Things I Almost Remember: A Selection Story

Prologue Part 2

"I can't believe it. How could this happen? How?" Ahren shouted through heavy tearless sobs as he fell to his knees. "Mom, Dad, Eadlyn, Eikko, Kerttu, all of them. Just gone."

Ahren's wife Camille kneeled down beside him and wrapped her arms around his back. Slow tears rolled down her face. She tried to be strong for her husband in the moment when he needed strength, but she knew that nothing would ever make this right.

It was a week following Marid Illéa and his follower's attack on the palace during the holiday party, and Ahren, Camille, and their young daughter Elodie were back in Paris. As a security measure, the French Royal Family had brought some of their own guards on their visit to Illéa, and the moments the rebels had stormed the palace, the family, who had been standing toward the back of the great hall, were ushered out a side door to an awaiting car that whisked them to an awaiting plane to evacuate the country.

Ahren felt an immeasurable amount of guilt for leaving his family there at the hands of the rebels. However as their advisors and head of security had told him and Camille, two good and just rulers could not be lost in the blood shed, and the French guards had had to place their loyalty with their own sovereign, even with the family ties.

"I should have let you and Elodie go and tried to help them," Ahren said, his voice cracking. "I should have tried to help Kerttu and Aleski. I should've..." 

He couldn't take it anymore. 

The attack on the Illéa palace had made international headlines. Right after the French Royal Family had made their escape, Marid Illéa and his followers had bolted every door to the the grand ballroom and fired their guns into the crowd, killing not just the Illéan Royal Family, but their friends, extended family, and staff of the palace.

 Marid was a direct descendant of the Gregory Illéa who had founded Illéa upon a system of inequity of castes which had persisted until Ahren's father Maxon had come to the throne and put an end to them. 

While many across Illéa rejoiced that the castes were finally broken, there was still caste discrimination, and many citizens had felt that their voice was not being heard by the monarchy. Ahren's  sister Eadlyn had made Illéa a constitutional monarchy upon ascending the throne, and for a while, that had solved a lot of problems for their country. However, elections had become corrupted, and people who had always held power due to wealth or their former caste still were the ones being elected into leadership roles. People had needed someone to blame, and most blamed the monarchy.

Ahren and his family were not direct descendants of Illéa. Gregory Illéa had been his great-uncle, but many people began to argue that was not enough to establish their  family as the legitimate ruling  line. Marid Illéa, who  was  descended  from a branch of the Illéa family that had gone into hiding for many years and led rebel forces, had begun to take both the corruption and the question over the legitimacy of the monarchy as a way to sway much of the public support to his side. Eadlyn had known about this threat, and she had done many things in her power to try to circumvent it. However, she had not been aware of how large the threat was, nor that the threat included such a violence.

After the attack at the palace, Marid had immediately proclaimed himself as King of Illéa. All guards, staff, and those working in the palace who refused to bow to his will had been immediately put to death. The Christmas morning in Illéa had been the darkest since the founding of the country. The new dark era of Marid Illéa's reign began at the first sunlight.

"Ahren, I know how much you hurt right now, but we must be strong for our people and for Elodie," Camille said quietly as she tried to hold back her tears. "France will make it clear that we will not align with this new government and will do everything we can to restore good rule."

Immediately upon landing in France, Camille as Queen had announced that her country ended all French ties with Illéa as long as Marid's government remained in power.

"What can we do?" Ahren gasped. "Camille, they're gone. My family is gone. Are you suggesting that France go colonize Illéa?"

"No, not at all," Camille said shaking her head. "Did you not read the notice we received this morning reporting on the attacks?"

"Why would I look at it? What will it tell me that I don't already know?" Ahren asked.

"Ahren," Camille said slowly. "There are sources inside the palace in Illéa who are reporting they didn't find Kerttu's body. They think she may still be alive."

"How could she be? They got everyone. They bolted the door so no one could  get out."

"The report says that a young servant boy spotted her leaving with an older guard and a woman through a door behind a tapestry," Camille said.

Ahren lifted his face up to meet his wife's.

"The secret tunnels and safe rooms," Ahren gasped. "Mom and Dad told me about how they  used to use them all the time when the palace was always attacked by rebels. That had to have been Aspen. He was the only older man there in a guard's uniform. So Kerttu could still be..."

"Yes,"  Camille said, allowing a small smile to creep to her lips.

"We will find her," Ahren said, standing up and wiping  his tears. "We will find her for Eadlyn, for Illéa, for my family."

"Ahren, I am as happy as you are to hear  that Kerttu may still be alive, but this is an anonymous report. We don't know its credibility," Camille said slowly. 

Ahren closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

"I know, but this is the only light and hope I can hold onto. I have to believe it. We have to find her."