Fated to Bleed For You

Chapter 19

Briar still had a bright flush on her cheeks and my father brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it lightly, and then let go of her.

"Son, may I speak to you outside? I need to ask you something, in private." He gave Briar a small smile, and then turned around, his hand already on the door knob.

"Yes father, hang on," and with that I leaned in and kissed Briar lightly on the lips, running my fingers through a few wisps of her hair, and whispered "I'll be right back," into her ear. I looked back one more time before exiting the door where my father had discreetly left seconds ago.

I walked out into the hallway and closed the door. I noticed a guard standing on each side of the door frame, and saw that father had walked a little ways down the hall, so as to be not overheard. I followed him to where he had stopped and looked at him expectantly.

"Son, you have chosen your bride extremely well. This girl obviously loves you, deeply, it seems, and has taken to the change extremely well," he said proudly.

"She will make a wonderful Queen for this realm. I am so happy for you, son. I knew it would happen for you, as it did for me and your mother. That is why we kept nagging you to find someone to share your life with; we knew that having a woman who loved you would cure you of all that restlessness you had been suffering. You seemed a bit, well, lost, like you didn't know what else to do with yourself. I knew that as soon as you found the woman for you, you would be so much happier. And hopefully soon, maybe you'll have a few children of your own running around to keep you busy. "

He leaned in and gave me a brief, fatherly hug. I was shocked; he had taken to her so quickly.

"Wow, father, thank you. I am kind of surprised by your reaction, actually. I thought it might take some time for you to come around to her, but, I'm so glad that you approve," I said eagerly.

"Good. I'm glad I got to meet her, and we got to discuss that. I can't wait until the wedding, but we can get to all of that later. There are a few more things I wanted to talk to you about. First off, we have Theo in custody. He was brought in a few hours ago after he was found about ready to board a plane to Austria.  I'm sure he thought the deed was already done, and he would be able to get away without a hitch but we picked him up first.

He is in the dungeon now, and will be left there until you decide what to do with him. He was your friend son, and you are the one he wanted to hurt. As the future King of the realm, this will give you a taste of the decisions the King has to make on a regular basis, ones that have always troubled me to make. It is your job, son, to decide this boy's fate. Once you have it figured out, you can tell Charles and he will carry out the verdict," he finished quietly.

I didn't know what to say, but in all honestly, I was glad my father had given me this task. Theo was my friend, and he wanted to assassinate me, and not just me, but my whole family, my soon to be bride. Theo would pay with his life for these actions.

"Thank you, father. I have already made my decision. He will be sentenced to death, in front of the public. His unfortunate end will be a lesson to anyone who would dare cross our family. I will not have usurpers in our Kingdom, father, as you have not tolerated such disloyalty, either. He will pay," I finished in a tight voice.

"Yes, my son. I know exactly how you feel and will be with you throughout the execution. I know it will be a hard one for you to witness, but it must be done. Briar should attend as well, once she has been properly introduced as your wife."

"Yes father, she will be there. Speaking of which, there is only maybe one more day until her change is complete, and the sooner I can get her in front of the Council, the better. I would rather have their approval as soon as possible so my sweet can start making plans for the wedding, and of course, I would like to introduce her to mother, as well."

"Yes, London, I know. I will make an appointment for 72 hours from now, so that we can start the process. Try not to worry, my son. Even if they don't approve of her, I do, and that's all that really matters. If worse comes to worse, I'll change that stupid law, or make a new one. Anything for you, my son, and your beautiful bride. I can't wait to have some grandchildren to spoil," he said, endearingly.

"Yes father, I know," I said, trying to conceal the humor I was suddenly feeling. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be with child soon, if not already," I said, finishing the last part quietly.

"Well don't wear the poor girl out, son. She needs to be resting during the change, you know that."

"Yes father I know. I just have never had this strong of a connection with someone and I feel insatiable, and she seems to feel the same. We were meant for each other, father, I can feel it."

"Yes son, she is the one for you, I can tell. Now, go see your Mrs. and I'll go see mine. Talk to you later son, good night." With that, he left my wing and walked down the massive stair case off to the right.

I walked back in-between the guards and through the door, and had it opened, closed and locked in a few seconds. Briar was sitting on the bed, and she looked up at me as soon as I entered.

"Is everything alright, London? You seem... upset."

She stood up off the bed and walked over to me, encircling me in her arms. She was so warm and her blood smelled so sweet, calling out to me, like a siren's song. I inhaled her scent deeply, taking it into the very depths of my soul.

"Yes, my love. But there are a few things I neglected to tell you about, and we need to talk about it now."