Hey everybody! So, I got the new laptop, but I didn't have a charger. So I got a charger. Then, the guy who lent it to me had a password on it, so he said he'd wipe the whole thing clean. So my mom took it in to him today. Then he said he didn't have time to do it, so he will on Monday. Extreme frustration!
Anyway, hurray! This story has officially reached 100 reviews. As I said, I'll have to do something special for this event, wont I? Well, here it is. A bonus chapter. I know you are all waiting to see what happens to Keane and Straton, but hopefully since this is pretty quick after the latest update that it'll be able to tide over on the wait. Wasn't originally sure what to do, but then inspiration stuck. Well, hope you all enjoy.
Bonus Chapter – The Death of a Prince
Eleven year old prince Keane was frozen in place. Those whispered words kept replaying themselves over and over again in his head, until he was completely oblivious to the world around him.
Prince Myrhha was dead. He killed himself in the pond because of bullies.
Shaking his head, he tried not knock himself out of it. There was no way this was happening. There was no way that Myrrha, that Husky had killed himself. It had to be some sort of trick. Something one of the queens made up to cause a bit of drama. It wasn't real.
Without another thought the child ran from his spot, ignoring the surprised calls from the two other boys he'd been playing with just a few seconds ago. They'd all been stopped in their tracks when they overheard the queens talking, but Keane couldn't care less about them right now. He just had to find Myrrha and prove them wrong.
"Myrrha! Myrrha come out right now! Come on Husky this isn't funny! Everyone thinks you're dead you brat!" he yelled, running around the crown prince's empty room. No matter where he looked though, the silver haired boy wouldn't turn up.
Gulping, he left the prince's room. Just because he wasn't there, didn't mean he was automatically dead. He was just hiding somewhere; that had to be it. He was tired of them messing with him all the time and decided to give them all a good scare. He wasn't dead.
"Myrrha!" He called out again, ignoring the stares he received as others whispered and scurried by. The news had to be all over the palace by now, but it was just so wrong. Husky couldn't die. He was annoying and girly and a brat, but he wasn't weak! He always fought back, not give up! Keane couldn't think of a single time in all the years of bullying him when he'd managed to break the younger boy. It just didn't make any sense.
"Mom!" he yelled in relief upon seeing the redheaded woman. He was so panicked that he didn't notice how off she looked. The way her eyes shifted and how she flinched when he called her as if someone had just caught her doing something horribly wrong. Lady Dylana managed to reign in the paranoia slightly by the time her son reached her, however.
"Mom," he repeated, starting to pant slightly from running all over the palace looking for the other boy. "They said that Myrrha killed himself! B-but that can't be right, right? He- he wouldn't! He's too stubborn to do anything like that! He's just h-hiding or something to scare everybody! R-right…? Mom?" he managed to stutter out, his voice getting shakier the longer he went on. The way that his mother stared down at him, her eyes full of so much worry and fear made his insides practically freeze.
"I'm so sorry Keane, but it's true," the woman said softly. Keane was already shaking his head though. There wasn't any way it was true. No one died in the palace! Myrrha was stronger than that! No matter how many excuses he tried to make up though, none of them seemed to work.
Prince Myrrha was dead. Because of bullies.
It was then that the tears finally broke through. He couldn't even feel his mother as she pulled him into an awkward hug. Things like this didn't happen. Eight year old kids don't drown themselves.
After a while he became aware of his mother letting go of him and asking for a guard to carry him to his room. He didn't object as she picked him up and walked the short path to his door, before opening it and placing him on the bed. The entire time his tears didn't stop in the slightest. The last time Myrrha had made him cry was when he broke his nose, and even that hadn't been anywhere near as bad as this.
Keane wasn't sure when he'd managed to fall asleep, but the next thing he knew it was morning and he was still in his clothes from the day before. Wiping his eyes, it didn't really matter since the tears had dried hours ago; he pushed his aching body out of bed and got changed.
Stepping out of his room, it felt like the world was turned on its head. There were small clusters of people everywhere, whispering among themselves. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were talking about, but what Keane didn't understand was why everyone would stop and stare at him as he walked by.
He- he wasn't the only one who'd picked on Myrrha! It wasn't his fault that the boy had broken. It didn't take very long for the whispers and stares to get to him, however, and Keane wasn't even able to reach the courtyard before he was running back to the safety and solitude of his room.
A few hours later everyone was called into the sun tower for the official announcement. Keane couldn't even look at the king as he gave the report to the entire palace about how the previous first in line, Prince Myrrha, son of the twenty second queen Lady Marien, had committed suicide in the courtyard pond. He sounded so… so unlike any of them had ever heard before. There was a reason Myrrha had been named first in line despite being so young, and that reason was very clear now. He was the king's favorite, clear and simple.
What happened next caught Keane completely off guard, however. The crown prince was dead, thus the next in line had to be named in order to take his place. Even as he said this, it never clicked in the red haired boy's head until his name was called that he was next in line.
Keane was brought ahead to stand next to his father by a few guards right away. His mind was a swirl of emotions though, and he could barely even walk straight to keep up with the pace they had set him at. Before he knew it he was standing in front of the entire palace, and he still couldn't comprehend quite what was going on.
He could hear his father talking, but he couldn't really understand the words. It was something about how he was sure Keane would do well in his new position, and maybe something about when the official announcement to the entire country would be given out. He wasn't paying attention.
His eyes drifted over the faces of those now staring up at him. Some looked like they'd been mourning; some looked completely fascinated with the shocking turn of events. The princes that had picked on Myrrha with him had varying looks of shame on their faces. Keane could only imagine that he looked ten times worse than all of them. Or at the very least, he kind of hoped he did. He never wanted this to happen, and now he was taking his place…
He felt a shudder run down his entire body once he finally caught sight of Lady Marien in the crowd. She was wearing a pure white gown, the color of mourning in their country. It covered up almost her entire body, as well as a veil, but he could still make out her face perfectly. Her eyes were bloodshot and it was clear that the legendary ice queen had been a wreck after what had happened to her son.
Despite all of this, she was still able to fix him with a glare that almost made him reach out and hide behind his father.
Of course she hated him. He was the one who picked on Myrrha the most, and now he'd taken his place after he died. He hadn't wanted this to happen though! He never thought that the silver prince would break; he never showed any sign of even caring about everything they did to him! All it ever did was made him mad. Anger didn't cause people to kill themselves; it made them lash out at other people!
Once again, he wasn't able to justify himself or what had happened.
Thankfully the meeting quickly drew to a close after that, and Keane ran to his room the very second he was allowed to leave. Once again he found himself crying into his pillow. He didn't mean for any of this to happen. They were just teasing him! He wasn't the only one who did it, and none of them ever thought twice about it! It was just something they did. It was like how the queens were always catty with each other. It was just the way life in the palace worked. None of that was going to bring Myrrha back to life, however.
A few hours later he heard his door open slightly, but didn't bother to look up and see who it was. He didn't want to deal with anyone right now.
"Keane?" Reluctantly he pushed himself into a sitting position and turned to face his mother, who was now fully inside of the room. She was frowning, and just looked generally disheveled. Nothing like the perfection she usually kept herself at. Keane didn't bother to think about this though; everyone was a mess after yesterday.
Despite all of this, there was a shine in her eyes that the boy couldn't quite place. It wasn't from tears, or at least, he didn't think it was. There was no way it could be anything close to happiness though. Even if Keane had just been named first in line, Myrrha was still dead. That wasn't how he wanted it to happen, and he knew that his mother had to of felt the same way. Despite the strong front he put up, despite the fact that he was the king's favorite, Myrrha was still just a little kid. He didn't deserve to die.
"Come now, don't cry anymore," his mother said, sitting down next to him on the overstuffed bed. Keane just shifted his gaze to the floor.
"B-but Myrrha…" he started, not able to put everything that had happened into words yet. Lady Dylana nodded though, not appearing to be deterred any.
"I know, but tears aren't going to bring him back to life. It's best to just forget that any of this ever happened," she said. Keane guessed that the first part was right, no amount of crying was going to bring Myrrha back, but he couldn't bring himself to believe that she was right about forgetting everything. Even if it would make things better, and he doubted it would, he didn't think he could if he tried. Even though they fought almost constantly, the silver prince had been a part of his life for as long as he could remember. How can you just forget something like that?
"Lady Marien hates me…" he mumbled out, surprising the older woman slightly. It was true though, and she deserved to hate him. He drove her son to suicide and then went and took his place.
"Ignore that woman. Don't let her get to you," Lady Dylana commanded, and Keane was taken aback by the bitterness that laced his mother's voice. The twenty second queen had just lost her son. He knew the rivalries that ran between the queens were deep, but he didn't think that they were that bad.
"O-okay," he managed to get out shakily. His mother nodded after that before standing up. She had seemed to regain some of her normal composure, even if her son was still a bundle of regrets.
"Everything's going to be alright, dear. You're going to be king one day, and I promise that you'll never even think of that child then," the redheaded woman spoke kindly, although Keane wasn't soothed by those words in the slightest. Despite all this, he nodded anyway and watched as his mother made her way from his room.
Crashing back down into his bed, he pulled the covers high up over his head. He didn't immediately break down into tears however. He still felt hollow from everything that had happened, but it was almost like the tears had dried up.
None of it seemed real yet. He was never going to see that annoying little brat ever again. What was the last thing he'd even said to him? He couldn't remember, but it probably wasn't something very nice. It definitely wasn't any of the things he wanted to say to him now.
As the next few weeks went on, it still didn't feel like any of it really happened. That Myrrha had really killed himself. His death was announced to the country the next day, and the funeral was shortly after. The entire country was in morning over such a horrible event. Even still, the ceremony was grand, although it was a closed casket funeral. There were rumors that they'd never actually pulled his body from the pond, and that he was still down there, but Keane ignored those completely. They were completely ridiculous, and the last thing he needed was images of the skinny boy's body decomposing under the water.
After that his classes began to intensify to fit with his new position as first in line for the succession. The palace slowly started to talk about other things, and everyone started to get over the shock. Lady Marien stopped wearing white and went back to her normal ocean blue after two months.
Despite all of this, Keane couldn't bring himself to get over the boy. Maybe it was because of the guilt he still felt, or because his new classes were already starting to wear on him. Maybe it was because of when his mother had told him it would be best to forget, and how disgusted he had felt at that moment.
Even still, it probably would be best to just forget, but the redheaded prince wouldn't let himself. It seemed like almost everyone else had. Even Lady Marien had stopped glaring at him constantly, and just took to ignoring him instead. It just felt wrong to pretend that Myrrha had never existed though, because he did.
Three months after the death of the silver prince, Keane still couldn't go near the pond.
Whenever he thought about it, which was still quite a bit, it didn't make any sense. Myrrha wasn't the type to kill himself. It wasn't right. Everything that had gone through his head when he'd first found out would repeat over and over again. Myrrha was strong. Myrrha didn't break down like that, he got mad and he got even. He didn't quit.
Apparently he did though, because there wasn't any other option, and Myrrha was still dead.
Yay, finished. Poor Keane, I feel bad for him now. I am happy that I was able to get this done so quickly though, so I hope you all like it. And in case you haven't, since I only updated a few days ago, make sure to read the newest chapter.
Once again, thank you all so much. This story reached 100 in the least amount of chapters when compared to any of my other stories. It's kind of a surprise, but definitely a good one. Well, thanks for reading, and as always, please review.