Encanto Empire

Chapter 2: Dying Stars

It had been three days since the celebration of their fifty-third anniversary. And yet, the streets have still not been fully cleared by their crowd of imperial subjects. Camilo stepped out of the balcony and rested his forearms on the handrailing, while he simultaneously took sips of his coffee. The morning breeze blew onto his face as he stared down at the busy streets. He wondered, "How long will these bastards finish moving on already?" "I can't be stuck in Abuela's palace forever."

Suddenly, he heard the door creak behind him. He turned and saw Mirabel walking up to him with a nervous look on her face. "What?" He asked. Mirabel clicked her tongue and rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. "Abuela wants to see you." she replied in a low voice.

Camilo rolled his eyes and leaned his hip against the railings, facing Mirabel. He took a long, strong sip of his coffee to the last drop and wiped the mess off his lips with his white sleeve, leaving a dark coffee stain on it. He marched up to her and shoved his coffee mug onto her hands by her stomach. Mirabel smiled awkwardly as Camilo left a brief glare at her before slamming the door shut behind him. "Someone's in a bad mood." Mirabel said as she stood wide-eyed in the empty room.

In the very same garden, the empress, their Abuela Alma awaits his presence on a round table underneath the same flowery tree where the betrothal was announced. There she sat back, taking gentle sips of her tea whilst staring up at her palace, watching Camilo walk down the floating stairs. The expression of anger and hatred had not been washed away from his face since that fateful day. He hesitantly walked up to her and rolled his eyes. "What now?" he asked. Alma gently put her teacup down on the porcelain coaster as she said, "Take a seat."

"Must I?" he asked.

"Take - a - seat." she replied firmly. Camilo glared at her and pulled out a chair before sitting down and crossing his legs and arms. Alma sighed and grabbed a teapot. She hoisted herself up a bit from her chair as she reached for Camilo's cup. As she poured him a cup of tea, she kept glancing at him and saw his lips move as if he were inaudibly mumbling something under his breath. "What is it that is on your mind?" she asked sweetly.

"You summoned me here," he said, raising his voice.

"I am aware of that." she said. "I am simply asking you what is on your mind right at this moment."

Camilo groaned and hesitantly replied in a low voice, "Oh, I don't know... perhaps the fact that in a matter of months, I'd be sitting on my missing mother's throne."

Alma sat back down and took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she composed herself and gathered all the courage to reply. "Your mother is gone, Camilo." she said sadly. "You know this, and have seen us put justice in her name."

"Tsk!" he reacted. "You never found a corpse." "I believe that she is still very much alive."

Alma shook her head and replied, "I see that you have never gone past the phase of denial."

Camilo slammed his hand on the table and shook all the teaware violently. "It is not denial!" he yelled. Alma tried to look away from his hateful gaze but could not fathom staying away for too long. She kept her glances at him as she tried to breathe in and out, doing her best to understand his disarrayed emotions. Without any second thoughts, Camilo turned away and stormed out of her sight through the trellis walls around the garden. She sighed in disappointment as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Meanwhile, Camilo makes his way up to Luisa's chambers in their grandmother's palace. His rage made all the servants and butlers turn their heads in concern as he walked through the halls of golden pillars. It is rare for anyone to see the young prince without a smile on his face, let alone in a fit of fury. He stopped to face her chamber doors and banged his arm and fist violently on them. "Open up!" he yelled. Camilo noticed the whispering maidens in the distance and hissed, "What are you looking at?" The maidens gasped and scurried away, hiding behind one of the pillars. Camilo heard the doors click and slowly creak open. He peeked through the tiny gap as the door paved the way for his entrance, but was confused to see that Luisa was nowhere near it. Curious, he took small and slow steps inside the room. "Luisa?" he called out, but no one responded. "Luisa?" he called again, scanning the room.