Sundown

Choice

"Where were you?" Pauline asked as soon as Timothee sat at the table, his dinner steaming in front of him.

"Out in the woods for a bit, why?"

"Father had been looking for you everywhere. What did you do now?"

"I don't know. Breathe?" Timothee replied nonchalantly while taking a bite of his mushrooms.

Dinner was slow and the king did not make an appearance. Timothee smiled at the people who greeted them and participated in casual conversation at the table.

He knew he had to go meet his father at some point during the night and he could not fathom why he was being searched for. He got up and politely taking everyone's leave, he made his way toward his parents' chamber.

"There he is!" The queen exclaimed as soon as he entered.

He saw his mother had been pacing while his father sat on the diwan, turning his dagger between his firm, course fingers. His feet staggered a bit as he was taken aback by his mother suddenly wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him close.

"I wish we could give you this news in better times but it seems the fate of it was not so shiny." She said.

"What news?"

"Sit by me, Tim." His father spoke and softly detaching himself from his mother, he complied.

His father had not called him 'Tim' in a long while. He used to do it whenever Timothee had thrown a dagger correctly or shot a target down with his arrow or when he helped his sister. The name had dissolved into the past like his childhood.

As the King explained to him the entire ordeal with the enemy fleet disappearing and how it was Elliot's queen who led the host, Timothee could not help but feel the adrenaline build in his system.

He absolutely did not condone wars but when it really came to hands-on battle, getting the opportunity to assert his physical strength did things to him. Two entities had always been about power for him- battle and sex.

A chill ran down his spine as his father told him that they could be expecting the enemy in a few days. The strategic positions he would like to take charge of were already on the tip of his tongue but he never voiced it.

"And now we come to the part without which, we simply cannot expect to win." The King began.

"It has been no secret to you that we have been short of men and the other rulers have not been so kind in extending their help. I have had to pay a lot for just a handful more men but King Edmund has been generous enough to lend us all his army and resources. They are pirates and know the sea well, with their aid, we can certainly stop the enemy from touching the land."

"That sounds perfect, we need to thank him graciously for that." Timothee replied.

"We need to pay him graciously for that. To put it better, you need to pay him for it."

"I don't get you, father."

"You are to marry his daughter as soon as the battle is over. She shall be the queen of Elmcaster when you ascend the throne." The King declared.

Suddenly the room felt a lot colder to Timothee and he had never felt his heart drop faster. Just a few hours ago, he had been kissing Saoirse, hoping that when he is King, he could do something about them. If only he had stayed in the meadow with her and never returned...

He could have been trampled by a million horses and it would not have hurt half as bad. He could have been okay with grieving alone but there was no way that Saoirse would not crumble to dust in pain when she got to know of it.

His nails dug in his palm painfully at the prospect of bringing anything but sheer happiness to the woman who had risked her life for him twice and would do it again, without the hesitation of a breath at any time of the day. Before tears could visibly pool in his eyes, he turned his back on his parents.

"We can't really win without his host, can we?" Timothee asked softly, hoping they did not hear his voice break.

"No, son. Do you not want to marry Lily?" The King answered.

"Do I have a choice?"

The question was rhetorical, everyone in the room knew that, and before his grief could have the best of him, he stormed out of their chamber.

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a/n

I have just not known how to write this scene, to be honest. I have never had a clue about how to properly break bad news to people in real life, let alone while writing a book where almost every other thing is a projection of the writer's thoughts. I try to keep my personality out of the text as much as possible though, to the point that sometimes I do not recognise the words I have penned down are my own xd.

do not forget to vote and comment if you liked the chapter! love you x

Smriti.