by Scarlett Kol
I shot up, my hand landing in a wet puddle of drool on the duvet. Gross.
“What’s going on here?" I asked as the servants rummaged through my wardrobe and arranged my father's crown along with a collection of jeweled rings and brooches on my dresser.
"With the queen unavailable, you must hold court in her absence." Griswold clapped his hands and a couple of the servants bowed and took their leave. Two servants remained and stood in a row with their heads cast down toward the floor, waiting to complete their duty of dressing me. "And you must hurry, I'd been knocking for nearly twenty minutes.”
He pulled back the covers and clapped his hands until I slid from the bed and stood next to the dresser adorned with jewels.
"Court? You must be kidding, Griswold? I'm not prepared."
Griswold nodded at the two remaining servants and they quickly started buzzing around me like worker bees. One of the servants, a pretty dark-haired girl, unbuttoned my shirt and slipped it off my shoulders, while the other older woman slid on a clean one. Both wrinkled their noses, as the sharp smell of sweat hung off my body like a cheap cologne, but both of them had been trained well enough not to mention it.
Griswold grinned, pleased to be moving forward or just content to see me uncomfortable. ”I’m afraid so, sir. The Council is expecting you, and the line of complainants began early this morning.”
I groaned as the servants continued to primp and polish me into something that would be presentable for the public. The younger servant gazed up at me through her impossibly long black lashes and I smiled, teasing a pink blossom in her cheeks. However, it didn't have the same satisfaction that flirting with a beautiful girl usually did. Something in my head must be broken.
In record time, they'd morphed me into a proper royal, all pomp and circumstance and clean clothes then disappeared with sweeping curtsies out the door.
"Much better." Griswold adjusted the cape at my shoulders and carefully picked up the crown off the dresser and placed it on my head. "Now you're perfect."
I glanced in the mirror. The bright and shiny version of me stared back with an uncertain glare. I forced a wide smile but didn't feel it.
"I'm definitely far from perfect, Griswold."
“Well, it will have to do, Your Majesty.” He swept his hand through the air toward the door. “Now off to greet your subjects. Quickly now. Everyone is waiting.”
I rushed out the door and down the hall towards the throne room, my shoes clicking as I lugged the heavy costume of the king on my back. Lord Covington, Lord Anwar, and Lord Marchand stood outside the door waiting and dressed top to toe in black as if expecting a funeral.
"A pleasure to see you, Your Majesty,” Lord Anwar said as the three bent their knees and bowed in unison. "It is a shame the queen could not be with us today."
"Indeed." If they thought her absence was merely a shame than for me it was a tragedy.
"Then this shall be another rite of passage for you on your way to claiming the crown. The people will want to see your face and know you have the ability to lead them in a fair and just way,” Lord Covington added.
"Well, I will do my best. Although this is my first time."
"Of course, we will be right there to assist you." Lord Marchand stepped forward. "It's a shame we haven't seen you at more of these, it would have been an education for you. May I?" He nodded at my head then straightened the crown, the weight dragging it crooked.
"Thank you."
Lord Covington pushed open the door to the throne room and a trumpeter sounded our arrival.
"All hail his Majesty, Prince Fallon of Aldric,” the Herald rang.
The lords scrambled in ahead of me and took their seats beside the raised platform holding my parent’s thrones. I stared at the ornately carved chairs of dark wood, inlaid with a lighter carving of our family crest, the lion in the center seeming to mock me with his dangerous claws and tongue stuck out. The largest chair sat empty for my father, and the smaller one empty and waiting for his queen, neither ready for me. I glanced over at Lord Marchand and he motioned for me to sit. I shrugged, unsure of my place, but chose the smaller throne as a sign of respect, and to show the kingdom I still believed the true king would return to rule them.
A crowd of faces stared up at me. Of the few courts I'd attended recently, none had a turnout like this. Maybe they had been delayed due to my father's condition, or maybe the citizens had come out in droves just to see if I would fail.
"The court welcomes Duke Reynaud of Baudelaire versus his neighbor Duke Ormand of Ibalos,” the Herald called.
Both men stepped forward towards the platform, dripping of gold and jewels in their tailored finest. They bowed before me, each one eyeing the other and attempting to bend lower than his rival until both nearly collapsed in piles on the floor.
I placed a heavy ringed hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh. “You may stand, gentlemen. What is your dispute?"
As Duke Ormand began his testimony, I looked over at the lords and their beaming pleased smiles. I guess I must have done one thing right, but as I examined the line that snaked through the center of the front room and into the Great Hall I knew the smiles wouldn't last long. I leaned back in the uncomfortable throne, the rigid wood already bruising my backside, and tried to listen to the words coming out of the decorated Duke’s mouth.
Alright. Here we go.
"And I decree that the tree growing between your two properties to be cut down and two identical trees planted firmly within the property lines for each landowner."
I collapsed back into my mother’s throne and tried to keep a pleasant smile on my face, even though all I wanted was to run out of the room screaming.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Both men bowed and took their leave. Finally, the end of the never-ending line. The sun had moved through all the windows of the throne room, passing me by. My stomach growled, aching to be fed. How long had I been trapped in here?
"Thank you, but that will be all for today,” the Herald said, his chipper voice now faded into a hoarse murmur.
I stood and the rest of the attendees filed out the oversized doors at the end of the hall. Two guards flanked the throne and ushered me and the lords back out into the hallway from the royal entrance.
"That seemed to go okay,” Lord Anwar said as the door clicked closed behind him.
"Are they always so long?” I asked rubbing my fingers under the edges of the crown, a low-grade headache beginning at the back of my skull.
"Sometimes even longer."
I tried my hardest to avoid making an irritated face, the trained royal smile coming in to save me. “Would anyone care to join me for lunch?"
The three men chuckled and looked at each other, then me again.
"We've still plenty of work to do, Your Majesty,” Lord Covington said. "There are contracts and treaties that require your signature and attention.
They all turned and headed left towards the war room and I reluctantly followed behind, my head still turned right towards the kitchen. My stomach churned again and I gripped my waist.
Inside the war room, documents sat piled high on the table. I perched in the chair in front of the papers and ran my hand over the stack. Going through each of these would take days, and that’s if I even understood them with the first read. How did my father know what was right and what to do? Was it something that came with practice, or did I just have no hope of blending well into this role?
I sat down and pulled the first one from the top.
"This is a trade agreement for gold from Draconis. I suggest reading that one carefully as they like to hide tricky clauses in their contracts." Lord Marchand sat down in the chair beside me and read over my shoulder.
The words quickly jumbled together, too much formality mixed with an already long day and an empty stomach, but I kept trying. Why couldn’t they write these things in language people would understand?
Around the twentieth page, a knock echoed on th
e door. My shoulders dropped, hoping maybe someone brought a snack. The door opened and Griswold entered from the hall, unfortunately empty-handed.
"Sorry for the intrusion, gentlemen, but we have a foreign guest asking for an audience with the king. I told her that I would bring the prince."
"We can go through these later this evening,” Lord Covington said as he snatched the document from my hands and added it back to the pile.
“Or tomorrow?” I offered. “Tomorrow would be good."
He rolled his eyes then quickly halting when he seemed to realize I was no longer just the prince, but at this moment I was his ruler. I followed Griswold back to the throne room, dread building in my blood as flashbacks of the endless line of complaints circled in my memory. I took my mother's seat again and faced the red-cloaked visitor.
She removed her hood and dark curls dangled over her shoulders, the front of her locks pinned back behind her head. She appeared older than me, but younger than my mother, and definitely not someone I’d seen around the city before. Her striking beauty rivaled the noblest ladies of the court, but she stood with the stance of a soldier and the proud stare of a prized fighter. I sat tall at attention as her presence pushed me to stay strong. If this woman decided she didn't like my face I expected she could easily ascend the platform and change it with the blade strapped to her hip before the guards would even know she'd moved.
"May I present the High Chieftainess of Elder, known in Elder as the Red.” Griswold said and scurried from the room.
"Welcome to Aboria," I started. "I hear you have asked to speak with the king. He is indisposed at the moment, is there anything I can be of service as the Crown Prince?”
She placed her hands on her hips, increasing the intimidating look she already had working for her. "Do not lie to me, prince. I am no fool. I know what is happening to your father, the king."
I stiffened in my seat. The room temperature plummeted to match the chill in her tone and I shivered.
"Fair enough. Then tell me why you have come?”
"I represent the wolf packs of the Kingdom of Elder. We've noticed that something strange has been happening in our woods. I've come to investigate whether this unknown force has spread to your cities?”
"We've heard no such thing,” Lord Anwar said. “Other than the issues with the king, that you claim to already know about, our kingdom is peaceful and content.”
"Then I guess I've come a long way for nothing. Thank you for your time.“ She nodded toward Lord Anwar then tugged the hood back over her head and turned to go.
I bit down on my tongue. Hard enough to draw blood as I tried to force down the words begging to come out my mouth. My leg tapped the platform as she sashayed toward the exit. Then as she reached the door, a guard holding it open for her, I jumped to my feet. There was something she was holding back.
”Stop. Please. I’ve heard things about which you speak.”
The lords looked at me as their mouths hung open and the Chieftainess halted her steps.
"Some call it the darkness, and I've been told it's been spreading east. I don't know what's causing it or how to stop it, but I think it has something to do with my father's condition."
She turned around her arms crossed over her chest. "If you can't stop it then you are no help to me. But thank you for your honesty.” She glared at Lord Anwar, her dagger stare sharp even on the periphery. “I’ll keep to tracking it on my own. Should I need it, would you be willing to offer guards?”
"Absolutely,” I said as I stepped to the edge of the platform.
Lord Covington cleared his throat and I looked over as he made a gesture with his hands. I didn't quite understand what he meant but I had the feeling it wasn't in line with what I just promised.
“Good.” She jerked her head up and stormed toward the door. “You'll hear from me soon."
The guards cleared a path for her to continue, probably more from fear than duty.
As she walked to the door, something bothered me. She was still holding something back. Something she didn’t want to speak about in front of an audience. I ran to her, catching up when she was just outside.
“The darkness. That’s not the reason you came is it?”
She inhaled a sharp breath, then after a quick look around to see there was no one in ear shot, she spoke. “Have you seen my son? His name is Castiel.”
I wracked my brains for the name, but came up empty.
“I have not had the pleasure.”
“Then I shall be on my way.” She turned to walk away again.
“Should I have met your son?”
“He has eyes just like yours, although I see no other similarity. Only the gold circle around your iris.”
My hand instinctively went to my face.
“He set out to come see you. He should have been here by now. I don’t know where he is.”
And then I understood the sadness behind the strength. She too had lost someone.
“If I see him, I’ll make sure to send word to Elder.”
“Thank you,” she said, and this time she walked away.
"Do you know what you've just done?" Lord Covington asked, his disappointed scowl answering his question without waiting for my response.
"No, not exactly. But if this darkness is as bad as I think it is she’ll need every resource we’ve got."
My eyes threatened to close so many times that I nearly fell asleep face down in my soup. I knew being king would be busy, but I never imagined how physically and mentally draining. The silence that echoed through the oversized dining room didn't help. Being king was tough, but being lonely seemed unbearable. The chandeliers lost some of their luster, and the gilded candlesticks didn't seem to shine as bright without people to share them with. I stared through my haze down the long dining room table and ached for someone to talk to.
A soft knock sounded on the door.
"Come in."
Griswold appeared beside me at the table. "Sorry to interrupt your dinner, Your Majesty."
"No problem at all. Why don't you sit down with me for a while?”
I gestured to a large chair where my mother usually sat. Griswold shook his head, but I nodded still pointing. He grimaced then pulled the chair back with the tips of his fingers and sat at the very edge of the seat, his face scrunched between the years of wrinkles.
"Your bird has returned, sir. She's waiting for you in front of the castle.”
"My mother has returned already?” I jumped to my feet and wiped my face with the napkin then tossed it onto the tabletop.
Griswold didn’t move.
"No, but the bird has a message for you and refuses to let anyone else have it. One of the guards almost lost an arm trying to pry it from her.“
"Thank you, Griswold."
We rushed from the dining room. A sense of relief stretched across Griswold's face as he put my mother's chair back into its perfect spot and dusted the ornate carvings on the back. Out in the courtyard, Alizeh's feathers glinted in the evening sun setting over the horizon. A group of guards, swords drawn circled her, each one in lockstep with her every movement.
"Stand down,” I called as I rushed into the circle. Alizeh brought her head to my chest and clucked softly, an envelope tucked tight in her beak. I tugged at the paper and she released it without hesitation as the guards behind me whispered.
I pet her cheek. “Thank you, my friend."
She bobbed her head, as if to nod, then snapped her beak at one of the guards to her left. He retreated and tripped over his own feet, landing with a thud on the ground. Alizeh cooed in victory then launched off into the sky.
"The next time Alizeh returns, I expect to be contacted immediately.” I held the letter behind my back and marched in front of the line of guards. “No weapons are to be drawn on her ever again. Do you understand?”
"Yes, sir,” the guards answered in unison and charged back to their posts.
"What is it, Your Majesty?" Griswold asked, peer
ing over my shoulder.
I slid my finger under the royal seal and ripped open the top of the envelope. Three rose petals slipped out and fluttered to the ground.
"It's from my mother. I think I'll take this in my room and turn in for the night.”
Griswold raised his finger, his weight shifting to the tips of his toes.
“If there's anything you need to know, I'll call on you right away,” I added, and he relaxed, or what looked like relaxed for Griswold.
He nodded. “Goodnight, sir.”
“One more thing” I halted and punched my fist in the air as my memory poked at my brain. “Have you seen Captain Amir today?”
“Yes, sir. No word on the young lady you’d asked him to find, but they will let me know if she turns up.”
Again my heart sank. I promised my mother I would try to make it right with Veda. I needed to make things right with Veda, but with the demands of the kingdom and my parents away I had no idea when I would get the chance to look for her again. If only she’d just come to me. But after the way I acted, she never would.
I gripped the letter in my fist, and rushed off, staring at the floor to ensure I didn’t make eye contact with anyone. I had enough of being king for one day. Maybe after a good night’s sleep, I'd be ready to go again. Somehow I doubted it though.
As soon as my own door came into view in the hall, I sprinted the rest of the way and slammed it shut behind me. I flopped across my bed and ran my finger along the perfect loopy scrawl of my name across the front. On the back, I inspected the green wax seal with the Aldric coat of arms impressed from my mother’s ring and pulled the letter open.
My dearest Fallon,
Thank you for finding your father and lending me Alizeh to go see him. It's been tough seeing him in this condition, but I feel much better knowing that he's alive and safe in one place. I will be forever grateful for your willingness to find him against the horrible odds.
Edwin has been kind and extremely helpful dealing with your father’s condition. I’m so glad he is the one looking after this situation.
