The Royals

Chapter Three

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Chapter Three

Uncle Gerad and Grandma Magda got to the palace last night. They saw Mom and checked on her right away, but she assured them to not worry about her. So they're staying a week. I turned to talk to Aunt May (who was already at the castle when Mom had the heart attack) when Kile came into the dining hall.

Kile didn't come to dinner at first, but he got here just in time for the meal. he sat next to his sister, Josie, who teased him about being late.

At first, I was agitated about Kile coming to dinner and not getting rest as I requested, but then I saw how much better he looked. The bags under his eyes had gone from a purplish-brown, to a light purple. Not perfect, but better.

He was smiling and talking, so that was good. But something was off. I examined him, in search for anything that was out of sort. His hair was messed up a little bit, his clothes were the usual casual stuff he wears...

Aha! He was shaking. I saw his fork shake along with his hands as he moved around his fork while trying to convince people he was eating. know because it's what Mom does when she's on edge. Kile was on nervous about something.

Probably a bad dream, my subconscious suggested. It seemed like it was something else, though. It could have been the way his eyes searched the room as if he was looking for something, or maybe how his foot was tapping against the ground in a hurried speed.

Whatever Kile was nervous about, I was going to find out.

The dessert was a creamy chocolate cake with a cherry sauce drizzled over it. Of course, Aunt May and Uncle Gerad loved it. They were both very fond of treats.

"Should I bring some of this to Ames? She would love it," Aunt May asked Uncle Gerad. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she said "loved".

"Yes, definitely." Uncle Gerad was more like a One than any of my relatives on Mom's side. I remember someone telling me that Uncle Gerad was nine when Mom won Dad's selection. That must be the reason. It also could be Uncle Gerad's spirit. He has this essence to him that makes people want to talk politics around him. I know I have plenty of times.

Finally, dinner was over. We all said or goodbyes and we parted. Well, everyone except Kile and me.

He walked down the hallway leading to his room, and I followed him until we were alone.

"Kile," I whispered loudly. He turned around and flashed me a confused glance. It was soon replaced with a humorous smile. It was the smile Kile had when he was about to make a joke. As always, I was right.

"Hello, Stalker. How are you today?" He tilted his head in mock interest. I rolled my eyes at the name calling.

"Fine, thank you," I played along. I quickened my pace to match his so we were side-by-side.

"Why were you antsy at dinner? And why did you come to dinner when I specifically said not to?"

"First, slow down. Second, because not everyone is going to do exactly what you say all the time," he challenged. I noticed that he didn't explain why he was so anxious, but I didn't push the topic any further. He challenged me, and I was going to make him regret it.

"Do you live to disregard me?"

"Yup," he looked at me and raised his eyebrows while shrugging his shoulders. "It's why I was born."

I rolled my eyes again. "When I rule Illea, you'll be the first on my hit list."

"And what's that?"

"A piece of paper with your name on it." I was impressed with myself.

I'm Eadlyn Schreave, the most powerful person in the world. No one challenges me and gets away with it.

He laughed. "Might as well have been my selection form." Then, I remembered the fact that Kile didn't put his name in the selection. Someone else did.

Great. Another mystery.

"Who do you think did put your name in the selection? Or filled out your form?"

He shrugged and put his hands in his jean pockets. "Don't know, don't care. I'm here now, so I'll just have to deal whith it."

I hated the way he said that. He said it as if he was forced to be here. Well he wasn't, and I was going to make that clear.

"You do what you have to do," he finished. That sent my already boiling anger over the edge.

"It's not like you're forced to be here! If you want to go, be my guest!" I made sure the last sentence was said with an extreme level of bitterness.

"No, Eady, that's not what I meant-" We stopped walking and faced each other.

"Oh, it's exactly what you meant." His hands were now out of his pockets and running through his blonde hair in distress. I saw the regret in his eyes, but it didn't lessen my anger towards him.

"It's just," he looked up at me and sighed. "You know what I really wanted to do before all of this." He gestured around the castle with his hands.

"This isn't exactly what I wanted either," I mumble. He put his hands on my shoulders.

"Oh, Eady, I know. I'm sorry for saying that, it was wrong of me."

"No, you're right. You shouldn't've been dragged into this." With both of my hands I picked his off of my shoulder sand held them. I looked up into his eyes, all the bitterness gone. "If you really want to go, you can. I'll make sure to talk to your mom beforehand."

He smiled. "I'm not leaving anytime soon."

That's when we kissed. It wasn't the sweet kiss that Hale and I had. This was almost like we were desperate for each other. All I could think about was Kile and I'm sure that all he could think about was me.

Suddenly, we pulled back. I'm not exactly sure why, but it was probably Kile's doing.

"Hello General Leger," Kile whispered to me. He was trying to make it clear to me why he pulled back.

We both looked down the hallway and saw General Leger nod back at us and continue with his rounds. I don't think he saw anything.

"Well," Kile looked down at me. "I should probably go." I couldn't even try to hide the disappointment that flowed through me.

"Okay," I try to say strongly. "Make sure to get some sleep."

"I will." He placed his hand on my cheek. "Sleep well, Eady."

And we went our seperate ways.

"Eady," someone called to me. I woke instantly.

"What?" I said hoarsely.

"Mom's been cleared." I look to the doorway to see who it is. Kaden is standing there. He is acting very solemn.

I get up from my bed and I'm fully dressed. I must have fallen asleep in yesterday's dress. I run out of my door way and see Kile practicing aim in the hallway. With a gun. He has this huge hole is his head and its leaking blood. Someone must have shot him in the head.

Kile's target is a guard. But the man doesn't look like a guard. There's a weird feel about the man, but I couldn't focus on it now.

The blood was bothering me. Maybe it was because it was soaking a whole side of Kile's white shirt. It also could be the way the guard wasn't afraid of the bullets or blood, how he welcomed it like it was a part of him.

"Don't worry, my queen," Kaden said in my ear. "Just another riot."

Then I woke up from my dream.