Nothing much has happened in the past few days. I've been writing Minecraft parodies and waiting to post this, but otherwise, I've got nothing.
Enjoy Chapter 8 of Kingdoms Lost! It's a good one!
SotC: Demons - Imagine Dragons
Jerome's POV
I thought that my 20th birthday was going to be the most interesting night of my life. I was dang right, but not in a good way.
While walking into the ballroom, I occasionally glanced over towards Mitch, who awed at the interior of the castle beside me. I realized how much Mitch had gone through that night, so I attempted to cheer him up. "Why don't you get something to eat? You look like you're starved."
"Okay…" Mitch responded. He started backward-walking away from me. "Do you want anything?"
"I'm fine right now."
"Suit yourself. I'll be back." I watched Mitch smirk, turn around, and stroll off near the table piled up with trays of authentic Star City cuisine.
After hearing a male voice purposefully cough into my ear, I jumped and faced Matt, who shuffled next to me. He grinned, and found me staring at Mitch.
"So, this Mitch guy… actually came for you?" He seemed more surprised than I'd expected.
"Yeah," I paused, taking in the circumstances, "He came for me."
"This kid really likes you, doesn't he?"
I nodded. "He told me he loved me."
"Congrats. I was wrong." Matt folded his arms.
"Wrong about what?" I gazed towards my advisor, confused.
"You got upset last week when I told you that your obsession was irresponsible for a King-to-be."
"You never said that…" I raised my eyebrow.
"Well, I was thinking it!" Matt chuckled, but quickly appeared genuine. "But… I'm sorry. I apologize. And Mitch seems like a good guy. Of course I'd need to spend a little one-on-one time with him…"
I interrupted him. "Don't you dare try to steal my man."
Matt burst out laughing, his grin taking over his face. "Now you're claiming ownership over the poor boy?! I definitely feel sorry for him."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I queried.
"You're a very clingy person." Matt stopped and contemplated his choice of wording. "That's what I mean."
I peek over at Mitch again, who spoke to one of the waitress at the food table. He seemed confused, but I knew he'd never been served by someone else, so I didn't mention anything. Never… never… existed… myth… That's when I remembered that important topic matter that Matt skipped over deliberately. "Matt, tell me about him."
"I don't know anything about your boyfriend!" He joked as his head twisted slightly to look at me.
I gaped my mouth open and gently slapped Matt on the arm. "He's not my boyfriend… uh…" I shook my head and returned to my real purpose. "I meant whoever you were talking about last week."
"What?"
"When we were in the kitchen and I had first met Mitch… you talked about someone..."
"Yeah?"
"You mentioned there was another person in Star City with the same birthday as me. You said he or she was only a myth."
"What about 'em?" Matt was trying to avoid my request once more.
"I wanna know who it is."
"You really wanna know?"
I nodded.
"Fine." Matt cleared his throat and gave into my demands, being my advisor and all. "So, when I was a little kid, my dad used to tell me a story about a boy. Apparently Lord Hughes had or has a son. You know that?"
"Yeah. It's why he left... right?"
Matt paused and hesitated before continuing his story. He completely ignored my previous question. "Going on… Lord Hughes's son was born four hours after you."
"No way." I swayed my head from side to side in disbelief. "That's impossible."
"Impossible. Everyone else in Star City at the time would've agreed with you too."
"But... you said this story was a myth."
He bit his lower lip and peered off to the side. "Well, I'm not exactly sure anymore…" He mentally returned to the conversation and put his hand up. "Let me continue, Jerome."
"Okay."
Matt cleared his throat again. "So this kid was supposed to be in my position…"
"Lord Hughes's son was supposed to be my royal advisor?"
He groaned before replying to my inquiry. "Uh huh. But when kid Hughes disappeared, I replaced him since my dad was the second closest to the King."
"Disappear?"
"Jerome!"
"Don't get mad at me…" I whispered, "Go on…"
Sighing, Matt continued, "Well, he was at your crowning ceremony, you know, the ones the princes and princesses have when they're born, and your dad and Lord Hughes decided to put you guys in your cribs."
"I was there too?"
"Yeah, but apparently no one told you about him."
"Why not?"
By that time, Matt leaned his elbow on my shoulder. "I have no clue Jerome. Please for Notch's sake stop interrupting."
"Sorry… go on."
"When you were in your cribs, someone snuck in and tried to kidnap you."
"What?!"
"But they got Lord Hughes's son instead. Less damage in the long run I suppose." Matt seemed relieved, but I blew up.
"Less damage?! This boy was supposed to be my best friend and they let him get captured?!"
Matt stopped me before I got out-of-hand. "And 20 years later, no one has seen or heard from him. As far as I know, he's either long gone from Star City or been here the entire time in hiding."
Off in the distance, I spotted Mitch arguing with another young man. This other man was much taller than Mitch, and seemed like he had a very strong influence.
"What was his name?" I questioned.
"I don't remember. You could probably ask my dad. He'd know."
"Wait a minute…" I turned towards Matt, wide eyed.
"Is there something wrong…?"
I cupped my hands around my nose and mouth. "Yes there is! Kidnapped… 20 years ago… locked in an attic… It's not just a coincidence!"
"Wait… how does being locked in an attic have anything to do with this…?"
I took my hands off my face. "Mitch McNulty! He has the same birthday as me, he's 20 years old today… he's been locked away for his whole life, never experienced reality… stuck inside a life he doesn't want… Matt! Mitch McNulty is Mitchell Hughes!"
Matt's jaw dropped as he came to agree with my theory. "Oh hot damn."
"I've gotta tell him!"
"Jerome… what did you say Mitch's last name was again?"
"McNulty."
As I begun to walk off, Matt pulled back on my arm. "You have to be very careful out there… the McNulty's are an extremely dangerous family… they're in charge of this rebellion against you and your parents."
"You don't think Mitch is… part of their rebellion, right?"
"I don't know. You would have to talk to him yourself… or just trust him enough..."
I spun around and begun walking towards Mitch and the other man.
"Jerome!" Facing Matt again, I found him motioning for me to return. "I need to tell you something else!" I hurried back. "When we were growing up, I always heard my dad talking about someone named Antvenom McNulty. He apparently was part of the royal court until he was kicked out, so he turned against your family and started leading the rebellion." Matt bit his lip. "He's dead now… my dad saw to his execution… but he wanted his son, Ryan, to be King." He pointed to the powerful-looking man arguing with Mitch. "I can bet you right now that buff guy is Ryan McNulty."
I gasped. "It all makes sense now! Mitch was kidnapped as a baby by Antvenom McNulty, raised in his household, forced to stay inside for 20 years until his parents were killed by your dad… and then he met me… Matt!" Shocked, I swung to face Matt and placed my hands on his shoulders. "We've done it! Lord Hughes's son is no longer a myth!"
My advisor picked up my hands one by one with his thumb and index finger. "You got that right. Our issue now is how to get Mitch away from Ryan and into safety."
"Let me handle this." I assured Matt confidently.
"Are you so sure…?"
I turned my head to overlook the so-called brothers and knew what I had to do to save the young man I was in love with. "I got this."
Mitch's POV
As soon as I left Jerome's side, I made my way towards the table where waiters and waitress waited to take orders from the party guests. One woman in particular came up to me while I looked over the assortment of foods.
"Good evening, sir. May I get you anything in particular?" she asked.
"No thank you… What do you have here?" I questioned, still glancing around the table.
"Everything you could imagine, sir," the waitress answered with a smile.
"I'll have… some of that…" I pointed to a plate of fresh carrots. "And that…" Then I pointed to a plate of sliced cooked steak. "And some of this stuff… whatever it is." Although it looked like potatoes, I couldn't be too sure.
"Coming right up, sir. It will only take a few minutes."
"Thanks." I grinned. The waitress friendly smiled back and left the table to wait for my food to be cooked.
"Is that your brother?" Upon hearing a familiar voice talk in the background, I stalled by pretending to act normal. I swiftly recognized this voice as Lady Natalie. By being with Jerome for most of the time, I'd completely forgotten that Ryan was at the gala under my name with Natalie as his date. If he figured out that I'd attended, I would be prohibited from leaving the house even for marketplace trips.
"Yes, yes it is…" Ryan replied from afar. I cringed. As his footsteps edged closer, I constantly tiptoed to spy over the dish platters into the kitchen. If the waitress came back with my food within those six seconds, I would've been able to get out of trouble.
Someone placed their hand on my shoulder and I knew it was Ryan. "Mitch." I stopped in my tracks and held my breath. "Mitch, I know it's you."
The waitress returned with the full plate and handed it to me over the multitude of food platters. She noticed the fake smile on my face as I took the plate, and glanced towards Ryan. But, as a servant of the King, she couldn't do anything to help and only walked away to help another guest with their order.
In an attempt to escape, I tried to walk away, holding the plate with both hands as if I didn't realize he was there. However, my plan was stopped when Ryan held onto my arm and pulled me back. Panicked, I dropped the plate and the small pieces of china and food splattered all over the floor. Ryan spun me around and pulled off my mask to reveal my face.
"Did you finish everything I asked you to do?" he questioned, "Because you can't be here unless you've finished."
"No. I didn't." I finally built enough courage to tell him the truth.
"Why? For the past twenty years, I've done everything for you… and now… this is what you do to repay me?!" Ryan lied, obviously trying to get a sob story from Natalie, who listened from the sidelines.
"Liar." I growled, "You haven't done anything for me. My whole life… I've been under your freaking shadow and I can't deal with it anymore!"
"What are you saying?"
"I'm leaving home. Moving out," I explained, pushing myself away from my brother in anger.
"What? You can't!"
"Watch me!" I yelled. "This is a free kingdom! You can leave whenever you want!"
"Where would you go?" he challenged me in a mocking tone.
"Anywhere." I listed off the nearby cities I could think of. "Budder City… Ironville… Minetopia… Somewhere you aren't."
"Mitch…" Ryan took a step closer to me. "I'm your brother. You wouldn't leave me alone especially after our parents are dead… would you?" He sympathetically pleaded for my forgiveness, but I vowed to never fall for his mind-games again.
I stopped backwards several times. "I've considered you my brother for far too long… but you haven't acted like a brother for one second!" I yelled, clearly upset. "I begged to come to this gala… but being the Ryan I know, you dropped a billion and one chores on me and said… Do these or else you can't come to the party!"
"You wanted me to stay home and ruin my perfect chance of being with my love." He motioned to Natalie, who had clasped her hands together in awe of Ryan.
"Your love? I had a love too. For you. I asked you to stay to mend our brotherly bond! But now I realize you never wanted ties with me in the first place."
"I wanted to protect you, Mitch."
"From what?!" I inquired.
"The dangers of royalty."
I distrustfully shook my head. "Ryan, as much as you don't like the Acetis," I placed my left hand against my chest. "I actually agree with them." I dropped my hand along my side. "At least King Aceti doesn't use identity theft to his advantage like some other people I know. And do you know the real reason why I'm here? It's not just cause I want to be here for the party. I'm in love with the prince. There. You heard it. I have an emotional connection to Prince Aceti that you can't do anything to break."
I glanced over Ryan's shoulder and noticed Jerome silently standing a few feet away, watching the argument. Inhaling deeply, I wondered about the events to come next.
"You really want it this way?" Ryan questioned, his hatred against me building up to the climax. I nodded. "That's it." Furious, Ryan took my by the wrist and dragged me towards the entrance of the castle against my will. The other party guests started to notice us but as usual, couldn't care to help. As I tried to tug my arm in another direction, Jerome raced to assist me and free my wrist from my brother's grasp. Before Ryan could acknowledge us together, I thought of an easy escape plan to get out danger from him. As I turned my heel to leave, Jerome held onto my upper arms with a tight grip to keep me with him.
"Mitch…"
I tried tugging my arm away and faced the prince, tears in the corners of my eyes. "I'm sorry, Jerome. I have to go. I have no other choice."
"Mitch, you don't understand… I know who you really are!"
"Jerome," I glanced away and found Ryan staring right into my eyes. Panicked, I pulled myself from him. "I don't have time. I'm sorry. Please don't forget about me." I kissed him on the cheek, flipped my hood up, and ran past enraged Ryan and the startled party guests. Before leaving the castle, I turned around and noticed Jerome devastated. I thought I recognized King Aceti enter the room and see me. A single tear fell down my cheek as I hastily trekked into the bundle of large spruce trees. No one dared to follow me into the dangers of the forest outside the town, not even Ryan.
NUU! MITCH! WHY YOU LEAVE JEROME?! If he had just stayed a few more minutes, he could've figured out his true past ;-; But in Chapter 9, Mitch meets some new characters who you'll all like... cough cough the Pack cough cough...
#KingdomsLost if you want Chapter 9 on SUNDAY (not Monday)!