Country of Lireya…
In the Rocas mansion, Ibarra has been up all night waiting for the updates about the missing plane. There were dark circles under his eyes and the ashtray was full of cigarette butts. The airplane should have landed in Usturia ten hours ago but its location was nowhere to be found.
He and Danaya had a serious fight three days ago. Their fights always stemmed from his jealousy. Danaya decided to spend a week with her maternal grandmother in the country of Usturia which was an eight-hour flight from Lireya. She was hoping that they would have cooled down after a week.
"Take care of yourself. I hope that when I come back you are in a better mood." That was Danaya's last message to him. She never told him that she loved him. She never looked at him the way she looked at Ibrahim. It has been three years and yet she has not gotten over Ibrahim.
Ibarra thought of the rare moments when Danaya would be proactive in their lovemaking and she would look at him tenderly and hugged him tightly. Though he knew that he was looking at another man through him, still he treasured those few moments.
He grew restless as he continued to wait. He has a really bad feeling. He grabbed his cell phone that lay on the mahogany desk and clicked through his contact list.
"Any news from the air traffic control?" Ibarra asked tersely.
"Boss, the airlines don't have an official statement yet." The voice on the other line replied nervously.
"Damn it, Crispin. Get your hands on the recorded transmission from that airplane today or you pack your things tomorrow." Ibarra roared on the phone.
"Yes Boss," Crispin answered on the other line and hung up immediately.
Ibarra clenched his fist and started pacing back and forth. He opened another pack of cigarettes and lighted a stick.
There was a knock on the door. After a few seconds of silence, the door was pushed open.
His father glared at him.
"Look at you. You looked so haggard. Pull yourself together and attend the press conference at nine o'clock this morning."
"I am scared Father. What if the plane really crashed? I shouldn't have quarreled with her and I shouldn't have let her take the commercial flight." Ibarra's voice was hoarse.
"Look at you. You are the crowned prince but you are acting like a scared teenager. Take a shower and freshen up and make an official statement based on facts." His father reprimanded him.
At the press conference, Ibarra seemed calmer and collected. He still looked haggard but not as bad as when his father talked to him earlier.
He only said a few statements. "The plane was reported missing and no one knew about the situation of the one hundred passengers including Princess Dayana, the little Princess Amaya, Amaya's nanny and two bodyguards. We are asking for your prayers in this difficult situation."
"Prince Ibarra, why is the Princess on that flight?"
"Rumors said that you had quarreled with the princess before that's why she decided to leave? Is that true?"
He did not entertain any questions and stormed off from the mansion's entertainment hall. He retreated back to the study.
The Minister of Defense came to visit and requested an audience with King Duncan. He received him at the study together with Ibarra.
"I have bad news, Your Majesty. I received a call from General Douglas Mace of the First Batallion, First Marine of Usturia. Prince Ibrahim boarded flight K-150 during its layover in Albanya. He accepted a covert mission in Asturia."
King Duncan clutched his chest as he felt a stabbing pain in his heart.
Ibarra was dumbfounded. But soon his mind was clouded with jealousy.
"Father, this might be a conspiracy. Ibrahim might have planned this and hijacked the plane and landed it somewhere to kidnap Danaya. It could not be a coincidence that they will be on the same flight."
The Minister of Defense was speechless. He gave the disheveled prince a strange look.
King Duncan has never been so angry with his firstborn as he was at that moment. He punched Ibarra in the face. Ibarra was caught off guard and slumped on the chair.
"Do not dishonor your brother like that. Ibrahim will never sacrifice innocent lives for his selfish gains." He admonished him angrily.
At that moment, Crispin, Ibarra's assistant arrived with a worried look. He felt the tension in the air. He passed a USB to Ibarra.
"This is the recording of the distress call from flight K-150 and the photos recorded by the satellite."
Ibarra's hand trembled when he received the USB. He plugged it into the USB slot in the TV suspended in the wall of the study. He hesitated before pushing the play button.
"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! This is flight K-150. We have been hijacked." Then there was a few seconds of silence.
"We subdued the hijacker that infiltrated the cockpit. But he activated a mini bomb that will detonate in one minute. Initiating the plane's descent. Hoping that we can deactivate the bomb. God bless us!"
22,000 feet.
20,000 feet.
18,000…
Then a sudden explosion.
"Ahhh!" Ibarra let out a scream as he covered his face with his hands.
The screen flickered and a series of photos of the explosion was shown.
King Duncan fell on his knees clutching his chest. His son Ibrahim was dead. He wronged him three years ago. Was Danaya a curse to his family? How come his two sons fell in love with the same woman? Was it because they were identical twins? To please one, he betrayed the other.
"My son… my granddaughter…" King Duncan cried in anguish.
"Danaya…" Ibarra muttered weakly before he passed out.
At 8:00 pm on the 10th day in the month of January, the country of Lireya officially announced the demise of Princess Danaya and the little Princess Amaya and declared a month of mourning where the Lireyan flag was raised at half-mast.
Ibarra remained in the study for a long time. He studied the photos of him and his brother that decked the wall. His gaze lingered on his wedding photo before it darted back to the portrait of his brother in military uniform seriously looking back at him.
"Brother, in the end, I still lose to you. You took back what belonged to you, your wife, and your daughter. I hoped you had met her on the plane." He choked.
"I'm sorry brother. I was selfish. I hope you can forgive me and that you are happy with your family now." He sobbed and drowned himself in alcohol.