< - - - Luca - - - >
"You allowed a girl of the Kingdom to degrade your betrothed! What has gotten into?!" Father practically yelled at me. The disapproval washing off of him was enough to suffocate, but I held my ground. It was just him and I. Usually when he gets like this, a moment of clarity can be found with the aid of a drink, but he doesn't seem eager to gain any form of sanity.
"What would you have me do, Father? The girl hadn't realized her mistake until it was too late" I try to defend the girl from the stables, who held a fire in her.
Father releases a sigh, moving back to his throne. I hate when he sits in that gaudy chair while conversing with me. With just his position, he reminds me of my place, below him. It doesn't matter how hard I train, how much I care about the kingdom I call home. It will never be enough in his eyes. He will never look at me, as he used too. The frustration still hasn't left his blue eyes as he says, "What did the Princess request of you?"
Thinking back to the easy way the Princess threated the girl's life. "Death to come to her," I spit in disgust. It was obvious the girl in the stables simply did not know who she was speaking to at first. If only that girl knew how to shut her mouth, then perhaps neither of them would be in this current position. Me fighting with my father yet again, and her completely oblivious to the fact that impending doom could become her. If it weren't so incredibly ludicrous I would laugh at the tragic comedy.
I thought back to the girl, whose face held a gentle innocence about it. Those pouty lips that were the ones of men's fantasies. Well, that is when she wasn't talking. How can a girl with such a flame in her, hold notions of peace? Quickly, letting the image of the mysterious girl in the stables go, I focused back on my father.
"Then," Father began to nod to himself as though finding some sort of reason behind the request. Surely, he can't be considering such harsh punishments, for merely speaking out of terms.
"You cannot speak the truth," I answer, trying to recover from the shock at the same time, I jump back into the argument. He can't possibly expect the death of one life to be the cost of one woman's pride.
"She disrespected your love," he began again, but I interjected quickly.
"You speak of love when we both know this is nothing, but an arrangement to subdue the advancements of Ramila." He waved his hand at me as though they were one of the same. Love and agreements. They don't go together. My mother was the one that made that clear. She was the love in their Kingdom, before- I need to stop.
Collecting my thoughts, I try to focus again on what nonsense father is spouting out, "It is a logical way to show the people that you follow through with your decisions and that they must listen to their new Queen." He put extra emphasis on the title, and it took me a moment to understand.
"Are you stepping down?" I ask suspiciously.
"If you have a wife by your side, then who am I to stop the progress of our Kingdom?" I'm stunned. He as called me a lot of things, ungrateful, weak, undisciplined, but progress was never one of them. I see a small smile on his face and that's when I realized he was just saying that to get me to put down my defense. It's a deal. I make Francesa happy and become King or fight for the girl's life and lose my chance at being King. But that's not a bad thing. I make a great prince, well at least I like to think so. "Now, that that's settled," He seemed to be finished with me for now, he turned to his head guard, Proteus. "Send for the girl," he ordered.
"This is not over, father," I threaten, but I know it falls on deaf ears. Retreating to the corridor, I want to scream at his demanding ways. He doesn't see how this is wrong. He speaks of logic, but holds none! I turn a corner, and only to find Davis leaning up against the wall. His eyes are closed as though he is about to fall asleep. "Davis!" I call to startle him awake.
He practically falls over but catches himself. Despite my frustrations, I couldn't help the chuckle. "How'd it go?" he asked, but one look lets him know the result. "Not good. Well, what's going to happen to Ember?"
"Ember? Is that the girl's name?" I ask a smile forming on my lips as I realize how perfectly that suits her.
Davis just nods. "She lives with Ferbius, only been there for, well, all her life," he adds. As though that should be the concluding factor. I know Ferbius well, but he doesn't like discussing his personal affairs, at least not with me.
"Well now, she is being seized by Proteus and his ghouls. My father seems to want me to react on impulse as an angry fiancé, instead of a levelheaded Prince," I sigh in frustration, running my hands through my disheveled hair.
Davis begins chuckling loudly, "Yeah, cause there's a huge difference there." He pats me on the shoulder as though I should be joining him in the humor, but I just roll my eyes at his antics.
"Is there a reason I keep you around?" Annoyance clear in my voice.
But that has zero effect on Davis as he simply beams down at me. He is over two inches taller than me, but it's only every now and then where the height difference is so obvious. I think he likes to slouch to seem smaller than his lanky self really is. "Because," he beings, "I'm the only you can stand, and, last I checked, the only one charming enough to roam the castle without causing problems. Apparently, you can't even do that." Ignoring his words, I start walking back to my chambers, and Davis follows. "So, the question remains, what are you going to do?" He continues, once we are in my room.
I shake my head at a complete loss to my options. All I know is the girl will not die over as something as minimal as words. Although, she will need to learn to limit them. "I need to take a walk," I inform him, trading my coat for his. It's the easiest way for me to be out without being immediately noticed. I leave my chambers, but then smile wickedly as I peak my head back inside, and call to a relaxed looking Davis, " Oh, and Shine my armor until I return." I hear him groan, and can't help the chuckle that escapes my lips.
I use to go on walks around the Kingdom all the time when I was a young boy. It made the troubles of politics, and the pressures from my father more bearable. The walks allowed me to see the reasons for pushing myself and working with Father. I would talk with the people, share stories with the men my age, skip rocks with the children at the river, enjoy the freshly baked bread from the women getting dinner ready, and take in the unwavering joys everyone seemed to have, silently wishing I could have that too.
As I'm preparing to leave the castle, I hear chatter from the guards, "She's wicked. I've never seen a woman so foul!"
"I watched her today while keeping an eye on the Prince. She turned green at the mere thought of drinking water from the local well. How is she supposed to lead us, if she can't even drink out of our facilities?" I can feel the conversation is not quite over, but I enter anyway, needing to go past them, in order to leave the castle. "Oy, boy, what is your business" the first guard calls out to me, and I try to hold my smile back as I pull back the hood and face them. They both grow stiff as they realize their infractions.
"Good evening, Your Highness," one states, trying to bow his head in respect, while the other simply grows pale.
"Evening," I smile. "You two seem new, and I should know the names of all the King's guard and the people of the Kingdom, don't you think?" I ask earning a visible gulp from the one who declared me a boy, which I am compared to the lines aging his face.
"I'm Joseph," the one that exchanged pleasantries with me, stated.
"Antone, Your Highness" the other quickly added.
"Well, as you were. I'll be back, but keep this between us, yea?" I ask, pulling my (Davis's) hood back in place. They nod quickly. "Good, and be careful about the topics you speak out loud. You never know who's listening in," I wink before taking my leave. I know that they are trying to catch the air that has been stuck in their lungs since they realized their mistake, and an echo of a laugh escapes my lips.
As I'm about to take one foot out, I hear, "Get your hands off me! What did I do? I demand to know the reasons behind you taking me! This is a kidnapping!" I know that voice. For some reasons my feelings are mixed. I feel bad she's being held against her will because of Francesca, however, I got to admit there is a part of me that finds it incredibly funny to hear this puzzle of a woman screaming at the guards. I hide behind the post before they see me, and watch as she yanks and pulls back against the guards hold. She looks like a wild horse preparing to be broken. That thought quickly brings me back, for that is essentially what is about to happen.
I guess no walk for me. I walk back to my chambers to collect my thoughts before going to the court, but, of course, I'm stopped by Davis. "You need to listen to me, for a moment," he states, catching his breath, breathing heavily. In fact, panting at an unhealthy rate.
"You really need to get in some sort of shape. How is a thin man, so breathless after a light jog?" I question.
Of course, he shoots me a look of disdain before continuing, "I was taking the armor to the washroom when I heard a ridiculous laughter coming from one of the rooms, I was about to keep walking when I heard the chatter that followed," he started.
"Spit it out, Davis, I don't have time for this, a girl's life is at stake," I state.
"That's just it," he finally says.
"What are you talking about?" I asked taking hold of his shoulder, and pushing him away from prying ears. "Francesca was laughing about the verdict on Ember's life."
"Are you sure?" I ask.
He gives me a look of disgust. "No, I made it up? Yes, I'm sure. I heard her talking about it with one of the guards."
"One of the guards?"
He nods his head. "One of our guards."
"We have guards loyal to her already," I groan. I need to get away from Francesca, and my father to figure this whole thing out. Am I really going to marry such a woman? But before I take some time, I need to make sure that girl didn't dig her grave, during my absence. "First things first, we take care of Ashes," I state.
Davis looks confused, and scratches his scalp, "Do you mean Ember?" He asks.
"Uh, yes, Ember. Isn't that what I said?"
"No, you said-" he began.
"Never mind what I said, we have to go," I urge.
< - - - >
Hey, fellow Bookworms!
So, I really hope you liked the chapter. I have revised the storyline, so it is more coherent with the chapters later in the book.
|| Picture || The image is the closest representation I could find of the King. He would be a little older but not by much.
|| Music || The Rifle's Spiral by The Shins
★ I would love to hear your thoughts feel free to drop a comment below. If you did enjoy the chapter, be to make my day and click that star! Thank you for reading! ★
You are loved!
Love,
Yerd213