"We have one more member of our party to introduce. Many years ago if you can recall, the heir to the throne was a child named Joshua. He was kidnapped at no more than a month of age. Around the same time, an infant appeared at our palace in Madrigal. Only with a necklace on him, he was raised among the castle and it's occupants. Now we wish for him to come down here. I present Prince Joshua of the Leo Kingdom."
JC appeared at the top of the stair as a gasp arose from everyone, the most prominent from the royal family. JC walked down the stairs and the king and queen both left their thrones. They stood in front of him as he bowed. "Jo...Joshua?" Karen asked. He nodded and she held his necklace, seeing if it was real. She gasped and hugged him. "My son," she said.
She pulled away and Roy pulled him into a hug. "Welcome back Joshua." JC smiled with tears in his eyes. Heather and Tyler both came up behind their parents.
"Heather, Tyler, this is your brother, Joshua. Josh, this is your little brother and sister." JC smiled even wider as he hugged them both. "I'm so glad that you are all right," said Heather. "And I'm glad that I finally get to meet my little sis and little bro."
They laughed and Roy turned to the court that looked on. "Today is one of the greatest days in the kingdom. Your prince has been found! Let us celebrate!"
Everyone cheered and JC turned to Alex who was behind him. "Thank you Lexi."
"What are you thanking me for? This is all for you. I just picked up a book."
JC laughed and hugged her, picking her feet off the ground. "And that one action gave me so much." As the music started he placed her feet back on the ground and said, "Let's dance and celebrate." She laughed and took his hand as his family looked on happily.
Justin and Char danced around the floor, having a great time. "This is great," Char commented. "You know, now JC is going to have to deal with all of the betrothals and stuff." Justin cursed silently. Every time something was going right, they were brought back to the initial problem. As the song ended, he excused himself and went to find Alex. He saw her talking with Heather while JC was deep in conversation with his parents and brother.
"Forgive me princess," said Justin nodding his head toward Heather. "But I have something that I must discuss with Alex." Alex looked at him curiously as she allowed him to lead her out into the hallway. "We have to find a way out of the betrothal and fast," he said urgently. "Oh shoot," Alex said as she hit her forehead. "You're right! Maybe there is something in the national archives."
They sprinted down the hall, trying to find their way to the library. As soon as they found it, they picked several books off the shelf and sat down. "My father would kill me if he knew that I was wearing a good dress while looking at dusty books when I should be at a ball." Justin glanced up from the book he was reading. "Well, then we're going to have to find a way out quickly now won't we?"
After a few minutes Alex said, "Wait a sec, I might have something." Justin looked up, waiting for her to go on. "Well, I'm not sure if this is a loophole or not, but it's something. It says that if the betrothal is made with the consent of only the parents, that to find a true spouse will overrule the marriage. I guess what it means is that if we can find someone else, then this marriage is void."
Justin nodded. The only thing was, they had to find someone else to marry. Justin thought back to the night when Alex switched horses and had fallen asleep in front of JC. What she didn't know was that he had kissed the top of her head. JC didn't know that Justin had seen him. Meanwhile, Alex's mind was racing with the same things, though they were more about Char and Justin. They had been talking at one point and Alex was passing by. When Char left, Justin started humming and he had the biggest grin on his face combined with a dreamy look in his eyes.
Both looked up at the same time and locked eyes. They quickly diverted their eyes to another part of the room. "Look, we need to get back before father beheads me," said Alex, breaking the silence. Justin nodded and they put the books away and turned to sprint out. "Where did you guys go?" asked Ana curiously as they reappeared. "We just had to talk about something," replied Alex. Ana didn't believe one word of it, but she just nodded and walked off.
"Let's just enjoy the rest of the night," suggested Justin. Alex agreed. "Good idea. We'll talk more about it tomorrow, is that okay?" She waited for him to say something, but his attention was already in another direction. Alex followed his gaze, which came to rest on Char and JC talking together. Alex chuckled. Maybe it could work after all.
When Justin still didn't move, she sighed and grabbed his arm, leading him up to the pair. "Hi!" smiled Char as they came up.
"JC, come with me for a sec," said Alex, pulling on his hand.
"What do you need?" he asked curiously as they began to dance.
"Nothing." She smiled mischievously. "I just thought that maybe I'd play matchmaker today." JC glanced at Justin and Char and could see bright smiled present on both faces. He turned back and locked eyes with Alex. "Well, well."
She laughed and JC smiled. Making a sudden decision, he twirled Alex and dipped her unexpectedly. When he let her back up, she had a shocked look on her face. "Um, warnings would be nice."
"But what's the fun in that?" he replied. Alex laughed as they continued to dance, Justin and Char taking up a dance of their own.
"I can't believe that he is really here," said Karen as she watched her newly found son. "I'm just thankful that he is," Roy replied. "And from what he's told me so far, he has had a great life."
"He speaks very highly of Alexandra," observed Karen. Roy nodded. "She seems to be an amazing girl. And I personally think Josh is looking at her as more than a friend." Karen smiled. "I just hope that everything works out all right for him. Tomorrow I'm going to talk to Josh and his friends and find out everything I can about what has happened in his life."
"We're not nosy are we?"
"No, we're not." They laughed and watched the pair once again.
Thirteen