The dream

“Mom! Mom! Screamed a young Brock who was running towards his mother as he had sighted her talking to one of the maids at the extreme end of another corridor. He wanted to report Maggi to her because she wouldn’t let him play outside in the rain. Brock recollected his young self-calling out to his mother as he ran across the long corridor.

Loud footsteps could be heard chasing after him as a voice called out to him telling him to stop running and wait for her. In his memory Brock noticed that he picked up his pace as he forced his tired legs to run faster on hearing the woman’s words.

He didn’t want to stop running and be forced to go back to the lesson room to listen to Mr. Reginald with his screwed up face that was always looking at him in displeasure. His young brain didn’t want to sit still and listen to him talk for an hour about war and politics. Even now he could hear the husky voice of Mr. Reginald scolding him for his little antics in his mind.

Maggi was the nanny assigned to look after Brock and the new born twins Daniel and Daniella who were just one year at the time. She continued to chase after the young prince who had mischievously escaped from his lessons with Reginald on the guise that he wanted to check up on his siblings whom he heard crying in the nursery.

Mr. Reginald didn’t hear the cries of the babies but after much persuasion by Brock who promised to sit still after checking up on his siblings, he agreed. Maggi was then told to escort him to the nursery which was just two rooms away from where Brock was receiving his lessons.

Just as they stepped outside the room and took five steps forward, Brock suddenly sprinted into a run. At first Maggi thought that he was excited to see his siblings whom he was obsessed with since their birth. But her face scrunched up into a frown when she saw him running towards the opposite direction away from the nursery.

“Hey! The nursery is not that way Maggi said at the top of her voice so that Brock could hear her as he was quite a few distance from her as she sprinted toward him in a chase.

“I want to play outside! I don’t want to listen to Mr. Reginald’s boring lessons” came Brock’s reply.

Maggi called out to him promising to take him outside once the rain stops so that they could play with Malachi and Leo” she said trying to entice him with his favorite pets but it seems like Brock was not buying it.

“Careful my sweet boy” said his mother as she walked towards him wondering what was chasing him this late afternoon. She had sighted him from a distance as she talked with one of the maid and decided to see what was going on.

Brock on seeing his mother ran faster to meet her. Queen Malti then took him up into her arms and gave him a tight hug. “Why are you running across the hall without your nanny?” his mother questioned.

Just then Maggi appeared from the corner of the hall running towards them almost out of breath. From the look of things it seems that Maggi was finding it difficult to keep up with the energetic Brock and had been running after him as if they were in a game of chase thought Queen Malti.

“Greetings your Majesty” Maggi bowed her head in greeting while huffing for air as she had been trying to catch up with Brock.

To Maggi, taking care of Brock and the twins was proving to be a lot more than she had expected. The children were very energetic and seems to want to play all day. She worried that she might not have the energy to play catch all day.

“Greetings Maggi” Queen Malti acknowledged her presence with a smile.

“Are you having trouble with the young prince?” asked Queen Malti with a knowing look. Maggi was about to respond when Brock beat her to it.

“Mom!” Brock tugged at his mom’s skirt to get her attention. Queen Malti turned her attention back to her son to see what he wanted to say.

“I want to play in the rain but Maggi won’t let me” said Brock to his mother. On hearing this Queen Malti shook her head in amusement at her stubborn son. She knew that Brock could be very insistent when he wanted something.

“But, you are supposed to be with Reginald for your lessons, son” Queen Malti said as she noticed the slight frown that decorated her son’s face. She smiled at his expression before returning her gaze to Maggi.

“Tell Mr. Reginald that I send my apologies for Brock’s behaviour and hope he can let it slide today” she said to Brock’s dismay, as his eyes became watery with tears. She noticed the disappointed look on Brock’s face before adding.

“Also, tell him that the lesson can be continued tomorrow as I would like to spend some time to bond with my son” his mother said as Maggi bowed her head and asked to be excused to go relay the message to a not so pleased Mr. Reginald.

As soon as Maggi left, Queen Malti turned her gaze back to her son. She looked at him with tendered eyes and a kind smile on her face.

“You’ll catch a cold if you play outside the rain” she said as she began to walk back toward the nursery where the twins were.

“You don’t want to fall sick do you?” She asked, and Brock shook his head. He hated falling sick as he couldn’t have his favourite meal nor play with his favourite siblings as he was always very weak, when sick.

Brock remembered that back then as a little boy of about five years old, he was way happier compared to his teenage years. He had a close bond with his mother and relied more on her than on his father.

As he became a teenage, everything changed as he was saddled with more and more responsibility of the kingdom. Although, his face was not exposed to the public as was the tradition of the Zaza’s Royal Family. It did not diminish his role within the royal family.

His hidden identity came in handy when he joined the royal military without anyone knowing that the crown prince was in their midst except for a few high ranking officers. Body guards were stationed at the military base to protect him from a distance and only in dire situation.

This allowed Brock to mingle freely among the soldiers without favoritism. He endured hard training in his early days and was trained in both the use of guns, swords and martial art. All this had left a great deal of stress on him as he was only eighteen at the time.

All was going smoothly for close to two years as he was almost through with his military trainings and had been promoted to the rank of captain. It was then that his sister Daniella visited him with her friend, Rose Belmoth.

Rose took an instant liking to Brock and was smitten by his handsome looks. Brock initially brushed off her flirting with him and her words of liking him, dismissing it as mere teenage fantasies that would soon fade away. As he was almost twenty at the time and Rose being just the same age with Melissa.

If only he had known that this fantasy would cause him much problem later in life, he might not have entertained her and would have instructed Daniella to stop bringing her along with her whenever she was came to visit him.

“Sir, we have arrived” his driver and personal body guard, Paul said. His words pulling him back to reality.

He exhaled as if letting out an invincible weight off his chest. He took a moment longer before he pulled the car door open and stepped out.