ACT II
"WHO WE ARE"
"Fate leads the willing, and drags along the unwilling" -Seneca

- K A L I - A L I -

     The clear night sky overhead dazzles with stars as distant sirens and chants echo from the city. This balcony has been my favorite place to be alone and think for years, though it's less serene right now. Protests had erupted across the country in the past two days or so. The capital had become far more dangerous in the last twenty-four hours, with multiple politicians probing my father for answers. Our patriotic but extreme populace is desperate for some explanation.

     Is this really all my fault? I sigh, thinking about that day. If I had just tried harder, maybe... maybe things would be normal. Maybe my mother wouldn't have locked herself away in my parents' room, unwilling to even see me. While my father searches desperately for answers, she's bedridden with what I can only think is immense disappointment... in my failure.

     I almost want to cry. I fucked everything up, and I need to make things right. I'll wear the Kamar even if it kills me. I'll do anything to get another chance. I grip the metallic railing, my knuckles going white from the force. I feel as if the entire palace is on my shoulders, egging me on to crumple and be buried.

     Letting go of the railing, I turn around and go back inside. At this time of night, the halls are strikingly empty; the corridors, filled with decorations and family heritage, seem barren. Not even the guards cross the halls, but instead patrol the outside of the palace. There'd been so many death threats, I'd lost count: some of them aimed at my mother, alleging horrible things about her, but most towards me.

     I walk downstairs, straight across the lush, plant-filled atrium, and towards the archive stairwell. I notice my hands shaking ever so slightly as I reach for the door, teasing it open quietly. Shuma would not like my insistence on another chance. It's a chance to save everything, but if it wasn't a mistake, wearing it again would likely kill me. I feared putting even more weight on his shoulders; if I was being crushed, he must be ten feet under rubble right now.

     My socks quietly tap against the rocky stairs, and I round the corner into the royal archives. This basement room holds some of the most important history in the world. Everything we know about the Kamar is down here, hidden in an ocean of words. For the average person, gaining access to this archive was nearly impossible.

     I step between the shelves, searching for Shuma. Maybe my father had finally decided to take a break? He'd been down here for most of the time since the incident, trying to hunt down a reason.

     My heart sinks as I spot him. Between two bookshelves, I see him passed out on a desk with a pile of books and scrolls around him. It hurts seeing him like this, clearly in desperation to find a reason, anything that explains what happened. He wouldn't want me to see him like this either.

     I quietly move back towards the stairs, running my hands through my mid-length hair. As of right now, the only answer is that I don't have royal blood... but that's impossible. They are my parents. There has to be some explanation for this. In this sense, my father and I are on the same page. Maybe I should help him look down here.

     I'd love to talk to my mother, but she made it pretty clear to my father and Klen that she couldn't see me right now. I've never seen her like this; the last time she was this closed off was when Suri was exiled. I was young then, though, and memories from then are foggy at best. Maybe from time, maybe from trauma... I'm not sure.

     There's one person I can talk to right now, and that's Klen. He was awake for the aftermath of the incident. He knows how my parents would've moved, how they acted when it all went down. I need answers above everything. If I can't convince my dad to wear the Kamar again right now, I could at least learn more about what's going on with my mother, Alebi.

     Luckily, I know right where to find him.

     I cross the atrium again, turning west and walking towards the palace bar. Klen ran the palace's bar, where politicians and members of the court would congregate to discuss strategy and get plastered. On an ordinary day, it was a lively, active location, and a bit of a folk legend around Al Kamara.

     Walking in, I see that today is the opposite. A handful of court members sit at the bar, talking amongst themselves until they see me. Startled, their talks turn to hushed whispers as I take a seat. Klen looks at me, clearly a bit surprised to see me at such an hour.

     "Kali?" He asks, confused. He takes a few steps towards me, wiping down a glass as he cocks his head in intrigue. "What's going on?"

     "Klen," I sigh, lightly setting my arm down on the bar not to aggravate my burns. They'd been healing nicely, but the doctors had made it clear that some of them would never go away entirely. "I want to take a shot with you."

     He smirks lightly, a bit of the worry leaving his face. "Perks of being 18 in Al Kamara," he says, turning around and grabbing some bottles from the shelves. "I'm glad I don't have to tell you no anymore to that question."

     "Yeah," I mutter softly, watching as he sets two shot glasses in front of me and begins making a concoction for the two. "What is it?"

     "Green Tea Shots," he smiles, as the glasses gain a goldish color. "One of my favorites."

     I smile as he sets the bottles down, leans against the counter, and picks up one of the shots. I follow suit, grabbing mine and clinking the glasses. Excitedly, I raise my glass and down the shot as Klen does. The taste catches me off guard, making my eyes go wide with surprise. "Klen, that's a good one," I state, exhaling. He smiles, picking up the glass and setting both of them behind the counter.

     "I figured you'd like it," he responds, moving them to the sink and looking back at me. "You've got something on your mind."

     I chuckle sadly, feeling the shot a bit. "A few somethings," I clarify, nodding my head. "Klen, I need to talk to you."

     Some of the joy disappears from his face, and I watch the anxiety creep back into his demeanor. "About what?" He probes carefully, rinsing the shot glasses and avoiding eye contact.

     "Can you meet me in the courtyard when you get a chance?" I say, feeling a bit guilty now for asking. He pauses for a moment, then nods his head.

     "Which one?" He questions simply.

     "Uh," I stammer, not thinking about that part. "North, I guess."

     "Okay," he says, glancing around the bar. "Give me a few minutes."

     I slowly stand up, catching one of the court members again looking my way briefly. Guess I'm the talk of the town, even in here. I step out of the bar, walking across the atrium one more time before stepping out of the palace doors into the north courtyard. This is a nice, private spot in the palace; I knew my parents would come out here occasionally to spend time together and talk about things. The Caucasus Mountains stood high enough to just overlook the brick walls, like sentinels on alert.

     I sit down on a bench near the wall, admittedly feeling more of the shot than I expected. I'd drunk maybe a time or two before, but it's hard to get away with things when you're the princess and heir to the nation. Sometimes I wished I weren't here, without those expectations on my shoulders. Recently, that feeling had become a lot stronger.

     I hear the doors open to my left, and Klen walks outside with a bit of apprehension. He spots me and begins walking my way. "At least it's nice out," he observes, sitting on the opposite end of the bench. "What's going on?"

     "What happened, exactly?" I ask, looking at him. "After I passed out?"

     He seems somewhat relieved when I ask that, catching me a bit off guard. "At the ritual?"

     "Yeah," I confirm, and he sits up a bit.

     "Well," he begins, looking up towards the sky. "Let's see. There was... a lot of chaos outside. I mean, people were losing their minds. Palace guards had to funnel everyone out, and there was almost a riot..."

     "What about my parents?" I clarify, and he nods.

     "Right. Honestly, Kali," he sighs loudly. "They argued. It was really bad."

     I lean forward a bit, hanging my head a bit. "Like how?"

     "They were both, obviously, really stressed out," he says quietly. "They were arguing about your blood."

     I'm not sure what I expected, but this is what I feared. "If I'm Shuma's daughter."

     "Yes," Klen confirms, uncomfortable. "Your mother... I think she's pulling away because of that. People are thinking the worst."

     I hear a faint beep from outside the wall. Before I can react, my body is flung forward violently as an explosion goes off behind me. I watch in shock as pieces of brick are turned into shrapnel, flying past me as dust envelops the air. 

     I land on the grass with a yelp of pain, my face being driven into the soil as I feel aching pain throughout my body. I struggle to regain my senses as ringing and darkness cloud my mind. What just... huh? Is this an attack? 

     Yelping, I try to turn around, in pain, moving. In horror, I see Klen's body next to me, with a massive brick seemingly crushed into his torso. He looks down in a daze as I scream in terror. I hear the flurry of gunfire erupt from the palace as guards stream into the courtyard, pushing towards where I just was.

     "Klen!" I scream, my voice raspy and torn as I crawl towards him. He looks at me in shock, blood oozing out of his mouth.

     "Kali," he spurts, eyes wide in horror. His eyes focus on me, relaxing a bit as he reaches into his pocket. I begin crying uncontrollably, grabbing his cheek as I see the devastation in his body.

     "Klen, no, no," I cry, my vision obscured by my tears as he hands me a keyring, pointing to one of them. I watch the life drain from his body as he hands them to me.

     "A lo-lockbox," he sighs, almost inaudibly, forcing the keys into my hand as I look at him in terror. "Alar. Find... it."

     I let out a tortured scream as I watch the life fade from Klen's body.