Chapter 2 -- Secret Out in the Open

Italics always mean Mia in thought.

"Hey, Charlotte?" Mia voiced to the assistant. "Who do you think Pierre looks like?"

Mia had been at the palace for over a week now. Every time she saw Pierre, she immediately thought about someone else but who she was still blank on. The way he spoke, his smile, his eyes—they all reminded her of someone she had met before or perhaps was still close with.

"Like his mother, why?" Charlotte questioned uneasily.

"Just curious. You don't think he looks like anybody else?" Mia tried again.

"No, I don't. I think he looks exactly like his mother," she answered positively.

Mia didn't say anything, just stared down at the calendar on her grandmother's desk. She started flipping through it due to her bored ness. She was waiting for her grandmother to return from parliament so she needed something to do to occupy her time.

She passed the summer months, the fall months quickly following. It wasn't until she hit December that it actually got interesting.

December was practically completely filled up- balls, important meetings, birthdays, galas. Something major was happening every week. She flipped it to January but to her amazement, February met her eyes. She flipped it back, thinking the page had gotten stuck but it went right back to February.

"Charlotte, how come the calendar goes from December directly to February? You do know there's another month missing, don't you?" Mia wondered.

Charlotte nodded her head. "Yes, I know. The queen knows too. She's the one who has me remove it every year."

"Every year?"

"Yes, every year. And I'm really not even supposed to tell you this."

"But you've already started. Might as well finish," Mia manipulated. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

This was one of those opportunities she had been waiting for. She was going to learn a secret of her well-guarded, stern, strict grandmother. It felt like Christmas had come early.

"Well," Charlotte looked around the room, making sure they were the only two. "Every year, I tear out January for her. At first, I didn't know why, but I asked Joseph one day and he said it's because January brings back such horrible memories for her. Apparently, something horrible happened to her years ago and it affected the family as well. Very few people know what actually happened but if you ask, they won't tell out of respect."

Mia sat awe-struck. "Wow, what could have happened that makes her that way?"

"I'm not sure but also in January, no one is allowed to disturb the queen. Most of the time she's in seclusion and she'll hardly speak to anyone. Once it closer to February, she'll come out of seclusion but a smile never graces her face."

"Who would have thought that she's the type to dwell on the past?" Mia wondered, getting up from the chair she sat in.

"I think it brings her piece of mind. She obviously went through something horrible and she's still reliving it," Charlotte observed.

"I hate to think what happened back then," Mia mused.

"I'd hate to find out."

The crisp Genovian air, the fluffy looking clouds, the sounds of birds chirping, the smell of the flowers – Mia had missed them all.

The garden was extremely beautiful but her favorite part had to be "the maze." She called it that because it was more like a maze then anything else. The tall hedges allowed for privacy, vines grew in them as well as creating a good like. Roman statues were in between hedges giving people a beautiful image to stop and look at.

Mia became so in her surroundings that she didn't realize she had wandered out of the area she was familiar to. The scenery changed to a darker setting, vines were growing out of control. One spot on the ground drew Mia's attention. It was cleared away, the ground was actually visible.

Drawing from the curious nature she so greatly possessed, Mia slowly made her way over to the spot. In the back of her mind, she knew that there was a chance it was just barren land but there was that one doubt that made her think it was something else. Something of importance maybe.

Leaning down next to the spot, she noticed stone, something engraved on it.

Should I look at it or should I leave it alone? One's the logical answer but the other sounds more fun.

She uncovered the stone from top to bottom, the words becoming clearer with every brush of her hand.

With a gasp, she read its words.

Maria Isabella Christina Gérard Calvera

January 21, 1970

The princess that should have been

Mia was quick to do the calculations in her head. Gérard was her grandmother's maiden name. January could be the heart breaking January she had recently learned about. Calvera was Joseph's last name. Judging from the date, it was a miscarriage.

"Wait, Calvera?" Mia spoke out loud, finally catching herself. Realization hit her like a brick. "Oh, my god. They had an affair."

A warm breeze floated through the master suite of the palace, creating a warm feeling in Clarisse's heart. The summer time brought the family together which made her happy. There was nothing that made her happier than seeing her family together.

It still amazed her. Twenty-one years ago she denied she even had a granddaughter; she denied that her son had gotten married. Six years ago she had gotten to meet her granddaughter for the first time. Now she couldn't believe how much happiness and joy she had inside her. Before she had been the stone cold queen; strict, and all because of her youngest son's death. It devastated her; broke her already shattered heart. He was her baby and her last blood tie to Rupert. He was so full of life, so ready to finally be king and now he was gone.

Clarisse had hit rock bottom. First she'd lost her mother at a young age, followed by her father years later. Her unborn child had been a miscarriage and then Rupert began having medical complications until he, too was gone. Then Phillipe left them followed by the former king of Genovia, Edward. It seemed nothing but tragedy and heartache surrounded her family.

She threw herself into depression and seclusion for a month until Joseph and Marie snapped her out of it. They made her see the importance of life, all her reasons to go on living, and that's when she knew her behavior had to stop. She picked herself back up and made a decision. She was going to San Francisco to see her granddaughter.

Now, Clarisse felt happy for once. Her granddaughter hadn't rejected her much to her dismay. She was actually preparing to be the queen. Though she would miss ruling over Genovia, she knew it was her time to let it go and pass on the torch. Besides now she could retire to the beautiful Gstaad countryside like she always wanted to do.

A knock on her door pulled her out of her thoughts. Judging from the sound of the knock, the person was female so naturally she assumed it to be one of her lady's maids or Charlotte.

"Come in," she replied to the knock, tying her robe around her.

Mia walked in with an odd look on her face Clarisse couldn't quite put her finger on. It looked oddly familiar though.

"Grandma, can we talk?" she asked tentatively.

"Of course we can, dear," Clarisse answered warmly. "What would you like to talk about?"

Mia's firm won't-take-no-for-an-answer look disappeared and a sympathetic look replaced it.

"Well, it's kind of personal," she said hesitantly. Quickly she added, "But it has nothing to do with me. I just want to know something."

Clarisse's warm smile eased her mind. "Ask away and I'll answer to the best of my ability."

Clarisse motioned for Mia to join her on the king sized bed where she was reclining, having already settled in bed for the night with a good book. Mia complied, settling on the end of the bed. Her posture was firm and she looked unnerved about something.

"I was waiting with Charlotte today in your office and I got bored so I started flipping through your calendar." Clarisse's eyes widened but Mia didn't see it. She had her eyes on the light blue comforter. "Why does your calendar go from December to February?"

There she had the courage to look her grandmother in the eye but this time Clarisse was the one with her eyes downcast.

"I'll be honest with you, Mia, I'm not comfortable talking about it," Clarisse answered after a long silence. She turned her eyes on Mia's. "But I will say that something happened to me years ago in January and since then I have banned its sight and name to the palace."

Mia handed her a small slip of paper.

"Does she have something to do with that recluse?"

Clarisse stared down at the paper; the words staring boldly back at her.

"How do you know about her?"