"The Council knows? No wonder they hate me." I grabbed fistfuls of hair and tugged, spinning in a slow circle on the floor, the thoughts in my head spinning even faster.
“They don’t hate you, Fallon, they just need to do what is best for the crown without being emotional. None of them were even around when the adoption happened, but we needed to tell them and provide the documents that you had been appropriately claimed and legitimized as heir to the Aldric line to avoid any possible issues.”
The room fell silent, her pacing on the left and me reeling on the right, neither of us knowing what to say next. Eventually, her strides came closer and she pulled me into a hug, squeezing as tight as her petite arms could. I hugged her back, still the only mother I'd ever known and even if we weren't blood she'd always treated me as though I was. Like she'd lay down and die for me if the choice ever came. And in that moment, her tight embrace mixed with the familiar rose scent of her perfume and I knew that I would do the same.
"I love you, Fallon. I always have and I always will, no matter what happens. And your father, even with everything going on, I know he loves you more than anything."
"I know."
"How long have you known?"
"I heard the rumors a while ago, but until you told me I didn't believe that they were true."
"Never hold anything like this in again, please. We may have kept this is secret, but had you asked we would have always told you the truth. I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but I hope you can forgive me? Forgive us.”
I pulled her tighter, no words required.
"And thank you for finding your father, but I can't go see him just yet."
"Why not?” I let her go and she dropped her arms to her sides. "He needs you."
She patted my cheek. "And you need me too. It's not fair for me to leave you. Not like this. Not right now."
"I'll be okay. When you get back we can talk about this more, but I know he's lost without you."
She clamped my chin in her hand and forced me to look at her. To see the warmth in her wide eyes. To witness the love. “You have a bigger heart than you realize. For that, and so many other reasons I will always be proud to call you my son."
I hugged her again, as new tears escaped my eyes and landed in her hair.
"I won't be gone long. And when all of this is over, all three of us can clear the air."
"Sounds good. Now pack light and meet me in the castle courtyard. It's time for the queen to go get her king.”
Just beyond the iron castle gates the golden bridge to Mosa gleamed in the midday sun. I wandered through the courtyard, appreciating the beautiful scarlet petals on the rose bushes that lined the miles of metal fence and kept the rest of the world outside. Three bushes from the gate I found the most perfect rose and plucked it, grazing my knuckles against the thick pointy thorns.
"Are you stealing my flowers, dear prince?"
I held the rose out to my mother and gave a sweeping bow. "No. Someone taught me to always bring a gift when you stay at a guest’s home. Maybe it will remind Dad of the castle and his life here."
Her cheeks blushed the color of the flower’s petals as she took it from my hand and tucked it in the bag around her shoulder. She raised the hood of her dark purple cloak over her head and scanned the courtyard.
"How exactly am I going to get to the temple?”
I whistled and almost immediately Alizeh appeared in the sky before landing in the courtyard. A gust of wind from her arrival rustled the leaves of the trees and plants around us.
My mother stared in awe but took a few steps back.
I took her hand and pulled her next to Alizeh’s wing.
"There's no reason to be scared. She's the most gentle creature you'll ever meet," I said as I stroked her long feathers. “Aren’t you, Alizeh? Just a big baby bird.”
My mother held out her hand, hesitant at first, but eventually taking the risk to pet her. Her fingers slipped gently across the feathers and her lips curled into a smile.
"She'll do all the work. But if you need to change course, say her name and then give your directions. Just make sure you are loud enough for her to hear you.”
“She’s so soft,” my mother said as she continued to stroke her wing. “Do you think she’ll listen to me?”
“Of course. Just be firm. I know you know how to do that.”
Mom shot me a harsh glare. “Thanks a lot.”
I laughed, then wandered back to the fountain in the middle of the yard and scooped up the bag of fish I’d stolen from the kitchen. The bag reeked and I lurched forward, holding my breath, but still much fresher than what Alizeh had been used to. Silvery-green scales chafed my hand as I pulled one out.
“Alizeh.”
She turned and clucked as I tossed the fish through the air, and she caught it with one gulp.
I held the bag out to my mother. “Here, you try. She’ll love you forever for it.”
My mother turned up her nose at the smell, but scrunched back the sleeve of her cloak and reached in. She glanced at me again, uncertainty in her eyes, but didn’t waver and threw the fish toward Alizeh with perfect aim. The bird caught the snack and cooed as she devoured the treat, then nudged her beak toward my mother, gently pushing her backward. My mother brushed the soft feathers between her big eyes.
“See. I told you she’d love you.”
“Speaking of love, have you figured out if you’re in love with that girl yet?”
I stared at our feet on the cobblestones, answering with my silence.
"And did you resolve your problems?”
"No. I haven't seen her since we last spoke. But I will. Next time I see her I'll make things right."
She clutched my arm near my shoulder and drew small circles with her thumb. “I don't doubt you will."
“Maybe you’ll meet her soon. The wise man at the temple is her father.”
“Ah.” She smiled, a warm knowing smile. “Maybe the rose wasn’t really for your father.”
“Alright, Mom, time to go.”
I helped her climb onto Alizeh’s back, her confidence growing slowly as she shifted and moved into position.
"I'll be back soon. Running the kingdom will be difficult for one person. Remember to ask the Council if you need anything."
"Everything will be fine. I've got this."
I stepped back to give them more space and yelled, "Alizeh, take her to the temple."
Alizeh spread her wings and within seconds they were soaring above the tops of the castle towers. I waved as they flew by, even though I doubted my mother would dare look down to see it.
The courtyard fell silent, just the babbling of the small garden fountains and the spring song of the birds in the trees. I took a deep breath, letting the fresh air in and felt it circulate through my veins. As I exhaled, some of the weight on my chest lifted, disappearing in the open breeze. I took my time heading back into the castle, but Griswold still met me at the door, as expected. He looked different to me now, knowing that he knew my secret for all these years and never once told me. Part of me was grateful for keeping things quiet, but another part still felt partly betrayed.
"My mother had to leave for a little while. If anyone needs anything, they can run it through me."
"Very good, sir." Griswold crossed his arms behind his back and nodded. "Is there anything I can do for you?”
"Not right now.” I yawned, the entire morning suddenly feeling like it had taken weeks. “I think I’m going to get some rest.”
I stumbled to my room, stripped off my jacket and collapsed onto my bed. My body sunk into the thick mattress as the soft sheets brushed against my skin. Shadows danced along the far wall as the afternoon sun peeked in and out of the clouds through my window. Each shape cast triggered a different thought in my brain. My father’s cage. The abandoned baby in the basket. The crown. My mother. Then just as my eyes closed and the light disappeared, a warm rush flowed through me. Emerald eyes sparkled in my mi
nd. A sarcastic smile on the reddest lips. Curves my hands ached to touch and follow wherever they might lead. One face above the rest.
Veda.
7
2nd June
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I rolled over and groaned.
"Who is it?" I called toward the closed door, not bothering to even sit up. Yesterday's clothes still clung to my body, now wrinkled after what appeared to be a full night's sleep by the way the red dawn shone a line of fire on my wall.
The door swung open without a response. Griswold hurried in and held the doorknob for the parade of servants to enter behind him.
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 the 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.
Fallon: Son of Beauty and the Beast (Kingdom of Fairytales Boxset Book 6) Page 16
