Princes In Hiding

Unknown Biker

Out of curiosity, Joseph and I asked Cleo to explain why my mother was in this photograph. Cleo smiled and sat with us. "I was very young when this photo was taken," she said as she recalls the event, "I have just started my training when I met both of your mothers. At such a young age of 21, Princess Aria became queen and married King Gerome. Your mother, Isabella Brightton, was Queen Aria's closest friend."

I never realized how close my family was with royalties. Does that mean I'm what they call a "noble"? "Perhaps I should get that thought out before I start getting used to it," I thought.

"The two were complete opposites though," Cleo said with a laugh, "Aria was gentle, sophisticated, and elegant while Isabella was strong, daring, and dauntless." I smiled. I guess the apple doesn't fall far the tree. "They don't live together in the palace but the amount of time Isabella spends in the castle with the Queen, she might as well be."

Cleo picks up the photograph from the table and points at the date printed at the bottom right side of the picture. "This was taken 22 years ago on Queen Aria's birthday." Joseph and I looked closely, inspecting every single detail. My mother looked younger than my oldest memory of her. Cleo smiled at us, "You two can keep it."

"Are you sure, Cleo?" I ask her. She nods as a reply. She had a look of sympathy for both of us. Who wouldn't? We both lost our mothers. I took the photograph from Cleo's hands and give them to Joseph. "For you and your brothers," I tell him, "You guys need it more than I do."

"What?" he says in surprise, "Are you sure?"

I smile and nod at him. I grab the locket of my necklace and open it up, revealing a small old picture of my mother. "I always have a memory of her wherever I go," I tell him. He smiles and looks back to the photograph on his hands. Before me is not the popular school football player, the goofball brother, or the future king of Elpis. Before me is a son who misses his mother.

After a few waves and hugs from Cleo, we left the store. "Are we going anywhere else?" I ask him. Joseph was about to respond when we hear something falling over. We looked towards its direction but see nothing but a broken bottle. Not a single person was in sight. I looked  back at Joseph and he too looked suspicious of things. "We should get going," I tell him. He nods slowly and we both get in the car.

I opened the window and the wind blows through. I heard that the wind before and during the war was terrible, filled with smoke and gasses that could kill. I inhaled the air and find it hard to believe that it was once something dangerous.

I hear a phone ring and Joseph connects the call to his car. "Hello," he says.

The car's speakers turn to life and I hear Harold's voice from it. He must have gotten back from his Student Government meeting. "Dude," Harold said in angered voice, "Did you really leave the house and take Natalia with you?" I forgot that we actually left the house without informing anyone.

I hear Joseph laugh at his brother's tone. "Don't worry, she's here and safe, right Nats?" I glared at him as he once again uses his ridiculous nickname for me. "We're on our way back," he assures him, "Just don't freak out or anything."

"Freak out?!" Harold screamed, "How could I not freak out? Florence is going to ki-" Joseph cut him off by dropping the call.

"He's so uptight," Joseph laughs, "If he were king, he'd be freaking out left and right." I remember our conversation by the lake. I wondered if he now considers himself as a better king. "But of course, he'd do better than me," he said. There's the answer to my question then.

"You really don't see yourself as king?" I ask him.

"I don't even see myself as the football captain," he replies, "I may have training for both of it but I just really can't do it." He just shrugs and keeps his attention back on the road. His lack of confidence in himself could eventually cause destruction. Surely, he had tutors and advisors to train him for his big role, to rule over a kingdom. I began to wonder how much training was put into the boys for them to be heirs of the throne.

My thoughts were disrupted when suddenly we see a motorcycle ride pass us with incredible speed. "Woah!" we both exclaimed. It was a strange sight to us as motorcycles were rarely used in our side of the region. I hear Joseph laugh nervously. "You don't see that everyday," he said. I nod.

Our eyes were locked onto the strange rider. Suddenly, whoever the person is stopped. Its bike is directly in front of us. Joseph immediately slammed onto the brakes. The car, luckily, stopped a few feet away. "What the hell?" Joseph said.

The biker then brings up its arm and a black weapon was aimed at us. "Look out!" I grabbed Joseph's shoulder and forced him to duck. We hear the bullets being fired one right after the other.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Six bullets.

Once it stops, we hear the bike's engine turn to life and fade away. Both of us, rattled by the even, slowly get up. We see the windshield slightly damaged. Not a single bullet came through and we both exhaled, relieved.

"We should go," I said quietly. He nods and our car starts to move. We didn't say a word until we reached the house.

When we got there, an intimidating man was standing at the front door. His arms crossed and his face showed no sign of amusement. Florence is really going to kill us. Joseph gets out of the car and Florence stomps towards him. He began to scream at us, "Where the hell did-"

"Florence, not now," I said quickly, "We have to get inside. Now." He was about to object when I pulled both boys in the house. I quickly lock the door.

Florence looked at both of us with confusion. "What happened?" he asks.

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Author's Notes
Oh more action. I haven't written in a long while and my writings seem a bit off to me. Don't you think? I'll make sure to fix this, but for now, here's a chapter of the book.

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