999 Pieces

Chapter Five: Maxon

I was going to do it. I had to. If I didn't, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

I take a deep breath and turn the doorknob. The room is dim, causing me to squint into it. On a bed lay two bodies covered in separate sheets.

"My Father first," I say softly to the nurse.

She walks over to the body on the left and removes the sheet off his head. I take one look at his face and close my eyes. "Leave," I whisper.

I wait until I heard the door close before I open my eyes again. "I know we had our differences, Sir," I say, still feeling I need to call him that. "Those differences made you furious, and sometimes it got to the best of you. I know you did... things to me as a result. Things that couldn't be taken back."

My voice begins to shake. "But even then, you are still my Father, and I still love you, even if we didn't see eye to eye." A sob escapes me, and I half expect him to open his eyes and tell me to man up and stop crying. But he doesn't.

"Goodbye, Father," I whisper and pull the sheet back on him.

I walk around the bed, staring at the second covered body. With shaking hands, I remove the sheet from my mother's face. I looked away again, almost wanting to back out, but I have to say goodbye. I tentatively reached to touch her cold cheek.

"I love you so much, Mom," I whisper, tears falling. "You would have loved to take America as a daughter. With all the trouble you had before and after I was born, it was the least you deserved. I wish you were here to help me figure out what to do next. I miss her just as much as I miss you."

I let out a sob and pause, taking a deep breath. "You helped guide me through everything, giving me the right advice at the right time. You are kind, compassionate, and above all, selfless. It's no wonder that even Father came to love you." My eyes briefly shifted to his body.

"You were selfless to your very last breath, and I will always admire you for that. Goodbye, Mom. I-I love you." I lightly kiss her forehead and pull the sheet back.

I shakily back away from the bed and slowly sit down on the chair by the door. I have no one now. America is gone. My Mother is gone. The two people closest to me have been killed by the rebels.

And now... now they would pay.

-o-

"I know it is a great surprise to you to have a meeting at this stage, but as you know, it's extremely necessary," I tell the room of advisers.

"Our condolences, Your Majesty. We know this is a very difficult time for you right now." Mr. Voss says. The others mutter in agreement.

"Thank you," I answer automatically. "What is the first thing we have to discuss?"

"Your bride, Your Majesty," Stavros says hesitantly.

I take a deep breath. "Lady America Singer was my choice. An... event in between me telling her so and the party, changed that decision out of anger and misunderstanding. I love her. And if she was still alive right now, I would have married her in a heartbeat."

The room is silent, unsure how to respond.

"What about Lady Kriss, Your Majesty?"

"She is nice. But at this moment, I don't want to rush into a marriage with a person I don't have a lot of romantic feelings for," I state.

"Understandable, but do we keep her here?" Mr. Voss asks.

"I say we do," Starvos suggests. "The Southern Rebels are still at large, and we can't afford to send palace guards with her. We would be able to protect her better in the palace anyway."

"I agree. Your Majesty could also get to know her more, which could perhaps make you more agreeable with a wedding," Mr. Forteir said.

I'm surprised, to say the least. Normally, the advisers would be fighting against each other by now. But as far as I can tell, they all seem to be agreeing with each other, for the first time.

"Then that settles it," I conclude, not wanting to test my luck. "Lady Kriss will remain here, under our protection. What do we have next?"

"Informing the public, Sir."

I sigh. "Well, what have we told them already?"

"We haven't released anything. However, headlines of many articles have already stated that there was a big attack on the palace with many casualties," an adviser says.

"Pull up a few of those articles so I can see what they say," I order. "Is it known that my parents, Lady Celeste, and Lady America are..."

"No, Sir. Although it might be best that we inform Lady Celeste and Lady America's parents immediately."

I pause. "They haven't been told yet?"

"No, Your Majesty. We were awaiting instruction from you."

"Then that will be the first thing we do once we get out. Tonight I will do an extra Report informing the citizens of everything that has happened," I instruct.

"Everything, Your Majesty?" Mr. Forteir asks.

I nod. "Yes. I will, however, not say anything regarding my future wife except that I will need more time."

"I hope you are aware that time, Your Majesty, is something that we will not be able to grant you forever," Mr. Voss speaks.

"I'm well aware of that, Mr. Voss," I respond sadly. "But time is, unfortunately, the only thing that can fix this. What's next?"

"How do we proceed with the Southern Rebels, Your Majesty?" Stavros asks.

"Personally, I would like to blast them off the face of this earth, but that isn't possible. I plan on resolving the war in New Asia, and bringing our troops from there back to here. In the meantime, we will need to ask for some assistance from our foreign partners," I say.

"Who shall we reach out to first?" Stavros asks.

"Italy," I answer immediately. "I know as a fact that they will help us."

"How can you be so sure, Your Majesty? After all, they have only hinted that they want to be allied with us," Mr. Forteir points out.

"Oh, but they have already helped us." I lean back in my chair, biting back a smile. "How do you think the Northern Rebels got their guns?"

The advisers are silent, unsure what I'm getting at.

"Lady America was able to get Princess Nicoletta to loan us some money. She invited Georgia Whitaker, one of the leaders of the Northern Rebels and Princess Nicoletta a few weeks ago and they were able to negotiate something," I say proudly, a soft smile on my face. "Italy's people are much freer than ours. Because of this, this Italian Monarchy has stated that they are fully supportive of steps that will get our people more freedom as well. Their country wants to support the future of ours, of course, because we could be good allies. Without the Italian's funds for the Northern Rebels, I can assure you that I would not be standing here right now."

"Perhaps, we should call Princess Nicoletta," Stavros says finally after a moment of silence.

All of the advisers nod, agreeing with him.

"Speaking of changing Illea," I begin. I pull out my folder and pass it to Stavros to read it. Stavros gives me a look before he begins to read the first page.

The folder drops to the table, realization flooding into Stavros' eyes. "Are you serious about this, Your Majesty?"

I nod, my face hard.

"What is it?" Mr. Forteir asks Stavros.

"His Majesty wants to dissolve the castes."

Mr. Voss and Mr. Forteir are my own characters in case that wasn't clear earlier.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

-theselectionseriesfan