The Nightshadow Rebellion

Chapter 6

Knocking grabbed her attention. "Come in." The door opened before a mountain of roses appeared before her. Roses? Her lips parted in a silent gasp. What is the meaning of this?

A head appeared behind the flowers. Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Roses?"

"As an apology for my rash behavior."

Her eyebrow rose even higher. She took the bundle from his arms. Closing her eyes, she inhaled the soft smell. If he thinks roses are going to calm me then he has another thing coming. "Rash behavior? You practically called for my mother's death." Pushing herself up, she laid the roses onto her bed. "You think roses-"

She turned around. Victor was on one knee with his head lowered shamefully. "Forgive me, Princess. I am truly sorry for how rash I was." Catherine hesitated. She could hear regret in every single word. "You must understand. How much you care about your mother is how I feel about my father." His eyes darkened. "I will do anything to protect my family."

Catherine shuddered. She feared for the fool that tried to kill the king. She turned her attention back to the roses. The petals were soft beneath her fingertips. "How is your father now?" She glanced at Victor. Standing up, the tension from earlier was gone.

"He's recovering well. Since the doctor still has him on bed rest, I'm dealing with the town errands while my brother deals with the paperwork. No one is allowed to bother him."

Grabbing the roses, she turned to him. "Is there anything you wish for me to do?" A quick scan found an empty vase on her desk for the roses. Her hands rearranged the flowers slowly. "I don't want to walk the hallways looking pretty."

A chuckle followed her words. "I just finished my errands, but if you wish, you can ask my brother. He should be in the king's office."

"That I will do."

And that was how she found herself knocking on the office door. "Come in." Pushing the door open, the office was as grand as she imagined. Dark wooden desk and chair sat away from the fireplace lined with papers. A red red couch pointed toward the fireplace with shelves of books lined along each side. Hunched over in the chair was a prince with stacks of papers.

"Victor said you would be here." His gaze snapped to her, before he turned away to cough. "Yes, I'm here." He cleared his throat. "Forgive the voice, I'm still feeling the effects of the fire."

"Do you wish for me to get you tea?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine." He waved her question away. "It's just a little tickle is all." He cleared his throat again. "So, what do you need?"

"I was wondering if I could help you with anything." She approached the stack of papers. "What are all those stacks of papers?"

"Oh, these are just laws,treaties, and other-" He coughed again.

"All those are laws?" She sat down beside him.

Ian adjusted the stack of papers. "Yes, they are. It is the king's duty to rewrite laws after five years to keep them updated and make sure the situation for them hasn't changed."

"The situation?"

"One of the earliest laws used to be that there were to be no more than two rulers of the same blood on the throne. However, after the betrayal, it was changed to one singular ruler. When the next set of twins were born, the law was rewritten again to the first born male twin."

"So who's the first born?"

"Me and Victor were born at the same time. My father, knowing the dire situation, rewrote the law one last time to include the clause that if the twins are borned at the same time then it is the twin first married that will be the king."