Enslaved

Chapter 7

From today, I had decided to work on Dorian's memory but at the same time, it was also important to let him know about the whereabouts of the castle as it was not possible to escort him around all the time. He needed to find his own way and knowing him since the past night? He would probably prefer getting lost in the maze of these hallways and never be found again than being escorted around like a child.

After dropping Raph at my father's office, we had a brief tour starting from the dinning hall including the winding staircase which divided leading to royal chambers, guest rooms, office rooms and the throne room on different floors. Since, we didn't have enough time to go to every place, I decided to give him a tour to the gallery whose walls were decorated with the portraits of the royal bloodline of Fang Peak. The gallery was located on the top floor of the staircase.

Our legacy was about a millennia old, starting with King Bastian who came and took refuge in the adjoining hills. He built this kingdom and his successors bravely defended and expanded it. By the time my grandfather came to power, Fang Peak had acquired its present day land area which according to him was enough. Now his main concerns were the flourishment of the kingdom, so that's what he worked on, expanding trade, making treaties, boosting economy and improving the lifestyle of his subjects. My father followed his footsteps strengthening the bonds with other kingdoms, concentrated on trade and self-dependent strategies to increase the import to export ratio.

Nicholas was really smart, he was strengthening our defences and had a lot of business ideas which were highly beneficial for the kingdom in the long run. He had agriculture strategies to increase the yield without exhausting the nutrients of soil and what not. Some of these ideas had already been implemented. He used to have a journal in which he wrote all of them, he left it for me, entrusting me to fulfil his dreams and make his vision of Fang Peak come true. And I would. No matter what it took. I owed it to him, my mentor.

I was brought out of my thoughts as we reach the portrait of my parents' wedding, the day my mother was crowned as the queen. She was wearing a reddish maroon ballgown with gold work along the sides of her bodice, the waist where the skirt started and the rim of her skirt. Instead of a veil, she had a mid-calf length dark red cape with gold work again on where it was draped on her shoulders. Her long wavy dark hair reaching her hips as she smiled up at her husband with love-filled eyes, holding his arm. My father too was wearing a matching velvet tailcoat with black breeches and black leather boots. His silky platinum hair were done in an elvish braid resting on his shoulder as he stared into the eyes of his love. Their crowns were complementary.

My father's crown was bigger, made of pure gold, the band had floral pattern, rested on which was the spades carved in a zig-zag manner, one spade on the band and the next on a large tear-drop shaped ruby; base of the consecutive spades were connected with thin designer gold rods. Mother's crown, however, had a thin gold band covered with rubies extending up into spades with a tear-drop shaped ruby hanging in the spaces where the arms of the consecutive spades touched each other.

My eyes shifted to Dorian who was studying the portrait with equal interest even though he didn't share the same sentimental values as me. Running his eyes from top to bottom, he took in every single detail that it had to offer, his curious eyes lingering on my mother a bit longer. He finally spoke up when we reached the next portrait.

" That's the same one in your room. " He pointed looking at me, " Is that... " He trailed waiting for my answer.

" The father of Raphael? Yes, that's him. King Nicholas Laskaris. " I nodded staring at the face of my brother.

This made him frown, he seemed deep in thought. The air around him getting dark, confusing me at the 180' turn in his mood. After thinking for a while, he finally looked at me with hardness in his eyes.