Chapter 27- Gone
For a moment, they all stand there, processing what just happened. Then, it sinks in.
Adela shakes her head as if to clear the fog in her brain and turns to the others. "We have to find them."
"They'll know we're coming, there are too many of us." Henry grabs Charlotte's hand. "We'll go this way," he points to his left, "and you two go that way." He briefly points to his right, and they take off.
Ray almost calls after them, but he doesn't. At this point, they have to assume that no one else is involved. If Kelilah, Angel or Jude wanted to attack, they would've instead of running away.
Ray and Adela take off in the opposite direction, running at first but then slowing down, listening for footsteps, or breathing, or any sign they were nearing someone. Henry and Charlotte, meanwhile, were still crashing through the forest.
"Wait," whispers Charlotte, breathing heavily. "We're being too loud. If they're nearby, they know we're coming."
"You're right," says Henry. Then: "We have to find them."
"They're probably still in the forest somewhere," says Charlotte, trying to think logically. "They can't go out into the open or they risk being seen- and it would take them forever to get anywhere if they tried to cross the water without the boat." A second passes, and they look at each other. "The boat!"
Forgetting about being quiet, Henry and Charlotte sprint towards where they hid the boat- but the area's empty.
"This is it, right?" Henry says, hoping maybe they were in the wrong place.
"It is," says Charlotte. She points to one of the trees. "I noticed this when we hid it- look." She points to a carving someone had made in the tree.
It's a heart. Inside, someone had carved H + C. Henry sees this and, for just a moment, forgets their situation.
"Well, look at that," he says, tracing the letters. "Someone else knew before we did." Charlotte smiles.
They leave the area and run to the edge of the water- but they don't see them. There's not even any sign- no tracks from feet or the boat in the sand. Thinking- hoping, really- the boat being gone may have just been a curveball, Henry and Charlotte go back into the forest.
Between the two of them and Ray and Adela, the entire surface area of the forest is searched. But Kelilah, Jude, and Angel are no where to be found. By the time the two pairs of people find each other again, it's all too clear. They're gone.
/\/\/\
Waking up in Kelilah's bed wasn't a big deal before- it was almost like waking up in a hotel bed. But when Charlotte comes to around two in the afternoon, she doesn't feel strange about it at all. In fact, she feels very at home. Which is because, last night when the four of them snuck back into the castle, she couldn't let Henry leave her side. Not because she was scared- she just didn't want him to leave. Which is why she wakes up with his arms around her.
Charlotte presses her forehead up against Henry's, waking him up. He smiles at her and kisses her. For a moment, all the weight of what had happened to them last night- and, to some extent, this morning- is gone.
A knock at the door startles them out of the moment. Henry slides off of the bed and walks to peek out of the peephole. Charlotte sits up, a bit annoyed, but also gets off of the bed. She really can't sleep on it anymore- not after meeting Kelilah.
"It's Adela," says Henry. Charlotte nods at him, and he opens the door.
Unlike them, Adela seems to have bounced back from last night fairly quickly. She's completely dressed in her usual regal clothes, and carried herself like a Queen. It's only when she's close enough to Charlotte that she sees the fatigue in her eyes.
"Sorry to wake you two," she says, pulling Charlotte into a hug, "but I need to talk to you. Both of you."
They settle themselves at Kelilah's desk, having Adela use the chair. Henry and Charlotte sit next to each other- pretty closely- on the floor. Adela notices this, but gets right to the point.
"I've decided we shouldn't keep Kelilah's disappearance from the kingdom a secret anymore," she says. "I'm going to tell them the truth about her, and about… Angel." She takes a deep breath. "But for you, specifically you, Charlotte, you have two options." Charlotte nods.
Adela takes a deep breath. "Option 1: Technically, you're a member of the royal family. So, if you want, you could stay here, and be a princess. Not because Kelilah wants you to- but for you." Charlotte looks at Henry, and Adela could see in her eyes that she had no desire to stay. "Your other option is to go home, and forget this ever happened. I mean, obviously I don't think you could ever forget this experience- but you would stay a secret, and be left out of all the news. If someone found out you existed, everyone would want to meet you. So we really don't have any middle road."
Charlotte looks out the window. Sure, she could stay here- be pampered, live in a huge castle, and she could even be herself and not Kelilah- but she can't. She's not cut out for royal life. Even if she were...
Again, Charlotte looks at Henry, then back to the Queen- this time, though, she's smiling. "I don't belong here, Adela," she says. "Being a princess… I can't do that. And even if I could," she looks back at Henry, "I could never leave behind my friends and family."
Adela gives her a knowing smile. "I figured you would say that." She stands up, and Henry and Charlotte follow suit. "If you get your things packed quickly, I could send you home before evening."
/\/\/\
A half an hour later, Henry and Charlotte are standing in Kelilah's room one last time. They have what few belongings they brought with them, including the clothes Charlotte had worn last night, which were now squeaky clean, thanks to Maggie. Henry wears clothes he had brought from home.
"As nice as this place is," says Charlotte, "I'm not going to miss it."
"Agreed," says Henry. "I'm much looking forward to sleeping in my own bed." He looks away from the door that had led to "his" room and towards Charlotte. "Have you heard anything from your mom?"
Charlotte nods. "She's taking a train to North Carolina, then flying back from there. So I'll have a couple days to readjust to our own time zone. What about your family?"
While Charlotte's mom had been sent to New York, Henry's family had gotten stuck with Henry and Piper's grandmother, but not because of someone trying to keep them out of the city; they had a bunch of rainstorms and the city was flooded badly enough they stayed longer than they had meant to. "The roads are almost safe to drive on," he says, "so they should be back in a few days. So… we'll have some time to ourselves."
Charlotte laughs a bit. "And Jasper. You know as well as I do he won't ever let us sleep without telling him every detail."
Suddenly, Henry looks uncomfortable. "What?" Charlotte asks, concerned.
"About Jasper," he says, "and everyone else, like Ray and our families, I… I'm not sure I want to tell them."
"Of course not, they aren't supposed to-" Charlotte realizes what he's actually talking about. "Oh."
"Yeah."
"Yeah, I'm not really sure I want to tell anyone, either," Charlotte admits. "But something tells me they're going to ask."
"Yeah, I don't doubt that. Deny it every time?" He holds his pinky out.
Charlotte grins and nods. "Deny it every time." They hook pinkies, agreeing that this would be their secret.
Happy Reading!