A/N- Wassup? It be TOBN with the very anticipated chapter of The Royals!

Before we get to what we are gonna be reading today, I would like to say sorry for being MIA for the last two days or so. I have been quite busy with eye examines, sticking plastic in my eye (AKA eye contacts, something that scared me since I was 6), preparing for school, and writing on Archive Of Our Own (I have two stories on there by the same name for MBAV [shameless self advertising]), and on top of all that, Fanfiction . net has been messing with me for the last two days, and I couldn't log in. I mean, it was probably because they were fixing some glitch (something to do with the view count on stories), but still. It was insufferable.

Other news: All my side stories, like It's Kind Of A Funny Story, The Supernatural Chronicles Of Team V, and A-Z For MBAV are on a short hiatus until The Royals finish. And possibly Our Last Summer. Those are my two stories that need to be done. Also; until those two stories are done, More Than Friends will not be posted. So I will get both stories done ASAP to resume regular posting, because that is my number one priority right now.

Speaking of number one, shoutouts to my number one reviewer/fanfic buddy...(great transition, eh?)

MBAV fan66- Thanks, fanfic buddy! I'm glad all that hard work and research paid off, huh? Jokes! And all the bad guys are dead! And now Ross gets to tell the truth that we have been waiting for. Yup. The truth about the Morgan Kingdom. Excited? I AM! Jokes! And you are right; that is some family. Le sigh! Jokes! Thanks for your review as always, fanfic buddy!

As I said, this is the truth. The truth. Are you as excited as I am? The epilogue will probably be posted along with this, so I can finish this story ASAP. So yeah! Look out for that too :)

So drop a review, and hold onto your hats, because this is gonna be a woozy :)

ENJOY!

The Royals: Chapter 19: The Truth

They traveled back to the Morgan Kingdom, leaving the bloody and body-filled cabin in the edge of the woods. It was merely 2 am. They all went to bed, as normal. They all brushed their teeth, changed into their sleepwear, and plopped onto their beds, as nothing ever happened.

As if they never killed anyone.

As if they never learned the truth.

Sarah packed her suitcase, watching out the window as she saw the carriage with her family crest roll in. It would wait there until dawn, and Sarah would go and leave the Morgan Kingdom and return to their home. Until, of course, Ethan would take the throne and rule alongside her, joining two broken kingdoms back together.

Erica on the other hand, was unpacking; she was moving into the castle to be with the person she loved the most. Even after all the misunderstandings and the betrayal, it was hard, to some, to let go of that. But she and her husband-to-be were stronger than that. They were strong together, and they wouldn't let even the biggest truth separate them.

Rory walked into his bedroom and took off his crown. The crown he always thought was his. But it wasn't. It wasn't his crown. He wasn't a prince. He was an orphan. But his bride-to-be made him feel as if he belonged. And he threw away all the habits of cutting himself, and being depressed. He made a pact to himself; he was perfect. No matter what truth was revealed that night.

Benny packed his bags and hung his satchel over his shoulder. After the coronation for someone who wasn't actually his brother, and the double marriage ceremony, he was leaving. He was leaving the life he knew for so long, the life that was nothing but a lie. He was going to clean up his grandmother's cabin and move in with his partner. Royalty wasn't much to him anyway.

Tobias fiddled with the vial in his hands. He was going to the village to visit his mother. He hasn't visited since the courting night, so he was gonna put her up to speed. And gay marriage wasn't legal yet in the kingdom, so he'd have to wait to marry the man of his dreams. But moving it seemed to be a good first step, as he was about to be set free of the curse that plagued him and Erica.

Jane picked up the book in the empty cell. She was going to be introduced to the kingdom tomorrow. All was to be finished. Everything was going to be revealed. Or at least, almost everything. There were secrets that needed to be kept, or else the kingdom would crumple. And she may never forgive him again, even as he is set down to rest, but she had to at least understand.

And as the moon reached its highest peak, at the midst of the early morning fog, Ethan stood at the tall window in his room, watching as the casket holding the person he grew up with for so long was carried into the kingdom and into the royal cemetery. He still couldn't believe what happened. All the revelations, and he still had to carry one more secret on his shoulder.

He adjusted the crown that laid on his head and looked at his blurry reflection in the window and closed his eyes.

Ethan was to be king, whether it was true, or not.

Two hours earlier...

"It's time I told the truth to you all." Ross said, closing his eyes. Everyone stared at Ross silently, but nodded.

Ross rubbed his eyes as he sat onto the muggy grass, legs crisscrossed. Ethan followed his lead, laying his sword and with the help of Sarah, he sat down beside his father. Rory and Benny sat down beside Ethan, holding his hand reassuringly, preparing all of them for the truth they may have never wanted to hear. Jane, Tobias, Sarah, and Erica sat down as well, ignoring the crimson blood that trickled the grass that Evelyn's once bloody body laid upon. They had called the guards of the palace to remove all the bodies and burn them until they were all ashes.

"Samantha was never the villain." He sniffed back tears as the teens around him tried to feel nothing, as hard as it was not to feel guilty for the lying king. "I was." Ethan sucked in a loud breath as Sarah rubbed his back reassuringly, calming him down. Tobias could hear Benny's heart beating, and he held his shivering hand, subconsciously squeezing it.

"Years ago, when my mother and father were the king and queen of Vania, I had an affair. I was already in a relationship, with someone I was arranged to marry by my parents. They had arranged the dowry with the mother and father of that girl. And I was to live happily ever after." He paused and bit his lip.

"This girl was Evelyn's daughter, Rana Weir." Benny's eyes widened.

"M-My...mother," The words felt so weird in his mouth. "Was supposed to be the queen?" He squeaked. Ross nodded. "Yes. Rana was supposed to be the queen." Rory paused.

"How about Sir Jerald's wife? That girl was the person that drove the Morgan Kingdom and The Fox Kingdom apart? Did you not love her?" Ross' eyes twinkled in the moment of despair, pocketing the bottle of his "end" in his tunic pocket.

"I loved Jerald's wife, Linda, at some point, but of course, your King was quite the bachelor." He winked, and nobody laughed. Ross just sighed - jokes were not a priority right now, he supposed...

"But this - and by 'this', I mean Evelyn, Rana, and everything else - was after me and Jerald drifted off into rivalry. He had married Linda - your mother, Sarah - and had given birth as soon as one week after the wedding. I was alone, stuck in a relationship I hated." He paused, remembering the sad moments.

"But Rana...she loved me. So much. She was basically a puppy, begging to be loved, since her husband - your father, Benny - had died a year ago." Benny shuddered at the thought of his mom begging Ross for marriage. It sickened him.

"I never loved Rana. She was sweet and kind, but I never loved her. So I went to Samantha, a commoner in the kingdom. We hit it off right away, and I met her at midnight in her bakery every night, while in the day, I was committed to staying with Rana." He heaved a sad sigh.

"Samantha was a feisty one though. She was someone who never was satisfied. If I didn't make a move, she would leave me." A tear fell. "I was so naive." He said. Jane looked down; she didn't want to feel bad for her so called father, even after everything that had happened. Ross recollected himself and continued on, fiddling with the bottle filled with the potion in the palm of his hands.

Was he going to do this?

"I proposed her after a month of courting, and broke the news to my parents. They didn't mind at all, but Rana was heartbroken." He paused.

"The wedding wasn't for about a year though, because someone very special was about to go into our lives." Ethan lowered his eyes, not meeting anyone's glance. Ross nodded, closing his eyes.

"Yes. Ethan was born nine months before our wedding. My parents never knew this, so we kept Ethan in hiding in Samantha's tiny house near the marketplace, away from my parents. Because they knew that the prince had to be born before the royal wedding." Ethan closed his eyes.

"So I was a love child, of some sorts?" He questioned, fighting back tears. Ross nodded. "I am so sorry, Ethan." Ethan said nothing in return as Ross just sighed again, watching as Sarah wrapped her hand around Ethan's.

"Then it happened. After the wedding, a year later - Ethan was 1 year old now - Evelyn, the mother of Rana and the mother-in-law of Rana's deceased husband, was furious at me for breaking Rana's heart. I didn't think it was a big deal until I found out that Rana had killed herself and died of a broken heart." He shook his head sadly.

"Evelyn was hellbent on ruining my life. She became my villain. My enemy. A threat to the kingdom. To be honest, she was even more of an enemy than Jerald was at the time." He said sadly. Benny, not really knowing what to do, rose his hand awkwardly.

"Er...Ross?" He said quietly, avoiding using the word 'father'. Everyone looked at him and Benny frowned. "How about me? If Rana committed suicide, was I born?" Ross checked his fingernails guiltily.

"That brings me to the next part of the story; how Benny, Jane and Rory came into my life." He looked at everyone, looking like he was about to break down into tears.

"What I didn't know about Rana is that she was an Earth Priestess, thanks to her mom, Evelyn. And that she was hiding something. Something very important." Ross looked down.

"She was pregnant." He whispered. Benny paled considerably. "W-Was the baby yours? And when I say baby, I mean...um...me." He said nervously. Ross shook his head.

"No. It was to another man." Ross rubbed his temples. "After me and Samantha got married, Rana was heartbroken. She then had a one night stand with a guy named Bertrum, who later became our butler." Benny gasped.

"Bertrum...was my father?!" He exclaimed loudly, and Ross knew things would go downhill from here. Ross nodded quietly as Benny bounced to his feet in rage.

"So you are saying that I basically knew my father for 17 years, and nobody told me anything? Not to mention that apparently, he stabbed my brother!" He paused. "Or at least, he stabbed Ethan." He corrected himself coldly, and Ethan rose to his feet shakily.

"I didn't know either, Benny!" He yelled. Benny winced, looking at how weak they both were. He shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Ethan." He whispered. "It's just that this is really hard." Ethan nodded in understanding, and they both sat down. Ross continued his tale.

"As I said, Rana had a one night stand with Bertrum, and got pregnant. She gave birth to Benny a year later, making Benny a year younger than Ethan. But things got worse for Rana; she saw Bertrum kissing a man, meaning he was gay. I was felt so bad for her - she was a nice girl, after all - and that is one of the reasons why I was never with the idea of Benny dating...Tobias." He said, and Tobias just nodded.

"Poor Rana couldn't handle it anymore; she left Benny in the custody of Evelyn and commit suicide a month after Benny - who had magical powers now, thanks to his mom - was born. Evelyn was furious that her daughter was dead. She had thought the reason was me, but realized it was Bertrum's as well. She was going to kill Bertrum, and the guy he was having an affair with - the chef. But after hearing their pleads, she made a deal with her; kill Ethan, and then take down the Morgan Kingdom. And then they would live in peace, and rule alongside her. They accepted it, because they were very grateful for the second chance." Sarah pieced it together.

"That's why the chef and the butler said that 'she' was going to make them happy. 'She' was Evelyn, and she promised them their life." Ross nodded. "Yes. All they had to do was kill Ethan, and then take down us. Of course, it was just Samantha, Ethan and I in the kingdom." He paused dramatically. "For now."

Everyone eagerly listened as Ross continued.

"Evelyn was thirsty for revenge. So when Benny turned 1 year old, and Ethan turned 2, she killed my parents." Ethan frowned. "No wonder I never saw Grandma and Grandpa. I could barely remember them. It was because they died at an early age. I can't believe Evelyn did that!" He exclaimed angrily, and Sarah calmed him down. Ross nodded.

"I was furious at this. I wanted revenge. It was my turn." He clenched his fist at the memory. "It turns out that Evelyn had made a child using magic, and the girl was Jane." He stared at Jane, and Jane just hissed furiously.

"I fucking hate you." She mumbled, already knowing where it was going"I was probably better off with Evelyn than to you, son of a bitch!" She roared, lunging towards Ross, as Erica pulled her back. Ross just sighed.

"I'm sorry, Jane. But it had to be done. She was going to use you against the kingdom. I could tell. I took you while Evelyn was out of her house, and I took Benny as well. I also grabbed a piece of paper from Evelyn's spellbook; an amnesia spell." He pulled out a piece of paper and placed it in the middle of the circle they were sitting in.

"All aside the fact, I was stupid." He said sadly. "I let my anger get the best of me, but I had a reason; she killed my parents. But it just put a fire in Evelyn's heart; it was now even thirstier for revenge." He then went to the third part of the story he told.

"I forgot about Evelyn for a while, and I locked Jane safely in the secret dungeon I had, fearful that she would be dangerous, because she was magically created. But I kept Benny; me and Samantha had arranged that if anyone found out that Ethan was a love child, it would be Benny who'd be king. But we kept the boys a secret for a little while." Ross then looked at Rory.

"But it got worse; Benny fell ill. I suppose it was that phase in a spellmaster's life when their powers developed. That's what I read, though. And I was afraid our 'back up' would die. So we adopted another child, who was older than Benny. It was a good thing we didn't present the boys to the kingdom yet. But now that we had Rory, and Benny was feeling better, we had no choice but to present the three children to the kingdom, telling them we hid them for a while, but it was all better. You know, we never left the kingdom for two years when we were sorting this out." He said, looking at the two boys. Jane scoffed.

"So you let the three guys go, but how about me? Why am I younger than everyone?" Ross shrugged. "It was a glitch, since you were made with magic, that you were pushed three years back. You remained an infant for five years, - since you are five years younger than Ethan - but after a lot of milk and strengthening, your body coped and you were able to grow like a normal child." Tobias sighed.

"That amnesia spell you mentioned," He said, looking at the single paper in the middle. "What did you do with it?" He asked. Ross sighed.

"Used it on all of Rory, Benny and Ethan." He said guiltily. "I made sure that no one remembered what happened." Erica sighed.

"And then, when Evelyn was losing faith in the chef and Bertrum, and even the maid - who she hired to steal money from the kingdom and bring it to Evelyn - she hired me to spy on everyone." She said sadly. Rory nodded. "And that was a week before the first family dinner and when we found out Ethan was to be king." He concluded. Ross nodded.

Silence crept in as Ethan spoke again, voice barely a whisper.

"So there's no heir to the Morgan Kingdom." He whispered, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "The reason you kept all this was because the kingdom would collapse and fall if you didn't. Because, without your secret, there is no future for the Morgan Kingdom." Ross closed his eyes tightly.

"Good." He whispered scratchily. "You're up to speed."

A silence echoed once again as Ross stood up and walked a distance away from everyone and pulled out the flask containing the green and sparkly liquid. Everyone stared at him as Ross uncapped the container and threw it aside. Everyone stood up too, watching as tears flowed down Ross' cheeks.

"I am so bad at being a king." He murmured, and then looked at Ethan. "You'd be better. Ethan, you'd be so much better. So I am giving you that right now." Ethan, in realization of what was happening, rushed up to Ross, his father.

"Father? Father, what the hell are you doing?" He gasped, and Ross closed his eyes and drank the potion.

It took a few seconds before Ross collapsed, breathing steady. Everyone rushed to his side as Tobias checked the empty flask and frowned.

"Poison." He whispered. "A deadly one." Ethan had tears down his eyes, everyone watching him.

"Why?" He murmured. Ross sighed his last breath, using his last words not to answer Ethan's question, but what he needed to tell him.

"You, Benny, Rory and Jane." He whispered weakly. "You guys need to keep our secret, or else the kingdom will fall." He closed his eyes and whispered his last words.

"Everyone has secrets, Ethan." He said, his eye twitching. "Some are deadly. Like this one." He brought himself to Ethan's ear and Ethan felt his dying breaths on his skin. Ross said it loud enough for all to hear, but his whisper was as quiet as a pin dropping.

"So keep this one." He said, and Ethan, understanding the consequences, nodded.

And Ross died, in the arms of Ethan, his soul going to wherever it deserved to go, and back with his wife.

...And everyone cried, because it just felt sad.

A/N- If that was confusing, sorry. But that is the truth. The truth you are gonna get. I hope it explains a lot ;)

So the epilogue is next, and I had to squeeze one more shocker. So look out for that, since it will be posted with this.

Drop a review, and I'll see you at the epilogue :)

In Fangs, We Trust