A Fresh Start
Chapter Two Hundred Eighty Four
Shayne is in the living room when Larah comes into the room. "How are you feeling?" Shayne asks, as she sits down and settles beside him.
"Relieved, a little sore and tired."
"Relieved?"
"I was relieved from duty just as I said I would be." She says, but he thinks he hears a tinge of regret in her voice.
Forcing him to ask. "Do you really want to leave?"
She looks at him and catches the flicker of doubt that flashes in his eyes and she turns into him. "I'm ready for the next steps. Maybe a little uneasy about becoming a mom, but I have no doubts about being with you and taking the next step with us, don't ever question that, okay."
"Okay." He replies, before leaning in and kissing her softly.
"When do you see your CO?"
"I have a video conference scheduled for 0800 hours tomorrow morning." He says, as she settles in beside him. For a moment they sit together until Shayne says. "You said you were sore and tired. Do you want to lay down?"
"Speaking in code now, Mr. Lewis?" Larah says, teasing him.
"No, no. I just want to take care of you."
She leans up and kisses him. "You always take care of me."
"I wasn't there when…."
"That wasn't your fault, okay. You were under orders to leave. I don't blame you for the IED." She says, reaching up to caress his face.
"I love you." He says, laying his hand on her stomach. "Both of you."
"I know." She says, smiling as she lays her hand on his shoulder. "What will your CO say when you tell him you want to leave early?"
"I don't know. It doesn't really matter what he says, I need to be with you, both of you, and I've accomplished what I set out to do when I left Springfield. So after my leave is up, we'll go get my stuff and then we'll be able to make arrangements to leave the country."
"There's something we should do before we go to Springfield."
"You want to go home."
"Yes, I need to see my mom before we settle in Springfield."
"I know, and I don't mind. We'll go to San Cristobel."
"I haven't been back on the island since I left for this job."
"So, your mom's going to be excited to see you."
"Yeah, she will be." Larah says, before falling quiet.
Looking at her, he can see that something is bothering her. "What's on your mind?"
"I was thinking about my mom. She raised me by herself. We had no contact with my father. I don't know who he is and..."
"And you want to know now." He says, laying his hand on her stomach. "You want him to know his grandfather."
"Making predictions now?" She asks, glancing up and trying to lighten the mood with a little humor.
"No." He replies patiently.
After a while he nudges her shoulder as she leans against him. She takes a deep breath. "Yeah I want him to know his grandfather."
He squeezes her gently before settling his head on top of hers when she lays it against his shoulder. "You know he's going to have one fantastic grandfather in Springfield."
She laughs softly, nudging his side before she says. "I know. But there's a part of his, my history that I can't tell him about or that he can't learn about by asking my father questions. I want him to know all of his family."
"Well maybe once your mom knows about the baby, she'll be able to tell you who he is and then maybe we can find him."
"I've asked her countless times and she would never tell me anything only to say that it was someone she loved deeply and that it didn't work out."
He kisses the side of her head before he replies. "Even if your mom doesn't tell you who he is, our child will be surrounded by so much love and I know that my mom and dad are going to spoil him rotten, not to mention his Aunt Cassie as well as Uncle Richard. And there's Marah and Jon as well and Uncle Billy and his cousins, he's going to have so much family around he won't know what to do." He says, as she relaxes against him, humming softly. "I think it's time we laid down for a bit. We're both tired and I'm still adjusting to jetlag." He pulls his arm back as she sits up. Getting up together, he follows her into their bedroom.
The warden spends the rest of the day with the Chief of the Guards, trying to determine how a gate was left unlocked and how Edmund knew about it. By the end of the day, all he had was a murky video from the night before showing a figure coming up to the gate from the north side out of sight of the tower guards and picking the lock. He had no idea how Edmund was able to find out about the unlocked gate. Being confined to the high security area of the prison Edmund had no access to other prisoners or visitors from the outside.
The Chief of the guards looks at the warden. "Sir, we'll continue to investigate but this is all of information we have to give the prince."
"I can't just give him this. He'll have questions."
"Sir, we all have questions."
"Have you interviewed the guards that were with him this morning?"
"Yes sir, immediately after we returned to the prison after the incident. They both swear that they didn't not know that the gate was unlocked or how Edmund found out about it."
"Can you tell me why no alarm sounded when the gate was opened, at least tell me that?"
"I had two other guards inspect the North tower, Sir. It appears that the alarm had been disabled at some point."
"And how did that happen? Those systems are checked regularly are they not?"
"Of course, Sir. The last inspection was given two weeks ago and there was no indication that there was any issue with the alarms connected to the north tower."
"Who did that inspection?"
"An Officer O'Rourke, Sir."
"Have you spoken too this officer?"
"He's no longer employed here, Sir."
"I want his file, everything. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir. I'll have it pulled but Sir we have to contact the Prince. We can't…."
"I know. I'll make the call. You continue to investigate. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir."
The Chief of the Guard leaves the Warden's office and he sits down and reaches for the phone. Picking it up, he dials the number for the Palace operator. "San Cristobel Palace, how may I direct you call." The operator asks.
"This is Warden Spears. I need to speak with His Highness immediately."
"Of course Sir, if you will please hold I'll put you through."
"Thank you." Warden Spears replies. He's sitting back in his chair, but he is far from feeling relaxed while he waits for Prince Silas to come to the line.
After two rings the line is picked up. "You have reached His Highness office and you are speaking with his assistant..."
"I need to speak direct with Prince Silas." Warden Spears says, interrupting the man.
"He's…."
"This is Warden Spears, and it's a matter of National concern."
"Please hold." Henry replies, putting the warden on hold with waiting for his reply.
Leaving the office, he walks down the hall to the council room. Knocking once, he waits till the door is opened by a page before he enters. Going to the prince's side, he whispers. "Sir, Warden Spears is on the phone, asking to speak with you. He says it's a matter of National concern."
"Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me for a moment. I need to handle another matter." Prince Silas says, getting up as the other council members stand. He follows Henry to the door, waiting as the page opens it and then follows Henry down the hall to his office. Once they're inside the office, he asks. "Did he say what this matter concerned?"
"No sir, only which it was a matter of national concern and that he needed to speak to you immediately."
"Thank you, Henry." Silas replies, walking into this office and picking up the phone as he pushes the blinking light. "Warden Spears." He says.
"Sir." Warden Spears replies, sitting up straighter in his chair even though His Highness can't see him.
"My assistant said that this is a matter of National concern."
"Yes sir." Warden Spears replies, pausing for a moment. "It concerns the former Prince Edmund Sir."
"Did he escape?"
"Umm, no sir." Warden Spears replies, rubbing his fingers across his forehead. "There was an attempt made but it was stopped Sir."
"So he is…."
"He was fatally shot by one of the guards while making the attempt Sir."
"He's dead!"
"Yes sir."
"How did this happened?"
"The incident is still being investigated."
"He had no access to other prisoners or the outside. How did he get help escaping?"
Warden Spears takes a breath. "It appears that he may have had inside help, Sir."
"Inside help, you assured me that he was secure."
"Yes sir, I know sir."
"Then how did this happen?"
"As I said, the incident is still under investigation…."
"You must have some idea of how this happened?"
"It appears that someone was able to get up to the gate Prince Edmund used to leave the grounds and pick the lock on that gate."
"And the alarms, did they work properly?"
"No sir, the alarms in the north tower appear to have been tampered with at some point. We are still in the process of finding out when and how that happened."
"Were they inspected?"
"Yes sir, twice a month, Sir." The Warden replies.
"Who signed off on the last reports?"
Pulling out a folder the warden replies. "An Officer MacKinley, Sir."
"And have you spoken with this officer?"
"He's no longer employed with us, Sir. We'll begin a search and see if we can locate him, but it's going to take some time."
Sighing, Prince Silas nods. "I expect to be updated on this as soon as new information becomes available.
"Yes sir, you will be informed immediately."
"Now I must contact the former prince and advise him of his brother's death."
"Yes sir. I will be in touch as soon as I know any new information."
"Thank you." Prince Silas hangs up without hearing the warden's reply.
Sitting back in his chair, he closes his eyes for a moment. Before he reaches for the phone and dials the operator. "Yes Your Highness."
"I need you to place a call for me."
"Of course Sir, May I have the number?"
"O11-1-217-555-9349."
"Yes sir, I'll make the call immediately." The operator replies,
"Thank you." Prince Silas replies, settling back into his chair.
After a few moments, the calls are connected. After a few rings, William answers sleepily. "Hello."
"This is the operator for the San Cristobel palace. His Highness would like to speak to you. Please hold while I connect the call." The operator replies, putting William on hold and then connecting the calls.
"Hello." William says, as Ava rolls over.
"Who is it?" She asks her voice just as sleepy.
"It's the palace." William says, as Prince Silas speaks.
"Prince William."
"It's just William now. Why are you calling in the middle of the night?"
"I'm sorry for the hour, but I felt that you should be informed of this situation immediately."
"I'm not involved with…."
"It concerns your brother."
"Edmund, what about him?" William asks, sitting up. "You assured me that you would not grant…."
"I didn't grant him his appeal. But I do have news concerning him. The warden has just informed that your brother attempted to escape this afternoon."
"He what! He's still in custody?"
"In the course of the attempt, your brother was shot and killed."
There's a long pause while William takes several deep breaths. "William, what's wrong?" Ava asks, sitting up beside him and laying a hand on his shoulder.
He turns to her, pulling her into him, he asks. "How did this happen. He was in segregation. He had no outside contact, no visitors."
"The incident is still under investigation."
"You have to be able to tell me something. He was…."
"As I said, Prince…."
"I'm not a prince anymore! It's simply William or Mr. Winslow."
"Of course, Mr. Winslow. The incident is still under investigation at this time I would be remiss to speculate on how this incident occurred."
"It's your bloody prison in your bloody country and you can't tell me how my brother was allowed to escape and was subsequently shot and killed." William demands as Ava gasps beside him.
Prince Silas is quiet for a moment before he replies. "I have very limited details. For what the warden was able to provide me, the north gate was at some point jimmied open and the alarms that are used to warn of a breach in security was disable in the northern tower as well. As I said all of this is being investigated as we speak as well as a review of prison security…."
"It's a little late for a review." William snaps.
"I understand that you're upset, Mr. Winslow."
"Upset, you assured me that my brother would be held in secure facility under segregation and yet he was able to somehow arrange to have a gate jimmied open and the alarms disabled in one of your towers so that he could attempt an escape."
"I assure you everything was done to keep your brother in custody."
"Apparently not everything."
"I am sorry for your loss, Mr. Winslow and I assure you that we will do everything to find out how this incident occurred and correct any mistakes that may have occurred within our system."
"That assurance means little at this point." William replies, hanging up before the Prince can reply.
There's another long silence before Ava whispers. "What happened?" Turning to her, he wraps his arms around her and laying his head on her shoulder, he begins to cry. "Shhh." She soothes, holding him tightly.
They stay that way for several moments, before William pulls back. Sucking in a deep breath, tries to calm himself more while Ava waits patiently for him to tell her what happened. "That was the palace, Prince Silas actually." William replies after a few more moments.
"Okay."
William takes another deep breath before he continues. "Apparently one of the gates at the prison where Edmund was being held was jimmied open. Edmund found it and attempted to escape before he was shot and killed."
"Oh, Wills I'm sorry." Ava says, slipping her arms around him.
He holds her tight before he replies. "I'm not even sure why I'm upset. Edmund did a lot of things to a lot of innocent people, including Richard and Cassie. He deserved to be imprisoned long before he was."
"Whether he deserved to be there or not, he was your brother and you and Richard both loved him."
"I have to tell Richard." William says, reaching for the phone as Ava lays a hand on his.
"It can wait till the morning. He and Cassie are probably asleep and Cassie needs her rest."
William settles back against the headboard and closes his eyes while Ava takes his phone and lays it on night stand beside him. After several minutes he says. "Apart of me is relieved that we won't have to worry about him escaping or being released and the rest of me feels guilty for feeling that way."
"He was your brother."
"He was a brother I didn't really know. He was a master at manipulating people and the situation to suit his needs. And I don't really understand why I'm so upset."
"Most likely because a part of you wanted him to be better, to change and you're disappointed at all the missed opportunities for his life to be different. I didn't know Edmund that well, but I know that he did a lot of things to both Richard and Cassie as well as my mother and father."
"He's the reason you're here."
"Yes, I suppose he is. Although that decision was made by my mom as well. She could've easily have decided to end her pregnancy." Ava says, as Wes starts to fuss.
"I'll get him." William says, as Ava moves away from him.
"He's probably hungry." She says as he gets out of be
"I'll bring him to you and then he can stay with us for the rest of the night. I don't think I'll be able to sleep anymore tonight anyway." William says, getting up and crossing the bed to Wes's bassinet. Picking him up, he takes him back to Ava. Giving him to her, he walks around the bed as Ava settles back and gets ready to feed him. Within in moments he's quieted down and he's hungrily eating as William settles in beside them again.
After putting Wes back in the bassinet, William let's Ava snuggle into his side. "Try and get some sleep." She says, looking up at him. He answers with a soft hum and she sighs again, snuggling closer, she lightly kisses her chest before she drifts back to sleep.
And while Ava sleeps beside him, William thinks about Edmund and his life. He knows Ava's right, Edmund was his brother and in a way he and Richard both loved him. But the other part of him, can't understand why he let things from his past dictate his future. And why he blamed so much on Richard. He and Richard hadn't discussed Richard's relationship before they left San Cristobel, except for Richard's warning not to trust Edmund and his brief explanation as to why.
The sun is just coming up, when he reaches for his phone. Dialing his office, he leaves a message for his assistant. Letting her know that he will not be in for the next several days. He also calls his bosses line and after another few rings, he explains the situation with Edmund and that he'll need to take some times to deal with the funeral. After laying the phone down, he slips out of bed and goes to the bathroom for a shower. After his shower, he dresses quickly before he heads downstairs. Starting the coffee pot, he walks over to the windows facing the street. He looks out and watches the sun rise. It brings him little peace. It's a couple cups of coffee later, when he decides that it's time to call Richard.
Richard is coming back into his bedroom when his phone rings. Rushing for it before it wakes Cassie, he answers on the second ring, slightly out of breath. "Hello."
"Richard." William says, still standing at the window overlooking the street.
"Yes. You're up early. Is the baby okay?"
"Wes and Ava both are fine. This is about something else." William says, turning away from the window.
"Okay, Cassie and the boys are still asleep and I was about to get them up. Can we talk when I get…?"
"No, I need to tell you this now. Prince Silas called me early this morning." William says, interrupting him.
"Why would he call you, especially at that time?" Richard asks, as Cassie rolls over and looks at him. He lays his hand on her stomach to quieten her questions and mouths its William. She struggles to sit up and is finally able with a little help from Richard while he tries to concentrates on what William is saying.
"Something happened that he felt we needed to know. He couldn't give me a lot of information, because it's still under investigation."
"What is it? You're no longer involved with San Cristobel and the government."
"This doesn't have anything… well it does but…."
"William, you're not making a lot of sense here."
"I know. It's just that I don't know how to tell you this. And I don't have much information as it is because of the investigation."
"What investigation and why would Prince Silas speak with you about an investigation that's happening…."
"It's about Edmund?'
"Edmund!" Richard breathes looking at Cassie. She moves closer.
"Prince Silas called last night to inform me that Edmund was killed trying to escape."
"He tried to escape! How?"
"Prince Silas couldn't tell me much because it's still…."
"Under investigation… But he must have some idea how this happened. Edmund was being held in segregation. He wasn't allowed…."
"I know. I ordered it myself and I explained to Prince Silas about everything you told me about your relationship with Edmund, his many coup attempts, his treatment of others, everything you explained to me before you and Cassie left San Cristobel. He contacted me shortly after I left to inform me that Edmund's attorney had petitioned the palace to release him from segregation. I was never advised of what the final decisions was."
"And he has no information as to how this happened?"
"For what the warden was able to provide Prince Silas and he passed on to me. The north gate of the prison was at some point jimmied open and the alarms that are used to warn of a breach in security were disable in the northern tower as well. He also stated that there is a review of prison security in progress."
"A little late."
"That's exactly what I told him. That's all the information that I have at this point. I was going to call you after Prince Silas called but Ava thought it would be better to wait until the morning, especially at the time of the call and with Cassie being close to her delivery date."
"She still has a little time left, but thank you for the consideration. Did Prince Silas give any indication what would happen next?"
"No only that the incident is still under investigation."
"Does anyone else know?"
"No, I called you first."
"Okay, I suppose since I was married to Reva. I should be the one that calls her." In his mind, he's adding Jon too.
"If you think that's best, then it's fine with me. I suppose we'll be the ones to inform Jeffrey and Olivia." William says, as Ava comes downstairs with Wes. The baby had been fussing earlier, but he had been too preoccupied with his call to go upstairs to get him.
Ava comes to him has he's wrapping up the call with Richard. And she hears him mention her Mom and Dad. She slips her arms around him letting him know that it'll be okay if they handle informing Olivia and Jeffrey about Edmund's death. "I'll be in touch when I hear anything from Prince Silas."
"I would appreciate that." Richard replies. As William and Richard are hanging up, Emma comes out of her room, having just woken up.
As soon as Richard hangs up Cassie asks. "What's happened?"
Sighing, he looks over before he reaches for her and she moves over to him. "Prince Silas called William early this morning to inform him that Edmund was shot and killed while attempting to escape."
"How is that even possible?"
"It's still under investigation, but apparently the northern gate of the prison was jimmied open and the alarms that are used to alert the guards of a security breach were disabled in the northern tower."
"When did this happen?"
"William didn't say, and I'm assuming that Prince Silas didn't tell him but I would guess that it happened sometime yesterday."
"And he didn't inform William until early this morning."
"That's what William said, but then he might not have been informed until sometime yesterday afternoon or evening." Richard replies, while Cassie remembers times that things happened on the island when they were ruling and weren't informed about it until late in the evening. There's a short period of silence before Cassie opens her mouth and then closes it. "What were you going to say?"
"It's too soon." Cassie replies, pushing the covers the back.
"Where are you going?"
"I need to go to the bathroom. One of your children is using my bladder as a kick boxing tool."
"One of my children, why are they always my children when they are misbehaving?" He asks with a smirk.
"Because when they're behaving, they're taking after you." She teases back, sliding out of bed. "The boys need to be up soon, do you mind making coffee while I get them ready."
"Sure, I'll get the coffee." He says, getting up.
She almost to the restroom before she turns back to him. "You said something about Reva."
"Yeah, I told William that I would call her to tell her about Edmund. And I need to call Jon too."
"What about Jeffrey and Olivia?"
"He and Ava are going to inform them."
She nods before turning for the bathroom. Grabbing his phone, he leaves the bedroom to start the coffee. Once he has the coffee started, he dials Reva's number. After a couple rings, Josh answers. "Hello."
"Josh, its Richard."
"Hi, it's early." Josh says, glancing at the clock.
"Yes, I know and I'm sorry to call this early. I needed to speak to Reva."
"She's in the shower at the moment. Is something wrong with Cassie and the…."
"They're both fine." Richard quickly replies, hearing the panic in Josh's voice.
"Okay. Can I help with something?" Josh asks, settling down a bit.
"It's sort of something I need to tell Reva, but I guess it affects you as well. William called me earlier, he received a call from San Cristobel."
"I thought he was through with…."
"He is, the vote still stands. This is about Edmund." Richard says, as Josh sucks in a breath.
"He's in jail. William had him arrested after the stuff with Will."
"Yes, I know." Richard sighs. "Apparently, Edmund tried to escape yesterday."
"He what?" Josh asks, as Reva comes out of the bathroom. She stops at the tone of Josh's voice.
"Who is it?" She asks, walking over to him.
"It's Richard." Josh replies. "Richard, hold on for a moment. I'm going to put you on speaker." Josh says, taking the phone away from his ear and hitting the speaker function. "Reva's hear now." Josh says.
"Richard." Reva says. "Is something wrong with Cassie and the…."
"They're both fine. This is about Edmund." Richard says, as Cassie comes into the kitchen. "As I was telling Josh, I received a call from William just moment ago, informing me that he had received a call from Prince Silas concerning Edmund."
"He's in jail. Has been for several years now. Did they release…?"
"He wasn't released." Richard says, slipping his arm around Cassie. "He was shot and killed yesterday while attempting to escape." There are several long seconds of silence before Richard says. "Reva are you there?"
"We're here." Reva replies. "How is that even possible? I remember the prison where he was held, no one has successfully escaped from there."
"I know. The only thing William could tell me was that one of the gates was jimmied opened and that the alarms used to signal a security breach was disabled in the tower closest to the gate Edmund used that in his attempt. The whole thing was is under investigation but he also said that Prince Silas had ordered a security review of the facility."
"It's a little late now."
"That's exactly what William and I both said."
"Have you spoken to Jon?"
"No, I called you first. Maybe we should call him together. That is if you want…."
"We can do that." Reva says, after glancing at Josh.
"Ummm, I need to go into the office this morning but I can come by the Beacon around lunch."
"Actually, I'm not going to the Beacon this morning. I have an appointment this morning at Cedars and I can come to your office after that?"
"Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine, just my yearly checkup."
"Okay, I'll let Amelia know that you're coming when I get to the office."
"Thank you for letting me know Richard."
Richard pauses for a moment before he replies. "I think I owe you more than that. Edmund did more to you and Jon than…."
"He did a lot to all of us. And to be honest, I'm not sorry that he's gone. It's something I won't have to worry about anymore. I hope you understand that."
"I do, and a part of me agrees with you. But I also wish things had been different. I know I can't change Edmund's choices. He put himself in there, but…."
"I know, and I understand that he was your brother and you loved him, in spite of the things he did to you, me, Jon and Cassie."
"I did love him and I wish he would've given me the chance to show him that I wasn't my father. That I didn't see him as my father saw him."
Reva's quiet for a moment before she replies. "I think he did see that, but he couldn't accept it. He couldn't let go of all the things that were done to him and said about him." Reva says, as the boys come into the kitchen with Richard and Cassie.
They can sense that something isn't right and they look to Cassie for an explanation. "Reva, I need to go. They boys are here and we…."
"Yes, of course. I'll see you later this morning."
"Okay." Richard hangs up and as Cassie brings them into the living room. They settle on the couch as Richard walks in behind her.
"Is something wrong?" Rj asks, as Cassie and Richard sit down beside them on the couch.
"We need to tell you both something." Richard says, as Cassie looks at him. "Your Uncle William called me this morning."
"Are Ava and the baby okay?" Will asks.
"They're fine, but he talked to the new Prince in San Cristobel last night."
"Is he…." Will asks, as Richard holds up his hand and he falls silent.
"William talked to Prince Silas last night. He's not going back to San Cristobel. He won't ever be able to go back and run the country." Richard says, looking at Will. He nods.
"Why did Uncle William talk to the new Prince?" Will asks.
"It's about Edmund."
"Did he run away from jail?" Will asks.
"You don't run away from…."
"Rj, let him ask his questions the way he know how." Cassie says. Rj looks down and nods.
"Sorry, Will." He mumbles.
"Yes, he tried to run away from jail."
"But the guards caught him right and he's back in jail."
"When he tried to run away the guards caught him and they told him to stop but he didn't listen so they had to shoot him to stop him."
"So he's hurt bad?" Will asks.
"No, sweetie." Cassie says. Will looks at her. "When they shot him, he died."
Both boys look at them, shocked. This is the first time Will is old enough to realize what it means for someone to die. They both were little when Richard's accident happened so neither one fully grasped what was going on then. They were both older when Tammy died, but Will was in San Cristobel with William and Rj well he knew then. But still none of them thought this would happen to Edmund, he seem to be able to finagle his way out of every situation that got him into trouble.'
"Why did he try to escape?" Rj asks.
"I don't know." Richard looks at Cassie. "The government of San Cristobel is looking into what happened."
"But you always tell us to accept our punishments, when we get into trouble. Why didn't your parents tell Edmund the same thing?" Will asks.
Richard smiles at the innocence of the question before he answers. "To be honest, Edmund and I weren't really raised by our parents, we had nannies and tutors that taught us things, but yes our nannies and our tutors did tell us that we needed to accept our punishment when we did something wrong. It's just that sometimes when people are allowed to do bad things and they don't get caught they begin to believe that they're above the law. And I'm afraid that I let Edmund not get into trouble too many times for the bad things he did.
"Why?"
Richard reaches for him and Will comes to him. Pulling him onto his lap, he says. "There are many reasons for why I let Edmund go when he did something bad. But mostly I felt guilty."
"Why would you feel guilty? You didn't do bad things?" Will asks.
"No, I didn't."
Richard pauses for a moment before Cassie says. "You both know that we love you and that either one of us will be there for either of you, right?" Both boys nod. "Your dad's and Edmund wasn't raised the same way that you are."
"I don't understand." Will says.
"What your Mommy is saying is that when I was a boy, I got most of my father's attention. Sometimes it was too much, but Edmund didn't and when he did, it wasn't positive attention."
"You mean they ignored Edmund and spent all their time with you, why?" Rj asks.
"I was next in line to the throne, even though I wasn't supposes to be the Prince I was raised to follow in my Dad's footsteps. So I got all the attention, and not all of it came from just our parents. The people of San Cristobel gave me attention too and Edmund felt left out, he felt ignored and he felt like we didn't really love him. So he began doing and planning bad things and because I felt guilty, because I got all of the attention, I made excuses for the things Edmund did and planned." Richard says.
"Except for when he tried to hurt Mom." Rj says.
"Yes, I was mad at him for hurting your mom and I punished him for that. But I always wanted to believe that Edmund was a good man inside." Richard says, pointing to his chest.
"You loved him." Will says, looking at Richard.
"Yes, I did. And as much as I felt guilty about the way Edmund was treated by our parents and the country of San Cristobel, I came to realize that at some point in a person's life, they must stop blaming the things that they do to themselves and the other people around them and they have to accept responsibility for the decisions and actions they make. We're all responsible for the choices we make."
Both boys nod and for a moment there is silence before Rj gets up and moves over to sit beside Richard. Richard lifts his arm, and lays it across his shoulders, letting Rj snuggle in beside him. "I'm sorry Uncle Edmund died." He says.
"Yeah, me too." Will says, hugging Richard.
"I'm sorry too." Richard says, looking over at Cassie and she realizes he's apologizing for more than just Edmund's death. She lays a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.