14- Personal Affairs

Prince Nicholas wouldn't stop pacing back and forth outside his father's study. After the new Gaston had told him, he could barely lay his head to rest. The young prince found it funny that his father was going to get shallow and marry him off just to keep him from ascending the throne. That had to be the old man's plan. He scoffed. If he had to battle the strongest Vampire in the Kingdom, he was going to do so till his last breath. He was the rightful heir and so his father had no right marrying him off to another kingdom.
"When will he be out?" Prince Nicholas turned to Gaston, the frown etched on his face deepening. He needed to see the old man right away to set things straight.
"Information getting to me... The king should be done with his meeting in two or three hours from now."
"What?" Without thinking, prince Nicholas pushed open the door revealing the King and other high commissioners seated in a round table. "I need to see you father."
"It can wait. I'm having an important meeting which cannot be pushed over for frivolous matters."
The prince gave a dramatic laugh. "We need to speak about you marrying me off to another kingdom."
This stunned the council of commissioners. Murmurs broke out between them trying to process what they had just heard from the prince. The king sighed, shaking his head a little. Didn't his son understand there were topics not to be discussed in public, especially the council.
"Nicholas, personal affairs remain private. We can discuss this later."
King Eric was perplexed on how the information got to son. He was saving the conversation for later because he had more important things to settle with the other kingdom. It had to be one of the nosey workers in the palace running off to tell his son.
"I demand to see you now, father!"
His father gave an eye then using a finger, he signaled to one of the guards in the study. Two guards appeared on each side of the prince in no time. Each one, holding him from his shoulders and carrying him out of the study. All the protest and shouts of the prince were ignored and Gaston just stood by the door waiting to receive him. There was nothing he could do as the orders came from the king. When they got out, they threw him to the floor not caring he was the heir and shut the door ensuring to lock it with the keys.
Annoyed, the Prince stood and started to bang on the door. Each punch at the door was harder than the other but his father simply ignored him. "I demand to see you, father!" His fist continued to hit the huge wooden door of his father's study.
At the sound of a click from the door knob, prince Nicholas stopped hitting the door and stood before the door waiting for the door to open and get ushered in. Instead, as soon as the door was opened, the prince was bundled by two of his father's guards again. This time, he took him towards another path.
"Let go of me!" He struggled to get out of their grasp. He had tried all he could to get them to release him but they just wouldn't let him go. "Gaston, do something!!"
Gaston was following closely behind and responded; "I'm sorry, your majesty. There's nothing I can do." He ended up shaking his head helplessly even though the prince couldn't see him. If there was one thing Gaston had learned from the stay in the place was never to challenge superior authority. He was mandated to protect the prince but he kneeled better than to challenge the king's orders.
"Where the hell are you taking me to?!"
The guards remained silent taking him to where the king had instructed.Soon they were underground at the dungeon. The guards pushed the prince into the cell and locked him in.
Prince Nicholas didn't stop yelling, shaking the gates of the prison cell. "Get me out of here you moron!!"
Heaving a sigh, Gaston said, "I don't have the keys."
"Shit!" The prince cussed, stomping his foot like a kid denied candy. "I can't stay here. I shouldn't be here."
From a corner of the dungeon, a crackle sounded mocking the prince. Few hours ago, the prince was intimidating them and now he was a fellow prisoner. This was a drama they didn't get regularly down here, one of the prisoners thought.
"Get me out of here, Gaston." The prince brought out a soft tone. "Please."
The loyal guard nodded to his master and exited the dungeon going to find ways his master could get out of the hell hole he was in.
Agitated, Nicholas ran a hand in his hair and gave an exasperated sigh. His father was delusional to have given orders for his guards to keep him in such a filthy place. He moved father from the gate when his eyes caught on a rat making its way into his prison cell. The rodent moved to a small heap of dried bones going around to get something to eat.
One thing prince Nicholas was glad about was that he was here during the day. He couldn't imagine having to stay here at night.
"Your Majesty, have you come to join your subjects?" The same crackle followed after causing the prince to get angry all over again.
"Shut up, you bastard!" Nicholas muttered. A loud cry from his cell startled the prince. Realizing he wasn't alone, he moved far away from the corners of the prisoner cell, standing by the gate where light was. He tried to make out the figure in the shadow but he just couldn't fully picture whoever it was lurking in the shadows.
He mustered enough courage and brought out in a thunderous voice, "come forth." He tried his best to sound fierce but he didn't think it was convincing enough. It could be a ferocious killer imprisoned in the dungeon and here he was sharing a prison cell with a killer. The killer was just one step away from obliterating him, this made his heart palpitate.
Slowly, a werewolf whimpered forward, her hands on her chest trying to protect her child. "Your Highness. " She whispered when she came forward.
A gasp went past the prince's lips when he realized it was the prisoner from the night before. The baby in the werewolf's arms howled again causing her mother to pat her back. The werewolf tried to get her daughter to stop her howling by rocking and patting her back even though the lullaby she was whispering didn't work. Usually, she stopped crying a few minutes whenever she heard her favorite lullaby but the young child wouldn't just quit wailing. This irked her mother who was trying to keep her safe.
Her eyes flickered from the prince to her baby everyone and then. At night, he came to see the child and now he was in the same prison cell with her. Was this a trick to collect her child? One thing the mother was sure about was that she was going to defend her child till her last breath. There was no way they were going to separate her from her child. Her one and only true love was lied to and all she had left was a piece of him in her daughter. She had sworn with her entire existence she was going to protect her daughter, an evidence of the forbidden love she and her husband shared.
"Do you have a name?"
Silently, she scoffed. Of course she had a name. Everyone did. "Beth."
The prince nodded, eyeing with scrutiny how the mother pacified her child. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry, your majesty. She's just cranky today."
"Can I see her?"
Beth moved farther from him crawling back to the shadows with her wailing child.
"I won't hurt her." He assured me. "I promise."
Beth remained in the shadows, trying to get her daughter to stop wailing. The poor kid had a fever and there was nothing her mother could do. She felt so helpless not being able to help her child. There was no way she could get any medicine being a prisoner. They only ate once a day, eating the leftovers of the royal family. Sometimes, the maids forgot to get food to them and if anyone was sick they left them to die. They'd ask for their favorite meal to appease their spirit and wait till he transitioned to the great beyond.
"She's got a fever."
As if on cue, Gaston joins them. "There was nothing I could do, prince Nicholas. I'm sorry."
"Gaston," the prince started. "I need you to get the best doctors in the whole kingdom. This child is sick and I need the best doctors treating her. Nothing must go wrong. I want the best of the best."
Gaston nodded.
"Now!" Gaston parted his lips to speak but the prince countered, reiterating, "I need them now."
"Your majesty, you're going to be here all alone." He pointed at nowhere in particular.
"Get the doctors now!' The prince's thunderous voice sent Gaston flying the flight of stairs almost immediately.
*****
Beth had finally gotten her child to sleep. She remained in the shadows far away from the prince and he respected that. Gaston wasn't back with the doctors and it bothered prince Nicholas. It was important that Beth and her child were alive, they were the only evidence his theories were correct.
"I thought by now you'd understand that personal affairs stay private." The king announced his presence in the dungeon.
"I respected that rule well enough till my father decided to marry me off.
"It was your guard wasn't it?" The king chuckled. "Garrick."
"Gaston." Prince Nicholas corrected his father.
King Eric walked round then peered into one of the prison cells. "This place needs to be renovated. Unfortunately, it will be done after your wedding ceremony. I also have other pressing matters to attend to at this time."
"You're trying to marry me off so you can have the throne all to yourself, isn't it?"
"I am trying to marry you off because no one would want to marry a weak man." His father corrected sternly.
"I am not weak!"
The king got before his son. The heir apparent to the throne was standing on the other side of the prison cell denied his freedom. His shining black hair was disheveled from him running his hand in his hair. He had rolled up the sleeves of his royal attire and it was impossible not to see the tired look plaster on his features.
"It's the fairies." Prince Nicholas narrowed his eyes. "You're marrying me off to the fairy kingdom?"
With a wave of hand, the king dismissed both guards that were with him. When he was left alone with his son in the dungeon, he started. "Long before I was born, the vampire and the werewolf kingdom were always at war. Both kingdoms were just too invested in being the strongest of all. Growing up, I watched my father send soldiers to the other kingdom giving orders to wipe out the entire kingdom. As always, they countered. Fighting back and getting allied with other kingdoms."
The prince nodded, listening to his father's tale.
"When my father passed away, I took the mantle and both kingdoms continued to be at loggerheads. The occasional war destroys the world. Being older, I've had some time to reflect on my life and the world. The kingdom deserves better. Both kingdoms deserve better. The long-standing war between our kingdom and the werewolf kingdom has caused us to lose a lot of lives. We lost your mother during one of the wars." King paused for a moment, remembering how his wife was slain with a sword by one of the werewolf soldiers. It was something he never recovered from. He had to take care of his son all alone since he was twelve.
"I have met with King Francis and we've agreed to sign a treaty to put a stop to the long-standing war between our kingdoms."
"If it involves me getting married to his daughter, I'm out of it."
"Princess Laura would be delighted to see you."
"I refuse to be a part of this madness."
"You both will make cute children." The king gave a grin and started to make his way out. Then he turned around, "I can't wait to have my very own grandchildren running around in the palace."