this chapter and a couple of others got deleted so I had to re-write it, which means i lost all of your comments and such.. I'm not in the best mood with Wattpad rn lmao
Reynold's POV
I chuckled to myself as I sat in my study, mindlessly twirling the poisonous plant around my fingers. I leaned back in my chair and smirked as I waited for my squire to bring me my brewed poison.
I had a simple plan in mind, really. I knew that in order to run the kingdom efficiently, I needed to make sure that Harry wouldn't defer from the original plans I had set for this kingdom.
Our populations were becoming too vast. Far too vast for me to control and I only had one idea that seemed to fix this problem.
The poison.
It wasn't the most humane method, I can give you that. But I knew that it was what had to be done. I simply had no other option. Harry refused to go through with my plan of poisoning the kingdom and I knew it had to be because of that princess.
So I had to get rid of her.
The doors to my study burst open and I smiled at the sight of my squire carrying in the tray with steaming hot tea. I stood up and walked over to him, smelling the scent of the poisonous brew before I clapped him on the back and took the tray from him.
"Should I tell the Princess of your arrival?" he suggested. I shook my head.
"No need," I said, "I shall go and surprise her. She'll be in for quite the treat."
I smirked and put the tray down, taking the plant in my hand and placing it down between two books. I crushed the plant and turned it into a small paste before I used a letter opener and scraped it into one of the small tea cups. I then poured in the tea from the pot into each cup, keeping a sharp eye for which one was Eliana's and put some sugar in both. Normally, you're meant to just crush the petals in the plant, as the poison in them is enough to kill a small group of people. But knowing that I put the entire plant in there made me chuckle.
There was no way she would survive that.
I chuckled to myself as I made my way towards the exit of the study.
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Eliana's POV
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I sighed as I sat on my bed, waiting for Harry to come back. He said he had gone to make sure the horses were well settled into their stables for tonight but I knew he just wanted to see his favorite one with the spots.
He had a weird obsession with that horse.
I laid down on my bed and stared at the ceiling absentmindedly, thinking about the things I had discovered these past few days.
There was a chance that King Reynolds was poisoning the kingdom. If that was the case, I wasn't sure if there was anything I could do. I mean, he is the king after all.
I'm just a princess.
And better yet, even if Harry is his son, he is still only a prince.
It made no sense to me. No matter which way I looked at this issue, there was no way for us to go about it.
Not to mention the fact that I had no idea how he was even poisoning the villagers.
Was it through the air? No, couldn't be because that would mean that we had to be poisoned too.
I bit my lip as I stared up at my ceiling.
I couldn't find a possible explanation.
I was interrupted by knocks on the door. I furrowed my eyebrows as I sat up and looked at the door hesitantly. I knew it couldn't be Harry because he just left about five minutes ago. I stood up and walked towards it. My hands lingered over the door and I waited.
"Princess?"
I felt my breathing stop for a second. It was King Reynold.
"Just a minute," I replied, feeling my hand shake slightly. It was weird seeing someone in person when you knew they were hiding so much. The idea that you didn't want them to see how much you knew, or thought you knew, but you weren't sure if the revelation was spread all over your face. I had no idea how I would react when he walked in and honestly, I was worried. But not letting him entirely was going to be a dead giveaway that I at least knew something.
I opened the door and smiled at him, glancing at the tray in his hands that held two cups of tea. I felt my smile falter slightly as I stared at the tray but regained my composure as I stepped aside to let him in.
"I hope you don't mind my intrusion, princess," he said, "but I was hoping we could sit down for a minute and have a cup of tea."
I shook my head and gestured to the sitting area near the fireplace, "not at all."
He smiled thankfully and walked over to the couches, setting the tray down on the small table. He sat down on one of the couches and gestured for me to sit next to him. I did so and sat down gingerly at the couches, staring at the tea in front of me.
Did he poison them by chance?
"I hope you don't mind," he began again, "but I brought you some chamomile tea. It's supposed to sooth your nerves."
"Nerves?"
He nodded, "I'd imagine you're quite nervous about taking on the responsibilities of the castle."
I nodded and picked at my fingers, "I suppose."
He picked up the cup that sat closest to me and held it up and offered it to me. I stared at it. The yellow-ish clear liquid sat in the cup, looking innocent but I knew that it had the capacity to hold something very sinister. I swallowed before I looked at the other cup.
"I wonder," I said, "could I have the other one? The one on the right?"
He looked at both cups and looked at me again before smiling softly and putting the cup down and picking up the other one. He looked at it slightly before he smiled again and handed it to me. He took the other cup in his hand and blew on the tea slightly before he turned to me.
"Would you like to tell me why you chose the other cup? he said. I felt my face heat as I fumbled in my head to come up with a lie.
"I just always like to take everything from the right side," I explained, "ever since I was a kid. It's a strange habit I know but it makes sense to me strangely."
The small smile never wore off his face as he took a sip of his tea. He didn't seem wavered by it at all and I felt my worries ease as I looked down at my own cup. I frowned as I noticed flecks of what looked like a plant floating around in the cup. I looked at the King.
"What are these leaves, your highness?" I asked. He looked at the cup and looked at me for a second before he turned his attention to his own.
"They're herbs," he said, "I had some in mine as well but I drank them all very quickly. They're supposed to help further in getting a good night's rest."
I nodded and felt a small voice in the back of my head telling me not to drink it. But as he was watching me, I knew I couldn't decline because he would be able to tell something was wrong. So I smiled at him and hesitantly took a sip of the tea. It was sweet, but also had a slight bitter taste to it.
It did taste herbal.
I nodded and smiled at him. We continued to talk about small things as we drank our tea and after I had drunk all of mine. He took the cup from me and set it down on the table before standing up. I stood up as well, feeling a bit woozy.
I must be tired. I felt my eyes getting droopy as I looked at him.
"I think it's time for me to sleep," I said. He nodded and made his way towards the door as I followed him. He stood near the door and nodded at me, smiling sweetly and clasping his hands.
"Princess," he said, "it's been a pleasure spending time with you."
I nodded, "likewise."
We opened the door and Reynolds stopped in his tracks, letting out an exhale. I looked at him and then at the doorway where he was focusing his attention on and smiled brightly.
Harry stood at the door, watching his father intently before he smiled at me.
"Hello," he said, moving closer to me. His father walked out as Harry walked in and they both kept their eyes on each other. Harry came to stand next to me and put his arm around my waist. I leaned into him slightly, happy he was here.
"Hello, son," Reynolds said, "I was just having some nightly tea with the princess."
"Were you now?" he murmured. Reynolds nodded and we all stood there in silence for a while before Reynolds cleared his throat.
"Well, I'll be off," he said, "I'll see you two in the morning."
I nodded and bowed, "your highness."
He left and as soon as he turned the corner down the corridor, Harry slammed the door shut and turned to me.
"Why was he here? What did he want?" he questioned. I widened my eyes and shrugged.
"I don't know!" I said, "he said he wanted to have tea so we drank a cup."
He looked around the room before he spotted the tea cups and raced over and began inspecting them. I looked at him questioningly as he licked his lips and looked back up to me.
"I can't even tell if there's anything in here that isn't supposed to be."
I shrugged and began walking back to my bed.
"I don't know, but I'm sleepy," I yawned. He stared at the cups while I climbed into the bed and nestled under the covers. I watched him as he set the cups back down and sighed before he turned his head to me. He stared at me and shook his head softly with a smile before he walked over and sat down on the bed.
"Go to sleep," he murmured, "I came to tell you that tomorrow I'll be heading off to Nova."
"Why?" I said.
"To look for the antidote. The plants are found there and I'm guessing a foolish traveler or two may have, at some point in their lives, eaten these plants and then have needed medical attention. So I'll be off to find answers."
I nodded, sleepily and blinked, "okay. When will you be back?"
"I should return tomorrow night."
I nodded and smiled as Harry began brushing my hair with his fingers. I felt myself drift off to sleep and soon enough was greeted by dreams of my foolishly brave prince.