The Aldean Chronicles: Spotlight (Part 2)
Chapter 7

"I can't believe it," Tristan says when he opens the door. "Either it's a prank, or Seb is harnessing the fireball he'll destroy my house with."

I don't laugh. I just go up to his bedroom.

Once we're inside, he locks his door. "My family doesn't know you're here and I prefer it that way."

I sit on his bed and frown. "Do you think he's alright?"

He sighs. "Your brother's fine. He's lived through worst."

I nod slowly. "I can't believe they're true." I sigh. "The rumors. I knew they were, they just never felt real."

Tristan sits beside me and wraps me in his arms.

"Don't think like that. He loves you, a lot." Tristan rubs my back. "He's just going through something."

"He's been going through this for years. He was 17 a few months ago. How much longer will he be like this?"

I can feel the rise and fall of Tristan's chest as he breathes. He says nothing.

I sniff again and fight to hold back tears.

"Why don't you lie down? I'll put on one of your favourite movies and we'll eat junk food?"

I sniff repeatedly. "Do you have any of that caramel popcorn I like?"

"I do."

"Okay, okay." I break away from him and crawl to the top of the bed. He puts the blanket over me and leaves to get the snacks.

I stare at my phone and force myself not to call Grey.

My phone goes off and I answer it so quickly, I don't see the caller ID. "Grey?"

"Cass, it's me." Kat. "Is everything all right? Vincent told my mum what happened."

I force the disappointment down my throat. "It is, we're really worried."

"How are you feeling? Things must be really tense at home right now."

I rub my arms. "I'm not at home, I'm at Tristan's."

"Does Seb know you're there?"

"He asked me to go."

Kat is silent for a second. "Things must be worse than I realized." She laughs.

"Kat..." I warn.

"Sorry, sorry." She apologizes. "But I've been doing this longer than you. You can't get worried every time he gets like this. You'll drive yourself mental."

"He could be in serious trouble, Kat."

"If he is, he did it to himself," she says angrily.

"How can you say that?" My voice is raised. "He's your cousin."

"And this is what he does." Her voice is hard. "He puts himself in trouble and doesn't think about the people who care about him. I'm done spending my summer constantly worried about him. Good night, Cass." And she ends the call.

Tristan walks back in and frowns. "W" as that Grey?"

"Kat." I throw my phone on the comforter. "She doesn't care."

He looks like he's about to say something but changes his mind at the last minute. "What movie are we watching?" He shakes the bag of caramel popcorn and I smile weakly.

He gets on the bed, settles beside me and I snuggle into his arms.

Gradually, I start smiling, whispering, and even laughing. I can't completely enjoy myself though. A part of me can't stand not being worried about Grey.

Tristan drags me closer to his chest and I soon forget about watching the movie. I just breathe in his scent till I fall asleep.

***

I woke up at 10 am the next morning. Tristan is still beside me.

I remove my arm from his stomach and he wakes up.

"You're here." He says sleepily.

The easy feeling in my stomach disappears when I remember why I spent the night with him. I rush for my phone.

There are several missed calls from Seb. I read the messages he sent. Vincent and some of the others found Grey at a nightclub at 2 am halfway across the Capitol.

I go online and search for news articles. The headlines are all worse than the ones before.

Party Prince Back for the Summer of '22

Grey's Bright Evening

Prince's constant partying might be the reason for rift with sister

The Queen's nephew seen dancing with random strangers at The Opal

I brush my hair away from my face.

"I have to get back home."

Tristan nods. "Come on, I'll sneak you out."

He puts on shoes and we go quietly down the stairs and to the garden. He opens a door and points down the path.

"That leads to the front of the house."

"Thanks." I walk past the door.

"Cass, it'll be alright, I promise."

I walk down the path, then to my house.

The front door is wide open.

The chef tells me that Seb and Lilian are having breakfast by the pool. I go out to join them.

There's a little wicker table set up by the lounge chairs. It's circular, has four chairs and a white umbrella shading it from the sun.

"Hello, Cassandra. How was your night?" Lilian asks over her newspaper.

"Good, Tristan and I watched a movie then went to sleep."

Lilian scoffs. "Oh Casandra, don't be crass. We can do without the details."

"But that's what...never mind." I take the seat between her and Seb and dish out sausages, eggs, hash browns, and plain white bread for myself. "So um... where's grey?" I ask through a sip of orange juice.

Seb and Lilian go stiff. "He's in his room. Recuperating." Seb responds.

"That's good. I read the articles, they're not that bad."

"Oh, really?" Lilian picks up a page from the table and adds it to the front of the newspaper she's reading. "Does "Party Boy Prince makes out with lucky Aldean girl. Have we found our new princess?" sound like a good article to you?"

Someone beats me to a response. "I don't know." It's Grey. We were so engrossed with the front page, we didn't notice him walking up to us. "She had spirit, but I wouldn't call her princess material." He plops down opposite me and grabs a sausage from the tray.

"You're awake." Lilian drops her paper. "I thought you'd need another six hours after last night."

"That was nothing." He waves his hands. "I was only on alcohol. I couldn't score anything good at the club."

Steam is hissing out of Seb's cutlery. "Cass, can you give us a second alone?"

I stand up so quickly, I knock my chair down. "Of course."

"No, no, no." Grey gets up, crosses the table to my side, and places his hands on my shoulder. "Cass should stay. She's part of the family, isn't she?" He gasps. "You don't want her to think she's being excluded or being treated differently, do you?"

"Cassandra." Seb uses his head to point at the house.

Grey sighs. "I think she should stay. Maybe she can finally hear why prince Greyson is such a fuck up. And why his crimes are always worse after the annual Pledge ceremony."

"Greyson..." Seb looks exhausted.

Grey holds his fingers to his lips. "Dad, I'm talking now." He lets go of me and goes back to his chair. "Cass." He gestures to mine.

I look at the whole table. "I really shouldn't..."

"Cass." Grey's voice is hard now. "Please, sit." He doesn't take his eyes off me.

I take a deep breath, pull my seat up, and sit back down. I whisper apologies to Seb the whole time.

Grey beams. "Now, story time." He adjusts his flowing bathrobe so he isn't sitting on it. "Let's start at the beginning, shall we?" He picks up a knife and fork and puts more sausages on his plate. "It started when a young handsome prince was born in the beautiful kingdom of Aldean. Can you guess what his name was?" He asks me.

"Greyson Harrington?" I'm scowling.

He frowns. "You were close, but no." He pours orange juice for himself. "His name was Matteo Sebastian Harrington."

Seb looks very angry, but there's something else in his eyes.

"Prince Matteo was supposed to be just like his father. Strict, responsible, a natural-born leader. But he, like the spawn he'll be creating years later, was a giant disappointment."

"Greyson..." His mother whispers sharply.

"Mother, it is illegal to interrupt a royal when they're giving a speech. You should know that. We are your specialty, aren't we?" He sees her hard eyes and takes her hand in his. "Don't worry, mum. Your part is coming up. You feature very prominently in this story." She draws her hand back.

"Where was I? Oh yes, the King's disappointing son. The poor prince had a miserable childhood. Everyone preferred his cousin, if not her, his twin sister. No one supported him, no one loved him, he was all alone in this world..."

"Why are you doing this?" Seb asks.

"Dad, please." Grey scolds. "Anyway, sad, loner, hated, all of it. The only bright spot in his life was his mother. She was different. She wasn't cruel and calculating, she didn't expect anything from people. She just took them and loved them for who they were. But in the year 2002, she went on a solo trip to Charlton. But the thing is, it wasn't supposed to be a solo trip. She was meant to go with her son."

I can't believe Grey's doing this to his parents. How can he be so cruel?

"Poor prince, he blamed himself for not being there. Not being able to protect her." Grey shakes his head slowly. "The thing is, he missed out on the solo trip because he wanted to go to a party with all his Aldean friends. He didn't protect his mother or say goodbye to her because he wanted to go on a bender. What did he do after that? Well, he partied harder." Grey can't contain his smile anymore. His eyes on the other hand are hard and bitter.

"Does this story have an end?" I ask angrily.

"Getting there. We just reached the mum part." He turns to his mother. "You see, my mother has known my father since their first year at Aldean. They were friends, not because she liked him or anything, but because she had plans for her life, plans that included him. You see, she saw dad as just a damaged, rich boy she could mold into her perfect man." Grey raises a glass to his mother. "I'll give you points for that. You succeeded...ish."

"Grey," I warn.

"Fine, I'll finish the story in a minute. When grandfather's health began to fail and it was clear he would die soon. The Prince did what every good son would, he tried to fix his life...so he could take the crown the second his father's body was lowered to the ground. But did he succeed?" Grey gestures at the house and laughs. "He sure as fuck didn't. The whole thing was a giant disgrace, no Aldean election had ever been that much of a landslide. Six months after the election, he was angry, disappointed, and bitter that he had to work for a living.

"Then suddenly, the young prince changed. People thought it was because he had a son of his own. He had to put his childish nonsense aside, be a man, and a role model for his baby. But no, it was because he had done the worst thing to the person who loved him most."

Grey looks sad now. "And he didn't even tell her. He just dropped the news on her thirteen years later that he had a child. On Earth."

It feels weird being part of Grey's story. I knew I was going to make a feature, I just didn't think it would make me so depressed.

"And it was heartbreaking because he really tried to do good by his family." Grey takes a deep breath. "He tried to protect them, keep them relevant, keep them dignified. But he had once again, fucked things up."

"Great story, Grey." I sniff. "Loved hearing it."

"It's still not over. I've been talking about my dad. Don't you want to hear more about me? How I became known as the party Prince?"

I don't move. He takes that as a yes.

"Growing up was hard. I had all these role models. There was my aunt, the actual queen of Aldean. The most perfect, respectable person in the world. My cousin, her replica. And my dad, the Infante." He points his fork at Seb.

"I asked myself, how could I ever live up to him and his standards? Well, their standards." He turns his fork to his mother. "They wanted me to win the stupid crown. To take back what was rightfully "stolen" from our family."

"That's not true." Seb's eyes are still hard.

"It certainly felt like you did at the time." He smiles ruefully. "You had me train three times a day, you made me learn three extra languages, dragged me to meet diplomats, and to functions. You wanted me to be King." His voice is slightly raised. "And you did everything you could to hide your past from me. You never wanted me to know or understand you. And to crown it all up, you didn't even want me taking the pledge."

Seb doesn't deny it.

"You wanted me to wait till I was ready. I was outperforming all my peers, even Kat. And you still thought I wasn't good enough." Seb doesn't try to defend himself. "I still took it when I was 13. I just walked right to the cave and you and Aunt Freya had to improvise. When I got back, you were so angry. You yelled at me the whole night." He sniffs again. His eyes are getting redder. "And a year later, you told me you had another child. You've had her all these years. She had magic so powerful, the Percival erupted. I thought you were replacing me.

"You broke me, you broke mum. And you never cared because you knew she'd never leave you. No matter what you did, she'd still be there." He's facing Seb fully now. "That's the life of a Prince, isn't it? The consequences of your actions don't exist. So I thought, why the fuck not? It clearly doesn't matter, so let's see how much shit I can get away with?" He leans back in his chair. "And I'm not gonna lie, the drinking, the drugs, the messing around... it all felt really amazing."

He drops his cutlery, gets up, and yawns. "I need to catch up on some sleep." He points at his plate. "These are really good sausages." He gives his mother a kiss on the cheek and walks back to the house.

Lilian takes a long hard sniff and rubs her nose.

I get up. "I'm going to Tristan's."

I walk as quickly as I can to his house. I ring the doorbell and a woman who isn't his mother answers the door.

She has brown hair and green eyes. "Princess Cassandra, lovely to meet you. I'm Pearl, Dillon's mum."

"Hi." My voice is breaking.

She frowns. "Oh darling, are you alright?"

I try to nod and start crying. "Can I talk to Tristan?"

"Of course, we're just having brunch." She leads me deeper into the house to a dining hall I've never been in.

I hide my red eyes from the table. "Tristan, can we..."

He gets up immediately. "I'll be back." He says to his family and meets me at the door.

As soon as he closes it, I place my head on his shoulder and cry silently.

I stop after two minutes and he says. "Come on, let's go for a walk."