Made To Be Broken

Three

I need to get out.

I can't be in this room anymore, can't be in this place where despair is palpable in the atmosphere, almost as choking as my poorly-held back tears.

So, I decide to pay my respects to the man my father was so eager to ally with just before his death.

As I walk down the red-carpeted hallway of the medical wing, I know that King Soren Aldridge is already dead. His children wait outside in the hallway, or, most of them. Noticeably, his second-born, Casimir, is missing. Perhaps he's still in the room, or perhaps he's nowhere at all. Even I'd heard the rumors. Maybe it's best that he can't be found.

Jace stands with his arms wrapped around his dark-haired sister, Odessa. Her deep brown eyes are filled with tears, which continue to snake down her chestnut-toned skin. While there are no active tears in the future King's eyes, they're red and bloodshot, drunk on despair and high on responsibility.

Next to them, I spot Nova Aldridge, who looks as though she could be Odessa's biological sister, if not for her emerald green eyes. Her hair sets her apart too, though- jaggedly cut as though with a dagger, and extremely anti-royal. Of course, there was no way Nova and Odessa could be biological sisters. All of the Aldridge children were adopted, after King Soren and Queen Naomi were infertile. It explained why all of the children looked so different, even if told all to act the same.

Nova is with the youngest Aldridge, Adrienne. His curly red hair is stark contrast to anyone else in his family, though the biggest contrast between him and the rest of the Aldridges is that he doesn't truly know what's going on. It's not the death of his father that has Adrienne Aldridge upset, simply that his siblings and mother are crying.

As I approach the weeping family, I wonder if I'm making a mistake. It's Jace, however, who gives me an accepting nod. I stand there for a moment in silence.

"I'm sorry." The words come from my mouth, and I'm not even sure whether or not I mean them. My hands are folded carefully in front of me, and it's an effort not to fidget with the golden ring around my middle finger. "For your loss, I mean. I'd assume he passed not a few minutes ago?"

Jace nods, his throat bobbing as he swallows. "Yours?"

"Gone." My mouth pulls in a tight line, not willing any emotion beyond that to be visible. "Though my mother refuses to leave his bedside."

"I felt awful leaving," Jace admits, nodding to his sister whose face is still buried in his chest. "But I'm more needed here."

I feel guilty for not staying with my mother, for running away and calling it diplomacy with these other royals.

But it was in this way that I was raised, and in this way that I might die.

"I don't suppose we've been properly introduced," I say after a long silence. "Though I can only assume you were forced to learn as much about me, as I, you."

His mouth twists upward in a forced sort of smile, a mutual sort of understanding, a deflection from the pain. "All in a day's work for a future leader, yes?"

"A future coming a bit too soon." My words come with a soft intake of breath.

"That it is indeed, Princess Aily." Jace whispers something into his sister's ear, before letting her go and turning fully to face me. He grabs my hand gently, getting on one knee to plant a careful kiss against it. "Jace Aldridge. Crown Prince of Eldoria."

I bow my own head slightly, as he pulls his sister back into view. "And this," he smiles softly at the girl, "Is my sister, Princess Odessa."

Odessa wipes her tears with the back of her hand, sniffling quietly. She can't be more than nine years old, far too young to have to suffer like this.