Cousin who?

<<Charlie>>

"Phew, we are on time. Everyone's sleeping, so we shall just sneak through the back gates." Samuel said. "Let us hope no one catches us before we make it safe and sound."

"We sound like burglars right now." I laughed.

"Invaders. Kingdoms have invaders," Sam corrected it.

I rolled my eyes. "I forgot we're in Titania and not the US."

Jamie whispered from behind us. "Could you two not fight right now, we need to figure out how to get in."

I crossed my arms against my chest. "I thought you knew how to get in."

Samuel retorted. "We do, 'tis just the darkness that is making us delay."

We were standing at the back gates of the castle, wondering how to get in. Actually, scratch that, it was they who were wondering how to get in after boasting their knowledge about every nook and corner in the castle during the whole plane ride. All I knew was if we didn't get in on time, someone might spot us out here.

Especially me.

"Stop blaming the darkness, Sam. We both know that is not the case," I sighed, leaning against the wall and staring at the dark skies. Jamie and Samuel were arguing about where they last saw their 'secret entry to the castle'. Was it behind the vines? Or, was there any stick or anything to point them in the direction?

My mind tuned out of their conversation as I stared blankly at the skies. The sky was clear enough to see the stars twinkling and also if one watched closely, they would see the constellations. Although I never studied constellations, I could tell one when I saw one.

Everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours came rushing back.

Everything.

From dad's death

to giving the impromptu speech at his impromptu funeral

"Found it!" Samuel's voice brought me out of my reverie. He was standing in front of a dark tunnel - I was surprised how well he had hidden it- while Jamie smacked him and stopped him from taking all the credit.

"I was wondering how long will it take you to find this weird tunnel,"

Samuel smirked. "It did not take long, did it?"

Jamie answered. "It would've if I was not around,"

"Oh come on! Let me take some credit!"

"You are taking the full credit when it was I who found it!"

"It was me!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"Samuel..."

"Jamie..."

"Samuel...."

"Jamie..."

"Sam-"

"Guys!" Their attention turned to me. "I'm exhausted, you both win. End of conversation."

"But-" Sam started.

I raised my finger. "No buts, no ifs. End of conversation,"

"But Charlie-"

I glared at the boys. "I'm leaving you two here if you wanna bicker all night. Is that understood?"

They nodded.

"Follow me, boys."

---

"Are you okay?"

Was I?

I didn't know.

All I knew that I was barely surviving the storm that just passed. The after-effects of the storm took a whole new turn in my life and right now, I really had no idea what to do. Dad always told me what to do when I was lost - like a guide. Now that my guide was no more, I was lost in this new world. Everything and everyone felt different. It seemed as I was seeing all of this in a different light.

"Charlie?"

I quietly admitted. "I don't know, Sam. I really don't know."

We were sitting in the grass, staring at the sunrise. Sam told me that watching the sunrise from the garden was a ritual of the siblings. All through their childhood, they woke up before sunrise and rushed here to watch the sun rising from the horizon.

"You know, no matter what happens, the sun always rises. No matter how dark the night was, there'll always be the sun shining brighter than ever."

I turned my head towards him. "Who are you and what have you done to Samuel Maxwell?"

He laughed. "If you can be sarcastic right now, that means you are healing."

I punched his arm. "Answer the question, Maxwell!"

"I thought that was sarcasm!"

I retorted. "The literal meaning was,"

He raised his eyebrow. "There was an underlying meaning too?"

I nodded.

"Well, you are not the only one dealing with life's messes. We dealt with them too and are probably dealing still. All you can say, 'tis the experience talking."

"Daddy issues, huh?"

He shook his head. "Not really, I mean- 'tis not that we do not have daddy issues. 'Tis just that we lost our mother when we were quite young. So, we do know how it feels. 'Tis always okay to feel horrible and grieve over your loss. Not grieving makes your heart weak."

"How long did you guys go through your mourning period?"

Samuel stared at the rising sun. "Not long. Although, Liz shut herself in the room and refused to take a morsel of food. I could not do that because my father expected me to talk some sense into her."

I smirked. I never knew Samuel could be the responsible one at times. One thing that I admired of the Maxwell siblings was how they understood each other. Their bonding and their love for each other was....wow. Nowadays, there weren't many siblings who always had each other's backs and supported each other through highs and lows. It was adorable- to say the least.

"Who knew Samuel Alexander Maxwell could be responsible?"

He retorted. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, Cherie."

Watching the rising sun and talking to Samuel gave me a sense of hope. He surely was right about what he said. No matter what happened, the sun rose every single day and illuminated the dark word with its light. So, metaphorically speaking, this sun was the symbol of new hope and a new life.

"Thanks, Sam."

He stared at me in confusion.

I smiled, probably after a pretty long time. "Thanks for everything. I'm glad I ever met you."

He grinned, placing his hand over my shoulder. "You know Cherie, I read somewhere, 'You don't meet people accidentally. You cross paths with them because it was needed. Either they change your life or you change theirs.'"

---

"What are you doing?"

I looked up from my cell phone to see Augustus walking towards me. He was looking different than he usually looked. He didn't have the aura of a commander surrounding him. All he seemed to me was a normal human. With his blue t-shirt, jeans and sneakers, and a black overcoat, he didn't look a single year older than eighteen- years old. His black hair was still a mess, as always covering up his forehead.

"Nothing, just listening to music."

"What music?" He inquired, suddenly intrigued.

"A song?"

"What song?"

"Real-life - The magical, the mystical by Josh Radnor."

He stared at the distance, possibly wondering if he had ever heard this song. I wouldn't blame him if he didn't 'cause I just found this song on youtube a few days ago and I'd been hearing this ever since. It was a great song when it came to helping with the whole 'grieving process'. This was one of the things that kept me moving and sane at the same time.

"I heard that. Great song."

I shrugged. "Okay,"

To say it was weird for the next few minutes would be an understatement. I had a feeling that the reason Augustus stood in front of me was more than just asking 'what are you doing?'. Maybe he wanted to ask me how I felt right now after my impulsive decision yesterday. Now that I thought of it, it was impulsive on my part. No one in their senses would ever run from Titania to the US.

Augustus awkwardly stood in front of me, shifting his weight from feet to feet.

"Do you need anything?" I inquired, not looking at him.

"Uh...I was here to ask you if you were doing okay."

I shrugged. "I am fine."

I had no idea what happened to Augustus that made him so awkward around me all of a sudden. The Prince who was so confident in himself had turned into a shy, awkward guy overnight. Was it because of the day I found out my dad died and he had tried to drag me back home? Tried - being the keyword here, as everyone knew what exactly happened that fateful day. I remembered clearly that he had opened up to me about him having daddy issues.

Was he embarrassed?

I wondered if I should bring the topic up as none of us brought it up in the last twenty-four hours. We hardly talked inside the castle - it was mostly us ignoring each other and trying to make small talk in front of his and Francine's dads.

"Oh, okay. Do not think that I was concerned about you so I asked." My head snapped to look towards him. He was looking anywhere else, but me. "I just came here to ask because your father asked me too,"

Oh, for God's sake! That guy was not my father!

Plus, how the hell did he know this?!

Two words.

Augustus Xavier.

I accused. "Why did you tell him what happened?!"

"Your father needed to know what happened and I thought-"

I abruptly stood up, glaring at Augustus Xavier. What had the King had anything to do with what happened in my life? He never cared for his children enough to understand their emotions. Moreover, if I had run away from the castle just to cry my heart out, that clearly meant that I did not want anyone, I repeat, anyone to know what happened or where I went.

That screwed up everything.

Everything that we all worked so hard for.

"You thought, Xavier? You thought that my dad needed to know my location? You thought my dad needed to know what happened to me? You thought my dad would've known what happened? Hell no, Xavier! Hell no!" I yelled at him.

"You know what you are, Xavier? Let me tell you what you are - a hypocrite! A bloody hypocrite! You wanna know why? Because someone who has daddy issues would not just walk up to the King and tell him everything that happened!"

He was quiet the entire time I yelled at him. He was shocked- his eyes widened at the way I accused him but he quickly realized what he did wrong. I thought he understood what it felt like to have daddy issues. What it was like to not be able to bond with someone who had seen you grow.

I didn't know why I acted like I had daddy issues. Guess being in Francine's shoes for this long made me realize what daddy issues felt like. Her dad was a jerk.

A pure jerk.

I stomped my foot on the ground and stormed inside the castle. He had not tried to stop me from walking away. My blood boiled inside of me and every emotion that had built up inside of me burst out as rage.

How could he just walk up to the King and say, "Your Highness, the princess fled from the castle for some reason so do you know what happened?"

I hadn't seen the Kong ever since I came back from the funeral but the tug inside my heart was telling me that I soon would come face to face with the King again.

Hopefully, I might come up with a believable story by then.

Hopefully.

——

"The King has asked for you, Princess Francine," the royal maid uttered, bowing in front of me.

I let out a heavy sigh. I knew I couldn't escape this. I had to face him. I just hoped that my impulsive decision did not affect what Francine and I had been doing for the past ten months.

"I shall be there," I replied, shooing the maid away from my sight.

Who knew, 'the Charlie Robinson' had to be answerable to someone for her actions?

Who knew, I had to come up with something because I did not want things to go haywire?

Who knew?

No one.

I was convinced that even God was stunned to see the plot twists that happen every single day of my life and that he had no control over what happened around here anymore. He possibly just sat back in his old armchair and enjoyed the drama of my life- with a flavor of comedy.

I checked myself one last time in front of the mirror before making my way towards the throne room. When I first came here, Samuel was the one who gave me a tour of the palace at midnight. Even after traveling through this vast palace for ten months, I still managed to lose track of where I was supposed to go. At times, it was frustrating and other times, Samuel used to magically show up and escort me to the right places.

It was horrible.

Really.

To not know the routes of this palace well enough.

Then again, why would anyone blame me?

For god's sake, I'd only been here for ten months!

But, they wouldn't blame me.

They would blame Francine Elizabeth Maxwell, who was here all her life and had finally gotten the chance to get away from the castle for a while.

To live life as someone else.

Living the life of a princess made me realize how 'nice' Francine had to pretend to be. She couldn't do anything that she liked but what everyone told her to. I knew that she wanted to take over the crown because it was both her dream and also because Samuel was not taking over. However, the amount of work that she had to do...

Made me seem like I just sat back and relaxed when I was at my place.

Even if they grew up with a silver spoon in their mouths, they did not have the luxury to enjoy it due to all the duties and responsibilites. Being a queen always seemed so easy to me. Like all the queens from other kingdoms made it seem so effortless- like the only thing they did was just sit on their thrones and listen to people, throw balls, dance, and sing and then get married.

But no.

That wasn't the only thing.

That was just for people to see.

There was more to it than what met the eye.

And I realized it now.

---

"Did you ask for me, father?"

The King sat on the throne while King Aurelius and his son stood in one side of him and Samuel, Jamie and Darlene and another man stood on the other side. From where I stood, I couldn't figure out that unknown figure. He was talking to King Aurelius about something.

The King beamed at the sight of me. "Yes, my dear. I did, indeed."

All heads turned towards the door, watching me walk into the throne room with a sense of pride and confidence. I was a little taken aback by the King's- I mean, -father's good mood. Something did not feel right. My gut twisted inside while I plastered a fake smile.

"What for?"

The King turned his head and called. "Son, would not you like to meet your cousin?"

The black- haired man excused himself and turned towards me. His lips curled into a smirk and that itself took my breath away.

And no.

It was not because he was hot.

My heart stopped and it seemed like the ground had been swept from my feet. My eyes widened when I realized who it was. I couldn't believe it was him. No, it couldn't be him. He couldn't be Francine's and Sam's cousin. Out of all the people in this world, how on earth was this guy her cousin?!

Oh, you gotta be kidding me!

The King beamed, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Daughter, you remember James McCrae, don't you?"