The Fire Phoenix’s Eternal Flame

Miscalculations

When Alex finally came to, she quickly realized she was back home in her room at the armory. The distinct smell of metal. She sat up, and her brothers jumped to embrace her. “Dude we thought you were a goner” Bruce said. His face carried the look of a worried mother. “Where is Father?!” Alex managed to blurt out. She needed to know what was going on. “And how long was I out?”

“Whoa, slow down there. It’s been barely 48 hours. And father has been on the run for murdering the King. We haven’t heard from him. The Prince, well now the King, was crowned yesterday and vowed for swift vengeance and action against the treasonous Isle.” Byran explained half sarcastically. “The Vice President is safe, Layla is safe.” Bruce chimed in.

“WHAT! He didn’t murder the King, I was there I saw what happened” Alex cried. Her brothers both tried to hug her. “Shhh, it’s okay Alex, we know you’ve been through a lot.” Bruce said, but she didn’t understand why they weren’t listening to her.

“No, you guys don’t get it. Someone else killed the King and kidnapped our father!” Just then, Nadine walked into the room and began sobbing. “Alex, you’re awake!!!” She said through her tears as she bent over to embrace her daughter. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

“We must find father. Now!” Alex couldn’t fight back the tears. They fell down her cheek, causing a burning sensation. She knew something was wrong. This perpetuated lie about her father murdering the King was nonsense. She was there, she saw. And then, she stopped for a moment realizing she didn’t actually see the King die, so she really doesn’t know who did it. Could it have been her father, who then escaped into the black suv? No. No way would her father risk everything he had worked so hard to build, to fix. He wanted the war to be over. In the midst of the emotion, Alex forgot that today was her 18th birthday. She completely broke down. Her mother and brothers collapsed on the bed with her, holding her.

“We have to figure out what happened. Where is the security footage from the hotel?” Alex asked through sniffles. Her mother told her that the Queen had all of the videos removed and put on a hard drive stored at the royal palace.

“Yeah you are lucky to be alive. We found shell casings all around you but luckily you weren’t hit by any of the bullets.” Byran said. Alex couldn’t remember much, but she had this eerie feeling that she was shot, many times, but for some reason her wounds had healed. She pulled her shirt up, touching the places where she once saw holes. There wasn’t even a bruise, nothing. “Come on, we have a small surprise for you.” her Mother said.

They left the room so Alex could get dressed. She went for her favorite pair of sweatpants and an old nascar t-shirt her father used to wear. She closed her eyes, and wished he was here. “It will be okay.” Said a voice. Alex heard the words in her head, but wasn’t sure who had said them. She thought she must have hit her head hard. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened her door.

Alex made her way to the kitchen, where her mother, brothers and some of the staff stood around a table with a few wrapped gifts and a 3 tier birthday cake with lavender flowers on it, shouting “SURPRISE!” Alex was overcome with emotion. She was finally 18. She had talked to her father about it a million times. She was going to start taking classes, meeting with the presidential advisors regularly. She was going to run for President of the Isle. While her father was missing, her mother was acting as President. It looked like it was already taking a toll on her. Nadine had dark circles under her puffy eyes, and was barely holding it together. After singing a tearful happy birthday, they watched Alex open her presents which consisted of her favorite candy, a new tshirt, and a new dress.

“Whats with the dress?” Alex asked. It was a sleek, long red dress with a thigh high slit. Alex hated dresses. “You’ll need something to wear.” Her mother said plainly. “We’re going to figure out what actually happened at the meeting, and the only way to do that is if you ask for a sit down with the King.”

Alex took a few seconds to think about it. “You want me to have a sit down with Caleb, I mean the King?”

“Yes. You two are about the same age, and he won’t view you as a threat.” Byran explained. Alex often wondered why her brothers had little to no desire to run for Presidency. Byran was exceptional at coming up with a plan and Bruce was always there to make sure it was executed without issue. Alex agreed to their plan. She was going to distract the King, so that a few of the president’s protection unit could sneak into the royal palace and steal the security footage.

The royal palace was old. Caleb remembered the first time he was brought there when his father became King. He reminisced his life before that. It was normal. His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. “Your majesty, you have mail to read. There is a letter from the Isle.” One of the maids said. Caleb jumped up and snatched the letter. After opening it, he sat down to read. Eventually he crumbled the paper up. “So they want to sit down and talk, huh.” He out-loud to himself. Though he sad about the death of his father, he was more angry that he was now in charge. He didn’t want this life. But he had a duty now to finish what his father started.

Before she knew it, Alex was sitting in front of the King in the dining hall of the royal palace. Her hair was straightened, the dress fit perfectly, and she looked sexy. There was something about red that made her shine. Unfortunately for her, Caleb also looked just as good. She was trying her best not to stare.

“So?” Caleb said flatly. “What do you want?”

“Caleb, I am sorry for your loss. I don’t, didn’t know much about the King, but he was still a father and a husb..”

“Enough. Why are you here?” Caleb cut her off. “I want to make things right between us.” Alex said.

Just then the king’s men entered the room, and whispered to Caleb. He slammed his fist down. “You brought me here so that you could sneak into my palace and steal from me?” He yelled.

Alex tried to come up with something to say, but the words had lost her. She couldn’t lie to him for some reason. The PPU stepped in and began to escort Alex to leave. “Your father is guilty and I’ll end the war once and for all!” Caleb screamed.. But as Alex turned to look at him one last time, her face began to feel hot. Caleb saw the colors of her eyes change before the door shut. It looked like flames. “What was that?” He thought. He threw his plate at the wall and stormed out.

When Alex got back to the boat, everyone was on high alert. The intel they had received had been wrong and it seemed like their men had walked into a trap. Was there a traitor in the Isle?