The Family Business

7

     Jefferson spent the following three days teaching me swordplay. It was rough at first, but I had started to get the hang of it. I actually got pretty good. Jefferson was much better, of course, but he had a lot more experience. He was a great teacher, and we had a lot of fun. He had gone back to my hotel room after rescuing me from Nicholas and grabbed my suitcase, so I had clean clothes and all my belongings. After three long days, we docked in Aclea. I was home.

     "I think you've earned this," Jefferson said, producing a sword from behind his back. We were standing in his room on the day I was to leave his ship.
     "You know I can't take that with me," I replied.
     "I'll make you a deal. I will stay in Aclea for two days. At the end of those two days, you can either stay here or come with me. If you decide to come with me, this will be waiting for you." He set the sword on the table.
     "Thank you, Jefferson," I said. He gave me a hug, walked with me off the boat, hailed a cab for me outside the docks, and put my suitcase in the trunk. We said goodbye and hugged one last time, and then I got in the cab.

     When we reached the palace gate, I paid the cab driver and got out. He drove away, and my adventures with my brother were over. I walked up to the gate and nodded at the guards, who bowed and then opened the gate. As I approached the entrance to the palace, I realized that I was home a week early. I figured my parents would probably just think I had gotten bored of 'the peasant life', as they had referred to it, and had decided to come home early. There were two more guards at the doors and they, like the others, bowed before opening them. I didn't really like all the bowing, as it made me seem better than others. I guess, by birth, I was. But I didn't want to be. I entered the huge palace and immediately spotted my mother, in a very elegant dress, as always, coming down the large staircase that wrapped around the grand hall on either side. She finished her graceful descent and looked toward me, a mix of surprise and delight on her face.
     "Allanah!" She exclaimed. "We weren't expecting you home so soon." She stepped gracefully over to me and hugged me delicately.
     "Yeah, well I-"
     "We were about to eat dinner," she interrupted. "Go wash up and I'll have the servants set a place for you. Oh, and please change out of those dreadful clothes." I looked down at my jeans and t-shirt, dreading changing out of them. "Maddigan!" My mother called. A few second later, Maddie walked into the hall, her face lighting up when she saw me.
     "Yes, Your Majesty?" She asked, her voice always soft and quiet.
"Maddigan, please help Allanah change into some more... appropriate clothing," my mother said, giving my outfit one more disdainful look before turning gracefully and sweeping out of the hall.
     "Yes, Your Majesty," Maddie replied, curtsying, to her retreating figure. When my mother was out of sight, Maddie turned to me and grinned. "Come," she said as she took my hand, grabbed my suitcase, and led me up the stairs. We turned into the hallway that led to my room. I stopped, letting go of her hand, and she turned and looked at me. "What is it?" She asked.
     "Why didn't you tell me I had a brother?" I asked her. Her eyes widened and she looked around quickly, then grabbed my hand and pulled me the rest of the way down the hallway and into my room.
     "Be careful," she whispered," your parents must not know that you know about him."
     "Why not?" I asked as she went into my large walk-in closet to choose a dress for me to wear. She stuck her head around the door.
     "They went to great lengths to cover that up," she replied. "Who knows what they would do if word got out?"
     "But don't you think I had a right to know?" I asked, growing a bit frustrated.
     "Of course I do," she answered. "But I had to follow orders. I'm sorry." I instantly felt guilty for getting mad at her.
     "I know it wasn't your fault," I said. "I just wish I hadn't had to find out that way."
     "Find out what way?" She asked as she emerged from the closet bearing a load of dresses. I told her the story of my vacation, not leaving anything out, confident she wouldn't tell my mother what had happened. If my mother found out, I would never be allowed outside the palace grounds again.
     Five minutes later, I was dressed in a long, elegant green dress with three-quarter sleeves and embellishments down the front, and Maddie had been told all about my adventure with Jefferson.
     "Are you going to go back?" She asked.
     "I don't know," I replied, "It depends, I guess."
     "On what?"
     "I'm not really sure."
     "Come on, then," she said, "you don't want to keep your parents waiting." I sighed and walked out of the room with Maddie by my side.

     One staircase and another hallway later, we had reached the dining room. My parents were already there, sitting at the long, elaborately adorned table in complete silence, looking very regal. I took my seat and the servants brought out the first course. I had never been fond of salad, but Mother had always made me eat it. A few minutes after the servants had brought out the main course, I decided it was time to confront my parents, despite Maddie's warning. I had been kept in the dark for thirteen years, and I wanted a little bit of light.
     "So," I started, "is there anything I should know about?" I wanted them to have a chance to tell me about Jefferson on their own. My parents both looked at me.
     "There's a banquet in a few days and now that you're back, we are all going to attend," My mother said, clearly not understanding what I wanted. "Perhaps there will be some eligible young men for you to... befriend."
     "That's not exactly-"
     "You can't spend your whole life single, Allanah," she interrupted. "You're almost eighteen, it's about time you started thinking ahead."
     "You want to marry me off? That's ridiculous! And not at all where I was going with that question."
     "Then where were you going with it?" My father asked. I looked between the two of them. My parents, the ones who had raised me. The ones who had kept the biggest secret from me for thirteen years of my life.
     "Jefferson," I replied shortly. A look of shock appeared on both my parents' faces, and a visible tension came over the room.
     "How do you know about him?" My father asked.
     "I met him," I answered, carefully leaving out the part where he had kidnapped me. "Why did you kick him out?"
     "He disgraced us," my father growled. "He was supposed to run the kingdom one day. Instead, he chose to disobey us and associate himself with... pirates." He spat out the last word as if it were a particularly disgusting poison.
     "You should have at least given him a chance," I protested. "You should have let him go on an adventure. Just one. Maybe then he wouldn't have felt the need to sneak out." My mother was almost in tears. So was I.
     "You are to have nothing to do with that boy, do you understand me?" Father ordered. I stood, pushing my chair back, and leaned across the table, rage pouring through me.
     "That boy is my brother," I hissed at them. "You cannot keep me away from him my entire life." My father stood. I had clearly gone too far.
     "Well we'll see about that." He came around the table and grabbed my arm. My mother was sitting with her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Father dragged me away from the dining room and all the way to my bedroom. Maddie was inside, and looked up in shock when we came in.
     "Allanah is not to leave this room, Maddigan," my father said. "Please come outside with me." He shoved me roughly into the room. Maddie gave me a look mixed with sympathy and what-the-heck-were-you-thinking before obediently following the King out of the room. He slammed the door behind him and then I heard it again. That sound that meant I was trapped. That sound that took away all my freedom, and all my hope. He had locked the door.