“Your father…is dead.” She looks up to him with pleading eyes—similar to the way she looked when she was ten—unaware and hopeful. “No, no.” he squeezes her shoulder fighting back another bout of nausea. He was concerned about his mother’s mental well-being. “Mom…you should really go lay down, I can—” she fervently shakes her head. “I have to make a few calls.” She brushes his hand away and rises up from her seat. He had thought about it himself—a letter to the public—he’d invite the press to this very library and he would answer their questions and cease their curiosity with a simple phrase: “It saddens me to say that the King has died.” He would pause. “And thus,” another pause. “I will become King.” That’s how he imagined it in his head—simple and to the point—and so he wouldn’t have to go over the gruesome details about the King’s death or Aiden’s injuries. Kael’s heart gives a slight twinge at the thought of Aiden—the concern and worry he felt for the other was hammering away at his heart threatening to shatter the ice-cold exterior he had built up in these few hours. He takes the pen into his right hand cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck. It was time to become the sort of King he always wanted for his father to be—strong, kind…honest. He slaps his cheeks. “Okay, Kael!” He takes in a deep breath and writes the first line of his speech: Admirable people of Melia, it is I—Kael Lennon.
~*~
Janus was pacing up and down the length of his bedroom; the outside sky offered him no sunlight, just like his mind offered him no insight as on what to do. Aiden was in the hospital but instead of going to see him, he had to stay here. But for what reason? He stops pacing, his hand to his chin. “I could just tell them…” he murmurs to himself. “I could call Kael…I could…” he begins to reach for his phone staring at Kael’s number. He stares, his eyes tracing over the bolded black letters that spelled out the Prince’s name. In the late morning—after such an event—Kael was more than likely up and about. Janus was pretty sure that he hadn’t gotten any sleep either—did he have a panic attack? Anxiety seizes Janus’s heart and muttering a frustrated “to hell with it”, he calls Kael.
The phone rings and rings and rings
Until finally it clicks—Janus says nothing, instead, he waits for Kael to speak. He could hear the prince breathing steadily on the other end. “Janus,” he finally spoke his name and Janus could tell that Kael was struggling to keep himself together. “What is it, your majesty? I’m always here for you.” He answers gently and Kael lets out a relieved sigh, his lips curling into a smile as Janus’s voice filled his ears. “It’s funny, you no longer work for me and yet you still call me “your majesty.”” Kael chuckles and Janus smiles softly, replying “You’ll always be my Prince.”
“Sounds like something Aiden would say.” Kael says with a jovial laugh temporarily forgetting Aiden’s present predicament and once he remembers—his laughter fades away until he is completely silent. “Kael…” Janus begins to say. “You should go see him.” Kael finally says. “Go to him for me—since I can’t right now—please go to him.” Kael’s voice cracks over the words and he pauses to gather his composure. “Take Jenna and Francis with you.”
“I can’t do that, Kael.”
“Yes, for their sake—I’d feel horrible if they found out through the news or the media.”
“….”
“You even know that it would be better if someone they knew told them about Aiden.”
“They’ll blame you again.” Janus rushes to defend Kael and Kael laughs. “I appreciate your concern…but it’s fine with me if they decide to take their hurt out on me by blaming me.” Janus clutches his phone. “Your majesty…”
“I’ve learned a lot from them—how to love, how to be friends, how to overcome disagreements and how to forgive.” Kael takes in a deep breath. “So, please take them with you, tell them all that I’ve told you and soon I’ll come to visit Aiden.”
“What are you doing right now?” Janus asks. “Preparing my speech.”
“…your father…”
“I know.” His tone had shifted bitterly. “Eventually I’ll tell them all that happened, but right now I refrain from doing so.”
“You sound so different to me Kael.” Janus comments suddenly. “Why is that?” Kael questions and Janus shrugs even though Kael couldn’t see him. “You sound like a man that has found his way.” Kael laughs. “How I wish that were so…can’t you tell that this is a façade?” he asks, his voice breaking. “I know,” Janus murmurs. “I just wanted to make you feel a little happy this late morning.”
“I thank you for that.”
“Not a problem at all, your majesty.”
Kael says goodbye to Janus—grateful for his concern. He places his phone down and glances towards the window. He stares at the dripping rain, ignoring the tears that spilled from his eyes and muffling his sobs by clamping a hand to his mouth.
Everything was a façade
Slowly—he felt himself breaking—piece by piece. But he had to gather those pieces—for his mother, for Janus, for Aiden and for himself. He takes another deep breath staring at the words he had written and thinking them over. “Maybe…I don’t need a speech, just wing it.” He lifts the paper off of the desk. “Just be natural…” he holds the paper by the middle contemplating whether or not he should rip it. The rain comes down harder, the heavy drizzle oddly calming him because it served as a reminder of his existence—that he was in fact living in this moment—the pain and the heartache and frustration told him... “I’m alive.” His voice blends with the rain and once again, his thoughts drift to Aiden and their memories. Fate, the red string, the undecided or whatever name was placed upon that undefinable experience of meeting someone whom you came to love. Kael yearned to see Aiden, to hold his hand and to protect the little boy inside of him…to thank him and to apologize.
Thunder sounded outside startling Kael and helping him come to a resolve. The paper tears easily as he splits it down the middle crumpling it up in his hands and tossing it aside. He didn’t need to create something that was rehearsed, he just had to show the people who he truly was—a young Prince caught off guard and left unaware by the death of his father and the injury of his personal body guard. He rises up from his desk and heads towards the library door, he opens it with a stern expression but stops short when a picture catches in his peripheral vision. His hand tightens around the doorknob and he turns to fully face the photo hanging from the wall. It was an old family portrait, his father and mother looked to be in their late twenties with bright smiles and a solid future for their son. In that photo his father looked like a good man—his father…was a good man—in the eyes of the public, he was the ideal King. Kael chews on his bottom lip, jerking his gaze away from the photo and rushing out into the hall. He races away from the photo trying to get as far away from it as possible. “Kael!” he stops at the sound of his mother’s voice and slowly turns around to face her. “I need to talk to you.” She says and Kael knew what it was without her having to say so. “Yes…mom?” she takes a step towards him and without knowing why, he steps back from her. “What actually happened in that room…?” she asks hesitantly and Kael diverts his gaze from her and towards his feet. “Kael…you can tell me what happened…”
“Mom…” his voice broke over the words and slowly she continues to step towards him. This time he didn’t move away from her. “I’d rather we talk about it elsewhere.” He mutters and she raises an arched brow. “Why? Lets talk about it now. I just—I can’t sleep without knowing how he…how he…” Kael stumbles towards her and places a hand to her shoulder. “Mom…it’s too soon.” He says softly and she stares up at him, her eyes as clear and as pure as the early morning sky. And suddenly he felt guilty. He clutches her shoulder tighter and steps forward to embrace her. “It’s too soon for the both of us.” It had yet to sink in; what he had done—why he had done it and the outcome.
Nothing would ever be the same and maybe that was alright. Maybe it was time for it�
�time for a change.
~*~
Jenna was staring at Janus, her curved brows drawn together as she watched her cousin place his phone down on the kitchen counter and look to her with a grave expression. “J-Janus, what’s wrong?” slowly she rises up from her position on the couch making her way towards him. Janus takes a moment to gather himself before answering Jenna’s question. “It’s Aiden…”
“What about him?” she questions forcing herself to sound nonchalant as worry began to seep its way inside her heart. “Yesterday…at the castle…” he pauses, the rain filling in the silence. “He was shot.” Thunder roars, heavy with the depth of his words. “Shot? What do you…you aren’t saying…”
“Woah, what’s with the heavy atmosphere?” Francis asks, wheeling himself into the kitchen and looking between Janus and Jenna. “The rain sucks as it is and being cooped up in this wheelchair isn’t helpi—aaah shit.” He interrupts himself as he pinches his finger between the wheel and the spoke. “That hurt.” He says between gritted teeth, looking through the hood of his bangs at the two. “No, but seriously what’s up?”
“Janus, you’re joking.” Jenna murmurs, her face paling. “Now why would I do that and to such an extent…” he shakes his head. “I wish it were only a joke but…” Francis—aggravated and frustrated at being left out rolls up to Janus and uses his good leg to kick Janus in his ankle. “Mind telling me what’s up.” He says looking up at his brother with a glare. “You didn’t have to do that.” Janus grumbles bending forward to rub at his aching ankle. Francis scoffs. “You two are acting like a middle-aged couple afraid to tell their child they’re adopted.” Janus nor Jenna spare a laugh at his words and then Francis gets it—just how serious this situation is. “Did something happen…?” he questions, the sarcasm in his voice fading away to dreadful concern. Janus nods slowly, straightening back up to look at them. “There’s no way that idiot would get himself shot—you trained him! He prepared himself—why?!” Jenna snaps her tone accusing, Janus remains calm expecting such a reaction. “Wait…Aiden got shot?” Francis asks, his voice cracking over the words. Janus nods again, his gaze lowering. “Why would he…”
“He’s alright.” Janus says before they ended up thinking the worst. “He’s at the hospital, his family hasn’t been phoned yet, but they will onc—“
“Was it Kael?” Jenna asks, her voice so soft that it melded with the rain. “Did he shoot…him?” she asks, her eyes filling with bewilderment. Janus glares. “Now why the hell would he do that? Does that even make any sense to you?” Janus asks angrily, Jenna doesn’t reply, instead she slouches against the wall, her hair falling into her eyes. Janus takes a deep breath and begins again. “Kael didn’t shoot him, he would shoot himself in a heartbeat over Aiden—his father died yesterday and now the person he loves is in the hospital, so don’t give me your two cents about hating him when he probably already hates himself.” Janus manages to say in a single breath. Jenna was his relative so of course he would tell her like she would need to be told—honest and to the point…in some way Kael was the son he never had. Jenna and Francis look to him in shock before gathering themselves. “I’m sorry…” she apologizes shoving her bangs out of her eyes. “I’m just a little thrown off…”
“We all are.” Janus murmurs directing his gaze towards Francis who was staring up at him unsure. “So…he’s at the hospital right now?” Francis asks slowly and Janus nods. “He is.”
“So why are we still here?” the question catches them both off guard and Jenna also looks to Janus. “You’re right…” she mumbles turning on her heel and heading towards the stairs. “Jenna where are you going?” Janus calls after her. “To get my umbrella and raincoat, we’re going to go see him.” She calls back her heart physically aching her. Francis nods in agreement wheeling himself towards the front door. “We have to go see him.”
“And we will.” Janus replies calmly. Francis makes a face looking back at his brother and staring blankly. “How are you handling this right now? You seem pretty calm…” Francis murmurs, his brown eyes baring into Janus. It was as though he were asking: are you alright? Will you be okay? Are you hurting? Janus forces a smile onto his lips and walks over to his brother. He clutches the handles of his wheelchair and leans forward hovering in front of Francis’s face. “You get to choose my response.”
“Huh?” Francis ask dumbfounded, Janus only grins standing up straight and presenting his two clenched fists to Francis. “Pick one, one I will answer honestly and the other will be a lie.”
“Janus…”
“I wonder if you’ll be able to tell.” Janus continues to smile, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his hands tighter. Francis stares at his brother before resting his gaze on Janus’s hands. They were rough hands with cuts that had yet to heal and scars Francis suspected were from protecting the King and from combat with the other bodyguards. “What are you—“
“Just guess.” Janus interrupts softly, his expression somewhat pained. Francis’s eyebrows furrow but he does as his brother says, pointing at his left hand and waiting. Janus’s expression changes and he seemed somewhat relieved. He places his hands by his side and says in a quiet voice. “At least for now…I’m alright, I’m fine if I don’t think about it too much, but the moment I start wondering the worse, the moment the panic seizes me…” Janus pauses to catch his breath. “I’ll lose it all; Aiden I want to repay him by protecting his life since I couldn’t do that for his sister.” Francis remains silent, staring up at his brother with a new found respect, he only looked away when the sound of Jenna’s footsteps could be heard coming down the steps. The rain had stopped falling as she came jogging down the stairs and looked at them. “So?” she raises Janus’s coat and looks between them. “Let’s go.”
The air was humid as they stepped outside, the rain dripping down from the roof and plopping onto Francis’s hair, he looks up with a scowl, another drop falling between his eyebrows, until Jenna places her umbrella over his head. “We should hurry.” She says looking straight ahead. Janus glances at her before unlocking the car and helping Francis into his seat. “There we go.” He says soothingly, patting Francis’s thigh before closing the door on him. He hurries into the drivers seat checking his phone once more to see if Kael had messaged him, but of course, there were no messages. “Alright then,” he starts the car and they drive off towards the hospital. It was eerily silent as they all sat in the car, their gazes seemingly empty as they all thought about different moments in time. They all had varying memories with Aiden. Jenna’s were romantic and sweet whereas Francis’s focused around a “tough-love” kind of relationship—they argued and jokingly called each other names. They were all close in one way or another, knowing each other since childhood and growing over the years. And Aiden to Janus was an undefinable person; he permitted Jenna to date Aiden because he was a “good kid.” He was sweet and honest and he didn’t take things too seriously. But what Janus admired the most about him was his sensitivity to others.
He was always looking out for their best interests before his…
Janus wondered now if he was the one who would have to tell Aiden’s parents or if the hospital had already contacted them. His grip on the steering wheel tightens. He could only imagine what they were going through right now.
~*~
B-bump
B-bump
B-bump
His heart was beating, more than feeling it he could hear it. He had always been more aware of sound. He had thought about being a musician but life had a way of creating a roadblock until the thought became ridiculous. But he could hear his heart beating and he knew he had survived, the gunshot hadn’t killed him and the surgery had gone well. He could hear his heart but he could not yet hear himself breathing nor could he move his legs, arms or anything for that matter. He was still floating, but floating was no longer as scary as it first was. Now he felt at peace—relaxed. “Ah, I could stay like this forever.” He thought, but an image f
lickered like a candle in his mind. An image of flowers and of Kael. He could hear his heart beating faster, faster and faster until it felt like it would burst. He wanted to move his lips and replace the dryness of his throat with the soothing water that Kael provided him by being by his side. He wanted to lick his lips and say Kael’s name, but the medicine—yes—the damned medicine was preventing him from doing so. He wondered when it would wear off…what Kael was doing.
He lets the nothingness of his mind take him and he floats, floating at peace and for some time he ponders about his parents. They must be losing their minds. Did Kael tell them? And the King…
BANGBANG BANGBANG!
The gunshots ring loudly in this emptiness and he cringes, the pain showing on his face as his eyes scrunched together. “Is the anesthesia wearing off?” A doctor asks as she walks into the room to check up on Aiden. “His pulse is fine; he’s doing amazingly well to say that he’s fresh out of surgery.”
“Lets keep it that way.” Her male associate responds beside her. “Did you see the news?” he asks and she eyes him curiously. “No, why?”
“Well, the commercials were interrupted by a news broadcast.”
“Oh really now?” the man nods. “Something about the King dying and his heir….”
The gunshots were louder than his heartbeat and slowly the floating became drowning and he couldn’t breathe. The sound of the gun going off and off and off and off. Round after round. His body jerks to the left and both doctors turn to look at him.
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