Royal Pain || z.m. [Book 2]

•thirteen•

Every evening for the past week, since the scandalous incident, dinner carried a thick tension between Prince Zayn and Princess Genevieve. The princess hadn't spoken with the prince unless she demanded him to stop talking to her, whenever Zayn asked her for forgiveness and to persuade Genevieve that he had not slept with Princess Aria by intention. Genevieve tried her best to stay away from Zayn during the day, but at dinner she was stuck sitting beside him, being only a foot away.

It was obvious, the young royal couple were experiencing some issues regarding their relationship, to the people they accompanied at the dining table; King Yaser, Queen Trisha, Madeline, Amelia and Niall. Only the princess' right hand and best friend knew the full truth. Whereas Zayn told his parents, he had accidently ended up spending the night out by himself with his grief, on finding out about the death of his unborn child. The king and queen did scold their son for being careless and not being with his wife when she needed him the most, and Zayn didn't mind it one bit. But nonetheless, Genevieve tried not to make their dispute such a big deal in front of everyone else. 

Not only was Genevieve upset with Zayn for being unfaithful towards her, she was also suffering from a slight depression due to her miscarriage. The princess wasn't herself anymore. She refrained from talking too much with anybody.

The princess of Genovia mindlessly played with the food on her plate with the fork she held between her fingers. She had zoned out of the conversation that was taking place over the table long time ago. As many thoughts swam through her mind, one of them was of her feeling out of place in the Malik family and castle. Genevieve would at times wonder if she was being oblivious to something that was being shared between the royals and it was taking place behind her back. She would again get the feeling that she wasn't meant to ever become the princess of Genovia. But at the end of the day, she knew very well that King Yaser and Queen Trisha loved her very much, and considered her as their own even before she had married Zayn.

Genevieve's train of thoughts were interrupted when she felt a hand enclose around her vacant one, which laid in her lap. She looked down at her lap and recognized it as Prince Zayn's. Her eyes travelled up to see his face, which was facing down towards his plate. The princess whipped her hand way from his and brought it to her side, earning a defeated look from her husband which she ignored.

"The food is quite delicious tonight." the king grinned. "Or is it just me?" he softly chuckled.

"I agree." the queen nodded smiling widely.

An exchange of nods and smiles were passed around the table by each individual sitting around the table. But suddenly all smiles fell and all bodies froze, when King Yaser began to horribly cough.

The king placed the glass he was holding, back down on the table as he continued to cough. Concerned, that his majesty was probably choking, everyone called out advising him to take a sip of his water. King Yaser took the advice and brought the glass up to his lips again to take a sip. But that only resulted in him coughing harder and beginning to turn red as if he was having difficulty to breathe.

King Yaser pushed back from the table and walked away from the table, to lean against the wall as his coughing began to get worse. He tried to speak words but they only came out as breathless stutters. Everyone else had also gotten up on their feet and tried to think of ways to help the king, whose face was flushing more with the crimson color.

"Father." Prince Zayn advanced towards King Yaser and put a hand on his shoulder as he gave him his glass of water with the other. "Drink more water."

The king feverishly shook his head and pushed the glass away as it came crashing down onto the tile floor. Another loud cough thundered out of his large body, only to leave Zayn frightened, as he witnessed blood beginning to drip from the side of his father's mouth.

"Father, you're bleeding!" Zayn exclaimed, having everyone else in the room gasp loudly.

King Yaser pushed away from the wall and past Prince Zayn, to get away from the watchful eyes in the room which were also beginning to suffocate him. After his shaking body took a few small steps towards the exit of the dining room, abruptly the king's body collapsed onto the floor. Alongside Zayn, everyone ran up to King Yaser in worry and shock. The ragged breathing and the shaking of his body slowly began to subside.

"Yaser?" Queen Trisha called for him as she crouched down beside his limp body. She saw the blood continuing to drip nonstop from the corner of her husband's mouth and that his eyes were wide open. "Love, say something." her voice was just above a whisper as it shook.

Prince Zayn joined his mother and looked at his father, who was lying completely still now. "Father?" he attempted also but got no reply in return. Zayn placed two fingers on the side of the king's neck and felt no pulse. "F- father?" his voice cracked.

"What happened?" the queen looked at her son with fear.

Zayn gulped and let the silence hang over them for a few moments before opening his mouth. His eyebrows were furrowed and his jaw was clenched, as he stared at the unconscious body of his father's. He didn't want to say anything to Queen Trisha because he himself couldn't accept it. But still, he ran his tongue over his lips and opened his mouth to announce, "He's dead."

Oh my god... O-O

Sry for the short sucky chapter but I'm just trying to update and write as much as I can between the study breaks I'm taking :( hope you understand and don't mind it too much...

-B1DL