chapter three

chapter three in Legacy, enjoy!

As it turns out, Vila, our maid, had dropped a plate and Luci, another maid, had screamed because it had almost landed on her foot.  Granted she had dropped the plate because had heard his name.   The two of them apologized again and again, and when we comforted them, they apologized more.  By the end Vila was tearing up a little, saying she couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid. It was just a name, after all.

But I didn’t think she was stupid.   I’d felt chills race up my spine at the name as well.

Jason Race was thought to be one of the most reckless and violent leaders since the beginning of the reformer’s movement.  His hand, and those of his followers, had been connected to almost all of the ransacking’s and burnings that had happened recently.  There were also rumors that, under his command, the reformers had moved to more extreme forms of violence, such as kidnapping and murdering innocent civilians, even children.

            So yes, I had heard of him.

 

It was a little while before we all got settled around the table again.  For a moment, there was an uncomfortable silence, broken only the clatter of silver on dishes and we all waited for someone else to start talking.

            It was Nathaniel who finally broke the streak. I had thought that the events may have ended our thread of conversation, but he picked things up right where we left off.

“Darcy,” he began politely, though there was a more familiar tone to his voice, “You still have not answered my question.”

I looked up at him then, right into his eyes, and though my heart still pounded I managed to hide it with a small smile. 

“I have heard the name, but what’s in a name?” I chanced a glance at Imogen at this.  She looked up at me, the corners of her mouth twitching as she mouth the words we both knew so well.

“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet…”

“…So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,” I finished.  We both grinned, and for a moment

It was just the two of us having one over of obsessive literary moments.

And then, in perfect unison as though we had planned it, we both mouthed,

 “Retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title.”

“Ahem.” Melina coughed loudly, glaring at the pair of us.  I blushed deeply, though casting another sidelong glance at Imogen.  She had gone back to leaning back against her chair and looking supremely unbothered.  When she caught me looking at her she gave me small wink before returning to her food.

I smiled briefly, but then anxiety set back in as I returned to the Prince.  He smirked politely, but whether he really didn’t care or was just hiding his irritation, I couldn’t tell.  I wondered if he even knew what we had been quoting, until he said in a perfectly toned Shakespearian accent;

“Romeo, doff thy name; And for that name, which is no part of thee, Take all myself.”

 

I raised my eyebrows, I couldn’t help it. I was surprised, and impressed. I had thought that the classic works Nathaniel would have been completely eradicated by the pop culture Nathaniel. I cast another glance at Imogen.  Guessing from her expression, she was thinking along the same lines that I was.

Melina looked even more irritated.  She glared between Immy and me before drawling

“Well, now that that’s all over and done wi�"“

“However, we are not talking about Romeo,” The Prince interrupted. Melina looked taken back, and even a little hurt.  He didn’t notice.

“We are talking about Jason Race.”  He leaned closer to me.  “You say you’ve heard of him, but what have you heard, exactly?”  My body was determined to react to his proximity, but my mind told it firmly not too.  Politics was never a time to get swoony.

“Many things, some of them I expect to be false, but even the most ridiculously exaggerated rumors have their origin somewhere.” 

“Yes,” he replied quietly, leaning back, “Yes they certainly have their origin somewhere.”  The smile lingered, but a shadow seemed to have passed over his features and his tone darkened.  He was no longer looking at me, but rather gazing off and some unspecified point in this distance.

He returned to the table to find we were all avidly staring at him.  He sighed.  It was the first time I had seen him do anything that could remotely be considered an expression of emotion in a long time.

“I’ll say this; there is strong evidence to link him and his followers to several disappearances, including the disappearance of an entire family by the border of the northern territories, over the past several weeks.” He ran his hand through his long, thick hair. It was something he did whenever he was agitated or stressed out about something.  I hadn’t seen it in a long time. A real long time.

“We don’t know for sure, but our investigators believe...” He paused and closed his eyes for a moment.  His voice became even quieter, and there was wearied note to it I hadn’t noticed before. “They believe these people are dead, that the rebels killed them.” 

I looked up at him sharply, studying his face. There was some different about him now, he looked �"older.  Older than I had ever seen him. Nathaniel had always had youthful appearance, but now I could see the strains in his face that made him look something like a battle worn solider instead of the 19 year old prince.

I shook my head, clearing the thoughts.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” I mused. I had kind of said this too myself, but Nathaniel eyes darted to me as I said it.

“It doesn’t?” he inquired.  His voice had regained its polite and confident quality and his smile had returned, but I could still see traces of the added weight in his features.

I bit my lip, trying to decide how best to respond.

“Well, I mean...” I took a deep breath, I shouldn’t be struggling, this was what I was good at, after all.

“The rebels haven’t been violent before this, have they?  I mean sure, they’ve made decisions that have been questionable, but they’ve never done anything like this-until now.  Why would they destroy their reputation?  How can they expect people to be sympathetic for their cause when their no better than outer criminals?” I made sure the Prince was looking at me as I said; “They may be many things, but they’re not stupid.”

Nathaniel just looked at me, not saying anything. I could feel the blood rushing under my skin and the heat rising in my face, but I was determined not to look away.  It was only a few moments that we remained this way, but I could have sworn it was an eternity.

“Perhaps,” Nathaniel responded, finally pulling away. I had to stop myself from letting out an obvious sigh of relief.

“Or maybe they don’t want the things they wouldn’t before, “he added subtly. “Their methods aren’t working. The entire reform movement has completely stalemated. They’re getting desperate.  And desperate people…” he trailed off, letting us finish the sentence for him.  There was an uncomfortable silence as we waited for him to continue.

But he didn’t. He stood up, and we all quickly followed suit.

“I thank you” he stated, bowing to each of us in turn as we all curtsied again.  “But it is time for me to go.”  This seemed a little abrupt to me, especially considering where we had left out conversation.

I glanced over at Imogen to see if she was as surprised by the Prince’s behavior, or as�"intrigued�"by his words as I had been.

She wasn’t even looking at him. She glanced over at me, gave me meaningful look, and then quickly reverted her eyes back. I followed her gaze.  I felt my heart sink at the sight that met my eyes.  My mother, my sweet, cheerful mother, was stiffer than a pole. I could see the tenseness in every line of her body, and she seemed to be trembling slightly.  She was intently focused on her feet, but she must have sensed my stare because she looked up.  A fraction of second later the trembling had stopped, the strain had left and she was beaming fondly at me.

But I know what I saw that half second before she managed to compose herself.

 

Fear.

My mother was afraid.

And though I had no idea why, I was too.

Author's Note

There are a few intentional punctuation errors. This doesn't feel quite right yet, but I'm having issues editing it, so i think I'm going to get a lot written and then come back and fix it later. Same as always, I need constructive criticism.