Royal Obligations

Chapter 39: The Ghost In The Mirror

The silence throughout the palace was eery. There was no talk about a funeral and I hadn't seen either prince for at least three days. But there was talk about Everette's twin brother paying us a visit. Everyone knew he was off with his wife making alliances with countries all around the world. Prince Anders hasn't been home for over a year.

"I do not want to see what that guy looks like." Romeo says as he eats his hospital pudding. "Prince Anders was the other half of Everette, just like Everette was the other half of Anders. Losing someone like that has to hurt. Big time." He cringes with each bite of the pudding. "You would think that the palace would feed it's patients decent food." He shakes his head and puts down the pudding cup.

I laugh but it doesn't quite meet my face. I was mourning alright. Queen Hero's scream the night her husband died right in front of her eyes haunted me. She wasn't my mother and he wasn't my father, but it haunted me. Which meant late night readings. Turns out King Clarkson must have suffered from schizophrenia. Queen Amberly made that clear.

"Here," I hand Romeo a strawberry tart and his eyes light up.

"Thanks, Cord. You're the best." Romeo practically shoves the entire thing in his mouth.

"Um, don't call me that." I cringe. "Like, ever."

Romeo grins. "NotetakenCordelia." He says with a mouth full of pastry. "So what's this about King Clarkson being schizophrenic?" He asks once he's swallowed his tart. "I've never heard about this before."

I lean back in my chair and cross my arms. "I've been reading Queen Amberly's journal and the events involving King Clarkson and his son Maxon? It very much points to that conclusion."

Romeo sighs and adjusts himself in the hospital bed. "I'm also pretty sure King Rainbows and Sunshine beat his son. Forrest told me not to tell anyone but he overheard his grandma mention it to Hero."

I lean over in my chair and put my head in my hands. "It would explain why Forrest is the way he is. I mean, I did some digging-"

"Of course you did," Romeo rolls his eyes playfully.

"Shut up and let me finish." I smirk as I continue. "Forrest has Paranoid Personality Disorder and what I found out is that there is a genetic link to it from Schizophrenia. Forrest said what he has is just one step away from Schizophrenia, but that's because they originate from the same place. Forrest isn't like this because it's random, which is what he thinks. It's because King Clarkson was basically a psychopath."

Romeo nods, looking impressed. "Well, Cordelia, I'll give you credit. But I wouldn't call King Clarkson a psychopath. He was just insane."

"That's the thing about him though-" I say, "He was a psychopath. Queen Amberly found out what he was actually planning. I mean, he didn't show her willingly. She found it. He was planning on making Illéa like his own personal property. He was going to rule like an asshole tyrant and make sure his son never inherited the throne. That's also the biggest reason he married Amberly. She couldn't have kids. King Clarkson didn't want kids because he was dead set on believing he was an immortal god or something."

I pause and look at Romeo before continuing. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly. "Jesus," Romeo shakes his head. "How the hell did they manage to keep this hidden?"

I shrug. "I don't know, but they kept it pretty well hidden if you ask me. You know how much work it took to actually find this out? They hid her journal in a place no one would ever think of going- The library."

And that was the most crazy and a little bit funniest part about all of this.

Romeo laughs to himself. "Well I'll be damned. But if anyone would discover this of course it would be you. I'm pretty sure you're the only one who would be smart enough to unravel this."