Forgotten Memories

Chapter 8

Copyright ⓒ 2017 by NEVERENDINGMIND (of Wattpad)

All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author.

She swung open the door to her massive walk-in closet, taking a second to absorb the awe-inspiring interior, before rifling through her dresses.

She had less than half an hour to find the right dress for the mysterious meeting at the staircase with the enigmatic soldier, Sean.

She had no idea how fancy this meeting was going to be or how the heir to the throne was supposed to dress so she settled for a classic.

A stunning black A-line dress that stopped a little over mid-way to her knees, with a daring cut out in the back. It was a little risqué for her first night out after waking up yesterday, but what the hell.

She decided to keep her hair and makeup as Des had applied earlier in the day thinking it couldn't do any harm, stopping to apply the slightest bit of perfume before gliding out the door towards the staircase.

She smiled to herself as she noted the sound her black lace-up heels made on the floor of the hallway.

Soon enough she hoped she would learn the reason behind her unsettling intuitions.

Her cautious steps faltered ever so slightly as she approached the staircase, her gaze searching for the mysterious figure who was supposed to meet her here. A small flame caught fire in her eyes as she realized that he may not be showing up, hell he might not even exist.  As she neared the end of the grand staircase, right before her eyes started shooting out flames of anger, a figure edged out of the darkness of the spandrel.

As her feet reached the floor, she came face to face with him. Her breath caught in her throat and her steps faltered once again as his face brought back the peculiar sensation that had been haunting her since she woke up.

"Hey," Sean said, shifting awkwardly in his uniformed shoes.

"Hi?" Charlotte responded, trying to shield herself from what he was about to say, in fear of a bomb much like the one the king dropped about her being the heir.

"Wow," he breathed in confusion, or was that frustration. His eyes glazed over for half a second before going back to normal. "You really don't remember anything... you don't remember me."

"No," her voice shook, thick with emotion, as tears rolled down her face carving deep rivers into her cheeks. "I really don't."

"Come here." He said gently as if his voice itself was giving her a hug, before he enveloped her in his strong arms, giving her a sense of belonging and hope that she was sure she hadn't felt in a really long time, causing the tears to fall with even more ferocity.

***

Charlotte slammed the book closed in frustration. She couldn't wrap her head around all of the mounds and mounds of books that she had to re-memorize.

There was no way she could do this, rule a country. How was she supposed to be a strong fearless leader when she couldn't even remember her own Grandfathers name and whether the people loved him or not, let alone the rulers before him.

She slumped down in the old reclining office chair that she had been occupying for the past five hours when she had been trying to cram her brain with the information stored in the books that the king had previously set on the table for her.

She had no idea how she was going to retain any of the information that she was shoving into her brain by the handful. Especially not before the spring ball which was being held in less than three weeks. She was also worried about the King's newest creation: verification days. On these days the King would judge whether she was ready to move forward or not.

She paced over to the large window on the other side of the titanic library with an office stuck in an alcove in one of the corners. She couldn't do it, there was no way she could rule a country, she couldn't even rule the castle. Why was she born into this family, why couldn't her sister rule, or someone, literally anyone, else? Why did the world hate her, it knew she couldn't do this but put her here anyway. There was no need for an unfit ruler when something greater than herself could have prevented it by giving this family a different child to become the heir, by giving her to a different family, something, anything.

Suddenly a knock resounded from the door a few feet away, tearing her away from her rampaging thoughts. She cleared her throat of the emotions that were surely lurking near the surface of her voice after her inner monologue took over her mind.

"Come in," she answered the knock.

The door swung open and her eyes widened in shock from the revelation of who was at the door, before she quickly straightened her face back to normalcy.

"Hey, sorry to barge in on you but as soon as I heard what the king assigned to you, I figured you may want some help or at least some company." the voice stated with a small friendly smile.

"O-oh," she started, surprised at his obvious display of thoughtfulness. "That would be great, I honestly have no idea what any of this means or how I am going to remember it all. Although, all do respect, how are we going to get through it all?"

"Yeah, I totally understand how you feel, I went through extensive training to be a guard and I had to memorize seemingly unrealistic amounts of information, so I know a few tricks." he smiled again as if lost in a fond memory.

"Thank you so much." she said, but it was not for the reason Sean assumed it was for. A tear slid down Charlotte's face and Sean's forehead creased in concern, but before he could say anything Charlotte stopped him.

"No, no. I'm okay. I am just so thankful that you are here. I don't know if I'll be able to do this, any of this, but I do know that I definitely can't do it with out help." her voice started to tremble but she pulled herself together, she had to try at least, because if she didn't she would be a failure. The only things she remembered after waking up were her morals, and she knew that she would not tolerate being a failure.

She grabbed the book nearest to her, looking over to Sean, "Where should we start?"

A/N

Hey! Thanks so so much for being here, it honestly means the world to me! I couldn't be here without you all. 💕

What do you think about Sean? The studying? 📚 Do you think she can/will end up ruling Trordon? 👸

See you soon!

N E V E R E N D I N G M I N D