Deposed King

The next day, Amie found herself walking into the middle of an arguement. She entered the living area where her adopted family was gathered just in time to see King Javert shouting.

He was uncharacteristically snapping at Prince Felix, "I don't care what you have to say, we're leaving!"

Prince Felix replied back, "but Father, he was only trying to help."

Amie hesitantly spoke up, "You called for me, Father?" The only reason she was there was because she was abruptly woken up by a servant and told to come downstairs immediately.

King Javert steadied himself before responding, "Adeline, please get ready to leave, I want to be on the road in a few hours."

Prince Felix made another attempt to stop King Javert, "But father-"

King Javert interrupted before he could continue, "Enough! Adeline, go pack!"

Amie was eager to leave the arguing. Before anyone else could say anything, she bowed her head and left the room to pack.

On their way back home, Amie discovered the reason they were in such a rush to leave. Talks had gone well the day before, but King Olaf invited King Javert to breakfast to discuss the issue of his reputation.

In the middle of the conversation, King Javert asked what he should do to quell his restless subjects. King Olaf's response was to tell him to quit being so spineless towards his wife and so quick to punish his subjects.

King Javert was still in a huff in the carriage, "What is wrong with punishing those that willfully defy the law? How can I rule a lawless land? I don't understand how a KING of all people can't see how important justice is to ruling a kingdom!"

Prince Felix was still trying to do damage control, "Perhaps our punishments don't fit the crime, Father. Have you ever thought of trying to relax the laws?"

King Javert shouted, "Nonsense! And show that I'm weak? How dare he say such a thing? And criticize my wife like that? The audacity!"

Jacques was becoming bored and decided to stir up drama while in the carriage, "Well you do let Mother do most of the sentencing."

"Be quiet Jacques! Else you'll be walking back home!" The rage in King Javert's eyes was enough for Jacques to stop his game, but not before rolling his eyes at the threat.

King Javert and Prince Felix argued back and forth a little longer before King Javert made the same threat to him. Prince Felix was not as used to his father's wrath as his brother. One sat the rest of the way in stunned silence while the other spent his time huffing in boredom at the lack of drama.

Once home, Amie made her way to her room to rest after such a long journey. She was about to fall asleep when Prince Jacques barged in.

Amie shot up from her bed and screamed. Once she realized it was Prince Jacques, she started yelling, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM!!!"

"Sh!" Prince Jacques heard footseps and quickly dove under Amie's bed.

Julia had heard the screaming and came to investigate, "Is everything alright?"

Amie quickly came up with an excuse, "I'm so sorry. I had a dream that a bird got in here. I must have been sleep-talking."

Julia was sympathetic, "Poor thing, that trip must have been very stressful. Do you want to talk about it?"

Amie feigned exhaustion, "Perhaps later? I want to try to get some rest right now. I'm dreadfully exhausted."

Julia nodded, "Alright then, I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."

"Thank you Julia." Amie wanted to hear what Prince Jacques had to say before letting Julia know everything that was going on.

Once Julia closed the door, Jacques sprung up from under the bed so fast it startled Amie, "So Amie. What are you?"

Amie felt chills run down her spine, "What do you mean? How do you know my name?"

Jacques sat on her bed grinning with delight at catching Amie off guard, "I heard your conversation with King Olaf. What are you, some kind of Chosen One?"

Amie was unsure herself, but didn't want Jacques to see her discomfort, "That's none of your business what's going on with my life, now please leave."

Jacques stayed where he was, "Not until you explain to me what you know."

Amie was frustrated, "I don't know anything! I didn't even know King Olaf knew my name. You must not have been listening too well if you didn't know that."

Prince Jacques wasn't quite satisfied with her response, he was hoping for something more exciting, "This is far more boring than I thought it would be. A prophecy was given to you by a magical fortune-telling king from a mysterious land far away and there's nothing you can make of it? Well, at least it was entertaining to see your reaction to your own name."

Amie's expression was that of tired annoyance, "If you have nothing else to say, then you can leave now."

Jacques was not done though, "You know, if he really can see the future, does that mean we'll be getting news tomorrow? Or will it be the day after?"

Amie asked, "What news?"

Jacques laughed, "Now who wasn't paying attention? We should be hearing tomorrow of how King Olaf has been deposed."

Amie grimaced.

Jacques continued, "So does that make King Charles the monster? Or death? Like, when you're face-to-face with the death of your soul on marriage night? or-"

Amie's voice was stern, "Get out. Right now."

Jacques continued to ignore her, "Hey, by the way, why did you change your name?"

Amie became visibly upset, "Get out, NOW!" She was almost in tears.

Jacques appeared a little unsettled to see Amie on the verge of tears, but it wasn't in his nature to apologize. He got up to leave. As he opened the door to leave, he said, "I'm not the bad guy, just saying."

Amie was starting to cry at this point, she turned her head away so he couldn't see. After lingering for a moment, he left.

Once he was gone, Amie pulled out the necklace that was in a secret compartment in her room. She held it close and curled up into a ball. Using her pillow to muffle the sound, she cried her eyes out.

The next day, just as King Olaf said, a messenger arrived to inform King Javert of the coup. King Olaf was no longer considered a suitor and now that Jórvik was under uncertain rule, King Javert had no desire to build bridges between the two kingdoms anytime soon.

Amie felt as though her heart was breaking. King Charles was the next in line of candidates. The reality was that even though Prince Peter was on the list of suitors, he was the least likely to be chosen. She would have to be rejected by everyone else just to get to him.

Plans were already underway to travel to Aragon. They were set to leave just a few short days after hearing of King Olaf's dethroning.

Amie hadn't had the chance to speak to Julia until the day she was scheduled to leave. While she was packing, she was unloading her grievances onto Julia, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't think things have gotten as bad as the prophecy intends, but I don't know where to go from here."

Julia replied, "Don't think so much into it. Olaf was probably a phony anyways."

Amie retorted, "A phony that knew my name and predicted his own future?"

Julia responded, "No, a phony that probably had the resources to look into you and was aware of what was going on within his own castle. He probably just made the rest of it up."

Amie thought for a moment, "Well... I guess he could be a phony... But why would he go through all of that trouble?"

Julia didn't have an answer to Amie's question. Instead, she told her, "I'm sure if you thought about it for a little longer, you'd come up with a reason. Now come on, let's finish packing. I took the liberty of setting out your least flattering dress to meet the King in."

Amie's face scrunched, "Ew the pink one? Don't you think anyone would notice? I've never worn such a gaudy dress before."

Julia looked a little devious, "Exactly why they would pay it no mind. Just tell them it's supposed to be the latest trend. They should leave you alone after that."

Amie was unsure of her plan, "If you say so." She then switched subjects to Prince Jacques, "What do you make of Prince Jacques? Do you think I should be concerned about him?"

Julia replied, "No, I don't think so. By the looks of it, I think he's trying to make a friend out of you in his own messed up way."

Amie scoffed, "Ha! Friends? He is twisted isn't he?"

They laughed together about Prince Jacques' antics for a while, and when Amie finished packing, she said her goodbyes to Julia.

She met with her adopted family outside by the carriage and prayed the dress would work. Amie could tell Jacques knew something was amiss by his expression, but he didn't say anything. She felt it was quite out of character, but she also felt that perhaps it was his way of apologizing to her for earlier.

Amie thought she was in the clear until Prince Felix spoke up, "Why are you wearing such ghastly attire?"

Summoning up her best acting skills, she pretended to be hurt by his remarks, "You don't like it? It's supposed to be the latest fashion trend." Prince Felix didn't inquire further. It appeared he bought the excuse.

Amie was the last to enter the carriage as she prepared to face her fate in Aragon.