A Princess Named Harry: Book 2

Chapter 31

After returning from their ice cream trip, Harry and the king waited in his office for Kahil to return with his news. They hoped he'd had more luck than them, but when he returned empty-handed, they both knew he had found nothing either.

The king made Kahil sit down beside Harry while they went over the details. Kahil had discovered two things. One was that Varian had no record of his existence, and the other was that something had happened to him during the expedition he went on last year. Harry always wondered what happened, but every time they had tried to talk about it they were always interrupted. She didn't even know where he was sent to.

"What happened to him during the expedition?" she asked expectantly.

"That's a question that would be better suited for him to answer," replied Kahil. "I honestly don't know much of the details about it myself."

Harry was disappointed; the mystery of Varian only kept growing bigger. "At the very least," she replied. "We know that Varian wasn't really a duke's son."

"That's the truth," sighed Kahil. "That couple seemed deranged."

"The Duke and Duchess of Alchester," muttered the king. He thought quietly about them for a moment. "Yeah," he said. "That duke isn't the most reliable person, but he hasn't proved to be completely useless thus far which was always why I couldn't just strip him and his wife of their noble title. Instead, I appointed the Grayson family to take charge of the duchy."

"So Lady Angelina isn't really a duke's daughter?" Harry asked.

"She is," the king answered. "I appointed her family as such. After the house of Alchester dies, then, the Grayson family will take over its duchy. Everything the Alchester's own will become the Grayson's."

Harry felt confused. If her father thought of the duke as someone so incompetent that he had to give another family his title, then why would he ever consider giving someone who claims to be his son with the task of protecting his new daughter? Harry wanted to ask why, but of course, she couldn't. Luckily, Kahil was there.

"Then let me ask you this, Father." Kahil's question was the same as Harry's. "I'm quite curious about it, and I'm sure Harry here is as well."

Harry gave a slight nod and looked at the king for answers.

"I had him evaluated," he replied grudgingly. "He seemed to be the complete opposite of his father, and now I know why." The king lowered his head. "He wasn't even the duke's son, to begin with."

"So, who's son was he?" asked Kahil. That was the million-dollar question that no one could figure out the answer to.

"That's a great question, Kahil," replied a sarcastic king. "Next time you see him, you should ask him that yourself!"

"Wow," gasped Kahil. "Why didn't I think of that? We can simply ask him! Hey, Harry, want to go down to the marketplace with me? I'm sure we'll find your knight standing right there in the middle of the place!"

The mood was becoming tense, and Harry did not want to sit there any longer. "I-I'll
b-be taking my leave now." She hurried towards the door. "I hope the two of you can find something!" With that, she exited and shut the door behind her quickly.

She had another reason for leaving besides getting out of the tense atmosphere. She wanted to see her mother. The king would now be busy, so he wouldn't be able to go back to Caroline's room for a while. This was Harry's chance.

When she made it to her mother's room, she took a moment before opening the door. The reason for this was because she had knocked on the door and absentmindedly waited on her mother to answer. "She's not going to answer," she told herself as she walked on in.

There her mother laid in the same position as before. Still not moving an inch, still looking as if she were only sleeping.

Without a sound, Harry took the chair that the king had been using and scooted it closer to the bed. She knew it was pointless-that even if Harry did start talking to Caroline, she definitely wouldn't answer.

"Mother," she called hopelessly. She paused before deciding to continue. "I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I just wanted to let you know about everything that has been going on since we returned home."

Harry began to tell Caroline everything that had happened. She also voiced all of her worries and concerns for the future. Despite knowing that Caroline would never answer her, she talked to her to gain some peace of mind.

"Mother, I'm a terrible daughter, aren't I? Here you are lying in bed, unable to wake up, and all I'm worried about is Varian. I'm really a terrible daughter."

Harry's answer only came in the form of silence. Harry sat in the silence for hours. She sat still and silent, reflecting on her actions until the sun began to set and the king came to the door.

"Harry," he called. He stood leaning against the door frame looking at her.

Harry turned to him with a smile and turned back to her mother. "Since Father has come back for you, I'll be leaving now."

"Harry," the king called again. "You don't have to leave just because I'm here. You can stay as long as you want, you know that, right?"

Harry smiled. It was the best smile she had made since Varian's betrayal. "Of course, I know that, Father," she answered beaming. "Have you found anything more yet?"

The king shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, nothing. Nothing on any topic, nothing at all."

"I'm sure we'll find something soon," Harry said upbeat.

"Perhaps."

Harry slid past the king. "We will! Well, good night, Father."

She started down the hallway, hoping she wouldn't have to stop until she made it back to her room, but the king stopped her.

"Harry," he called softly.

With another smile, Harry turned around to face him. "Yes, Father?"

"You've had it so rough lately. You've had many more terrible things happen to you in these last couple of days than most noble children your age do during their whole lives. I just wanted to let you know that it's okay for you to rest. If you want to stay huddled up in your room, then, I'll make it so no one bothers you."

"I'm fine, Father, really."

"You've had to witness your mother being poisoned, you were betrayed by the very person you thought you could trust the most, and you've hardly seemed to get any sleep since. Your mother will get better soon; I'll make sure of it. You're such a kind girl to be so worried about your mother."

In that moment, Harry wanted to correct him. She wanted to tell him that she was more worried about Varian than her mother that she was truly a terrible daughter, that she let everyone down. That even after being betrayed, she was still in love with Varian, and she would always be.

Harry wanted to come clean about everything, but instead, she made sure to smile bigger as she replied, "That's right, Father. I'm going to rest now."

"You certainly deserve it."

Those words were like a knife to her heart. Harry walked away. She knew even if she went to bed now she wouldn't get any rest. She would never be able to, not until everything was back to normal.