~Authors Note~
This chapter is very long. Your eyes must survive this. MUST.
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The next morning, I finished off my berries, and then set back out. The palace was closer than the village was, so it only took me until evening for me to arrive, plus I was walking at a speedy pace. I come upon a gravel path, and follow it up a large hill. I slowly left the dense forest, and found myself in front of the castle. Where my parents lived. My biological parents. I felt nervous about this, but I kept moving forward.

Soon, I'm walking straight to the front, shining doors. "Who goes there?" one of the guards demand. "Drake," I say. "Drake Jackson."

"And what is your business here?" he asks, as the other guard stands stationary, but on alarm in case I try to pull something.

"I'm here to speak with the King and Queen, sir." I respond. "What for?" he says.

"An important reason, sir. One you wouldn't understand," I start. "I'm sorry."

"Could you summarize?" he asks. "No, sir. This is entirely for me and the royals. Again, my apologies." I finish.
The guards look at each other, and slowly nod. I smile, and give my thank-you's. Well, that was easier than expected, I thought to myself. I walk into a large room, with a red carpet going all the way to a glimmering purple throne, with black specks of shine to it. Then, I hear someone trekking towards me.

"Hello, young man," a voice comes from my left, and I face him. "What's your business?" he asks. "I need to speak with the royals, please," I ask. "Yes. Right this way." the man leads me upstairs, and down a long hallway filled with pictures, and everything. He comes upon a double-door room. "They're inside of here," he says. "Go in whenever you're ready." he states, and walks away.

I face the spruce-brown door, which was carved with delicate designs. Curvy, and straight, and zig-zagish lines cover the doors surface. Soon butterflies build up in my stomach, and questions start to flood my head. What if they don't believe me? Do they even remember me? Are they going to recognize me? Will they kick me out?

I didn't know why, but I just had a feeling this isn't going to be easy. So, I slowly lift my hand, and knock, but before I do I recognize frustrated voices for the first time coming from behind the doorway. No one answered the door. So, I knocked again, and again. No one. So, I slowly put my hand on the golden knob, sending shivers up my spine.

And I open the door. I peek through at first, and I see the queen and king talking. I heard a bit of their conversation.

"I can't believe this," the King said. "Our kingdom is gone."
"Rob, we can rebuild. Our guards have already found twenty survivors. There has to be more," the Queen says.
"Laila, you don't understand. You can never recreate something Brian destroys." he sighs.

"Who says?" she asks. The king pauses, and just shakes his head. "Okay. We can rebuild. But where will the townspeople stay?" he raises his eyebrow. "Here," she reports. "Either here, or the forest. And I think we can handle at least twenty of our fellow ender's." she says.

"Okay." the King says, after about thirty seconds. I decide it's a good time to reveal myself, instead of continuing with my eavesdropping.

I walk in, and they hear the door creak open more than it was. "Who are you?" the King asks.
"My name is Drake Jackson," I say.
"What's your business here?" he asks. People hear really like saying business, don't they?

"I came here to tell you both something." I say, almost calmly. "What is it, darling?" the Queen asks, softly.

"...I'm... your son," I say, unintentionally. Drake, you needed to explain first, you dummy! I yell at myself in my mind. "Excuse me?" he says. "I-I mean-" he cuts me off. "You can't just barge into my palace, just to blurt out you're our son," he says sternly. "But-" I say. "No, buts!" he nearly yells.

"If you would just listen!" I yell back. "I've had enough of you! Guards!" he yelled for his guards, and they came in no time at all. "Get this boy away from here," he says. "Now." The guards take me by my arms, as I struggle to get free from their grip. I didn't know what to do. Then it hit me.

"You had a son," I say loudly. "You game him up for 'adoption'! Because of some man named Brian. You named him Drake, and gave him to Gabriel Jackson and Delilah Jackson!" I blurt out. The King pauses. Then, he tells the guards to stop, and so they do.
"How do you know this information?" he asks, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Because," I say. "I'm that boy who you sent away." I say, nonchalantly. The Kings narrowed gaze became soft. And the Queen had tears in her eyes. "They sent you back too soon," he whispers. "They didn't send me anywhere," I said softly. "I found out myself. Delilah and Gabriel Jackson are dead. They... they died at the village." I look down at the ground.

"But, how'd you find out then?" he asks, quietly. "A diary," I say. I pull out the diary I found at my home. I brought it back, just in case I had to prove myself. I showed the front cover, and I saw them both scanning it. Then, the Queen came up to me, tears still in her eyes, and smiled. She put her hand on my cheek, and hugged me. I hesitated at first. But quickly, I hug her back.

The King joins the hug. But, he quickly releases himself from us. And then the Queen does the same. "Do you know who Brian is, Son?" son? He was already calling me that? "No," I say. "You mind telling me, sir?" I ask.
"Of course my boy. Of course," he says.