Kingdom's Queen

Act 2: 10

"Can I ask you something?" I turn to look at Lucia. We sit on the roof of my castle. After what she said, I figured rest would do us both some good. So we came up here with a tray full of snacks and a mouthful of words.

"About?" She asks, biting into a small cake.

"What did Tristan rant to you about when we were kids? Like, he told me- and you did- that he would talk and talk for hours on end about the dumbest things, what were they?"

"Oh." She swallows. "You."

"Me?!"

"Yeah, he was in love with you. I told him if he told someone what he was keeping inside, the feelings would go away. I thought he would tell his mother, but he just took that as a sign that I wanted to know what he was talking about." She clears her throat. "He said you were such a nice person, so calm and careful. You treated everyone you talked to like they were the ruler of the world. He went on for HOURS praising you like he was reciting from a poetry book. Ugh, it bothered me."

I scoff, "... I hate him."

"Me too, girl." She stretches, back making little snapping sounds. "I'm sorry I broke your soul... But I see you." She smiles. I smile back, my face glowing. "Your soul is in pieces... This is all my fault."

"It is. But I forgive you." She smiles, looking down. Someone comes running up the stairs, panting hard.

I look back and see Daniel, face white. "Daniel, what's wrong?"

"Oh, my god. The scariest men I've ever seen are downstairs. They scared me so bad, I just ran before they could see me." He inhales, pulling his hair back. "I came to ask if they were normal."

"The council?" Lucia gasps. "They must've heard about your return."

I wave to them. "I can deal with them, just stay out of my way until I can get them out of the kingdom." I walk through the door, shaking. They don't know I know, keep it to myself and treat them like I normally would. I inhale, patting down my hair and pulling down my corset.

When I make it down the steps, I see them talking to Declan.

"Ah, princess." They bow to me. "I see it's true. You've been found."

"Yes. It's good to be under your guidance again." I nod. "Is there a reason you came to see me?"

"Are you in a hurry? We only wanted to see your wellbeing. My child, what you have gone through rivals all other trials." One of them walks up to me, holding up a scroll. "We have some bad news about your position... You are not able to become queen until we get signatures from your parents."

I scoff, "Did you get them?" I point to Declan, sitting on a bench by the wall.

"No." He chuckles. "How do you think the people would respond if they knew we weren't kings and queens? It's just going to be like this unless you have some... other family we don't know about." His eyes widen, making me realize who he means.

"OH, MY GOD, CASTRO. ABRAM." I yell, turning around and taking off down the hall. I run into them almost instantly, bumping into them at an incredibly fast speed. "Ah. There you are, come with me." They raise their eyebrows, confused.

"Honestly, whatever it is, I don't think it's legal. You're making your mildly illegal loophole face." Abram says as we turn the corner. "What do you..." He stops when he sees the council. "Oh."

The council reacts when they see Abram and Castro.

"Uh... do you know who that is?" One points to Castro. Castro chuckles nervously and turns around to leave, but Abram stops him. "That's King Castro Belle."

I stop in my tracks, turning to look at him. "What did he say?"

"Uh, ahaha, that's so funny. I swear I mentioned it before." He smirks awkwardly. "Did I... not?"

"WHAT?!" I walk over to him and poke his chest. "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!"

"THERE'S A PORTRAIT OF ME IN MODA, HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW?!" Castro walks around Abram, avoiding my hand.

"You know, there was a lot more than your portrait to be focused on when I was there... like, MY ARM BEING MELTED OFF?!"

"Alright, stop." The council steps forward and holds out a pen. "With a signature from... your guardians, you will be the first of your generation to be queen, and we can give you the kingdoms of Harmony and Whimsy to rule." Abram takes the pen first, quickly reading over the scroll and signing his name at the bottom. He sighs, handing it to Castro, who clears his throat.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I thought you... hated all royalty when we met."

"I thought you killed someone. You look like someone who'd kill someone." I mutter. "Being royal was the least of my worries."

I look down at his signature, recognizing the familiar sign I'd seen on so many of Belle's paintings. I had no idea...

"Well, by the power of the royal council of the United Kingdoms, you are now Queen Darling Harmony, ruler of Art and Music. Welcome, my queen." They bow, rolling up the scroll. "We'll take this to the castle's records, you should meet with your friends-"

"Not my friends."

"... With your peers, to announce anything you decide is important. I suggest cutting off the kingdoms from the rest of them."

I stop when he says that, "What? Why?"

"The drought. They suspect you do it, so show them what can happen if you open the world to magic."