Chapter 129 - Revealing It All

[Back at what was once Ogden Cove]

I barely slept a blink that night. The whole night, I had thoughts of Reynard and me as siblings. Were there times when small Reynard used to pick me up in the past, when I was still a little baby? N-Not me, of course, the princess. 

Thinking of him being my brother was surprising and no really at the same time, since I had always thought of him as a dumb older brother willing to risk his life for me. Now that I come to think of it, why did he ever decide to help me in the first place?

By the looks of it, he didn't really know he could have been my brother, so it meant his intentions were different. Really, it remained a mystery to me. I mean, why in the world would he help someone who's a stranger to him?

There was a sudden knock on my door as I lay on my bed. Quickly I got up and fixed my bedhead. 

"Come in."

The door creaked open and Mama's face appeared in the doorway, eerily lit orange from below by a lit lantern. I gasped as I got up to help. 

"You know you've got weak knees!" I chastised as I lent her my arm. She took it and weakly walked to my bed before hopping up and sitting down. "Don't just climb the stairs like that when you know it could be disastrous to your health. If you wanted to see me, you should've called for me from downstairs."

Mama scrunched up her nose as she sniffed. "Enough. I didn't want to disturb your slumber in case you were asleep already."

I pursed my lips disappointedly as I flopped down beside her. Though it did please me a little that she cared so much about me so as not to wake me up, but really, she should've known better than to climb the tall fleet of stairs by herself so late at night when she knew she had frail knees. 

I sighed. "What if something happened to you and Sven and I were both deep asleep? Who'd come to your aid then?" I arched an eyebrow as I stared at her. "Would you cry for us all night? You know how heavy sleepers both of us are."

Mama scoffed. "Alright, shut up already," she murmured as she broke my gaze. "Anyways, I came to talk about something really important with you but you made me forget, you fool. Give me a minute to remind myself. … Ah! Right." She turned to look at me. "Where did you go with Rainy boy today?"

I frowned. "Who? Reynard, you mean?"

Mama nodded. 

"Um..." I looked away, hoping she wouldn't notice the anxiousness in my eyes. "We just walked around the streets and talked. Nothing much. Just catching up."

I chuckled, clearly not believing a word I said. 

"Why did I see the both of you hail a carriage, then?" she asked, challenging me with a thrust forward with her chin. "You know nothing goes unnoticed by me, do you? So why did you really leave? And for a good while, too! Were you out shopping? But then again, you never brought anything home, so I'm uncertain."

While she rambled, I burst out laughing. She paused and looked at me, offended. 

"Stop worrying about me so much," I chuckled as I gathered myself. "We just..." I stared at my palms and blinked. "I just really wanted to see the palace once again."

Mama frowned. Well, that was only partially true. Yes, I had wanted to see the palace in all it's white glory once again, but that had never been my initial intent to leave. Reynard and I just wanted to pass on a note to Yvonne, and for that, Reynard had requested my presence in case something went wrong.

He just didn't want to be caught alone, and as his recently discovered sister, I just had to go along with him, to give him support if not to be an accomplice. 

"Do you know how dangerous that little stunt could have been?" Mama hissed as she shook me by the shoulders. "The security has gotten much thicker; what if you got found? What then? They would've killed you!"

I sighed as I freed myself from her small hands. "Relax," I said. "We're fine. See?"

Mama clicked her tongue. "Tsk! That doesn't make anything better. There's a big 'what if' in the room and I dare say you can not ignore it." 

I groaned and laid back on my bed, putting my arm over my eyes to shelter myself myself from the blazing lantern's glow. For a few moments, I was calm and collected. But then the reality of the recent events hit me like a bulldozer once more and I slid my arm off my eyes and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. 

"Mama Ruth," I muttered, my voice almost a whisper, "how would you react if someone told you Reynard was a prince?"

The response came back in a form of deafening silence. 

Hastily, I sat back up and my eyes widened as I caught sight of the shocked expression on Mama's face. 

"Reynard?" she whispered hoarsely. "A prince?" Then she started laughing. I looked upon her worriedly. "No, I don't think it's too much of an abnormal idea. Yes, the boy is surely capable. But lassie,"- Mama turned to look at me, her pupils large- "why would you ask such a strange question? Did something happen to trigger it?"

I shook my head a little too quickly. "N-No, of course not. Anyways, how're your knees?"

She smirked. "Don't try to stray away from the topic, now. Did you find something out? Why did you call Rainy boy a prince?"

I shook my head, chuckling nervously. "I never called him anything. It's probably all in your head."

Mama flicked a finger at my forehead. "Don't get snappy with me. Tell me the truth."

I sighed and laid back down, an arm over my face to shield me from her unpredictable reaction. 

"So, um..." I took a deep breath and exhaled. "Reynard just showed up with a totally new hair color this morning, claiming that it was natural. Guess what? It was an unmistakable, vibrant purple."

Mama made a face. "Strange choice of color."

I shook my head. "You don't understand. It wasn't a choice. His black hair color washed off to reveal natural purple hair."

Mama still didn't understand. "So how does that make him a prince?"

I sighed. "Since purple, or lilac hair like my own, is a common trait in the Royal Family of Klaern. It's basically a fact."

Mama nodded. "I know about that."

"And the fact that he has naturally purple hair, which his mother had been trying to conceal with black dye implies that he's not a normal commoner."

"But how can Rainy boy be of royal origin when both of his parents have no such relations?"

I stared at the ceiling, all the thoughts revolving around my head and then fitting together like a large jigsaw puzzle.

"He's adopted, Mama." I turned to look at her, and saw her trying very hard to make sense of this totally new concept. "And his sister's story about how they found him matches perfectly with this dream I had. A dream about actual past events within my life."

Mama massaged her nose bridge, an indication that she was either stressed or frustrated. "Wait. Wait a damn minute," she muttered. "You have dreams?"

I chuckled. "Everyone has dreams."

She groaned. "No. I don't mean normal dreams? You have dreams about your childhood? Like, when you were a baby?"

I nodded. "Only a couple times."

There was a moment of shocked silence as Mama took it all in. 

"So if you're so convinced that Rainy boy's a prince, how come nobody's ever heard of him?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe his birth was kept silent." In my dream, Reynard had appeared to be a really fragile child, with sunken cheeks and pronounced bones in the hand. Overall, he had a sickly look to him. Was that why this princess's mother and father kept him hidden from the public? Because the boy was too weak?

"What a daft thing to do," Mama muttered bitterly as she gazed at the dancing flame inside the lantern's glass bulb. "Really lassie, I'm still having a hard time believing all of this."

I smiled. I couldn't blame her. 

"But if all of this is true, there's still one question lingering at the back of my mind," Mama said. "Why is Rainy boy not at the palace?"

Now this was a hard question. There was no way I could just straight-up tell Mama that the Emperor's twin brother intended to kill the whole family except me, and fortunately, Reynard escaped his blade and sought shelter in the city. It would shock her for hours, days even.

"He ran away," I said eventually. 

Mama arched an eyebrow and chuckled impressively. "A rebellious youth, eh?"

I made a face and sat up, sighing. "You know what happened after that. Mr. and Mrs. Gradral took the little boy in and brought him up as their own. Eventually, the boy forgot about his childhood and merged into his new life."

Mama smacked her lips and sighed. "Far-fetched, but seems about right. So if Rainy boy really is the prince, does this mean he's your brother, too?"

I smiled at the mere thought. "Yes."

Mama suddenly tickled me under my arm and I wriggled away, laughing. 

"You lucky girl," she laughed. "Really, doesn't it feel so great? I wish I had siblings so I could empathize with you on this."

I grinned and took Mama's hand. "It's okay. You have me."

She reciprocated my smile and squeezed my hand back.. "You can't be any more righter."