Tobias stood in front of the doors of the dining hall, taking several deep breaths.
He shook his hands in anticipation, jogging in place to prepare himself to be with his parents. It had not been since the meeting between Marcus and Princess Lauren's father had the three of them been in the same room for such a serious conversation. Marcus was quite busy with tending to gifts and repairs, while Evelyn chose to stray away from her son until he did what she requested.
The prince glanced at the doormen and nodded. They bowed and opened the doors as a guard walked in front, standing straight. "His Royal Highness, Prince Tobias!"
Tobias swiftly passed the guard and walked toward the table. His father glanced and stared at his son, unaware he would be joining them for lunch. Evelyn turned her head at the announcement, delighted he had come down. She set her drink down and motioned for him to sit down, eager to start the conversation.
"You wished to speak with me?" He asked, sitting in his seat.
"Yes, dear," Evelyn sighed. "First, we would like to thank you for your idea about the funeral for the servants who died. It was very memorable and very much appreciated by friends and families."
"And the whole kingdom; we are much adored now, and Royal Families from everywhere are sending us money for damage repairs," Marcus chuckled sourly. "If only they knew the damage was much more minimal."
Tobias turned and expected his mother to scold his father, but when he looked, she was in the same trance-like state when he saw her this morning. He waved a hand in her face, which brought her back to reality – startled.
"Yes, yes. What your father said," She rushed out.
Marcus glanced at his wife. "Dear, you really should stop drinking so often. Have you forgotten you intended on giving Tobias something?"
Evelyn's eyes widened as she nodded. She flashed a smile and reached for a folder beside her, handing it to her son. "Do read over it, son. I find you will quite enjoy what I have drafted."
Tobias took the folder and opened it, confused at what he was looking at. It seemed to be a contract. "A contract? What for?"
"Your servant," she smiled, startled slightly at his quick reaction. "The castle will grant her permanent leave with a stipend of twice she earns now for the rest of her life."
His breath labored, his hands slightly shaking as he held the contract in his hands.
"I do think your servant will quite enjoy such an arrangement," his mother continued. "Imagine how far such a reliable sum can do for her family."
Tobias looked at his mother, sure there were tears in his eyes. How could I not give this contract to her? This will solve all her financial strains and burden, he bartered, conflicted. "Mother...how could you do this?"
Evelyn paused slightly, hurt by her son's betrayed expression. "Tobias, I am doing this for you."
Marcus set his newspaper down and eyed his wife. "A reasonable gift for the servant who intervened, I suppose," he mumbled, unappreciative. "But all that aside. Now that this attack is over and everything is back to normal, I think it is appropriate to bring Princess Lauren back."
Tobias glanced at his father, a tear slipping from his eye.
"For her hand in marriage again," Marcus continued. "We had to cancel due to the abruptness of Eric's idiotic diabolical plan, but now that it is dealt with, what better time to reunite our families? We can show the people we are not fazed about what happened, and when you and Lauren come to rule, they will rejoice in hope with the little grandchildren of mine."
Evelyn didn't say a word. This time, she was alert, and she was staring right at Tobias, whose eyes were widened in fear. His hands shook more - as much as he tried to hide it, sitting in front of him was the one person that could intimidate him.
Tobias was at a loss for words. The rapid succession of announcements his parents cornered him within a matter of minutes left him speechless, afraid opening his mouth would cause him to combust. He could not find himself the power to explain he would not marry Lauren, because his heart was to Beatrice – the servant.
His mind wandered off to Beatrice.
"No," Tobias finally said, his voice low and steady. He looked up in his father's eyes. "No."
"No?" Marcus asked, amused at how his son was challenging him. "What do you mean no? You were about to marry her once, what has gotten into you this time?"
"I was never going to marry her the first time," He finally admitted, an immense weight lifting from his chest. He took a deep breath, feeling he had just been granted the ability to do so for the first time. "I do not love her. I never will."
Both Evelyn and Marcus were taken back. "What?" They both asked.
"That is right. I am not going to marry Lauren. I never will," Tobias pushed his chair back as he stood and slammed his hand on the table. "I am in love with Beatrice!"
"Beatrice?" Evelyn squealed, her hand over her heart.
"Beatrice; my servant."
Marcus clung to the seat for support.
He was definitely hallucinating, right?
There was no possible way his blood could ever love a servant.
Marcus cursed the days he prayed his son would never fall for anything but a princess. Now, even a simple wealthy man's daughter would be better than a servant - it made him want to throw up.
Marcus opened his mouth to respond – to yell – but nothing came out. Instead, he silently stood, his eyes attached to the ground below. He slowly made his way toward Tobias and finally looked up.
He retracted his arm, raised it, and let his palm fly across Tobias' face.
"Marcus!" Evelyn cried out, rushing toward her son's aid. "What is the matter with you?"
"What is the matter with me? Look at him! He's in love with the inferiors, the poor, the disgusting-"
Tobias pushed his father away from the table, following him from behind. "Do not dare speak of her that!"
Marcus chuckled dryly and looked at his wife. "Do you not see the insane state he is in? He needs to get help, Evelyn! He is mad!"
"I am not the one that needs help. You fell in love once, why won't you let me do it too?"
The King was astonished at the words he was hearing. He could not believe it, and he almost would have fallen back in his chair if for not his need to slap his son across the cheek again. Tobias groaned at the contact of the silver rings hitting his face once more, but he would rather get slapped two more times and finally win over his right to be in love than to give up and marry Lauren.
"You can never compare the love I had for your mother to the one you have for this rat."
"How dare you?!" Tobias yelled. "You both agreed how valuable she was in saving our lives the day of the attack! I would think you could see her incomparable worth rather than the wretched princess! Beatrice has more worth in her finger than that princess could have in her whole body!
Marcus clenched his fist and pounded the table. "Do not utter her name any longer!" He yelled. He turned to the guard in the room. "Leave us at once! Clear the hall!"
Tobias chuckled, rolling up his sleeves to prepare to fight. Marcus scrunched his nose and walked over to grab his son, but stopped at the sound of soft whimpering coming from his wife. He turned and saw her hunched over state, shaking in her chair.
They both turned and witnessed her slowly standing up, her eyes on the table in front of her.
Evelyn wrapped her hands behind her back and stood straight, staring straight. Tobias covered his mouth at her blank white eyes – a color he had never seen before on a pair of eyes. Marcus too was in shock, his mouth wide open and his hands leaning against the table for support.
"Mother?" Tobias pleaded.
Those blank eyes stared right at him as her lips began to twitch. "Evelyn Eaton. Queen. Wife of Marcus Eaton, mother of Tobias Eaton."
"Evelyn?" It was the first time Tobias had heard some kind of...worry...in his father's tone. But, even with the hint of worry, there was the obvious annoyance and anger coming out of his mouth as usual.
"I have a message for the Eaton Family," Evelyn announced as her hands glued to the side of her body. "Surrender yourself and prepare to die!"
Evelyn reached for the knife on the table just as the doors opened. Marcus looked and growled at the person who walked in, clenching his fist to be rid of the servant once and for all. Tobias turned to the doors and widened his eyes in fear, lunging for his father.
"No! Beatrice, you have to leave. Now!" He cried out, holding his father's wrists down.
Beatrice's scream sent shivers down his spine as Tobias pushed his father against the table and rushed over to her.
Marcus slowly regained his posture as he rose from the table, groaning. He rubbed the back of his head and watched his wife turn to him, gripping the knife harder in her hand.
Marcus' mind was going back and forth at the servant in the room – whom he could now identify as the servant his son was in love with – and his wife standing before him – who had a knife and was going to kill him.
Tobias reached for Beatrice and pushed her behind him.
The thought of telling them to run had crossed Marcus' mind, but it came too late. He opened his mouth to tell them, but Evelyn was quicker. She had grabbed a second knife and threw one in their direction, but Tobias had quickly dodged it with his arm still protectively around Beatrice.
"Evelyn, what is wrong with you?!" Marcus demanded again. "This is insane!"
She whipped her head towards his direction and started to charge at him with the knife in hand.
Beatrice's breath shook as she pushed Tobias away from her, running toward them. Tobias shouted for her to stay back, reaching for his hands. Their fingers grazed against one another before separating.
She stumbled in front of the King and faced Evelyn instead, waiting for the knife to plunge her stomach.
The knife never came. Since she was in such a long dress, Evelyn tripped over the front, slamming her head against the table and crashing on the ground in front of Beatrice's feet.
Tobias shakily reached them, his hands shaking at the thought of the knife plunging into Beatrice. He quickly reached for her and held her against him, clutching tightly to her.
Marcus looked away, his eyes widened. He covered his mouth, unsure of how to handle the realization that the servant he had wanted to kill had just risked her life for him.
He crouched down and looked at his wife, who had blacked out. He sighed and stood, looking at his son embrace the servant. It made him cringe, so he straightened his shirt and left to call in the doctor.
When they were alone, Tobias took Beatrice's face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. "You could have killed yourself!"
"He's your father! I wasn't going to let you live without your father!"
"But you were prepared to let me live without you!"
She shakily looked at him.
"I will not live without you, Beatrice," he affirmed, pushing the strands of hair in her face away before planting a kiss to her once more.
Beatrice held onto his hands that pressed against her face.
"You die, I die too," Tobias whispered against her ear.