The Forced Throne

Chapter 8

                      ~Jaron's POV~

Jaron sat at his desk in his room. Papers were sprawled all across his desk. He put his palm to his head, if he had to discuss another meeting about this trade with Hakkan, he would probably explode. Hakkan was being super stubborn and annoying! Jaron stared at his papers again and started to laugh. This was probably what his father and Conner felt like when dealing with him. He leaned back in his chair and turned his head to the window, it was getting dark. Jaron hadn't talked to anyone since he stormed out of the meeting room. If Imogen were here with him, she would have told him to get back in there and sort it out. He sighed, he missed her and her comfort. Jaron then laid his head down on his desk. Since coming here, Jaron hadn't done at all what he intended to do. He had been too busy fighting with 'king' Hakkan and other pressing matters. 

Carthya was on the brink of war with Gelyn. Jaron had won a war with Gelyn after they tried to take some territory and he instead took some of their land that was full of good materials. Gelyn always wanted that land back for years and has been building their armies in an obvious plan of taking it back. Jaron wanted to take this trip to refresh his brain, but it wasn't helping one bit. Jaron hoped that Tobias and Roden, along with Imogen was holding the kingdom up well while he was gone. After a bit, Jaron found himself feeling a bit tired. He closed his eyes and then swiftly fell asleep, tired of the many sleepless nights he had that were full of stress. 

"Imogen.........., what have I done?" Jaron cried, tears falling down his face. Jaron wasn't normally the one to cry, but this time it had struck him hard in his core. He laid on his bed, his head in Imogen's lap as she brushed her fingers through his hair in which to soothe him. Jaron was still in his royal uniform, he didn't care one bit. He was tired and worn out. It had been about a week and a half since Alexius had disappeared. Jaron felt as if it had all been his fault, first his parents, his son, and now his daughter was gone. Jaron didn't want to give up, and he didn't plan on it, he was going to find his missing daughter. "She just takes after you, maybe she ran away, but I'm most certain that she'll return to us one day," Imogen said in a calm voice. Imogen was so calm and caring and that was one of the many reasons why Jaron loved her. 

Then he got an idea, he sat up and turned toward Imogen, giving her a quick kiss before grabbing something out of a drawer in their room. "Imogen, you're a genius! Alexius is a lot like me and she knows all the stories of my past. If she did run away, she might do the same thing that I did!" Jaron said excitedly. Imogen smiled softly, "But it's late Jaron, you can continue tomorrow!" Jaron shook his head, "there's something that I must do now." Jaron swiftly ran out of his room. A lot of the servants gave him side glances as he ran by. Jaron forgot how much of a mess he looked like. "I need you to tell Tobias and Roden to meet me in my office as soon as they can!" Jaron told two servants. They nodded and quickly ran in their different directions.

After what felt like thirty minutes or possibly more, Roden and Tobias came running into Jaron's office. "Jaron are you mad! It's almost midnight!" Roden spat. Jaron turned towards Tobias, "I have an Idea that might help us find Alexius." Roden and Tobias paused, the anger on Roden's face had added away. "What do you suppose?" Tobias asked, folding his arms. "Were going to look for her, the same way Conner found us," Jaron said, Roden seemed a bit more interested now. "So we're going to go to every orphanage?" Roden asked. Jaron nodded and Roden threw his arms in the air, "You think she would do that!?" Jaron nodded, "Imogen pointed out how much Alexius is like me. She grew up hearing the stories about us, she might of used them to help her if she did indeed run away." Tobias looked a bit nervous before speaking, "Well if we're assuming she ran away, then that means she doesn't want to be here. Jaron, if Alexius did run away, she doesn't want to be the princess of Carthya anymore."