Chapter 8

Dr. Jaqueas shook his head. He had been the royal physician since Rupert appointed him as such, which was only days after his own coronation as King. He took great pride as being such, and pledged himself to do his best for the royal family. They had been alot of work, but well worth it. He sat in the sitting room in the Queen's suite, looking over their medical history. He nodded to himself, but rather ashamed at how much he had forgotten over the years. He was getting old, to say the least. He would rather have like to refer to it as getting better. This morning however, he knew for sure it was age that plagued his mind. He sipped on the coffee as he let years of work and study piece together this family.

Joseph sat across from the good doctor. He had spent the majority of the last hour or so staring at the doors to her bedroom. He wanted to go to her. Yet, it plagued him that she turned away from him. She had made her decision without reguard to him. He felt as if he was nothing to her sometimes. His fists clenched at the thought of Mabrey touching her. Killing him would be too easy. If he raped her, he would torture him. Surely Clarisse didn't go to him, didn't let him touch her like that. Joseph wondered if he would ever know the truth as to what went on last night.

"We have it," Charlotte stated loudly as she entered the suite. "I'm afraid it's not good news."
"Let me see it." Joseph reached out for the paper, fresh from the fax machine. His face cringed as he read it. "I'm sure Mabry would have tampered with the first one, but this one too?"

"So, she's not my granddaughter?" Clarisse was up and had dressed.

"Where do you think you are going?"

"Dr. Jaqueas, I feel much better, and I have a job to do. Parliament meets in 30 minutes. I am still Queen, and I must be there to stand up for myself and my family if I need to. Mabrey swore he would not bring it up. I just hope and pray he holds to that this morning. After I got ill last night...well he might have changed his mind."

A shimmer of hope ran through Joseph's mind. Maybe nothing happened last night. Now would not be the time to ask, if he could somehow choke out the words. He looked at her, obviously still feeling under the weather, but she had her color back and her face was one of determination. She would not look at him. Her eyes were a dark, blank stare ahead of her, and his reflection would not shine in them.

Clarisse nodded to Charlotte for to follow her, and they left.

Dr. Jaqueas reached for the paper still in Joseph's hands. The results looked to match exactly. They had recieved the first fax sometime last night, but Charlotte had only found it this morning. Joseph had insisted they have more than one test ran. The Dr. looked over the results, eyeing the papers with precision.

"Joseph?'

"Yes?"

"These two documents are exactly alike."

"Yes."

"No, I mean exactly alike. What are the chances that two different labs use the same format to show their results? Why I'd wager my own life savings that this was copied." He held up the second fax report.

"You're right, but still it doesn't change the results. I'm sure they were tampered with. I just don't know how to prove it so quickly."

Dr. Jaqueas studied the papers. There was something, somewhere that would give it away. Joseph pounded his fists on the table in front of him. His anger was above his limit. He had to do something. He picked up his coffee cup at the same moment a surge of anger pulsed through his body. His hand squeezed, crumbling the cup in a dozen bloody pieces. Joseph opened his hand, letting the pieces fall. Blood oozed from the cuts, running off his hand and fingers, dripping to the floor.

"That's it!" Dr. Jaqueas jumped up at the sight of blood running from Joseph's hand. "That's it!" He pointed to his hand.

"What's it?"

"The bleeding...the blood. It's all in the bleeding! The Queen has to know, she has a granddaughter! An honest Renaldi heir. No one can tell her any different. It's proven with the bleeding!" Joseph looked at his blood. He didn't understand it all, but he wasn't a doctor. He had heard the words about Clarisse having a granddaughter, and it being proven. That was all he needed to know for now.

"We have to go, now." Joseph ran ahead of the doctor, his hand still bloody.

Mabrey eyed her from his seat. She was looking much better. He smiled that eerie smile of his while remembering what he had done to her the night before. Today they would be getting the news, as he had this morning. She did not have an heir. Oh it was so good. Not only did he finally have his way with her, but he was going to make sure she lost the crown. Her reputation would be ruined.

"Any new business?" Prime Minister Motaz asked. Mabrey stood up, almost proud. Clarisse knew this was it. He had used her. Why wasn't it a surprise?

"Yes Viscount Mabrey, you have the floor."

"Not I, Prime Minister, but rather I believe the Queen has an important announcement." Clarisse gazed at the man, not sure of what he had just said. Surely he wasn't going to make her speak up.

"Your Majesty?" the Prime Minister asked, as all eyes fell on Clarisse.

"Ah, I am not really prepared..."
"Nonsense, Your Majesty, you don't need to be prepared. Parliament needs to know, and now is as good a time as any." Mabrey spoke up, pushing her even more.

"Clarisse," Sebastian whispered, noting the concern on her face, "You know the results?"

Clarisse looked at him, and her face said all he needed to know.

"Our Queen has been ill, and this has been hard on her as well, so I will take it upon myself," Mabrey spoke as he looked around at his peers, "to let you know that the Renaldi family does not have a legitimate heir to the throne." Several Parliament members stood in shock, as the others burst out in questions and remarks. The Prime Minister banged his gavel, restoring order as best he could. Queen Clarisse stood, glancing at Sebastian, knowing she had to say something.

"I have recently been informed that my granddaughter is not a Renaldi. She was adopted by my Philip to be his daughter. I did not know this until recently. I'm afraid the Viscount is correct, testing has showed she is not related to me." Clarisse's words were soft, but audible in the room.

"Not related to you, think again!" Dr. Jaqueas spoke as he and Joseph entered through the main doors. Prime Minister Motaz stood and again banged his gavel for silence.

"Dr. Jaqueas, you have something to say on the matter?"

"I have proof that there is an heir."

Viscount Mabrey stood, mouth wide open, not knowing what was going to hit him. Whatever it was, he was sure that damn head of security was responsible for it.

"Order, Dr. Jaqueas, you have the floor," Sebastian motioned for the Dr. to speak.

"DNA testing was done at several different laboratories, and the results of both have come back the same. According to them, Amelia Thermopolis is not related. These results have been questioned. I, however, know for a fact that she is the granddaughter of Rupert and Clarisse." He looked around the room, noticing the mysterious air about the members. "I could give a lecture about genes and DNA and such, but I'll try to make this simple. With modern medicine, it has become easy to control a number of diseases. This, and the fact that I'm not as young as I use to be, had caused me to forget a most important detail of the Renaldi bloodline, until a little while ago." Dr. Jaqueas looked at Clarisse and smiled. "Your Majesty, I'm sure you remember the legacy that Queen Victoria passed down to her sons, and their families, and so on, etc, etc, etc."

Queen Clarisse lifted her eyes, and as they fell upon the Dr. her whole face brightened. She more than knew about it, she was a direct decendant, as was Rupert, and most all of royal Europe. If the Dr. was trying to tell her that Mia had fell heir to it...The smile that crossed her face lit up the whole room. She cursed herself for not thinking of it before. She nodded to the Dr. to continue.

"Get on with whatever you think you have," Mabrey yelled. Clarisse, for the first time in weeks, felt proud. She stood erect, looked into his eyes, and yelled, "Shut up, Mabrey!".

"Most of you older gentlemen will remember that Rupert had haemophilia, the bleeding disease. So did Philip, only not so many of you knew, mostly due to the fact that it is much easier to deal with now, and Philip had a much easier time with it."

"So you're saying the girl has the disease too?"

"No, no she doesn't. She, like the Queen, cannot have the disease. You see, men can only have the disease itself, it's what they call a sex-linked inheirtance. Amelia, like her grandmother before her, is a carrier."

A low murmur exploded in the room once more. This time it faded quickly and by itself.

Sebastian spoke up, "Let me get this correct, if I may. Is it true that Amelia could not get this 'gene' from her mother?"

"Unless her motherwasof royal decent. No, no her mother's blood was taken at the same time, just as a precaution, you might say, or to make comparisions to. Her mother does not have the gene. Therefore, Amelia had to recieve the gene from her father, through his family."

Viscount Mabrey stood again, his words loud and boisterious, "You said she had to inheirit it from her father, that does not prove who her father is. That still leaves that question unanswered!"

"No, it doesn't. There was only a question of two men. YOU bought that to our attention Viscount, you know that. The other man's blood was taken as well. He does not have the disease."

Viscount Mabrey flew into a rage, denying any accusation that was put forth upon him. He would not let them ruin his parade.

"Shades, please have the Viscount escorted out," Clarisse whispered to him, as he stood beside her. He nodded and relayed the order.

She watched as he came face to face with Joseph. Joseph was covered with his own blood, still dripping from his hand. He started walking toward the man, now held by his own men. He turned toward Clarisse, and for the first time, she looked directly at him. Slowly she shook her head, denying his need to hurt the man. He questioned it, questioned whether or not he would listen to her, and for a split second almost hit the man anyway. Still she told him no, and his heart listened.