Chapter 38 - Dream

Help me...

I hear her  voice as I drift back into the dream that I am accustomed to every so often.

please, she begs me. Please help me.

"YA WAKE UP!" - my sisters voice interjects and the dream floats back under the cloudy surface of my groggy mind.

"Noo" I moan into my pillow, too tired to moved. "Tell Nan that I'll be down in a second?" I ask as I roll over back into a comfortable position.

"No, get up now."

I know she won't leave my door way until I'm out of bed.  She is like Nan's little assistant, and like Nan, won't take no for an answer.

I get out of bed now and stretch, a yawn escaping me as I do so.
"Europa," I say between my yawns, "What time is it?"

"Seven in the morning!" She replies happily and joins me near my bed. "I already watered your garden!" She says excitedly, feeling accomplished.

"How nice of you." I smile.  Yes,  she's a pain in the morning but she's also quite helpful.

"And Nan made some apple waffles. The apples are from your garden, too. They're delicious!"

My brows furrowed, "How did you pick the apples?" I asked. She was too short to reach the apples even at their lowest points.

"I shook the trees!" she half shouted in a proud demeanor.

I laughed which became a yawn as I rubbed my eyes. "That's clever, Europa. But those trees aren't almond trees, and they're not meant to be shaken.  Next time I'll help you get them, okay?"

She thought for a moment but me helping her was not on her mind. "You don't wake up early enough," she said simply. "So I'll just keep shaking the trees."

I smiled, shaking my head.  I gave in "fine."

"Enough talking let's go!" She shouted at me, grabbing my hand and leading me down the stairs.

"It's about time!" said Nan, making coffee for herself. "Callisto, I thought you must've died up there. Only took ya about twenty minutes to get down here ! Waffles nearly too cold !"

"Your midget didn't do a very good job of getting me out of bed," I said as I grabbed some  pancakes and put them on my plate.  I sat down across from my sister who had joined me at the table.

"I AM NOT A MIDGET " She wailed, shooting my a dirty look. "And you're obviously out of bed now so shut it."

I grinned, taking my first stab at my pile of pancakes.

"You better eat those pancakes fast, boy!" Nan said, placing her empty coffee mug on the counter as she made another batch.

"How much coffee did you make this morning already?" I asked nodding my head at her and her favorite coffee maker.  She was addicted to the stuff but didn't want to admit it. She blamed her need for coffee on her old age.

"Doesn't matter" she mumbled as she pressed the buttons.

"That's her third" Europa piped.

"Don't go judging an old lady until you've reached my age and need the energy! Now finish dem pancakes and head out to feed those horses!"

I ate what was left on my plate and headed out to the barn.

~~~~

Sonny was already trotting toward me when I entered the pen.

"Hey there" I said to him softly. I rubbed his neck and he lazily closed his eyes.

"There you are , horse whisper!" I looked across the field to my best friend  who happened to work on the ranch.  He desperately needed a job and Nan, being the nurturing foster mom she is, took him in just as she did for me and my sister.

" 'Morning" I replied with a wave as he made his way over.

He wiped the sweat away from his brow as he approached. "Man oh man do I hate being up this early on a saturday!"

"I couldn't agree more" I said while tying Sonny to the fence post.

"Especially how we're going to be out so late, it sucks to run on no sleep."

I cut him off there. "Look, I know you want me to go with you to that party, but I can't, Okay? I don't get Sundays off like you do and I'm not working hung-over."

He scratched his head and I could tell he was working on some master plan to get me to go.

"Shelly's going to be there."

"Really, Dan? That makes me not want to go even more." I started to clean Sonny's hooves and I felt Dan getting impatient.

"Just go with me tonight, please?" He asked his voice in all desperation.  He was like my sister with persistance.

"Fine," I said. "As long as you stop bothering me about it.  And don't tell Shelly  that I'm going because she'll be there. I don't want her thinking that I want to get back together now that she's finally off my mind."

Dan gave that goofy grin of his. "You got it, bro!"

"Why do you want to go anyways?" I asked as I un-teathered Sonny.

"There's a hot girl going that I wanna get at, if you know what I mean." said Dan with a devilish grin.

"Well good luck with it" I said as I walked away from him.

"I'll be back at 7 to pick you up!" He shouted as I was further away.

I glanced back at him, laughing.

Chapter 37 - Arranged Marriage

A FEW MONTHS LATER.

"Are you ready, princess?"

No, I thought. "Please don't call me that. It's Jay."

"As you wish, Jay."

I was being led down from my bedroom to the courtyard where I was to be married to the man of half my choice, Evan Valdes.

When I first met Evan, I was skeptical. An arranged marriage seemed so 1600's and I was afraid of all the things that could go wrong.  But soon enough he grew on me. And now,  I think I might actually love him.

He is from the Royal family in Fescue, known for their intelligence and business communications with other worlds.  Because of our close partnership with their city it only seemed right for Evan to be a candidate for "My affection"

There were others, of course, that my dad and Remus let me browse upon, but Evan fit the standards that I made for this whole process.  I still was iffy on the whole arranged idea, hence "half my choice." 

But we got along.  Maybe that's not all that matters but he seems to understand my feelings toward my power-hungry-throne-seeking brother. 

The crowd came into view, and the music was on. I walked as gracefully as I could down the aisle, now escorted by my father. He smiled at me as he took my arm, avoiding my eyes.  I knew deep down that he wished it could all be differently, that it could have been what I wanted from the start. A deep feeling of hatred for my brother pierced my mind as I thought of this.

The walk seemed to take forever, but I finally made it to my groom.  The little me inside my head applauded, congratulating me on succeeding to not trip on my dress.  I looked up at him now and another round of applause filled my head. Okay, so maybe I didn't want to be married for my brothers selfish needs but I couldn't complain that much as Evan was very, very,  good looking in my eyes.

 "You look beautiful" He whispered,  our hands now intertwined.

  And the fact that I was beautiful in his made me blush.

The wedding march ended, and we exchanged our vows, and rings.

His shaky hands slipped my ring carefully on my finger, the gold band gleaming brighter as he did.  As the ring set in place I looked up into my husband's eyes and couldn't help but to smile like the dorky fool I was. As the moment couldn't get any more perfect he grabbed me and kissed me like it was the end of all Ulaysia.

The kiss set off something like a fire alarm in the crowd.  Everyone was cheering and clapping as the excited guests witnessed the main event of the night.  I scanned the crowd ad Evan took my arm and led me back down the aisle where I came from.  

We ended back at my bedroom so I could change into my dinner dress.

"That was quite a show for some of them, huh?" He said, leaning against the window to look down on the others.  "Your brother didn't look very happy, though." He noted as an afterthought.

"He never looks happy. Ever. The only time I get to see him smile is when he gets his way or when he's feeling extra creepy."

"I get what  you mean by creepy" Evan said, backing away from the window, slowly turning his gaze away from it. "It's like he was just staring at me, kinda gave me goose bumps"

I shivered at the thought. "Well he knows we're up here and probably wants to talk to us. Maybe we'll even get a congratulations out of him or even a - shit !" I accidently took too many pins out in an attempt to fix my hair.

Evan was soon besides me, laughing at my reflection in the mirror.

I turned to face him as he smoothed my hair down, fixing it with his gentle hands. "It's fine."
"I hope so" I murmured. I didn't spend 4 hours getting it done for it to accidently fall out and look like garbage.

"I think it looks very nice" he whispered, his hot breath warming my ear.

I've never seen this side of him and the butterflies in my stomach let go, full force.

He swept me into another kiss that  consumed my conscious thought. He stopped abruptly and laughed, "Almost forgot about the reception." He pulled away, grabbing my hand to lead me out. "It's okay, though." He said, his eyes twinkling, "We'll just save the rest for later."
I hope so

Chapter 36 - I Just Can't Wait to be King

      A flurry of days passed and I found myself hopeless.  There was no way of getting out of Remus's master scheme.  The only thing that kept me partially sane was Brinson.  The trouble with this was the visiting days.  Only once a week was she allowed into the castle to visit and time flew when I was with her.

      Our first day together was spent with me filling her in on what happened.  She listened patiently as I told her everything from my grandmothers death to the arranged marriages. She was a great audience and it felt nice to have someone that would listen, always gasping at the right times and nodding her head in agreement.

 

      "What are you going to do?" She asked, eyes full of sympathy as I finished.  

"I haven't spoken to Brenton in days," I said, my eyes tracing the pattern of the wooden floor, "I think Remus or Raven talked to him already . I'm not sure what to do anymore, and I'm not even sure what to make off all this."

"Jay," She whispered, "I'm so sorry."

      I looked up at her from the ground, noticing her eyes watering.  "There's nothing I can do about this.  Nothing."

"You're not even going to try to stop him?" Her voice quivered, and I knew she was scared for me.

"There's no point. If I go against him he'll just find ways to hurt me more. I'm too broken for that Brin,  I don't think I can handle any more pain."

Brinson got up slowly from where she sat, holding out her hand. I took it as she helped me up and she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.  We cried into each other's arms until security came to take her away.  

Chapter 35 - Power Lust

"Stop messing around" I stared my sister hard in the eyes.  "I know you really hate Jay but we don't need to push this too far.  She's right where I want her." 

I stepped closer to the bookshelves, examining the contents closely.  What I wanted had to be here somewhere...

"I love toying with her emotions" I heard Raven say from somewhere in front of  me.  "She has so many it's ridiculous. "

I heard a pause but I knew she was going to continue.

"Like I care who she's dating, it doesn't matter anyways, you know we all have arranged marriages planned."

"Except  for me" I said, smiling. I couldn't help that I already held so much power over my parents. Weak. They were all weak.

"And what do you and Brittany have planned?" Raven asked, opening a book titled "History of Our Royal Ancestors."
I closed my eyes to imagine everything I had planned.  I would reveal it soon enough... as soon as Jay was out of the way.

"We," I said now turning to my sister, "have something planned that is beyond any of us. "
"And I get a cut of the pie?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you follow through with the instructions I gave you" I said, running my hand down the spine of an old pink book.

"I know, I know" she sighed, moving around a table.  "I have to get her to feel as everything that is happening to her is a direct cause of our unruly parents"

I opened the book to the title page, "That is exactly it".

"Is there anything else you want, your highness?"
I smiled at the last word. "Get rid of the boy you saw in the library. I can handle Brenton Myself."
"As you wish" She said with a sarcastic courtesy, and walked off.

I flipped through the pink book a couple of pages.  It had everything I needed. 

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A death in the family. A death that lead my mother to tears, many tears.

My grandmother died and no one knew the cause.

Her death left grief and sadness, and it took a hold of my family by the hand and dragged us to the ground. It wasn't the only thing she left - 

The royal castle, and everything with it.

 We silently moved in and grasped sudden change of environment.

It was so big, and it made me feel so small.

With its grand corridors and courtyard I easily felt lost.

But this wasn't the worst of it.

The fear of what happened to my grandmother grew bigger as my mom took her first step into the courtyard.

"Family meeting in an hour" She pronounced slowly, stepping toward the pond. "Meet in the study"

 _____________________________________________________________________________

I was the last one to walk in. The turning halls and endless stairways caused me to take the long way around. I was greeted, of course, by a death stare from my sister.

I sat down next to Ryan who had been awfully quiet since we moved into the castle. He acknowledged me with a nod and a half smile.

The room shifted its attention to my mother.

"As you know your Grandmothers recent death has effected this family greatly.  The unknown cause of her death makes this more of a problem.  How could she pass away when she was the healthiest she could have been?  I believe someone is behind this. I believe it was murder."

She paused to closer her eyes, no doubt trying to hold back the tears.

"I admit that is scares me," She continued, "as I feel someone is trying to target our family once again."

Unsure how I felt, I looked at my brothers and sister. Ryan looked scared, his eye wide in anticipation for my mother to continue, and for her reassurance that everything in the end would be all right.

I glanced at Raven who was examining her nails in a bored manner. It struck me odd that she had no care into what my mother was saying... but then again it was Raven.

I chanced a glance at Remus. To my surprise my eyes met his like he was watching me the whole time, a smirk spread across his face.

 My mother gave us more than enough time to soak in everything we had just heard, and she continued on, and my eyes traveled back onto her; my mind swimming.

"Me and your father feel that if there is someone out against us, their next target will be us" She looked at my father and he nodded - an approval to continue.

"For extra safety there will be more guards, and enchantments to protect the castle. You will also be home schooled for now on and can only leave with security."
I was expecting an outburst cry from Raven to proclaim how unfair this was and how unlikely that someone would want to kill us, but there wasn't one.

That's when Remus spoke up.

"Why should I have to be worried?" He asked, his voice bored. "Yes I am of royal blood but I haven't been passed down the royal bond, am I correct?"

I honestly had no idea what he was talking about.

He continued on, "If I'm not mistaken, there was a time in our childhood where you said  you would explain more of our royalty to us when we were older. We're older now, mother."

His face was cold and hard.

"Not now, Remus" My mother hardly whispered. "Not now"

"But please, I insist!" He shouted, now standing up. "Please tell me why you were letting us live a normal life when we aren't, when we can't! This is the perfect time! A perfect time to get your act together, to show Ulaysia we can do better. Show them I can do better."

He tossed an old pink book at my mother, she caught it with shaky hands.

My mother looked down at the book, tears filling her eyes. " I just wanted what was best for you".

My brother looked at Raven, then Ryan, and finally to me.

"What you're about to hear might be a shock on you, Jay. So please, be a big girl until mommy is finished reading".

He nodded at our mother, who now had tears gliding down her face.  She opened the pink book to a mark page as a tear streamed down the tip of her nose and landed softly on the book.

She began to read...

"Royal families are often broken up due to the common misunderstanding on heirs and heiresses to the throne.  In many families the eldest will inherit everything left by their mother/father. This is different in Manicorn society.

                With royal manicorn blood, a special bond will be made with the parents of the heir/heiress who will inquire the throne.  This special bond is normally very hard to detect. To avoid this situation families of Royal blood opt to have one child instead of many.

                Families with multiple children have found ways around this bond.  In the earliest centuries battles were held for the children who were of age (17), who fought to the death. The winner of this battle inherited the bond from their dead brother/sister and became heir/heiress  (Notable figures of these types of battles were Alexana Manicorn, Priv  Manicorn, and Shellus Manicorn) . As time went on more civil and practical ways have came around for this 'bond problem'. These parents of Royal blood found that the bonds could easily be broken by sending off their children to other worlds. Doing so had perks. In case of a dead line in Royal blood the children can be called back to assume the throne of their fallen brother/sister(Notable figures of these happenings were Sarah Manicorn and Man Manicorn).  Although this is the safest bet, it doesn't grant full power even when the throne is already inherited.

                The last and least common way is the 'sharing of the bond'. In this we assume that the eldest will want full inheritance of the throne. With mutual agreement from all the children this can be used.

All children below the eldest must marry another kind of royal blood. These marriages will ensure that the bond will travel to the eldest child.  The eldest child is then ensured with the throne when comes time."

She finished reading and looked up at Remus.

"That's what I want" He said sitting back down. " I want to be ensured with the throne."

I was horror struck. I looked at everyone else and to my amazement I realized that I was the only one who had just heard about this.

"Why d-didn't anyone tell m-me" I stammered, not trying to hide the fact I was totally shocked.  Brenton was running through my mind the whole time. I could never be anything with him because of Remus.

"No one told you because mom told us not to." Raven drawled from where she sat. " 'Jay would be so heartbroken if she found out, she really likes Brenton so much,' exact words from our mother." She snickered.

Remus walked to the dooway. "I have places to be, so I'm calling this to a close." He looked back at my mother. "You might want to start calling up those Royal Families I mentioned to you the other day seeing that graduation is just around the corner. "

him

My mom went around toward my new twin brothers. She picked up Ross and held him tightly in her arms. I followed behind and picked up Regan.

"What about them?" I questioned, fearing for my little brothers.
"They're too young for magic, the bond won't work on them."

I silently prayed that it was true.