The Prince of Almond Manor

by Gregory Jonathan Scott

  He burst into the carriage house, closed the door and climbed the wooden plank into bed. His heart was aching. Badly. His nose was stopped up, making it hard for him to breathe. His eyes had gone blurry. Tears flowed, unable to hold his emotions from boiling over.

  What was happening? He was stronger than that.

  Has anybody ever died from loneliness and sorrow?

  When Oakland left to visit the party that evening, he was expecting it to be a happier time. Not like it had turned out, painful and uncertain.

  Why did his life have to be so complicated?

  He prayed for Deklan’s happiness and wished like mad it wasn’t the last time he’d see him. They were soul mates. Had to be. The separation anxiety was too strong for them not to be. He felt a bond when he was near him, and understood Deklan was who his Fairy Godfather had told him he would meet. The mirror man knew that all along.

  How had the clothing vanished into thin air but the necklace had not? Everything else, including the mirror man was gone. He looked at his hand and found the ring had gone, too. But why?

  Oakland continued weeping alone until he drifted into dreamland, holding the only treasure from the night in his grasp—the emerald necklace the mirror man had given him. He held that stone and lucidly dreamt a wish.

  Chapter 11

  Deklan’s chest felt empty the day after his birthday. He was supposed to feel better than he had. Birthdays were meant to be happy occasions. His heart ached like he never knew it could and he knew the reason why.

  Pressing a fisted hand to his chest, he held it there as though it would change his mood for the better. The emptiness was consuming, and the ring in his grasp only enhanced the sadness he was feeling. The silver band reminded him of the night before—how content he was locked in the arms of the mysterious man he’d met.

  The prince was missing his mate and his heart was breaking because of it.

  “Why’d you run away, Oakland?” Deklan placed the silver ring onto his middle finger where it fit best.

  From silence to a roar, a startling bang had caught him off guard.

  “What in the devil is going on?” he hollered, spinning his gaze toward the crashing door.

  Intrusively breaking into his room, two strong ranch hands pulled him from the chair and escorted him by the arms down the corridor to meet with his Father and Mother in the dusty library. By the way he was being dragged so harshly against his will, and after what had taken place the night before, he was quite certain the meeting with his parents wasn’t going to be good.

  The dark ages were long gone. People weren’t dragged to the dungeon beneath the castle anymore. There was no need to be brutal.

  As soon as he was pushed through the library doorway, the outburst from his father had come at him like a fired musket, “How could you make a spectacle of us like that?” His father selfishly thought of himself and how the same sex rendezvous would reflect on him and the family. “You have disgraced us and our name. Do you know what you’ve done?”

  Deklan stood motionless in front of his parents, finding difficulty coming up with a response to his father’s unsettling rage. He spun the ring around his middle finger and reflected back on his birthday night, then said, “I’m not sure what to say to you, POPs. I’ve tried to tell the both of you for a very long time that I’m not at all attracted to the female species, but you wouldn’t hear me. In fact, I’d suspected you’d always known, but scurried around the subject whenever you recognized I was trying to let you in on who I am. Last night was a once in a lifetime moment, and I wasn’t going to let anything stand in my way—again. So… don’t blame me for the way my attraction toward men had come out. I’m worn out with keeping my true emotions locked up all the time, in fear of what people will think of me—of you and this family. One thing I do know for sure. If you feel the person I was born to be unsettling, then I guess I don’t belong here. I connected with that gentleman in a way you will probably never understand, and I plan to find him. A man is who I’m meant to spend my life with, not a woman. There, I said it. May I go now?”

  “No you may not go, now.” Deklan’s father stood up with a pointing finger. “This is not up for a one sided discussion and you are not making the decision. You’re going to listen and this is what you’re going to do.” He glanced at Deklan’s mother for a brief moment as if he was looking for her to agree.

  Gripping one finger with each demand, he spouted out, “For one—you will not see that black man from last night ever again. Whoever he is.” Dante clearly stated, including a racial slur he probably hadn’t meant. “Two—you will marry the lassie of our pleasing, and it will be soon to avoid further hostility toward this Family. Number three—you will stay home until the wedding day so we can keep an eye on you, and don’t give it a second thought that I won’t lock your door. Four—you will apologize to your mother for making her cry and giving her the worst night of her life.”

  Deklan swiftly interposed, “I don’t agree with any of what you said with your one sided orders, and you’re making a bigger mistake than you might think. You’re selfish plan is going to destroy people’s lives. Not only mine. Where do you see anything positive about that? To indorse the arrangement suits your needs, you’ll be taking away the chance for some lass at finding true companionship. This false marriage would be wasting her life and mine so this small town can see that your only child isn’t in love with another lad. You’ll also be making my entire life an unhappy one. How do you see this will be beneficial for anybody? Not even you will be content with that. Hiding a secret will be a lifetime of misery for you. Trust me, I know about that first hand.” Deklan lowered his head and sighed. “Can’t you see the mistake you are making?”

  His mother stayed quiet, but was sobbing while Sir Dante carried out his demands to their son. “You have no vote here. This is MY kingdom and I will run it the way I see that it should. You’re getting married as we say, to whom we tell you to, and it will be within the week. This affection for another lad of yours must end today. The sooner the better. For your sake and ours. NOW… you may go.”

  “Really? This is how it will be? Your big finish.” Deklan was sickened by his father’s idea of the perfect life for him. It wasn’t in Deklan’s favor and he knew it, but in the interest and reputation of the Royal Almond monarchy. Deklan tripped backward as Wattsworth and the two hefty ranch hands dragged him away. The heels of his boots left black marks as they skidded across the slate floor. “You’ve just made me a prisoner in my own home, father,” he hollered. His voice echoed loudly through the empty hall.

  The servants tossed Deklan into his room like it was a prison cell. He fell to his knees and stayed there as the heavy doors behind him slammed shut. Angered, he twisted Oakland’s ring around his finger again. The touch of the ring was the only connection to the other half of his soul he had and it helped him feel less alone when holding it. His heart was breaking more than before, and there was nobody, not even his family, who could help him heal.

  Chapter 12

  Sitting inside the carriage house, Oakland was able to see Deklan standing in an upper window at the Manor, the Prince’s melancholy expression looking right in his direction. The floor to ceiling drapes wavered on either side of him, the flapping fabric mimicking large wings of an angel. He was holding an object in his hand that Oakland couldn’t quite make out. It flashed when the sunlight struck it just right.

  As if there might have been somebody rapping on the entry door to that room, Oakland saw Deklan briefly turn away and back again. Deklan’s saddened actions could have been instigated by disappointed parents or the fact he was missing the man he’d found an immediate connection with.

  It was heartbreaking to see Deklan like he was, as well as upsetting to know his parents might have inflicted that anguish on their child. Thinking that and not allowing him the chance to be with the person he was meant for, Oakland turned sour toward Deklan’s parents. They had to know the precious gift being t
aken away from their son and how much they were breaking him down because of it.

  Oakland sat in his window down below while Deklan sat in his up above, both connected to each other as if the empty space between them had strung an imaginary tether.

  It had come as a surprise to Oakland when he felt a tug on his trousers around the ankle. He’d been so deeply engrossed in Deklan across the way he hadn’t realized a goat was chewing at his cuff line. He swatted at the creature, pulling his foot away from the fabric eating varmint.

  When Oakland faced the outdoors again, he was certain Deklan was looking straight into his window, the Prince’s squinting glare seemed as though he was trying to figure out who the man in the carriage house window was. Oakland threw his body backward onto the bed, keeping below the sill. His sudden and rash action tossed a fussy chicken resting there upward into flight. The bird clucked and squabbled over the banister, wings flapping all the way to ground level.

  “Bollocks!” Oakland almost crushed Betty Lu.

  Several moments had passed before Oakland dared to sneak another peak at the man above. As he spied, Deklan’s expression and peculiar actions seemed as though he was being held prisoner in his own home.

  Then, Deklan turned with an impulsive jerk. There was noticeable commotion on the inside, but Oakland couldn’t quite make out what was going on. When Deklan turned back around, he’d placed a shiny trinket on the sill and tucked it into the corner at the ledge. He stood with his backside to the treasure as if guarding it from whoever was in the room with him.

  Oakland looked at his own hand and supposed there could be a chance that trinket was the ring he had on the night before. He thought it had disappeared along with the clothing he’d been wearing, but since the necklace was still with him, there was a good gamble the ring might have stayed behind as well, and Deklan was the one who might have it.

  Without any call of warning or even an introduction knock, the door to Deklan’s room burst open, the inward thrust had forced the angelic drapes to flap outside the open window.

  Deklan quickly pushed the ring deeper into hiding. When he turned around, there were two servants standing in the room next to his father and mother, one at either side. He frowned, backing tightly against the window sill.

  His father scowled for what seemed like two full minutes before blurting out the reason for his angered entrance. “It is set, Deklan. Your wedding is being planned and we are sending the carriage to bring back the young lady we have chosen for you.”

  “WHAT?” Deklan shouted. “Have you all lost your minds? This isn’t a dominion, it’s a family home,” he growled.

  “This is the best decision for you and you know it,” his father yelled back. “You will not embarrass us any further, you hear me?”

  Deklan glared at his father and then at his mother. “So this is what it’s about? You are more worried about yourselves than you are about me. I get it.”

  “That’s preposterous,” his father blurted, even though Deklan knew it wasn’t a straightforward argument.

  “It’s the truth.” Deklan looked at him and then away, shuffling his feet across the floor to place as much space between his parents as possible. At that moment, he hadn’t even wanted to be in the same room with them. “You’re both on the fence with what everybody in town is thinking about you and your precious family. Or are you more worried about your nutty business?”

  “For the most part, we are concerned about you. And of course, considering the business as well,” Dante motioned.

  “Mostly me?” Deklan’s eyebrow lifted. “Of course you are.”

  “Don’t be a spoiled brat, Deklan. Act your age. Your mother and I have made this company into what it is today, so it’s in your best interest to hear us out and not destroy what we had built.” Dante moved closer to Deklan.

  Crossing his arms tightly at his chest, Deklan leaned backward as if loud bursts were about to blast from his father’s wind pipe. He stood motionless. Staring. He’d known himself it wouldn’t be right for three people’s lives to be destroyed because of one senseless decision? His life, Oakland’s life, and the poor lassie who wouldn’t ever know true love because of the condition Dante had made. It was unspeakable.

  “Say something,” his father demanded, grabbing Deklan’s arm.

  “What do you want me to say? That I agree?” Deklan dropped his arms, pulling out of his father’s grasp. “Well I don’t. It’s absurd. Meaningless. Preposterous. Life wrecking. Shall I continue? I won’t go through with it.”

  The temperature in the room felt like it rose fifty degrees as his father’s head was looming in on a fire fed explosion. His mother covered her mouth as if she was about to vomit and crossed her other arm over her stomach as if calming down the onset of rumbling pain.

  “Don’t you dare talk to your mother and me with such contempt? You will get married. To a lady. And that’s the end of this discussion.” Dante turned away, grabbed Priscilla and dragged her out of Deklan’s room like he had her on a leash.

  By the appearance on Priscilla’s face, it seemed certain everything taking place had been orchestrated by Dante. She was giving off signs of concern for Deklan, more than the apprehension she had for how Deklan’s attraction toward men was going to affect the family business. It seemed as though she could care less about living if Deklan was in a bad place. It was all about the bond between a mother and her child. It would not be broken and there would always be a tether that connected their hearts.

  Deklan stood back and watched the both of them leave, slamming the door shut as soon as the last foot crossed the threshold.

  Chapter 13

  Another knock had come to Deklan’s door not long after his parent’s had left, the rap more tamed than the last. “What now?” he thought.

  Instead of propping the chair under the door handle to block people out like he wanted to do, he dragged it away and decided to see who was on the other side.

  Majorly surprised, he wailed, “Jedidiah? What are you doing here?”

  Jedidiah was a friend of Deklan’s who had once worked as part of the maintenance crew at the manor. Deklan always had a brotherly regard for him—the two had been platonic friends for several years until Deklan’s father let Jedidiah go to prevent his only son from carrying out his secret mindset toward the dark skinned servant boy.

  “How’d you get in the house?” Deklan stepped back to open a pathway for Jedidiah.

  “I know all the secret doorways of this mansion. Remember I maintained and oiled half the hinges around here.” Jedidiah smiled as he walked through the bedroom doorway, hugging Deklan on his way by. He commented, “Wow, Deklan, you’ve gotten strong. You’re like a chunk of granite.”

  “Hard labor.” Deklan beat a fist against his chest. “This is a pleasant surprise, but what brings you back here?” he asked while backing out of Jedidiah’s embrace.

  Jedidiah kept his voice low. “I heard people in the village speaking out of line in reference to what transpired at an event that had taken place here the other night. After what you told me about yourself a while back, I wasn’t surprised by their mention of you taking interest in a well-dressed lad instead of an elegant lassie, but I was a bit troubled by what was being said outside your presence and thought you might need somebody on your side.”

  Deklan fidgeted. “So you’re not bothered by this being out in the open or being associated with somebody who everybody wants to throw stones at?”

  “Why should I be?” Jedidiah answered with a question. His face had gone sharp.

  “I just figured”—Deklan hesitated—“well… figured since everybody else was either trying to crucify me or make me change into someone I’m not, I imagined you were here to do the same.”

  “I would never do that to you, my friend, and there’s no reason to make any kind of a change. I told you that before. There’s nothing wrong with you.” Jedidiah had given him a tighter hug than before and whispered into Deklan’s ear, “You can�
��t change what is supposed to be, my friend, and that is that.”

  Deklan’s eyes welled up as the hug reassured and soothed his snarled nerves. “Thank you, Jedidiah. I needed this. Very much so. My parents are devastated with the news and have decided to do something unbelievably stupid.”

  Jedidiah hadn’t seemed surprised by Deklan’s emotional reaction. “I’ll take a stab in the dark with this one. It’s your father’s big idea isn’t it?”

  The two of them had taken a seat in front of the fireplace and exchanged stories about what had been going on in their lives over the past few years.

  Deklan had a simple life, but lately a trying one. His frustrations mostly pertained to recent events, whereas Jedidiah had been traveling the river bank on a self-built floatation raft, fetching his own food from the wild while keeping clear of the white folk who still thought slavery was permissible.

  For a short time, Jedidiah had been working off and on a plantation north of town. He wasn’t much for staying in one place for too long, which made the idea of cleaning other people’s water closets on a permanent basis a bit off-putting to him. He was a free spirit and enjoyed his freedom as a river rat. He preferred the riverbanks where he could be his own man, bonding with nature the way he enjoyed.

  Deklan had gone on telling Jedidiah about the night of his birthday, starting with how he had to fight off all the lassies who’d come at him in ways he found offensive and how the evening took a better turn with the magical entrance of a stunning prince.

  He finished his story by explaining how the man he met had mysteriously disappeared into darkness so abruptly, with the only evidence the night had been real was the ring that had fallen into his hand.