Chapter Seventeen: In Which Celie Gets Caught

Rolf didn't really like being yanked out of his bedchambers two hours after he had gone to bed. He'd just fallen asleep, kicking and struggling, and now his oh-so-lovely brother had burst through the door, grabbed both his shoulders, and shook him as hard as he could, blubbering about the East.

Now the Crown Prince was yawning cross-legged on someone else's bed, with his family, discussing what had happened. It was sort of an unprofessional sight; all of them gathered on the King and Queen's bed in their sleepwear talking about war. Apparently, Bran and Celie had eavesdropped and were a bit perplexed that they hadn't been told. That was the reason Bran had been yanking people out of beds and marching to confront the king.

Kalys had opted to stay in bed, and when one is a pregnant princess, they get immunity. It was just the siblings, something that hadn't been for a long time. Delilah was the neatest out of all of them, her robe unruffled and hair smooth as ever. He knew his hair was sticking up, because his mother and sisters had all made an attempt to smooth it down.

"Only Rolf and I knew about it, Bran. This is not a reason to disrupt our sleep," King Glower scolded, a glare on his face. The queen laid a hand on his forearm, a gesture she used when her husband got very riled up.

Bran scowled back, and then exchanged glances with Celie. "I'm the Royal Wizard, Father, I should be informed about upcoming wars; especially when the request is something as odd as this one."

Lilah looked at Rolf, eyebrows raised. "What was the request?"

"It's not that odd; though it's usually done between kings, not princes. They requested our immediate surrender of the Castle, if refused, they would declare war. They stated they would be willing to engage in a different sort of favor. A simple sword dual between our crown prince and their crown prince. It would be less death that way; a way to avoid war." King Glower rubbed his head, and the queen clutched his arm.

"Have you accepted?" Bran asked, and Rolf inwardly sighed.

"No. The letter arrived very late last night, and we've been deciding what to do all day long," their father responded. "It has been very busy to say the least. I was planning to tell you all tomorrow at breakfast. Will you let us go to bed now?"

"Fine," Bran said strictly. "But I demand that I should be a part of the council meetings."

King Glower shrugged. "I see that as a clear possibility. Have Thalia come with you too, she knows more about the country than anyone else."

…

Bran really had no idea what he was doing here. It was often said that wizards shouldn't be into politics, to leave it to the kings. He now understood why. It was rather complicated, boring, and often illogical to him. Rolf and King Glower seemed very into it, though it was their job. It wasn't even the situation that was being discussed; something about the governor in Sleyne City and whether are not he should be disposed of.

"Well," King Glower said in a booming voice. "We should probably discuss the most important matter now. We've all read the letter, all had a night to sleep on it, and it's time to make a decision."

Bran slumped back in his chair as he watched the councilors whisper with each other. Rolf looked like he had a massive headache, his hands folded neatly on the table in front of him, perfectly still.

"There are simply two options," Rolf stated. "Either we accept their proposal or we don't. We just have to weigh the cons of both."

King Glower sighed. "Thalia, what are the chances of them coming through with their threat?"

Bran surveyed the redhead. Her eyebrows were furrowed, hands tapping on the table. "Jhahan has always been rather secretive, though there is evidence of violence and war lust. I wouldn't count on this being a simple threat."

Lord Sefton sighed. "If war was an option, would it be better to just defend the Castle with an army? We have a griffin army, Vhervine and Grath as war alliances, not to mention Bendeswe could most likely be persuaded."

King Glower nodded. "Without knowing how strong an army they have, that's the best we have. If I knew we were to be obliterated that would be different. But no one knows."

"We have three months until we have to respond. Isn't there a way to know whether or not how big their army is from neighboring countries? I mean, Thalia's country is neighbors, not to mention we have a peace treaty with Lagere which is around the area. One of them has to know," Rolf commented. "If we can get letters back, or even if we have a scout that would lead us to a much more educated decision."

King Glower nodded. "I'll send out letters for now, I suppose."

Bran spoke up. "Prod the Vhervish king. They have all armies charted out. They have to have some idea of what is going on."

King Glower looked up at the clock. "Perhaps. Meeting dismissed for the day. We'll meet back up tomorrow morning."

Bran grabbed Thalia's arm as the shuffling line of councilors and lords paraded out. She turned to him, eyebrows raised.

"Casper knows something about this," he whispered. "He predicted it. Come on, we need to get to the dungeons."

…

Celie really couldn't be blamed for going down to the dungeons. The Castle had opened a passageway for her, and she had simply followed the Castle. Besides, she had Rufus.

The dungeons were very eery, dusty, and cold. She hadn't been down there often, only a handful of times, and she never really enjoyed it. But she was curious, and curiosity always got the better of her. Besides, the Castle got her safely past the guards, and her father. And here she was now.

What she wasn't expecting was to run into Bran. Literally. Her head was down and she was whispering to Rufus when she bumped her head right into the back of her tall brother. He stumbled, turning around quickly. Celie was getting a little annoyed with Bran getting involved in all of her mischief.

"I suppose there's no point in convincing you to leave," he murmured, pushing a pencil behind his ear.

Celie shook her head, poking around him to see Thalia scribbling quickly on a piece of paper. She saw the cells, with the two old men roaming in them. Casper was pacing around, seemingly bored. Arkwright just sat, rolling his eyes at Bran.

"Oh yes," Arkwright said, looking up. "Princess Cecelia."

Bran stepped in front of her, shooing at Rufus. Beatrice squeaked from his robes when Celie looked at her, making Rufus hiss back. Bran shushed his griffins, before turning back to Celie. He gestured to Thalia and her squiggling quill.

"She's writing things on the magical properties surrounding the wizards," he whispered. "Why did you come down here?"

"I wanted to take a better look at Casper," Celie said, poking her head around her brother to look at the elderly man.

He was old. In simple grey he stood, arms crossed, his pointy chin jutting out. He looked rather cross, and his lips kept moving without making a sound. There was something very strange about him, though. Something very eerie, perhaps more eerie than Hatheland had been. A feeling in her gut made Celie want to leave, want to run far, far away.

He locked eyes with her, and something about the blues made it difficult for Celie to turn away. She felt Bran's hand on her shoulder, and she blinked, turning to look up at him.

"Careful, Cecelia," he warned. "It's rather dangerous to even look at him."

….

"Mother, I don't see why this has to be done now," Rolf complained, sitting forward in his chair. "The baby hasn't even been born. Besides, we already know what it will inherit."

"Your unborn child is not an 'it', Rolf, him or her is a person. And perhaps, but it must be done as soon as possible; or at least in writing," Queen Celina clucked, setting down the quill.

"Yes, but don't we technically need a name?" Rolf asked. "Otherwise, it doesn't have to be legally reinforced if for some reason Celie decides she wants her child to be ruler."

"Of course it needs a name," Queen Celina retorted. "Two will be written; it is tradition. I'm assuming you have names?"

Rolf pressed both hands down into the table. "No, we don't have any names picked out."

Queen Celina looked up at him, eyebrows raised. "You don't have any names picked out? I thought I told you that we were starting the will process two weeks ago."

"You did," Rolf said, swallowing.

"Then why don't you have any names?" Queen Celina asked, and Rolf could hear the frustration strained her voice.

"Because I forgot," he whispered quickly, refusing to look at his mother, or Kalys who was sitting across from him.

"Speak up, please," Queen Celina requested coldly.

"I forgot about it," he said plainly, looking up. "In case you didn't know, I've had quite a few things to do."

"You've always had quite a few things to do, Rolf, and by now you should be managing your time better. It wouldn't have taken that long to come up with a name, especially if you, as you should've done, had already discussed this matter." Queen Celina smoothed her hands over her hair.

"Well, we didn't, and I don't know what to tell you. I'm sorry that I am not the expert at preparing for parenthood," Rolf responded defiantly, meeting her eyes.

"Don't be so snarky, Rolf, it's not helpful. I would appreciate it if you would start taking some responsibility with this. It's a serious matter, and I expect you to treat it as such," his mother snapped back.

"Really? Is it a serious matter? I had never thought of that before. Now that I come to think of it, I have been treating this whole pregnancy thing as a joke. I've spent many nights laughing myself to sleep about it, Mother." The disrespect spewing from his mouth made his mother open and shut her mouth, an angry look on her face.

"You're acting like an ass, Rolf, and you know it. I understand that you're tired and frightened, but your comments will not help anyone. It's time to grow up; you made a very serious decision when you made the choice to engage in intercourse, and I expect you to clean up after your mess." Her tone was very calm, but Rolf had heard it before. He heard this lecture every time he got into trouble with his parents, and he was tired of it.

"Yes, well, I think I've grown up enough, don't you? I've been forced into all of this, to clean up a mess that's not mine, because it's my duty. If you could give me a little grace whilst I sort out rather or not I'll have the entire country's lives on my shoulders, that would be appreciated. Frankly, it's rather unhelpful that-Kalys, are you alright?"

Kalys had her eyes squeezed shut as she rocked in her chair, knuckles turning pale as she gripped the edge of the table. She let out a low breath. "It's fine, just a little crampy."

Rolf pushed himself out of his chair, and kneeled beside her. His hand went to her cheek, surprised at how warm she seemed to feel. He pushed back her curls, feeling the sweat from her forehead.

"Kalys, you're burning up," he said gently. "And you look like you're going to throw up."

"I'm fine, it's fine," she breathed out.

"I think you need to lie down," he suggested, and he was surprised when she didn't fight him.

"Okay," she whispered, taking his hand to stand up.

She was shaky, but took a couple steps with him, before she stopped, gripping his arm harder. "I feel dizzy."

Before he had time to tell her to sit down, she collapsed, Rolf just catching her before she hit the floor. His mother gasped a bit, before motioning to a servant in the hall. Slowly, they lowered her to the floor, her head resting in Rolf's lap.

"We should get her to bed. I'll call in a healer," Queen Celina told him softly.

Rolf nodded, scooping her into his arms, relief flooding through him as her head lolled against his chest instead of the other way. It wasn't far to their bedchambers; only paces away. He struggled getting the door unlocked, and his arms were beginning to burn with pressure, but he got it open eventually.

He sighed when he set her down on the bed. She woke up soon after that, trying to sit up. He pushed her down gingerly, and Kalys began to breath heavily again.

"I'm just so hot," she whispered, tugging at her gown.

He undid the laces at her bodice before leaving for the washroom. Hurriedly, he searched for a washcloth, dipping it in the porcelain bowl filled with water. He came back after wringing it out, pressing the wet cloth to her neck. She shivered, but held it there.

"My mother is having a healer come in," he said gently.

She nodded, squeezing his hand. "It just happened so fast. My stomach felt so tight and so crampy, and then, then it was just so hot all of the sudden. I don't know what happened."

The healer entered soon after that, followed by Queen Celina. After the demanding medic demanded that she be alone with her patient, Rolf followed his mother out of the room. He rubbed a hand over his forehead.

"I'm sorry," he stated. "I was being rude."

She smoothed a hand over his hair. "I wasn't being considerate, either. It's certainly been a long day. I love you, Rolfy, it's just been stressful for all of us I suppose."

He nodded, letting her kiss his cheek, before resting against the wall. It had been a long day.

...

Celie yanked on her boots, annoyed at where she was going. And that she had to be going there. It was cold outside, and she had to go visit the village children with Rolf. It wasn't that she didn't like children; she did, but she had had plans for the day, and this had not been included. She knew her mother's motives was to get Rolf used to children, she'd overheard her parents talking about it this morning, but she didn't really see why she had to go with him. Rolf was on edge ever since Kalys had fainted, and the healer had put her on bed rest.

Wrapped in her cloak she trudged to the courtyard where she saw her brother, waiting for her. He took her arm, nodding to the guards. It wasn't a long walk to the village, but it was still cold, and Celie rubbed her gloved hands together. Rolf was silent, which was unusual for him.

"How is Kalys?" Celie asked, feeling a little guilty. She supposed she could visit her sister-in-law, but she had been rather busy.

Rolf looked down at her. "Bored."

"I would imagine. What was the final diagnoses?"

Rolf shrugged. "The healer didn't know. Bran says it's a bunch of, well, something I probably shouldn't say in front of you or in public. He thinks it's just fast, fetal movement in a stressful situation, and that Kalys is fine, but Mother wanted to be safe."

"Oh. Is that why you're so cranky?" She asked bluntly, reaching up to rub her cold ears.

Rolf frowned. "I'm not cranky, Cel, I'm just worried."

Celie rolled her eyes. "You and Mummy got into a fight. That was before."

"How do you know about that?"

Celie shrugged. "Lilah told me. It's fine, Rolf. If Bran says it's nothing, then it's probably nothing."

"I-I just feel like everything is going wrong. I got married, some man shows up to threaten my firstborn, a mysterious assassin tries to kill Father, I get Kalys pregnant after some old man predicts to take my firstborn, Arkwright shows up again, the assassin escapes after a murder attempt and then ends up dead, and now the East has declared war in some strange way."

Celie could see her brother was shaking, and she laid a hand on his arm. "It'll turn out, Rolf. It always does. Just take things day by day."

Rolf smiled, though it wasn't sincere. "I suppose."

They made it to the village, children crowding around them. Celie tried not to be rude, so she stayed mostly with the toddlers. They didn't talk much, they just liked playing, and that was easy to Celie. She watched as Rolf was squatting next to some little boy talking to him, before picking up someone's baby. Celie herself had a two year-old in her lap, but she watched as Rolf cooed at the baby on his hip. Celie knew that in a year that would be his own baby on his hip, not some random village one he kissed to look good in front of the public.

Celie handed another toddler a stuffed bear, her eyes still on her brother. He handed the child back to the father, smiling and talking with him. Probably congrats on Kalys's pregnancy, as this was the first time Rolf had been to the village since the news broke to the public. As the children cleared out after Rolf gallantly read them a story, Celie's heart sunk a little. This was growing up. Lilah was getting married, and soon after Rolf was having his first child. There was no more swimming up channels, or playing tag around the Castle. It was different now.

The walk back was silent again, and by that Celie knew Rolf was thinking hard. She had her own things to think about, including a way to get into Bran's notes. Bran, as always, was being secretive about the things he was finding out, a feat which Celie thought was very unfair, considering she was the one who had gotten him informed about the war threat. She considered mentioning it to Rolf, but he would probably spoil the plan, and Celie worked better with just Rufus by her side. She supposed it be would be easy getting a hold of his personal journals; she knew where they were kept.

"I know what you're thinking," Rolf said as they reached the Castle. "You're going to try and sneak into Bran's rooms and steal the notes he's been so paranoid about."

Celie frowned. "How did you know?"

"Because you were quiet, and when you're quiet you're usually thinking of something to steal, and Bran's notes are prime thievery victims." Rolf turned to her ,eyebrows raised. "I was thinking of doing the same thing myself, and I suggest you let me help you."

Celie narrowed her eyes. "How could you be of any help?"

Rolf laughed, fishing in his pockets. "Because I have a key to his rooms."

"How you get that?" Celie asked, bouncing to keep up with her brother as he entered the castle, waving to the guards at the gate.

Rolf smirked. "I've had it since he came home. When you Crown Prince and you're smart, you can get anywhere you want in the Castle."

"I guess I'll let you in," Celie said, smiling up at him. She forgot how much Rolf loved mischief.

They stopped at Bran's door, and Rolf knocked three times. When no answer came, he pushed the key in and the door swung open. The workshop was neat, though Bran's desk was littered with notebooks, quills and papers.

"You can help me, because I think you know where it is," Rolf stated, opening his hands.

Celie grinned. "Bran tried to make me keep a diary like he apparently did. I said I wouldn't know where to put it where no one would find it, and he distractedly told me where he kept all of his work and personal journals.'

She ran her hands underneath Bran's desk, fingers searching for the secret compartment that he had mentioned. It popped, and a leather-bound notebook popped out. smiling she handed showed it to Rolf who was reading through the papers on Bran's desk. He looked up grinning.

"Perfect. We'll-"

He was interrupted by the door opening, and Celie stuck the notebook behind her back. Bran stood in the doorway talking to Thalia before he looked up at them, frowning.

"Why are you here? How'd you get in?" He asked, looking annoyed.

"The Castle let us in," Rolf lied. "I was looking for you to ask if you had any ideas on what happened with Kalys."

Bran nodded. "I haven't really thought about it, Rolf. I've had a lot to do today and-wait, Cecelia what is that behind your back?"

Celie felt Rolf slowly take the journal from her hands, though she kept them behind her back not to look suspicious. She glanced up at her eldest brother and the female wizard who was looking at her, eyebrows raised.

"Oh, nothing," she said, showing him her hands.

"Rolf?" Bran asked suspiciously, and Celie was surprised to see her brother's empty hands.

"You're paranoid as shit, Bran," Rolf told him, and Celie choked at the word. Though her brother swore often, he had often gotten reprimanded for doing it in front of employees, which Thalia was, and in front of Celie. "I'm going to see Kalys, then, if you have nothing to tell me."

Rolf grinned, though, turning around. He spread his hands wide as he walked backwards, facing his brother. "For the record, Bran, it's not professional to flirt with the women you hire."

Bran blushed and after Celie left, he slammed the door. Rolf laughed, reaching behind him to take the notebook from the waistband of his pants. "Come on, Cel. Let's go show Kalys."

Celie smiled, refreshed at realizing that her brother could be a great asset to her sneaking around. Rolf hastily unlocked his door, pushing it open and holding it for Celie. He glanced at her knowingly, as he locked the door behind him.

"Wouldn't want Grizzly Bran coming after us," he said, and Celie chuckled at the mention of Rolf's old nickname for their brother.

Kalys was flopped on their bed, a book in hand, tough she looked relieved at the sight of them. Rolf sat on his bed, and patted for Celie to join him. She did, snatching the notebook from his hands.

"Hey now," Rolf whined. "Calm down."

She opened it, hungrily reading the words from the latest entry. Immediately, she blushed, putting the notebook down. Rolf frowned picking it up, his eyes quickly scanning the words. Celie stared at the wall in shock, her cheeks heating it up. Rolf started laughing and Kalys looked like she was hiding a smirk as she read through it.

Celie looked at her brother, embarrassed at what she had just found out.

Rolf popped his lips. "Bran's not only flirting with Thalia, he's bedding her too."

Kalys swatted him.

Dudes, I finished another chapter. Pretty proud of this one considering I wrote it in one day. How is social-distancing been treating you all? Until next time,

-geeky34