Princess Luna

Chapter 9 - Despicable acts

Amelia’s POV

The next day, the weather was quite fine. I decided Alex and I needed to get out and do something, so we went to a local park a few blocks away from the condo.

Alex enjoyed playing around on the playground equipment, and quickly made friends with a couple of the children there, and before long they were running around pretending to be pirates. It made my heart happy to see him playing and acting like a normal child his age, rather than like a prince.

I check my phone and see that I have a couple messages from Raghu.

Raghu: palace officials, including your father, came this morning to search for you. I was forced to tell him the location of the cabin, but we had already suggested to DeeDee to take the kids on a trip to an unknown destination.

Raghu: King left 10 minutes ago in a very bad mood.

Me: Thanks for the update! Is everyone alright? No one was harmed, were they?

Raghu: everyone is fine. The cabin was set on fire, however. We are having difficulty putting it out before the fire spreads. Will keep you updated.

That was a despicable act on my fathers part to set fire to a log cabin deep in the dense forest during the summer, no where near access roads or plumbing. The fire could easily spread, causing damage to untold acres of forest, and possibly killing tourism in the area for years. Luckily the house was built near a creek, so I’m sure they were doing their best to put it out the old fashioned method, using a bucket brigade.

Hopefully DeeDee had taken the family somewhere fun. I know we had talked about taking everyone to the Enchanted Forest, a cute little local theme park near Salem Oregon, only open in the summer time. The twins Dee and Julie were just old enough to enjoy themselves, while Lance and Lucy were old enough to enjoy the few larger rides, but not too old for the rest. Johnathan would love everything, but he would love the big slide in particular.

Walking back to the condo, I saw a familiar van sitting on a side street. DeeDee and the kids were getting out, and I walked up to them.

“Oh, good!” DeeDee says, spotting me. The kids all run up to me and start hugging me. “I’m glad I spotted you! I wasn’t sure how to get into the building.”

“Mommy!” The twins and Lucy were all shouting. “We missed you so much!”

“Oh, my babies!” I say, crying happy tears that most of my family is unexpectedly reunited. “I was only gone for one day! I’m sure grandma Deedee took wonderful care of you.”

“We thought you were having the babies.” Lance says, looking around and sounding surprisingly disappointed. “Where is dad?”

“Ah… he’s still in Emerald pack. Grandpa made him stay there.” I say carefully. I don’t want them to worry, or become afraid of their grandparents. I’m hoping this is just a temporary whim of my fathers that he will eventually get over. Although I’m not likely to ever trust him in the future alone with any of my family.

I suggest that we all grab some lunch from a nearby deli, and eat lunch at the park. That way DeeDee and I can chat and plan, while the kids continue to play after they eat.

“So how did you find us?” I ask my mother in law, wondering if it would be so easy for anyone else to track us down.

“Leo told me about this place years ago, and gave me the second key to the safe deposit box,” DeeDee explained. “I went to get the key from there, but it became obvious that you had already taken it. So I wasn’t sure how I’d get into the building or the condo since your old phone wasn’t answering.”

“I see. And you’re positive the vehicle is safe?” I ask DeeDee while the kids play. “Did Raghu have it checked for any tracking devices?”

“He did.” She informs me. “I can’t believe the king would have Leo locked up under such a flimsy charge like treason. Anyone who knows my son knows he has no design on taking the crown from Alexander before he is forced into it!”

“Did you hear about what happened at Bull Run this morning?” I ask DeeDee. When she tells me she hadn’t, I update her on what happened to the cabin, and she hisses in fury at the despicable act.

“What in the world is he playing at?” DeeDee asks, incredulous at the news. “What could he possibly hope to gain from any of this?”

“He wants young Alex.” I say succinctly. “Apparently he’s got it in his head that he is going to raise him, as if he is his own son, and try to get Leo out of the line of succession. Or that is what Leo thinks he wants. I was able to talk to him for a few minutes last night.”

We discuss plans for the next few days. We will manage to squeeze everyone into the condo for a few nights, while we decide what to do next. Then we move the van into a parking garage several blocks away, just in case it’s still being tracked, or the condo is somehow found out. Then DeeDee goes with young Alex and Lucy to buy groceries to make dinner for everyone while I take the rest of the family home to the condo.

I’m feeling a bit tired, so I take an afternoon nap along with the twins Dee and Julie, while the others quietly watch cartoons. Being pregnant with twins is getting tiring.

Once nap time is over I get started making homemade chicken noodle and vegetable soup for dinner, along with a strawberry and spinach salad, soft Hawaiian rolls with butter, and brownies for dessert. It was one of the few meals that I could get most of the kids to eat, although the younger kids would just eat the strawberries and leave the rest of the salad on their plate, and Johnathan wouldn’t eat the peas from the soup. Overall, I was happy that the kids were eating reasonably healthy.

DeeDee and I were washing up the dishes afterwards when suddenly Lucy came to ask me a question.

“Hey, mom, how do you spell the name of this building we are in?” Lucy asks, phone in hand. DeeDee and I look at each other, alarmed.

“Why do you ask?” I question her, hoping against hope that my oldest daughter hasn’t given us all away. “Who are you texting?”

“I’m chatting with Izzy!” Lucy confirms my suspicions, and my heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. “She says she might come to Portland to visit, and she wants to know where we are.”

I ask to see her phone for a moment, and look at the conversation the girls were having. It certainly sounded innocent enough, but I suspect a much more sinister purpose, as well as having a doubt that the conversation truly was with my younger sister, who happened to be just one week older than the triplets. Lucy and Izzy had spent a lot of their childhood together, almost like friends rather than relatives. It broke my heart that for now, that relationship might have to be put on hold until the situation resolved itself.

I decide it’s time to sit the kids down and explain a little of what’s going on, as well as a couple new rules that they will need to follow. Such as not giving out information about where we are or what we are doing, to anyone.

We talk for a while about what we all need to do to keep our family together. And then I suddenly realize it’s nearly 8 pm, almost time to call Leo. I decide I’ll give the kids a chance to talk with him tonight, hoping it might reassure them that things will work out.

I quickly dash off the “code” for tonight. Then I caution the kids that we will only have a few minutes, and I press the button to call him.

“Hello?” I hear Leo answer, cautiously. “Your favorite flowers are stargazer Lilies.”

“For that, you deserve a special treat!” I tell Leo, and then I have each of our children say hello and a quick message. Young Alex went last.

“I’m sorry that grandpa is punishing you because of me.” Alex says, choking up. I can tell he is very upset.

“Hey son, it’s not your fault, and I don’t want you blaming yourself,” Leo says soothingly. “We will get this worked out soon, don’t you worry! Your grandfather needs to learn just how much your mother and I love you, and how far we will go to protect you and all our family.”

“Thanks dad,” Alex says, and he hands me the phone. I watch him run off, and I worry about him blaming himself. I’ll need to talk to him soon.

“So are they treating you any better today?” I ask, turning my attention back to my mate, and listen while he complains for a moment, before telling me how much he misses me and all the kids. And before I know it more than five minutes have gone by. I hear someone take the phone from Leo and disconnect.

I need to figure out a plan to get my mate back. Our family needs him, as well as our pack at Bill Run.