Page 77 of The Princess Trap
Harald's face hardened. “He is not coming back, you little idiot. You don't come back from the sky.”
Magnus felt tears begin to pool at the corners of his eyes. “Why not? God is nice. God will let Daddy and Mummy come down to see me—”
All at once, Magnus felt his feet lifted from the floor. It made his stomach flip, the way it used to when Mummy picked him up and swung him round. But then the flip went away and was replaced by pain. His back and his head slammed into the wall, and Harald held him tight with hands that felt hard as stone.
Magnus felt his tears stream over his cheeks, but he was too breathless to scream out at the pain. As he gasped for air, he saw his brother sneer.
“Crying like a baby,” he spat. “Be a man. Men don't cry.”
Magnus couldn't stop himself from sobbing. The pain in his back and his head was searing, burning, the worst thing he'd ever felt, and Harald was scaring him, his face all twisted up and his hands so hard.
“Ruben!” Harald snapped, and shook him, hard.
Magnus cried out, “That is not my name! My name is Magnus! My name is Mag—”
“Harald.” The door shut with a sharp click, and light footsteps pattered across the floor. Magnus knew that voice. This was his sister, Sophronia. She would help him. She would fix his head. Heheld out his arms towards the sound of her voice, his vision blurred by the tears that he still couldn't stop. “Sophy! Sophy!”
“Oh, for goodness sake, Harald. We talked about this.”
Magnus didn't know what that meant, but he knew Sophy would help him. She was the one who always played with him and Daddy, whenever she came to visit. She was always smiling and sweet. She would take him away from Harald who had become so mean.
“You can't leave marks on him,” Sophy said.
“I didn't. He's crying for no reason. He’s spoilt.”
“Someone will hear him screaming.”
“Let them. He needs to learn. Don't you, Ruben?” Another shake, harder than the first, and Magnus's head rang and rang like a big church bell, pain spreading out like a spider's web.
Still, he cried, his voice halting and choked, “My name is Magnus!”
Then he felt his sister. Her cool, soft touch against his cheeks, wiping away the tears until his vision was clear and his breath was calm. He looked up at her with gladness in his heart. She was so pretty, different to Mummy, but a little the same. Mummy was pretty too.
But she didn't take him away. She glared at Harald, but then she said to Magnus, her voice firm, “You mustn't cry, Ruben.”
His face crumpled and the tears returned. “No! No Ruben! My name is Magnus!”
“Shush,” she said briskly. “Stop that. Be a big boy. Now, listen: one of your names is Magnus, but that's Daddy's name. We can't call you Daddy's name, now, can we?”
The tears slowed slightly as Magnus thought on this. He looked at Harald. Harald was staring up at the ceiling, his expression bored, like it was when Daddy used to talk to him about school work and things. His grip was still hard, but he wasn't shaking Magnus or shouting anymore.
Warily, Magnus turned his eyes back to Sophy. “Why not?” he asked. “Daddy said—”
“Never mind what Daddy said. Harald is in charge now, and he has decided that you are called Ruben. Ruben is your second name. It would make me very happy if you used it. Alright?”
Magnus nodded slowly. “Okay," he whispered. “I will try.”
“Good." She turned away, sweeping from the room in her long dress like a fairy princess. But wait—why was she leaving him?
“Sophy," he called. “Come back. My head hurts.”
She paused in the doorway, looking over her shoulder at him. And she said, “Grow up, Ruben.”
Then she was gone.
“His Royal Highness Prince Ruben and his fiancée, Miss Cherry Neita.”
Ruben didn't recognise the head butler, the tall, gaunt man who introduced them. But that didn't mean he hadn't met the man. It was just, his vision felt slightly blurry and his head ached just a bit.
