Clare Of Utopia

CHAPTER 17: The search

Clare walked down the corridor with dread filling her. She has now not only lost her opportunity to leave the kingdom, but has also inflicted a great threat on the kingdom of Utopia. She felt that she was definitely the worst heir this kingdom could ever have. If her father was not enraged by her before, he would definitely be now. 

She had no idea where her copy had gone. Clare kept scolding herself for instructing her double to leave the room instead of tying her down and stuffing her inside the closet. Why does she always scream at people to always leave the room when things get tough?

Reaching her room, Clare found helpers in deep work.

"What are you doing?" She demanded. 

"I-I'm sorry, p-princess," one of the helpers stuttered. The same helper who had spoken bravely to her that morning. "We are working on it. We'll be done soon."

"Repeat my instructions," Clare asked calmly. 

"Princess?" the helper asked, confused.

"The instruction that I gave you earlier. Repeat it," Clare said.

"Y-You asked us to move your things to a larger room before you return, if not, you'll punish us," the helper said, visibly shivering.

One day. It has been just one day and the evil twin has already started to demand special treatment. No wonder the helpers are scared, Clare thought.

"Leave the luggage as it is. I no longer want to change my room,"Clare whispered with her eyes closed.

"Princess?" The helper was clearly confused.

"I changed my mind. Now leave," Classandra said, slowly losing her patience.

"But princess—"

"LEAVE!" Classandra bellowed with her eyes open wide, glowing brightly like the stars itself had descended down to earth and found refuge in her eyes.

The helpers gathered whatever belongings of theirs they could find and ran out with their lives in their hands. Clare sighed, closed her eyes and took deep breaths. No matter what she had to face in the past, she had never lost patience this quickly. She should calm down if she wants a clear mind to think. 

Clare took slow steps towards the window and lost all hope she had in this world. Only now did she realize that night had fallen. A new day would start with sunrise, along with it, a new beginning. The next day was her coronation. She was not able to believe that she had been so caught up with her mess for an entire day that she totally forgot about the one thing that initially bothered her. 

Her head thrummed with power. It felt like it might burst at any second. Headaches were always common for Clare, but this time, it was a little too vigorous. She held her head with her hands and squeezed it tight to quieten all the voices that reverberated in her head. She needed help. She definitely needed help, but refused herself of the luxury. She decided to distract herself. She turned to look at her belongings on the floor that was half packed. Her hands worked their way carefully unpacking each and every object she could find. She could not stop wondering how good the packing was. The delicates were given utmost care. Her clothes were folded neatly and placed without any wrinkles. Such sincerity in their job.

Unpacking her belongings took most of her night. She wondered how the helpers were able to pack it in such short notice. Before realizing, Clare's eyes drooped in exhaustion and within minutes, she was asleep on the floor, her head resting on one of the chests.

—

The princess of Utopia woke up with a startle. It took her a minute to collect her senses and make head and tail out of where she was and what situation she was in. She was still in her room, still on the floor. The sun was just beginning to rise. The bed looked used. Her other half was here, she realized. She regretted sleeping instead of putting an end to her problem. Of all the time she wanted to sleep, why should this be the time where the sleep actually obliged to her requests?

Coronation ceremony was in a few hours. People expect her to be ready. So, she quickly cleaned herself and got herself in the same clothes she wore yesterday. She told herself that she would worry about her dress later. For now, she took care of her hair and that was it. Now, she had to find her copy. She went ahead to open the door but found it to be locked from outside. Clare's breath quickened. She couldn't believe that her duplicate actually locked her in. Rage consumed Clare, but couldn't find an outlet. She can not just bang at the door. If she did, her atrocities would come to light. Whatever her mother tried to ignore would come back to haunt her. A very minute thump caught Clare's attention. The lock was just opened. With surprise, Clare gave a slight push to the door and it budged open. She peeped out to see who it was. The only one who caught her eyes was the helper from yesterday. She somehow knew, Clare thought, but how? The helper did not seem to acknowledge Clare's presence and seemed to mind her own business. She's feigning ignorance, Clare reasoned.

Letting the helper be, without further waste of time, princess Classandra stormed down the corridor.

Clare walked with fury, unaware of where to find her evil twin. She marched down the corridor, like a storm devouring a silent farm. What added more rage to her fury was the sight of Collins walking towards her from the opposite direction. She had no idea why he was roaming the corridors this early in the morning. Why couldn't he just be in bed and save Clare the trouble. She noticed his eyebrows knit as he saw her, but Clare decided to ignore him completely. 

"Princess Classandra!" He said as he got near, but Classandra kept walking, determined to keep a clear head. "Prince Collins," she said in a way of greeting, but that was it. She could feel him pause in his footsteps behind her but she still kept walking. She no longer had any time to waste.

"I never knew you could teleport!" And that put a break to her steps. She turned a swift 180 degree and faced him head on.

"I mean," he started again, maintaining eye contact. "I can't think of another possible explanation for spotting you just a few minutes ago and now here."

"I am just a fast walker," Clare said without thinking. A mischievous smile bloomed on Collins face. A smile so mischievous that one could mistake him for the god of mischief himself. "A fast walker," he repeated. "Of course."

Clare nodded curtly and turned to leave. She did not have time for his nonsense. "If you are wondering," she heard Collins say. "You just walked here from the farther end of this corridor."

She turned her head sideways to see him halfway. She realized the mistake she just made with her reply but did not wish to own it. 

"I knew where I came from," she said calmly. "Of course you did," he said, the mischievous smile not fading even a slightest bit. A strange light glistened his eyes and Clare couldn't quite figure out why. Ignore him, her mind screamed and hence, started her journey again, this time, a destination determined in her mind. The royal treasury.

"Good luck," she heard Collins shout from behind. She did not know why he was telling that but she definitely needed all the luck she could get. Still, she ignored him completely and focused on the path in front of her.

The security in the corridors was scarce. They had all been assembled in the courtroom for the coronation ceremony. This helped the princess to navigate without the fear of getting caught, but the royal treasury always had heavy security, and just as anticipated, there was. Inside the treasury was her duplicate, going through the jewelry that was on display. She couldn't confront her then because of all the attention she would get.

"Bring these to my room," Clare heard her say, and decided to go back to her room to confront her. She had waited so far, she could definitely wait some more. 

With a swift turn, Clare walked back to her chambers and headed straight to her personal library. She had to get rid of her. How? She had to find out. The exact same book that she used to find the spell lay on the desk. Hurriedly, she flipped through the pages and halted at anything that looked like a solution, but could find none. More the time passed, the more frustrated she got. She gave up and settled for tying her duplicate until the end of the coronation. She told herself that she would figure out the rest later.

Just then, a wind blew past her and rustled the delicate papers, making it flip through the pages and land at one in particular. The one page that she had not come across before. Clare took tentative steps towards the book and there, the answer was staring right at her.