“Listen this time please,” Magdel said.
“I always listen to him.”
“Do you? When did you listen, Louie? When he told you about the Chromatics not being that different from the Metallics. The way he tried to get you to see just how bad that market, you love so much, really is? The dungeons, when, when did you listen. You are not going to be that different from your father if this carries on much longer.”
“Don’t. I’m nothing like my father.” I put on my robe and walked out of the room.
I needed to clear my head. I needed to be calm.
I did listen to Albert. I always had. Just because I didn’t give in on the Chromatics and the market, didn’t mean I wasn’t listening.
I missed Guinevere. She could’ve handled him so much better than I ever have.
Father had written her out of history. She was going to be my queen. Albert didn’t even know what he was because of it. He had called Magdel mother, not once asking about Gwen, his real mother.
In respect of Magdel, we made everyone believe that she was his mother.
Gwen would’ve been a great queen, but I honestly had no idea how she would have handled this news.
Albert hit his hand hard on the table. “No, none of the dragons will lose their lives.”
“Albert,” he was being stubborn.
The door opened and someone I’d never seen before entered.
“Can I help you?” I glared at the tiny being with copper hair that had just walked in.
“It’s William, he is representing the rebellion.” Albert said.
My gaze caught Albert’s. “You got representation? I thought we were negotiating.”
“If it came to it, father. I’m not stupid. I know how you think.”
What was that supposed to mean? Did he really think I was that heartless, that I wouldn’t hear him out.
“Albert, you have women in this rebellion?”
The two of them started to speak as the hair on my arms started to rise. Women?
“They are down in the dungeon.” Albert wants to know. He closed his eyes, relieved that they were alive.
“One of them claims to be your wife.”
“Catherine.” Albert said.
His wife? “What? You are married?”
“Father it has nothing to do with you. If you thought that I was going to marry that spoiled brat that has no backbone, you were making a huge mistake. She is cruel, she will never be fit to be my queen. There are no negotiations around that. We were married in front of God. That is that.”
“I need to see the priest.” I protested as I could just imagine what Gilderoy was going to do when he heard this.
“He was compelled afterward.”
“Then the wedding never happened.” I was stern.
“It’s a done deal. It happened. I made my vows to her in front of God. She will be my queen.” Albert said.
“Her bloodline.”
“I don’t give a crap about her bloodline.”
“Albert this is ludicrous.” It felt as if I couldn’t even speak to him. Who was he, who had he become? “Who is she?”
“The girl that won mother’s lottery.”
“A commoner,” I yelled.
“Take that word back, she is not a commoner. She is the fifth woman that made it out of the Sacred Cavern. She has royalty in her being, she doesn’t need it in her blood.”
She came out of the Sacred Cavern. I needed to see this for myself. But she wasn’t royalty, she wasn’t even nobility. “No, I won’t be lowered to this.”
“That’s not your choice.” He roared.
“I can’t listen to this. If it’s a trial you want, you will get one.” Nothing I was saying was getting through to him anyway. There were consequences for what he did, even if he was the crown prince.
“Albert, stop him. This will end with executions. The women don’t stand a chance.”
“He knows what he is doing. If he kills any of my people, he will need to kill me too.”
I left his chambers and went to my own.
I screamed until my throat was hoarse. This was all Magdel’s fault. I told her it was silly to have a lottery for a ball. She did this.
He would marry Drizelda even if I had to force him and there was one way to force him. To make him believe that she would die. He would give her up to save her life.
The next day I called for Catherine. I needed to meet this woman that was the fifth person to make it out of the Sacred Cavern.
Magdel and I sat in the throne room waiting.
“If he is married to this woman,” Magdel started.
“I won’t hear any of that.”
“You can’t do this, Louie. He doesn’t love Drizelda.”
“I didn’t love you either, now did I?”
The throne room door opened and Delilah walked in first.
The woman followed. She was wearing one of Gwen’s dresses and she blew my breath out of my lungs seeing her in it.
How could she do that to me?
They both came and kneeled before us.
“How could you?” I asked Delilah. Why that dress?
“It was mine to give, my lord,” she answered. I nodded and ground my teeth. I looked back at the woman.
“You are Catherine Squires.”
She nodded.
“You are married to my son?”
“Yes, your highness,” She bowed my head.
“There is an easy way out of this all, Catherine.”
“My lord,” Delilah asked. “I beg you don’t do this.”
“He has to learn life is hard. Being a king is hard and even he has to respect what I say.”
“Your life for all of them.”
She looked up at me. She hadn’t expected that.
“My king, please, don’t do this.” Delilah begged again.
“He is not making this easy. He has to learn.”
“Not like this.”
“My decision…”
“You are doing exactly the same as your father did, Louie.” Delilah was stern.
“Have you forgotten who he is?” Magdel yelled.
“No, I know perfectly well who he is. Your father did this to you. Have you forgiven him yet for it?”
My nostrils flared. How could she think I would even do that? It was a tactic.
“Don’t do this, please. He will never forgive you.”
“I had to make a choice that day. You want to tell me I made the wrong choice.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “But you are walking the same path with your son, the one you walked with your father. I love you both. Don’t do this please.”
“She will be executed at sundown.”
Albert was at the door. He was raving mad and I watch how he dismantled all my guards. He was so fast and in two seconds Catherine was in his arms.
“Have you lost your mind?” Albert roared.
“You will learn to respect me, boy.”
“I’m no longer a boy. Open your eyes. She is my choice. How can you sit there and be okay with this mother?” He looked at Magdel.
“Albert I’m not, but he is your king.”
“Then you need to kill me too. Because I can’t live without her.”
“Albert. Someone has to pay for your actions.” It was working.
“Then let me pay.”
“You are the crown prince of Paegeia. You will not die for this.”
“I swear if you do this, I will find a way to kill you.”
“Albert,” Magdel yelled.
“I will hunt you down till the day you are ash.” He yelled.
“Albert stop,” Catherine said.
“No, you are not going to die for this. It’s ludicrous.” Tears welled up in his eyes.
“Your father will let everyone go. Please.” She whispered.
“No, I won’t allow it. It’s time to fight Kate. Fight for us, with me please.” He begged her.
Their love rem
inded me at that moment of Gwen and myself. A love so strong. But he needed to marry Drizelda. Gilderoy was the only one that could make my potion and that was our deal.
“You knew this will happen.” She cried. “I just want peace. Please.”
He hugged her tight and tears welled up in his eyes as he glared at me.
It was time, he would listen.
“Don’t do this please,” he begged me.
“Okay, there is another way.
“No,” Albert grunted.
“It’s not for you to decide, Albert but for her.”
“Don’t do this please. She is my choice, just like the Swallow Annex was yours.”
“I didn’t end up with her, now did I son?”
“No, you didn’t because your father did exactly the same thing you are doing to me now.”
“Set her free, Albert. Marry Drizelda and your people will go free. All of them. No harm will come to her.”
Silence lingered.
“Don’t do this, please. I told you what she did, father.”
“She is still a commoner.”
“She is not a fucking commoner. I don’t love Drizelda.”
“Albert,” she touched his chest.
“No, this is what he wanted Catherine. He wasn’t going to execute anyone. That was why I got brought in to hear what he was ordering. To beg, this, this is what he truly wanted.”
I sighed. He truly did know me.
“Don’t do this. Fight Catherine.”
“Dammit, Albert. It’s not going to happen, but time will heal.” She touched his chest.. “Enough. Please. It’s going to be okay.” She hugged him tight as he shook, and at that moment I saw myself and Gwen in Albert and Catherine.
No, I needed that potion. He is not ready to be king.
He still has so much to learn. The Chromatics are not part of this world. They are monsters and they would kill him.
“Don’t do this Kate.” He begged.
“You wanted me to be queen one day. It’s not always about what we want, but what we can accomplish by doing the things we don’t want to. The things that are needed.”
My heart stilled. Who was this girl?
She looked up at me and nodded.
“Then it’s a done deal. You will be taken back to Eickenborough free from all charges and so are the others.”
A guard took her as Albert broke down and fell to his knees. “you will marry Drizelda in due time and that Night Villain is no dragon to my son.”
I got up as I was so confused, but he wasn’t ready to be king. He would get over Catherine as I had to get over Gwen.
What she had said. I had to give it to him, she sounded like a true queen and I didn’t need to ask to see her mark from the cavern that the dragon had given her.
The next few weeks Magdel didn’t speak to me, neither did Albert.
I was doing the right thing.
I heard him talking to Caleb one afternoon.
What came out of his mouth brought tears to my eyes.
“He never loved me because I came out of the wrong woman’s womb. If I was his true love’s spawn, this would’ve been different Caleb.”
“Albert, I’m sorry. We all knew he wasn’t going to let Kate stay.”
“No, I didn’t. I thought…”
“What did you think?” Caleb wanted to know.
“Nothing.” He sniffed. “He won’t live long. He will die someday. She has the essence too. We will be together eventually. Time is on our side.”
That night Albert didn’t eat with us again. He was stubborn just like his father.
Drizelda and Gilderoy moved into the castle.
I had to admit, the girl was talking nonstop. She was driving me insane.
Albert was forced to join us for dinner, but he was becoming a shell of a man.
It infuriated me so. He was so much like his mother, and I got up and left.
The infuriating girl got up too and carried on yapping.
I walked faster and closed my door into her face.
My heart bled for my son. How could he think that I did not love him. He was her son. I loved him with all of my heart. It was just hard to look at him as he was so much like her.
I cried softly on my floor. I needed to fix this.
“Son a word.” I tried to speak to Albert the next day but he just kept walking on.
Magdel just looked at me as I looked at her. “Seriously, when is this going to stop?”
“What did you expect Louis?”
“I will not have it.”
“Have you ever thought that none of this is about you? You knew how he felt about the Chromatic dragons. You ignored it. You always ignore him.”
“Don’t tell me…”
“What, how to raise your son? I raised him. Delilah raised him. You did nothing, you couldn’t even look at him.”
“Don’t.” I said and walked away.
Was I really like my father? Did I really treat him wrong? I loved him. He was my true love’s child.
He was my everything.
Word came that Magnus gave in. Apparently Helmut had a commoner too. She stole his heart, and Magnus gave in. How could he? We had to stick together on this and now Albert would hate me more as Magnus didn’t have the balls to tell Helmut no.
It was no use. Magnus always ruled with his heart. He loved Helmut. Didn’t carry the same love for Helmut’s twin but he loved Helmut. He was broken when he thought his son was dead.
I had to be strong.
The wedding day grew nearer and nearer and I kept thinking about Gwen. I hadn’t thought about her this deeply in such a long time. Would she truly be disappointed in Albert, or maybe she would’ve been disappointed in me.
I didn’t hate the dragons as much as my father had, but I had no love for the Chromatics, not the way Albert did.
Maybe a part of the curse had washed over to me as she wasn’t there to keep me calm. To shine the light, my beacon was gone.
What if this Catherine was his beacon?
The night before his wedding I looked at Magdel and just started to break down.
She came over to me and hugged me tight.
“You need to cancel this wedding, Louie.”
“And what, what do I tell him? If I tell him the truth, Magdel, I wanted to so many times, but I do not want to disrespect you, not in that way.”
She touched my cheek. “You are the king. I’ll do whatever you say. It’s time to tell him. I’ll be fine.”
More tears flowed and I cried my heart out in her bosom.
“Don’t make the same mistake your father did, please.”
That night I went to hunt his dragon down.
I knew what his human form looked like and I found him at a tavern.
He was drinking.
I didn’t raise my hood as I took a chair next to him.
“The table is taken.”
I looked at him and he glared at me.
“We need to talk.”
“About what?” His English wasn’t perfect but it was good. I start speaking to him in dragon tongue. Wanting to know what she meant when she told him time was at their side.
He explained the procedure, and told me that it needs to be freely given otherwise it won’t work. It would turn into a curse.
His essence will let Albert age slowly. He could even reach thousands of years before he would let out his last breath.
Thousands of years.
Catherine had gotten it too, from her dragon. They shared a bond.
“A bond?”
He nodded. “The bond is strong, magical, and she would die for Kate if it came to that.”
“You feel the same about my son?”
He shook his head. “I don’t need the bond, your son is the most selfless human I’ve ever met. I don’t know where he got that from.”
“His mother. His real mother.”
He smiled softly.
I sighed. “You don’t mind that he is ha
lf dragon.”
“No,” He said.
“Good. I want to rectify my mistake. Come to the palace tomorrow morning please.”
I got up and went back home.
On his wedding day I remembered my own. Not to Guinevere but to Magdel.
He reminded me of that, and here I was sitting on the throne just like my father had been sitting on his. Not saying a word.
I looked at Magdel and she nodded her head with a soft smile.
The ceremony was already in place and I stroked my hand through my hair. “Stop.”
Albert’s gaze shifted to mine.
“I need a word, Albert.”
“Seriously now?” Drizelda asked.
I glared at her and she lowered her head. I looked back at Albert. “Please son.”
He got up and walked with me back down the aisle.
I saw Gilderoy’s eyes glaring at me.
If I die, I’ll be with Gwen finally.
When we reached the part where the candles were lit, I closed both doors and leaned against them. I was so tired. “I can’t let you marry that wretched girl.”
“Excuse me?”
I turned around and for the first time in a long time, I truly looked at him. He wasn’t a boy anymore. Not the one like that night his mother had died. He was a man.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“What are you saying?”
“I love you son, more than I should and I know that I’m not showing it to you the right way. Your mother begged me not to tell you but I can’t keep this secret anymore.”
“Tell me what.”
“I didn’t do nothing when they executed my first love. They gave me a choice.” Tears welled up in my eyes. “A choice no one should ever have to make.”
“You chose your crown.” He closed his eyes.
“No,” I yelled and a tear rolled down my cheek. “I chose my son. She chose you without thinking about it. It was her or you. I couldn’t look at you as you look just like her.”
“What are you saying?” Albert finally asked.
“My brother was the crown prince. He was married to the woman you call mother. I was married to Guinevere. We had you, but my stupid brother got himself badly injured in a dragon hunting accident and I didn’t want my father to discover what your mother was, so I let him die.”
Playing With Fire Page 10
