Locked In

When she entered the room, she noticed that Jason was not there yet, but her parents were together on one of the couches, deep in what seemed like a very serious conversation.

Maria cleared her throat to make her presence known, and they both turned to look at her.

They looked worried, Maria noted.

"My child, come sit," Queen Kalli said in a loving voice upon seeing her daughter.

Maria noticed that her mother looked like she was trying to hide her worry, but her father made no attempt to do the same.

Her parents looked at each other again when she sat down on the couch across from them, and her mother looked like she was trying to formulate how to say what she clearly needed to say. She finally decided on, "Have you had the chance to speak to Henri?"

With the mention of his name, Maria felt her heart skip a beat and anxiety start to ball up in her throat.

She gulped down hard and nodded her head, not sure if she would be able to talk without bursting into tears over reliving the morning.

"What exactly did you speak about?" her mother asked carefully as if she somehow knew that Henri had broken her heart.

Before Maria could answer, her father sharply cut in, "Oh, let's stop with the charade shall we? I think we all know that Henri decided to leave this morning".

Maria's eyes widened in shock and she felt as if her breath was knocked out of her. "How do you know?!" she asked frantically. It seemed like everyone was finding out things around here before she was intending them to.

"He came and spoke to us-- told us about his sister and how he needed to leave immediately. He thanked us for our hospitality and apologized for having to leave so suddenly," responded the Queen.

"I could tell by the way he looked ashamed that there was more that he wasn't telling us, so what exactly happened when you spoke with him, child?" the King spat out while looking accusingly at his daughter.

Maria felt her heart break all over again and she balled up her fists in an attempt to hold her sadness in, but once again she could not control the tears from falling as she admitted between sobs, "I told him I would wait for him, but he doesn't want me. He doesn't love me, I was wrong...and now I've failed Greece too".

Her head fell in defeat and her sobs increased when suddenly she felt assuring arms wrap around her.

Queen Kalli held her daughter as she cried, now lightly crying herself, before she said, "You haven't failed anyone, my child".

Across from them, the King sat with a hardened expression as he watched the two most important women in his life break down.

He loved his wife too much to see her in pain, and he loved his daughter too much to let her continue to suffer, so he made the decision to be the provider that he was, and take back control of the situation that had unraveled in front of all of them.

Unfortunately, he knew that his plan would cause more initial trouble for Maria, but it would benefit her in the long run, so he decided to keep it a secret until breakfast with the remaining two men-- the Dubois brothers.

Just then, Jason entered the wine room in a rush with a panicked look on his face.

He ran there to warn his parents after seeing Henri enter into a carriage with his belongings, but when he saw his mother and sister embracing on the couch in tears, he knew that they must have already known.

He paused and looked over to his father who had a sullen expression as they made eye contact, and he walked over to the couch that the women were sitting on and he sat next to his sister so that he could wrap his arms around her and his mother.

He had no idea what happened, or why Henri had left, but by the looks of Maria, he figured that the prince would not be returning.

He had a million questions, but at that moment he knew that they would have to wait.

Right then, all that needed to happen was to support his sister and show her that she is loved because she clearly was heartbroken.

Maria cried for a while until her sobs turned into her slightly gasping for air; she had no tears left that wanted to fall.

She let her mother and brother hold her in silence, and was thankful for them because she literally felt like they were holding her together at a time in which she felt like she would break away into nothing.

Slowly, she calmed down and was able to take shallow breaths to steady her heart that had been trying to hollow her out.

Her head was resting on her mother's shoulder, and when she knew that she was able to come back to reality in a calmer state, she lifted her head and brought her hands up to hold onto her mother and brother's arms.

She gave them each a small squeeze to say thank you, and they gently pulled away to look at her and assess her state of mind.

"I'm alright," Maria said in a hoarse voice from all of the sobbing she had done, "Really, I'll be fine".

Jason gave her a squeeze with his arms as their mother leaned in and kissed her on the forehead.

Maria found the courage to look across from her to her father who had not moved or made a sound since she started crying.

He still had a hardened face, and he looked like he was in "King mode" and not "loving father mode", which made her nervous.

She knew that she must have disappointed him by making the wrong choice, because after all, he had continually asked her if she was sure about choosing Henri.

She had failed him too, and it felt unbearable.

Maria had never felt more like a useless child, unfit to be the next Queen and ruler of her country.

Maybe after all of this, she had lost her father's trust and he would announce that Jason would pass her as next in line for the throne.

Not knowing what was next, she asked him, "What do we do now?"

"I'll take care of it, and you will obey what I say, do you understand?" he replied sternly.

She blinked hard and nodded her head as her heart stopped. 'What could he have planned?' she questioned herself, but she knew that whatever it was, she had no room to argue.

She couldn't let him down again, so she would do whatever he said.

Maria was sure she would find out whatever his plan was soon enough.