Chapter 5: Confusion and Reality

Kabado si Tala habang pinapanood ang pagtipa ng babae na tumatao sa ticket counter ng Star Airlines. She had been waiting in there for a few minutes now, hoping that a seat would open up for her. And the she must admit, the waiting is killing her.

Hindi mawala-wala ang tensiyon sa dibdib niya na baka nariyan lang sa tabi-tabi si Knoxx o kung sino man sa mga tauhan nito at bigla na lang siyang dalhin pabalik sa hotel ng lalaki. She doesn’t want to make a scene right now. And she’s more than sure, should what she feared of happens, she’d make the biggest scene she could ever come up to in her lifetime.

She huffed, gently massaging her temples.  Masakit pa rin ang ulo niya at naguguluhan siya.  Idagdag pa ang mapangmatang babae sa kabilang lane na kanina pa panay-panay ang tingin sa kanya!

She would’ve ignored the woman who has been taking some mocking glances at her for some time now, kaya lang, bumulong ang babae sa kasama nito. Well, it’s not actually a whisper, she clearly heard that they were talking about her pink jammies and blouse terno sleepwear she had the misfortune to wear! Iyon kasi ang unang paris ng damit na nadampot niya kanina sa apartment niya. And she only realized how horrendous she looked the minute she arrived at the airport.

She huffed, tyring to control her emotions. But when the woman looked at her again and giggled, humulagpos agad ang pagtitimpi niya.

“I swear I will turn a hose on you!” gigil niyang umpisa, namaywang pa. “What? Haven’t you seen someone who travels in their jammies?” She scoffed and gave both women a once over. “Listen mademoiselles, and listen well. Make sure that if you’re going to gossip about me, you are dressed well. You cannot gossip about me when you look like shit!” she hissed before turning to the ticket counter again. “That’s it! You better get me a seat right now or I’d have to call my Dad to get you fired!”

Nanlaki na ang mata ng empleyada. “Y-yes, Ms. Tala,” alanganing sabi nito bago nagkumahog sa pagtata-type sa keyboard nito.

She can hear murmurs around her but she doesn’t care. She’s not one who usually imposes her authority over any of their employees, but at that moment, she sure would use all of her damn connection that comes with her name just to get away from that place as soon as possible!

Why? The damn time is ticking!

The longer stays there, the greater the chance that Knoxx would find her and force her to talk to him. And it would be a cold day in hell if she agrees to talk to Knoxx again.

What would they talk about anyway?

Natigilan siya. Maisip pa lang niya ang mga possible nilang pag-uusap ni Knoxx, lalo lang siyang natetensyon. She really needs to talk to Pierre or Elle. But first, she needs to get out of Paris.

Maya-maya pa, umangat ang tingin ng babae sa kanya. “One seat has opened for Vancouver and one in Nuremberg? Which one will you take, Ms. Tala?”

Umangat ang tingin niya sa TV monitor na nasa taas ng counter, trying to weigh her options. She doesn’t know anyone in Vancouver. Plus, she wouldn’t want stayed cooped up in her hotel room because of the unforgiving winter weather.

Ilang sandali pa, nag-flash sa TV screen ang picture ng pinsan niyang si Charlize or Charlie Sandejas at ng asawa nitong business magnate na si Gael Bernstein, the owner of Bernstein Industrial Technologies located in Germany.

Germany.

Kumurap siya, tumuwid ang likod. Muli siyang bumaling sa empleyada. “I’ll take Nuremberg,” aniya.

She can stay with Charlie for a while until she figures things out.

Tumango ang empleyada. Ilang sandali pa, inabot na nito ang tikcket niya sa kanya.

She was in the plane in no time, pulling off yet again one of the greatest escapes she had in a long time.

---

“How the hell did that happen?” Knoxx asked Ander in a worried tone. He was talking to his assistant over the phone as he quickly put his pants on, dismissing the persistent throbbing of his head as a result of last night’s drinking. He just got out of the shower when Ander called.

 “His Majesty was found unconscious inside the library at Walbrick Manor, Sir. Sir Nikolaus said that’s where His Majesty went to retire last night after meeting with Lord Karl and Lady Helena in the castle. The lady-in-waiting said he even requested his favorite tea before he slept. They didn’t know how he ended up in the library. No one had seen him going out of his room. Not even the queen,” Ander huffed, full of tension. “Everything is chaos here, Sir. You have to come home. Right now.”

He released a slow breath, putting his shirt on. His heart was pounding against his chest in a mixture of anger and frustration. Honestly, he doesn’t want to make any conclusions right now but he cannot help but think that what happened to his Uncle Hector, the current king of Maritria, had a connection to the curse his family had been dealing with for years now.

The curse, as people in his country calls it, is the series of unfortunate events that has befallen on them, the royal family, for the past half a decade. His country is the only country in the world that still follows the conservative way of line of succession to the throne—only male born Stavropolous can have a claim to the crown. And unfortunately, most of them, have had a brush with death for the past 5 years. He himself had a vehicular accident that has crushed his collar bones around three years ago. He survived though, but the recovery was awful. And just last year, his grandfather, the former king died in his sleep for some unknown cause. And now, this. His Uncle Hector reportedly had a heart attack in the library of his favorite house?

His fists balled at the thought of losing his uncle too.

No. He won’t allow that.

His Uncle Robert must live.

Should the intel he received was true and that someone was really behind all of those ‘curses’ that has been happening in their family, he will make sure that everyone involved in the evil plan to eliminate them all will be severely punished once found.

“Sir, the private jet that will bring you home is already waiting on you at the airport. Would you like me to arrange a cab—“

“No. I’ll drive there,” he cut Ander off.

“Would there be anything else you want me to arrange for you, Sir?”

He zipped his sports bag and picked it up from the bed. He had a glance at the blood stain on the sheet, reminding him of the events of last night.

Vague memories of last night filled his head. The club, the one too many drinks he had and of course the attractive woman named Tala, whom, based on the stain on the sheets, is not as experienced as he thought she was.

Tala, the woman who ran away with the ring he’s supposed to give to someone. He remembered he gave it to her last night for that mock exchanging of vows they had for their supposed wedding in the presence of one of her guy friends.

This morning he meant to take the ring back and just end their meeting in a sweet note. But he doesn’t know what happened that she just had to ran way as if he was some ghost she needed to stay away from. He tried calling her but she pretended not to know him.

He would have run after her but he was already running late. And now that he’s thinking about it, was she some con that he had the misfortune of meeting in the club last night? Did she use a trick on him? Has he fallen victim to her schemes?

The ring cost a hundred thousand pounds. Was that the cost of his stupidity?

He huffed, running his fingers through his hair.

‘Sir, are you still there?” Ander said, cutting his train of thoughts.

“I’m still here. I’m heading out now. Call the investigators. Ask them if they can work on what happened at Walbrick. Make it discreet. The last thing I want is a panicking queen and princesses,” he said before ending the call.  

His Uncle Hector doesn’t have a son. And once he won’t make it, the crown would be passed on to his unmarried Uncle George. And should something happens to his Uncle George, the next in line would he his Dad, then his older brother Ares, and then… him.

He cursed under his breath. He can already feel his head and chest getting heavy even without the crown yet in his head.

He went out of the suite, making a straightway to the lift. Once inside, he took a few calming breaths, silently hoping for the best.

However, as soon as the lift’s door opened, his phone rang again.

“Ander,” he said, stepping out of the lift, making his way to lobby.

Ander was silent on the other line for a while and then he said in a somber voice, “Sir, the king didn’t make it. He’s dead.”