Forgotten Memories

Chapter 13

Charlotte stumbled off of the castle grounds in a state of confusion. Her brain was still foggy from everything that had happened in the last 24 hours: verification day, being kidnapped, finding the pictures, learning about King Amir's lies. It all seemed like too much; she could really do for one of Sean's hugs and Matt's pep talks.

She reached into her pocket to take out the folded piece of paper that Sean had given her. He had promised that it would lead her back to him, but she had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy.

At first glance, she could have laughed at how simple it seemed, but she felt too empty for a laugh. She carefully followed the directions to the tee, but when she had reached the end of the directions, she was standing in the middle of the forest.

How could he tell her that this paper would lead her to him, and then write instructions to the middle of nowhere? Maybe he really was lying about it all, maybe she wasn't safe anywhere.

Her emotions boiled over in a storm of rage and she lashed out at a tree stump. Seemingly miraculously, kicking the tree stump opened up a trapdoor at the forest floor that had been camouflaged with leaves and branches.

She hesitated but eventually climbed down the spiral staircase that appeared behind the trapdoor. The steps were steep, and the air was damp; her senses were heightened and after the door closed behind her, the only light came from the dim torches that occasionally lined the stairs.

After what seemed like several floors of stairs, she could see a floor branching out in both directions like a hallway. She sped up her steps and listened even more carefully in case Sean had been lying. God, she hoped he wasn't lying.

As she reached the end of the stairs she looked in both directions and decided to take a left down the hall. She heard a noise behind her and jumped around in fear. When she saw nothing, she took a deep breath, convincing herself it was nothing to worry about. Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind her, grabbing her arm.

Charlotte fell to the ground in fear. "Holy cow, Scarlet! You can't just go grabbing people when they are already on edge!"

"So, you came." She replied with a glint in her eye. "I didn't think you had it in you; guess I was wrong, huh?"

Charlotte huffed a grumpy sigh, "Just take me to see Sean."

Scarlet raised an eyebrow in silence as if to say, 'Excuse me?'.

Charlotte huffed out a blunt please before standing up with a grunt.

"Who says he wants to see you after what happened earlier?"

"Look, I know you don't like me for whatever reason, but I really need to see him so could you at least tell me how to find him?"

Scarlet sighed and turned around, leading the way. After a short pause, she added. "I never said I didn't like you, princess, but we have to be gruff down here, being rebels and all."

Charlotte nodded her head from behind Scarlet, though she knew Scarlet couldn't see her.

They took a few turns before arriving at a large brass door. "Give him a break, if you can, he really had wanted to tell you. Apparently ever since the day you guys met in the carriage."

"Why?" she asked questioningly.

"He will explain it all." She responded as she pushed open the door.

Charlotte took a step inside, Sean looked up and without a second thought practically leaped out of the chair he was sitting in at the other side of the room. He started to take a step towards her before remembering how she had reacted to that a few hours ago. His eyes were sad and red like he had cried, and he raked his hand through his hair like he always does when he's nervous.

That was all it took for Charlotte to see he wasn't lying; she dropped the wall she had put up to protect herself and ran into his arms with tears in her eyes.

"It's all going to be alright." He said as he ran his hands along her hair to smooth it out. "I'm here."

***

*The King's POV*

King Amir looked out of the window overlooking the capital from the top floor of the castle. He pressed his face against his hands; how could he have let another daughter be taken from him by the rebels.

This time it was much harder because more than half of the kingdom had been there to witness it, so he couldn't just spin some fabricated lie and convince the citizens that everything was going to be alright. And this all happened right before Charlotte took the throne, he was almost done with his reign, but it was all for naught now.

He had no idea what he was going to do, he didn't even know what his options were. He had even been naive enough to let his hopes soar high when the guards had informed him of the sighting of a girl in a torn dress sneaking into the castle. Unfortunately, he now knew that girl could not have been his Charlotte because they re-searched the castle to no avail.

He put all the blame on himself. He should have known this was coming, he should have been ready, he should have been more careful. Now, who knew what would happen, maybe there would be a rebellion.

Perhaps this was the final step in the revolution that the rebels had been planning since nearly the beginning of his reign. He still couldn't fathom why anyone, let alone an entire group of people, could hate him. Everything he did was for the Kingdom.

He turned away from the window, stalking out of the room and down the dreary, empty hallway of the west wing. His thoughts echoed in his mind as his footsteps echoed down the hall.