Blood Royals Book #4: Long Live The King!

Chapter Twelve: Let's Go South

Cormac's POV
"Fickle he said!" Takara waved her index finger. "He claims I have fickle emotions! The nerve of that boy!"

I would hardly consider Relian a boy. He grew out of those days when he used to keep his father up at night playing hide and seek with him across the globe. Stephen got it rough then. That's when he was really a boy, part of every other scandalous scene that Penni covered up. Nilsa's book said it well.

But the Relian I met shortly after the king suffered a stroke was not a boy. That was a man who understood what needed to be done. That was a man who had responsibility to take and he did it properly. The months to follow eroded any childish nature to him. He had proven to be more mature than his father ever was. He may be struggling to fill in his father's shoes but he is struggling because he has outgrown them and he can now finally get a bigger size, his size.

"Why would he say you have fickle emotions?"

I'm quickly learning that when your partner shows up mad and is venting, show interest. Pretend to care if necessary. Get angry with her if necessary.

"Apparently I jump from one romance to another! He can't process how I loved Rowan and how I love you. He calls that fickle! He used the word fickle! Fickle? I'm not fickle!"

I'm starting to think the issue here isn't what the king said but the word he used. She must not like the word fickle.

"I hope you told him you're not fickle."

"Oh I told him all right. I told him and I quit!"

She helped herself to a full glass of scotch. She's a miserable drunk. She cries. Good heavens not today! I can't pick her up today! I watched her gulp down half of the glass before I decided it's enough. I took it away from her.

"How do you quit from being a monarch?" The statement puzzles me. Isn't the distinction between monarchs and the rest of us blood? How do you quit from being what your blood has determined? Only the king can quit. And when he does, the house of Kaelan is done with. But he will always be royalty. It does not change.

"I threw my crown at him and one foot after another, I left the damn palace!" She snapped and snatched the glass back.

Takara is a hot head. She looks well put together until she's not.

"So you stormed out-"

"I quit. Gracefully!" She narrowed her eyes. "Do you know how hard his pregnancy was? Reli is the damn reason I never had any other children! The killer morning sickness that lasted months! He tore me on his way out and he calls me fickle? If I was fickle I would have given up and allowed him to die! I struggled and gave him life and he calls me fickle?"

Yes it's the word. He could have said anything else. Why fickle?

"I'm sorry. What can I do to help?"

That's another thing I have learned. Be helpful.

"Nothing."

It doesn't matter if she agrees or says nothing can be done. Often something can bit in this case we are dealing with a king. I can't go over his head unless I wish to see Griffin Hugh for the rest of my life.

"I spoke him too."

The part where we compare notes.

"What did he say? Did he call you-"

"Fickle? No. He denied my resignation. He also asked me to reconsider being actively involved with you."

Takara made a face. "What does that mean?"

"It means that I should end the relationship."

She dropped the glass.

Great! I have to clean that up because obviously she won't! She's a royal! She skipped over it and looked over her shoulder like she's waiting for something. She even peeked through the dark hallway. "Uh... Where are the servants? They should be hurrying to clean that."