Chapter 28- Princess Charlotte

How many people knew about the plan- Adela's plan, that is- is lost on Charlotte at this point; the last three people she'll see who helped them out in Ebella are the driver of the limo, the Queen herself, and the pilot. Adela promises to thank the rest for her.

After deciding to leave, it's made clear that Charlotte needs to leave immediately; tomorrow, Adela will break the news about Kelilah's disappearance, as well as Angel's return.

The story being told to the public is mostly true: Kelilah ran away to be with her father, who faked his own death out of fear after having an affair with a commoner. She was helped by her tutor, Jude. The details being fudged over are that Kelilah ran on her birthday, and it's not specified whether or not the "commoner" is from Ebella. Jude isn't mentioned to have recruited a fake princess, either. Any possibility of an illegitimate prince or princess will be denied, under the claim that Angel himself confirmed there's no possibility. The entire country will be looking for them.

This does also mean that Charlotte can't show her face to anyone outside the circle of trusted helpers until they get back to America; they can't risk someone seeing her and mistaking her for Kelilah. At first, Adela couldn't come up with anything better than having Charlotte wear a hood and stay low in the car, but Maggie is the one who come up with another plan. It took an hour, but Charlotte came out of Kelilah's room in a maid's outfit, courtesy of Maggie, and a new face, courtesy of Vivian. Well, a fake new face. Vivian truly is a wizard with makeup- if they hadn't watched her work, even Henry and Ray wouldn't have recognized Charlotte. Vivian went all out, and even styled a long, blond wig into a bun. After thanking them for all their help, Charlotte finds herself in a royal car- with the flags taken off- with Henry, Ray, Adela and Sam, as well as a package of makeup remover wipes.

The make it to the royal airport without incident- it isn't until they arrive that Charlotte thinks of something. "Adela, won't someone be suspicious of the royal jet going to America and back?"

Adela smiles at her. "I did think of that. The first time, the excuse was because Jude needed to make a trip to America for a family emergency. Obviously, we can't use that again, but we found a real reason." She smiles even more. "One of the palace maids, her sister's family is struggling in America- two parents, two children. They're being brought to Ebella for a fresh start."

"Adela, that's great!"

Before Adela can respond, the driver informs them that they have arrived. Adela walks them into the jet (with Sam, of course). "Remember you have the makeup wipes- and Vivian said you could keep the wig," she says quietly once they get inside. She then takes a step back. "I can't thank you all enough- we were being tricked the entire time, and you figured it out."

"Well, kind of," says Henry, being unusually modest. "Jude pretty much confessed."

"Still." Adela gives Henry a hug, then turns to Ray. "And thanks for your help, Ray. Even if you spent a lot of time in the rain on a wild goose chase."

"Yeah, that wasn't fun."

"Well, you're honest, I'll give you that." Everyone laughs, and Adela turns to Charlotte. "Hey," she says. "Thank you, Charlotte. And I certainly wasn't expecting to hear that you were Angel's daughter, I can't say I'm disappointed."

Charlotte can't help blushing, which makes everyone laugh again. Their laughter is cut short, though, by the pilot coming in and saying everything's good to go.

"One more thing," says Adela after the pilot leaves. She gestures to Sam, who takes something out from behind their back- Henry, Charlotte and Ray hadn't even noticed. They hand the box to Adela, who turns back to Charlotte and hands it to her. "Open it."

Charlotte opens the box, and, buried in bubble wrap, it a golden rose, the crest of the royal family. "Whoa."

"Yeah, whoa," says Adela, teasing her a little. "Each member of the royal family has one, and this one- well…" Adela trails off, then comes back. "It was made because a few years after Kelilah was born, I was expecting another baby, a daughter- but I miscarried. I kept it, thinking some day I may have another child to give it to. And now I do." Charlotte stares at the rose, touched. She blinks her eyes as Adela wraps her in a hug.

"Oh, get in here," she says after a moment, pulling Henry and Ray in, too. Adela even pulls in Sam, and they all stand there in a group hug for about a minute.

But hugs don't last forever. Eventually, everyone lets go. Adela and Sam leave. Everyone gets in their seats for takeoff.

Soon enough, they're watching the islands of Ebella grow smaller and smaller until they can't see them anymore. After staring out of the window for a bit, Charlotte takes off the makeup (with some assistance from Henry- there's a lot), throws away the wipes, and puts the wig and wig cap into her bag, where the rose is safely wrapped in bubble wrap in the box. She leaves in the braids that had been done to prevent hair from escaping the wig cap- she liked them.

Ray had fallen asleep almost the second they took off, so he was quiet. For a few minutes, Henry and Charlotte sit there, staring out the window at the ocean- scary thoughts of a water landing aside, it's nice.

"So," says Henry later, "what do you wanna do when we get home?"

"Sleep."

"Good point. Then what?"

Charlotte looks at him and smiles. "Spend time with you."

Henry grins back at her. "I like that idea." He starts to lean in, but Ray grunts and shifts in his seat, startling them both. Charlotte yawns. "Ray's got the right idea- this was exhausting."

"Yeah." They turn away from the window and slide down into their seats. Charlotte puts her head on Henry's shoulder, and he puts his own head on top of hers. "So," he says, "what do you think of being Princess Charlotte?"

Charlotte shrugs. "Weird. I really can't imagine that."

"I know what you mean," says Henry. "It was weird to think of myself as a superhero at first, but I got used to the label. Though I had daily reminders."

"Yeah," says Charlotte. "I won't have those, but I don't want to forget this, either. Like, I'm going to keep in contact with Adela and keep an eye on the Ebellian news, to see if they find Kelilah or Angel or Jude."

Henry nods a bit in agreement, and then yawns himself. Smiling, Charlotte keeps her head where it is, and they both fall asleep.

Later, about midway through the flight, Ray cracks an eye open, feeling hungry. He glances over at Henry and Charlotte, and almost laughs as he walks towards the jet fridge. Oh, I am so telling Schwoz about this.

We're almost done, I promise.

Happy Reading!