so that I began to realize what being a princess actually meant."

Adela takes a step towards Kelilah. "At ten, I started really learning. I still had everything, but almost all of the spare time I would spend playing or reading was taken up by learning how to rule a country. By the time I reached your age, Kelilah, I wanted out, too. Unlike you," she adds, "my father didn't cheat on my mother and then fake his own death. Nor did he help me sneak out of the palace and go missing." Kelilah doesn't say anything. "It wasn't until I was approaching the time where I'd take the crown that I realized how wrong I was to want to give up my position." She looks at Angel. "When I meant you."

Kelilah looks at her father. "What?" Angel looks at his daughter, then his other daughter and her friends. When he doesn't say anything, Adela speaks to all of them. "I meant Angel one day in town- I had bribed a maid to lend me some common clothes so I could sneak into town for a taste of freedom. But then it started raining- hard. And when the thunder and lightning started, I had no where to go. But then a hand pulled me into a small house- it was more of a room than a house- and asked if I was okay." She looks directly at Angel. "I fell in love with him. I didn't tell him who I was. He recognized my face but couldn't place me. He got to know me without my title- and I loved him for that. I loved that he loved me for me, not my crown.

"I kept finding ways to meet up with him. I learned about his life and was shocked to hear that while I was being spoiled up in the palace, people in town were barley scraping by. I gained a whole new perspective from this experience- it's what made me realize that I had the power to make changes."

"And you used that power," says Angel, looking directly into Adela's eyes for the first time, "and made this country better."

"And made this country better," she echoes. She looks back at her daughter. "That's why I would take you out to town so much. So you could see what being a princess- and a queen- is really about."

"I know what it's really about- it's about responsibilities that I don't want," says Kelilah firmly. "You accepted your crown, but I can't. I'd rather give up everything being royal comes with and stay with Dad."

"So you'd completely forsake you country just to get off easy?" Henry blurts out. Charlotte grabs his arm. "And try to get me to replace you? Which I won't do, by the way."

"Oh," says Kelilah. "But then, if I were to just… disappear, and leave the crown for you, then it really wouldn't be me forsaking Ebella, would it?"

Whoa. "I'm not even supposed to be here," says Charlotte, trying to come up with some sort of defense.

"That's enough!" Adela almost yells. "Kelilah, do not try and bring Charlotte into this! It was stupid of me to bring her and her friends here in the first place- I realize that now. You need to realize that you need to come home. No one has to know about this if you don't want them to. And Angel," she turns to him, "if you had just told me, I could have forgiven you. It would have stayed secret- if you come back now," she says, "I don't know how forgiving Ebella as a whole would be towards you," she extends a hand, "but I've always been good at convincing my people."

Angel stares at her outstretched hand, as does everyone else. After all this time, all the years she had been lied to, is Adela really ready to forgive?

Angel doesn't know what to say. If he thought of anything, we'll never know, because right then Jude appears behind the Queen.

"Wow," he says, announcing his presence. Everyone jumps, and then stares at him. "That's a shocker." He slowly makes his way around the group, towards Kelilah and Angel. "That's a pretty big thing to forgive, Your Majesty. But sorry," he reaches and grabs Kelilah's hand, "they're not interested."

Jude almost yanks Kelilah, but she seems to know what he was thinking, because he's not pulling her- she's running with him. Angel takes the split-second opportunity that everyone spends watching them run, and takes off in the other direction, leaving Henry, Charlotte, Ray, and Adela.

Not gonna lie, this update-every-day thing is pretty weird.

Happy Reading!