Chapter Two: What Else Is There?
Nine years went by, and the two princesses began to mature as they now took their duties seriously as they knew that someday, they would-be queens and they would rule the kingdom, unaware for them, they were going to rule together as their parents betrothed them. They both still had to see each other every Summer and since a couple of Summers ago, they both started to have strange feelings for one another, despite not knowing what that feeling was. However, even though they liked that feeling, they still teased each other from time to time. What's more, Caitlin started to see the beauty of Emily for how smart, witty, and kind she was, but she tried to maintain her immature side. Caitlin's best friend, Henry, noticed Caitlin's behaviour and began to tease her by saying that she loves Emily, to which Caitlin would blush madly and deny that fact.
However, they would both end up together on one fine Summer day. Queen Lillian pushed her now twenty-two-year-old daughter to the hallway as it was time for her to see Emily again. Meanwhile, outside the castle's gate, Emily, who was now twenty years old, was carried by her father and a fellow worker, who was Caitlin's friend named Spencer. Once Caitlin was in the hallway, she didn't dare to look at Emily, but when was pushed in and the door was shut, she did the same thing as she thought Caitlin was so immature for her age. After a few moments of silence, Caitlin turned her head to take a glance at Emily. However, when Emily did the same thing, Caitlin began to smile warmly as she blushed in a light shade of pink. She thought that Emily was beautiful as she wore an elegant emerald green dress with fine golden details and the emerald green dress that matched her shiny eyes. She also wore a swan imprinted golden heart necklace on her that she received since she was a baby, and her hair was long, rich chestnut brown and it was quite wavy.
When Emily saw her reaction, her knees started to buckle as she slowly but surely smiled at her back warmly. She thought Caitlin looked attractive as she had a nice short magenta hair that matched her eyes and her outfit that had some golden details and a golden cape. However, what made Emily attracted to Caitlin was how she looked more mature and could tell that Caitlin has changed for the better. As the two smiled at each other, Caitlin thought that Emily had become a beautiful swan. What the two didn't know was that King Mitchell and Queen Lillian witnessed the whole thing and they were delighted to see their daughters are falling in love.
However, when Emily and Caitlin went to the ballroom, Emily courtesy at Caitlin as Caitlin bowed at her. There, the two looked at each other with pure love that Emily blushed more than Caitlin. After a few moments of them alone, King Mitchell and Queen Lillian announced to everyone inside the castle to start the celebration. So, without wasting a moment, all the servants, maids, butlers, and musicians prepared the event. Within minutes, the ballroom was full of decorations as all the chandeliers were lit. As the music played, Caitlin and Emily began to waltz as they felt like they were dancing on the soft clouds. The moment they danced, they realised that this whole time, this was their idea.
After they danced to the music, they both leaned in as the two kissed each other tenderly. It was true love indeed and the two enjoyed their moment of kissing. However, their happy moment would come to an abrupt halt when Caitlin announced to arrange the marriage. Emily was shocked to hear this while everyone cheered in delight. Emily looked around and felt very upset. How could Caitlin rush into marriage if they just started confessing to each other? However, when Spencer was about to conduct music to the musicians, Emily cried, "Wait!"
With that, everyone gasped in shock when they heard Emily's cry. Even King Mitchell and Queen Lillian were horrified to hear this. When everyone looked at her, Caitlin was surprised at Emily's reaction and said, "What? You're all I ever wanted, Emily! Y-you're beautiful!"
Caitlin thought that would make Emily feel better, but it wasn't the case as Emily replied, "Thank you. But what else?"
"What else?", cried Caitlin in confusion as her eyes went wide.
"Is beauty all that matters to you?", Emily asked as she felt offended that Caitlin only complimented on her looks only.
However, King Mitchell shook his head and he grunted at his daughter. Emily gave her father a small frown with a narrow eyebrow as she looked at Caitlin with hope, hoping she has something more to say. When Caitlin was left speechless, she heard her mother's voice as she turned her head to Queen Lillian, "Caitlin? What else?"
Caitlin kept looking at both Emily and her mother as she began to stutter. She loved Emily the way she was, both inside and out, yet she didn't know what to say next, which caused her to mess up the entire relationship up, "I… uh… w-what else is there?", she stuttered as she looked at Emily with confusion.
Spencer frowned at Caitlin's response as he gave her a thumbs down while making a buzzing noise. Everyone was horrified about it that Queen Lillian began to whimper while King Mitchell was left speechless. Emily looked at Caitlin with sadness as she then looked to the ground, disappointed at what Caitlin had said as a response to her question. She just couldn't believe that Caitlin asked what else is there.
…
Outside of Queen Lillian's castle gate, King Mitchell and Emily were already on their horses along with several of the royal guards. The king sighed sadly as he said, "We did try, Lillian. No one can say we didn't otherwise."
Queen Lillian began to sob as Caitlin looked at them with both pure sadness and guilt for her silly mistake. With that, King Mitchell turned his head to his daughter and said, "Say goodbye, Emily."
"Goodbye.", said Emily quietly while she tried to avoid eye contact with Caitlin.
"Goodbye to who?", asked her father as he gave her a harsh look.
"Princess Caitlin.", replied Emily as she managed to give a glance to Caitlin before she put her hair down.
With that, Caitlin gave her a small frown as her mother shoved her shoulder blade hard, "Oww! Mother!", she cried.
"Caitlin!", Queen Lillian replied in a harsh yet sad whisper tone.
Caitlin then sighed as she looked at Emily with sad eyes, "Goodbye, princess."
After their farewell, King Mitchell and Emily rode their horses as they headed to the forest. While they rode away, Caitlin's mouth went wide a bit and her eyes glistened. She wanted to say something, but when Emily turned her head to see Caitlin one last time, Caitlin immediately looked away as she made a small frown. Emily looked at Caitlin sadly as she continued her way to the forest. Once they were out of sight, Queen Lillian stormed off as she cried, "All of these of planning… wasted!"
Caitlin looked at her mother for a moment with guilt as she knew that she disappointed her mother all because she messed up on what to say to Emily other than her appearance. When her mother was out of sight, she looked back at the forest while mouthing a bit wide as she knew she would probably never see Emily again, which broke her heart as she knew there was more to Emily than her looks.
…
Night-time came and it began to roar with thunders. Caitlin was in the study room, playing chess with Henry while her friend, Spencer, lectured her on her actions, "What else is there? She said, "Is beauty all that matters?", and you said, "What else is there?"
"It was stupid of me, I know!", Caitlin replied as began to focus more on Spencer than playing chess with her best friend.
"Hmph! Indeed, it was!", replied Spencer as he then spoke sarcastically as he placed his monocle on, "You know, you should write a book called, "How to Offend Someone in Five Syllables or Less"!"
While Caitlin felt foolish with her action, Henry looked at her and asked, "Okay… are we still playing chess or not?"
With that, Caitlin responded by knocking Henry's knight as she went back to pay attention to Spencer's advice. There, she sighed sadly as she said honestly, "I didn't know what else to say at the time."
However, when she said that, Henry accidentally knocked Caitlin's queen piece on the ground and decided to lie that he made a move without cheating, "Oh, dear! You lost your queen, Caitlin!", he chuckled nervously yet confidently.
"Really?", said Caitlin in surprise by how she lost her queen, "That's twice in one day!"
After that comment, Spencer cleared his throat as he said, "Think! You must see something other than Emily's beauty."
"Of course, I do, Spencer!", Caitlin replied as she then said while she messed it up on what to say, "She's like… you know! How about… and then… am I right?"
However, she only got the response by Spencer gave her a frown with a raised eyebrow while Henry did the same thing, only he didn't frown as big as Spencer. When she saw their reactions, she then shook her head sadly as she placed her hand on the table harshly, "I don't know how to say it without messing it up!"
With that she looked at the table for a moment until she then had an idea on how to have Emily back, "I'll prove it. I'll prove it to her! I'll prove my love!", she exclaimed happily as then got Henry's king, "Checkmate!"
Henry was stunned by her move, and he knew that once again, he lost the game. No matter if he cheated or not. However, despite Caitlin felt her confidence to win Emily's heart again without any issue, there would be another problem nearby.
…
Meanwhile, somewhere in the deep dark forest where it was still thundering, a black hooded figure appeared behind a dead tree as the figure gave a sinister smile as he witnessed King Mitchell's carriage was coming closer. He chuckled and he spoke evilly to himself, "Today's the day, Mitch. Everything you own, everything you love. Will belong to me."
…
Inside the carriage, Emily looked at the window with a small frown upon her lips and her father sighed. There, he looked at her and asked, "I-I just don't understand… what else did you want her to say?"
Emily then looked back at her father replied, "I need to know if she loves me, for just being me."
After she replied to her father's question, their ride on their carriage came to a full stop when the captain of the guards cried, "Whoa!"
The two were confused from that, and when King Mitchell popped his head, the captain cried, "Look!"
With that, the king saw a man with a black cloak hood on as he stood there with a wicked smile. He knew who it was, and when Emily wanted to see it for herself, her father instructed, "Stay in the carriage, Emily."
His daughter obeyed and went back inside the carriage. When the king looked back, the figure chuckled as his hands began to glow bright orange, making electric noise that was unbearable to hear. With that, he slammed his dark magic to the ground, and as a result, he turned into a huge bat like creature with glowing red eyes and enormous wings. The creature roared as it flew towards them. All the guards cried in horror as their horse reared back while King Mitchell gasped in horror.
…
Back in the study room, the door went wide as the rain began to pour heavily. There, outside the room, was the captain of the guards from King Mitchell as he collapsed on the ground in agony. Caitlin, Henry, and Spencer gasped from seeing this as Caitlin rushed to his aid. There, she cried, "It's Harold! The king's captain."
Harold looked at her with pain and fear and he groaned, "We… we were attacked… by a Great Animal."
Just hearing this made Caitlin gasped in horror as she knew that Emily must be in great danger. There, she looked outside and cried, "Emily!"
With that, Caitlin ran off to go rescue Emily. When she left the scene, Spencer cried, "Caitlin! Caitlin wait!"
…
Caitlin rode on her horse as thunder roared violently as the rain began to get heavier and heavier. Caitlin didn't waste a time as she needed to save Emily. After a twenty-minute ride, she hopped off her horse as she arrived at the scene. She gasped in shock as the carriage was flipped aside with curtains inside being ripped with a bunch of helmets and destroyed weapons around the area. She looked around frantically as she called out for Emily's name, "Emily! Emily? Emily!"
After that, she stumbled upon a golden swan imprinted heart-shaped necklace and picked it up gently. Her eyes went wide as she knew that Emily was missing. She felt like she was going to cry until she heard a cough. She turned her head and saw the dying King Mitchell. She ran to his aid and cried, "King Mitchell! Who did this?"
"C-Caitlin… it came so fast… so quickly… it was a Great Animal.", the king replied as he coughed.
"Where is Emily?", Caitlin asked.
However, she didn't get the answer as King Mitchell grabbed her shoulder blades and cried, "L-listen to me, Caitlin. It's not what it seems. It's not what it seems."
"What's not?", she asked as she looked around, "Where is Emily?"
The king replied with his final words, "Emily is... Emily is... gone."
With that, the remaining tears from the dead king's eyes escaped as he closed his eyes, taking his last breath. Emily looked at him with horror and when she looked at the sky, she collapsed to the ground and cried at the top of her lungs, "Emily!"
