The Princess and The Bandit

FORTY TWO

"Yes, that's pretty much what it is . . . But that's not what you're getting at are you?"

"Tell me about her sons,"

"She only had one. Your grandfather, Theo,"

Lauren closes her eyes, shakes her head, "She had two sons,"

"Historical accounts doesn't say that . . ."

"The book of life does,"

Simona stares at Lauren.

The princess is in anguish, eyes still closed. She knows that if she opens it, the older woman would see the pain of the past shine through. Clearly, a passage from the Arcadian book of life tells her that her great-grandmother had two sons. That the late emperor Michael had an uncle too. But he never mentioned any of this to Simona when he read the book of life nor was it written in any texts in the Arcadian archives.

"Lauren . . . What did you find?"

The princess takes a beat of silence, thinking how is she going to explain something she herself struggles to understand. She quotes her father instead of giving a straight answer. With everything the book of life has revealed to her so far, those words of emperor Michael just keeps coming back at her.

"Some fruits are ripe and good; others are just plain rotten . . ."

Princess Lauren then opens her eyes, determined to make sense of everything, and looks at Simona.

"What does the history books say about empress Graciela's death?"

"It was a devastating loss for everyone, but especially for her husband who died only days after her. But the details of her death were . . . Vague . . . Almost unknown,"

* * *

"Well, that's a lot. First, Laura the guest is the heir to the Arcadian throne, then Mila gets herself a girlfriend, and y'all guess who? It's none other than our former guest herself, aka Lauren the princess of the great empire of Arcadia. Isn't that fun?! We now have the spawn of the king of bandits smoochin it up with the heir to the greatest nation in the world! Oh wait there's more, good old Simona, formerly the dude Simon, knew everything from the get go about princess Lauren who was actually looking for her. What a mother effin coincidence Dinah brings her to our island! And speaking of, did I forget to mention that tall blondie over here is actually half sister to that Oakridge queen? That mighty gorgeous woman who kind of bosses over this side of the world when princess Lauren doesn't, who by the way, looks hotter than jalapeño hot sauce from hell's buttcrack . . . I'd be more than happy to bang her in the nearest flat surface, honestly,"

"You did not just say that,"

Dinah glares hearing the tail end of Ally's rant.

Normani simply snorts at the two of them, "What a way summarize it, Al,"

"I've been mind blown this entire time, give my brain a breather will ya. It's a lot to take in, it's messy! But it makes sense! Not quite, but yeah, you know what I mean!"

Normani shakes her head.

"No, I don't," Dinah retorts.

Ally rolls her eyes, "Anyway . . . What's next boss?"

The boss has been quiet, looking out the window of the lavish room princess Lauren gave her. Even though Hailee is the appointed leader of Oakridge kingdom, the territory and everything in it belongs to the empire of Arcadia. So basically, Lauren owns everything there, rules over everyone. No formality of her ascension was needed, it's already given and well understood by the Oakridians and every citizen of the Arcadian empire.