Chapter 39: Time's up

Francine

"You can't save her,"

Mackey came to the apartment, kidnapped Nicole, and took her god knew where! I crumbled the note and threw it in the bin, meanwhile dialing Charlie's number on my phone. My heart pounded against my chest - I knew what Mackey was capable of. He faked his own death just to win a stupid hide-and-seek game. His obsession with Nicole and hatred towards Charlie could make him do anything. When I said anything, I meant anything.

Pick up,

Pick up

Pick up the phone Charlie!

I repeatedly chanted it in my head, tapping my foot on the floor. Every worst case-scenario flashed in front of my eyes. What if he beat Nicole up so bad that she died? What if Charlie blamed this on me? What if-?

But there was this one thing that popped into my mind.

Why would Mackey have kidnapped Nicole?

Nicole had told me that he wanted to rule.

What does that have to do with the kidnapping?

Right at that moment, someone banged on the door. The phone fell from my hand and crashed on the floor.

"Damn it,"

I rushed towards the door and swung it open, and honestly, I had never been so freaked out in my whole life. Royal guards stood in the doorway, one of them already informing father that they found me.

"Princess Francine, 'tis time for you to come with us." The Royal guard ordered. He knew of my identity. He knew exactly where I lived. That only meant one thing,

Charlie and the others were caught.

Father found out.

However, I didn't wanna leave just yet. This was not how I imagined I had to go back when I first came here. Father wasn't supposed to find out like this. As per Titanian law, 'fleeing' had a strict punishment. In front of everyone's eyes, I had fled. No, I didn't. I just came here for a year to live my life in peace and enjoy the littlest things that the commoners could afford. Everything went so smoothly until...

Until Mackey showed up.

Until he showed up and turned our lives upside down.

My instincts say that if my father already knew the truth, Charlie, my brother, and Jamie were in the dungeons waiting to be executed. If I denied leaving, there might be a chance that I wouldn't be able to save them. Charlie didn't deserve this punishment. She was only helping me. It was because of her that I got to live this life, and I couldn't have been any more grateful.

So, I did what a sensible Princess, whose friends were in danger, would do.

"Okay, give me a minute to pack,"

"You shall come with us now and your things shall be taken care of." The Royal Guard demanded. I nodded and walked out of the apartment, locking the door behind me. I couldn't exercise my rights as the Crowned Princess of Titania as I was a 'criminal' now. The only sensible thing to do was to comply with any orders given to me.

The Royal guard handcuffed me and then we walked out of the building. All along, I kept my head low, so people couldn't see who it was they were taking with them. But that didn't quite help the fact because the neighbors were whisper-gossiping.

"Where are they taking Charlie?"

"Heard she's the Princess of Titania."

"I can't believe someone would leave everything to live a shitty life!"

"If I were a Princess, I would've never done this."

"What was the King doing all this while? Did he not know where his daughter was?"

"What an irresponsible father!"

That is one thing I agree with, lady!

Once the doors of the building were swung open, that was when I saw him.

Jeremiah Dominique.

---

Time froze.

It seemed like everyone stopped in their places and was frozen in the spot, and all I saw was Jeremiah. Everything around me blurred, my eyes only focusing on him. His eyes widened in shock to see what was going on. He wasn't able to process anything. He stood there, frozen, hands clutching my sweater. Oh, I had forgotten that! And he came all the way back just to return this and to find all this chaos here.

"Step aside, lad. We are in a hurry," The Royal Guard demanded, but Jeremiah stood his ground.

"Can I talk to her for a second, before you take her?" Jeremiah requested.

The Royal Guard shook his head. "No talking to criminals,"

"Criminal? What has she done?" Jeremiah asked, shock written all over his face. Oh, Jeremiah, if only you knew!

"She is the runaway Princess of Titania," The Royal Guard informed him and then pushed his way out of the forming crowd. Some took pictures and even made live videos to show what was happening. Jeremiah stood there, clutching the sweater hard and seeing as they took me into a car and vanished into the streets. From the side-view mirror, I could see Jeremiah standing there with a heartbroken face. I was pretty sure I saw a drop of a tear rolling down his eye.

That was when I remembered what his mother told me before we left.

"Don't ever break his heart."

Yeah, sorry. I broke the promise I gave you, Mrs. Dominique.

Because your son is heart-broken.

and the reason is me.

I broke your son's heart.

Deal with it.

---

"Where are you taking me, Phobias?" I asked the Royal Guard as he stopped in front of the throne room. Yes, this was it. Father would be delighted to see his daughter back. So delighted, in fact, that he would either lock me in my room or throw me in the dungeons. For the first time in forever, I wish the latter was the case. A lot has happened recently and I didn't wanna be deprived of meeting my brother and friends before whatever they decided to do with me.

"Your Highness wanted to see you before your fate is decided, Princess."

I want to say that Phobias was the nice guard between the two. Where Tino (the other guard) blindly followed father's orders, Phobias' loyalty was with me.

"Do you really think what I did was wrong? Did I not have a right to live my life before coming to take over the throne?" I asked him, out of Tino's earshot.

Phobias sighed. "I cannot say you were wrong, my lady. However, you could have talked to your father regarding this,"

"You and I both know he wouldn't have listened,"

"That, my lady, is true. However, you cannot resist the inevitable. You have to go inside to meet your father. But I promise you, I shall be there whenever you need me."

I smiled. "Thank you, Phobias."

He nodded before ushering me inside the throne room. I could see my father standing with his back turned towards the door. I couldn't believe it had been almost a year since I stepped into the throne room. It looked the same - the only change was probably in my behavior and obviously the fact that my father was really 'pissed off with my attitude'.

"Father, did you ask for me?" I asked, my voice echoing through the walls of the throne room.

Father spun on his heel and faced me. He had a blank expression on his face and I couldn't tell whether it was from pure rage or disappointment.

"Francine Elizabeth Maxwell, I cannot believe I would ever see this day," He deadpanned, looking right into my eyes. "I thought you were like your mother - sensible and wise and understood your responsibilities. I see you have failed me,"

I wasn't surprised that he would remain so stoic even today - the day his daughter was 'obliged' to come back to her old life. I may have imagined him to embrace me and tell me how much he had missed me. Maybe Charlie had done a fantastic job that my father couldn't tell the difference.

I cannot say that for the future, though.

"I am like my mother - I love my freedom, father and I am sure what I have done, isn't wrong."

He was barely keeping his temper. "You are wrong, daughter. You may be a spitting image of her, but you are nothing like her. If your mother was in your shoes, she would have never run away,"

"I didn't run away, father. I would've returned before my coronation. I simply wanted to live my life,"

He raised his voice. "A life with commoners?! A poor, filthy, and dirty life?! A life where you need to work day and night and not even earn enough money. A life full of sadness and pain, and torture. A life that lacks the luxury that you are having? You wish to give all of this up?"

I raised my voice. "I wanted to have EVERYTHING! I knew what I was signing up for! I wasn't giving anything up!"

Father took a deep breath and composed himself. "Well, you already have. GUARDS! Take the Princess away from my sight!"

Phobias, Tino, and two other guards marched into the throne room and handcuffed me back again. Father turned his back on me and waved his hand dismissively. If you thought, my father's mind would've changed and he would have accepted his daughter again, you are delusional.

The only thing I admired about my father was that he was fair.

No matter what, he would bring justice to his subject.

Even if that meant he would have to sacrifice his own daughter here.

If there were any other fathers in his shoes, they would've torn up. He, on the other hand, gave up all his emotions and buried them in the graveyard.

"Tino, I shall take Princess Francine from here." Phobias said. Tino nodded and walked away with the others.

Phobias opened my handcuffs. "A Princess looks beautiful in bangles and not handcuffs,"

I chuckled. "Does that mean you are not locking me in my room?"

He smiled. "Even better,"

---

"LIZ!"

"BROTHER!"

I ran towards him and embraced him as soon as the doors were opened. I held him tight in my arms as I breathed out a sigh of relief. It felt like I saw him after ages! Maybe it was just a few months for all the others - but for me, I lived an eternity here. I wouldn't say that I didn't tear up at his sight.

"Oh, Liz! I missed you so much,"

"I missed you too, brother."

That was when I heard Charlie's voice. "Don't wish to break up the brother-sister reunion, but there are others who want to meet the Princess,"

We broke apart and I turned towards Charlie. My eyes welled up with tears. I felt guilty to have put Charlie through so much for my own selfish reasons. I couldn't ever forgive myself if something happened to her.

"I'm so sorry,"

She pulled me into a hug. "In friendships, there are no sorry's, no thank you's."

We quickly broke apart. "You dealt with a lot, my friend. I'm truly sorry for that,"

Charlie crossed her arms against her chest. "What did I just tell you, Fancy?"

Oh, how I missed her calling me Fancy!

I shrugged. "I bet habits die hard,"

Everyone laughed at the response.

Next, I turned to Jamie.

He was smiling proudly at me. "If this happened a long time ago, you would've torn up."

I hugged him. "Guess I am not the same Francine anymore,"

Brother cleared his throat. "There's one more person you have to meet,"

We broke apart.

"Who?"

A figure slowly came out of the cell and walked towards my brother.

"Liz, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Nicole Anderson."

Nicole chuckled at his words.

My eyes widened to see her. She was bruised and badly beaten up. My hands clenched into fists in rage for what Mackey did to Nicole. He'd pay for harming our friend. But right now, that was the last thing on my mind.

Charlie stared up at him in confusion. "When did that happen?"

Jamie smiled. "Maybe when we're taking a quick nap,"

Charlie chuckled. "At least Nicole's happy with it - it's all that matters,"

I raised an eyebrow. "Girlfriend? Does that mean my brother's finally going to commit?"

Brother looked at her, smiled, and then back to me. "Guess time changes people,"

I smiled, wistfully, seeing a glimpse of Jeremiah and me in them. The chances that I had with him were lost now. I wouldn't get what my brother and Nicole had.

"I can't believe I'd ever see this day! My brother committing?! Guess, time truly changes people."

Charlie smacked my brother's arm. "Same rule for you as it was for McCrae. You hurt her, you invite your own funeral."

Brother placed a hand on Charlie's head. "I swear, I shall stand by my decision. I shall love her and protect her with my life!"

Nicole swooned. "Oh, Sammy!"

Charlie rolled her eyes at the love birds but smiled, nonetheless.

"Speaking of Mackey, he shall pay for what happened to Nicole! I cannot believe he would kidnap her! The only thing that I am not getting is why. Why did he do it? What is his reason behind this?"

Nicole cleared her throat. "You might wanna sit for this one,"

Phobias spoke up. "My lady, as much as I want to be here by your side, I have to go back to the others. I hope you can manage,"

I smiled. "I can, Phobias. Thank you for your concern."

Phobias nodded and walked out of the dungeons.

"Now, where were we?"

---

"...and that brings us here,"

"Wow," I said at last. "Seems like your life was much more eventful than mine,"

Nicole waved her hand dismissively. "Oh shush! You can't forget about Jer-" Before she could complete that statement, I fake-coughed and shot her a glare that would say 'This is not the time, Nicole'. Nicole, getting the idea, shut herself up.

Sadly, everyone noticed that.

"You see if it were any other circumstances, I would have asked who Jer -whoever is. However, now that our primary concern is James McCrae, I shall let this slide." Brother spoke from beside me.

Jamie nodded. "This conversation is not over, Liz. We shall talk about this soon."

I shot Nicole another glare.

Nicole shrugged. "Come on, you can't blame me! I didn't know you didn't want them to know!"

Charlie sighed. "Can we please get back to whatever we were talking about previously? We can always have a proper re-union after Fancy gets her rightful throne,"

Brother continued. "And McCrae is sent to jail, permanently."

Jamie finished. "Where he is hung to death so he is out of our lives forever,"

" We need a plan first - but with all of us here, we can't possibly execute our plan in time! We don't have anyone who can spy on McCrae out there and bring information to us." Charlie said.

I looked at Jamie and Brother who wore a smirk on their faces.

"We might have one,"

"Darlene."