The Apathetic Knight

Chapter 10.1 - Cinder

Chapter 10 – Cinder

I shook the thoughts from my mind, going on my way to my work.

I stepped out of the room, and I glanced to the maid that was approaching. She bowed. "Greetings to your highness, the crowned prince, the growing fire of the empire."

I nodded. "You must be Alice."

"Ah, yes!" She said, bowing further. "I am honored you know my name, your highness! I was sent for?"

I nodded again. "Yes, that is my wife's chambers," I said, pointing to the room I'd just left. "She is very excited to see you."

She smiled, excusing herself and I heard my wife's excited cry when she stepped inside.

I smiled in spite of myself. She was such a child, and her age really showed when she got like this. Though, she was only fourteen, after all.

I shook my head, bringing myself out of my thoughts. I hated her childishness, but at the same time, there was an innocent charm about it.

I had heard that she had grown up rather sheltered, but was she just acting innocent? Or did she truly have no adult sense?

I walked down the hall and out to the banquet hall. Duke Severing perked up, noticing my entry, and he stood, coming and bowing before me.

"Greetings, your highness the crowned prince, and apologies for approaching so suddenly...I was wondering if I might receive some news about my daughter?"

I gave a nod, resting my arms behind my back as I stood at rest. "Hello, cousin," I said, cringing. "She is tired...and sore...but well enough. She is eating well, and has informed the chefs about her food preferences and allergies. She is well hydrated, and seems to be resting well. She has been given medication for her aches, and the doctor expects that she will make a full recovery within a week or so."

I could see vague relief cross his features, and I wondered how close they were for him to be so nonchalant about it despite how terrible condition she had been put in. "Thank you, your highness, for your vigilant care over her," he said. "I admit that I have been concerned."

"She is awake, now, if your family would like to visit her in her chambers. I am sure you can understand, she is not feeling well enough to attend meals outside of her chambers as of yet."

"Of course," He said, tone understanding. "Yes, I figured she must be too tired to be moving about at the moment. Oh, I have heard about the tournament that is taking place tomorrow," he said. "I wanted to ask you, if there was a limit to how many members of a family could participate?" He asked.

I startled. "Do you mean that you wish to join in the event, Duke Severing?"

He smiled, giving a bow. "I would be honored, your highness. If the tournament is in my daughter's honor, it is only right for me to participate, as her father."

I gave a small grin. I think I understood, somewhere in my mind, that it was more so to maintain his image. "Alright, but do be careful, father-in-law."

He blushed a bit, surprised by the title. "Oh, your highness, you flatter me!" He laughed.

I glanced over at the table, spotting Astaroth. "Brother-in-law," I waved him over, and he stood, making his way over to me. "You and your family are welcome to go and visit her, now," I told him. "She is awake, and would be thrilled to see you all."

He smiled but turned, looking away and trying to hide the grin, though his eyes were stormy and his brows furrowed in discomfort. I knew he was angry with me; I could feel it in his aura.

He was restraining himself.

I could see it there. I could see the hidden meaning behind his soft, tender smile, the longing look in his eyes.

I didn't say anything about it.

*

A few hours passed by, and I went to my chambers, washing my face and hands before I went to my wife's chambers.

Her family was also just arriving, and the maids were carrying trays of food inside while a couple of man-servants were bringing a larger table for us all to sit at together.

Her family spent a moment giving her hugs and asking her how she was feeling before we all sat down. They were all a bit surprised to see our food checked for poison, before we began eating.

I saw her brother's wife gape a bit. "Goodness..." She whispered. "That is...a bit disconcerting," she said softly. "Must you do that for each meal?" She asked.

I gave a firm nod. "It is important that we do so, or else we could have...an accident."

She gulped, swallowing thickly.

"We have lost several taste-testers in the past, so it is, unfortunately, a necessary precaution. It doesn't happen very often, but occasionally there are instances where it does."

"That's very scary," my mother-in-law said. "I cannot imagine having to have my food checked for poison for each meal..."

I shrugged it off. "After enough times, it becomes second nature. I hardly even notice it anymore. However, even if somehow, I managed to consume some poison, we of the royal family are trained in poison endurance from the time that we are small children, to build immunity. We must take small doses of many different poisons regularly to become familiar with them and to build a tolerance."

"That's so sad..." my wife whispered, a horrified look on her face. "You...you mean to say that as a young child, you lay in bed sick from poison many of your days?" She asked.

I looked down at my plate, sighing and closing my eyes. "As the wife of the Crowned prince, you will need to quickly adjust to the idea yourself, princess; for any children you bear for me will have to go through the same training."

She gaped at me in distraught terror, dropping her fork, and sat there staring at me with an utterly disgusted, horrified expression for a long time.

It became so stiff and awkward that even her family stopped eating, the air around us thick with tension.

"Your highness?" Seryn whispered into her ear.

"I...please, excuse me," she said, her voice strained as she stood. "I am suddenly not feeling well." She leaned into Seryn, whispering into his ear, and he nodded.

He led her by the arm to the curtained-off extra room attached to hers, and I knew that he was laying her down in his own bed to rest.

Astaroth's bride looked down, sad. "I am sorry...I hadn't meant to bring up a touchy subject matter."

I shook my head. "Please, do not concern yourself. It is a reality that she would have had to face, sooner or later. It simply hadn't been discussed until now, so she can get over it faster."

Duke Severing gave a solemn nod. "That much is true, at least."

I sighed. "Being a member of the royal family may come with great power and benefit...but it also comes with hefty responsibility and danger, as well."

Astaroth glanced toward the adjoined room. "I hate to see her in such a state..."

I nodded. "As I said...she would have had to get used to the idea sooner or later. As the crowned princess, the next in line to be the queen who will rule by my side once I become king...she will have to face many unpleasant truths. Truths that she will have to give her body up for me, bear children for me, raise them the way that princes and princesses are raised. It is the reality. She will just have to learn."

The rest of the meal was silent, and once they had finished, they went and gave her hugs, wishing her a good rest, before they left her chambers and the servants came in, cleaning everything up.

I peeked my head in to see Kynareth lying in bed, staring at the ceiling with a blank expression.

"They will wake you in the morning to get you prepared for the tournament and festival. I am sorry, wife, if what I said seemed harsh, but this is just how it is to be part of this family. I am sorry that you had to hear it like that."

"There would have been no good way to hear it," she said softly. "I am sorry, your highness, I would like to get some sleep now," she said as a servant brought her medications.

I nodded. "Of course. I will let you get to it, then."

*

The next morning came, and I got up early, bathing and getting dressed in my uniform and suit of armor.

Today, at least, should go better.

I tried, very diligently, to keep in mind that my wife was only a fourteen-year-old girl.

She was tender-hearted, young, naïve...innocent. I had been surprised to learn that the knights of the Severing duchy had been so careless about her, but she had been well loved by her family, and had been cared for well by one of her maids, at least. She may have been sheltered, but she was loved.

She had been brought up properly as the daughter of a duke. She had been ignorant of how things worked outside of her world.

When I was finished dressing, the maids came in, letting me know that my father had called for me.

I sighed, making my way to his office, and he sat there, hands clasped together with elbows on his desk, chin resting on the back of his hands, looking contemplative.

"I called you here because I have neglected to inform you of part of your obligations," he told me. I startled, giving him a confused expression, and he explained. "Tonight, you will stay in the bridal chamber with your bride."

"What?" I asked, appalled. "Father, she isn't even healed from—"

"I don't mean that," he waved it off quickly. "As the crowned prince, you are obligated to spend one night with her each week, at the least. You don't even have to perform intercourse...right now. Technically, you are not obligated to produce an heir until your coronation, or...if something directly happens to me."

I gaped at him. "So...the consummation--?"

"That was a symbolic, traditional obligation, yes, but until your coronation, you are not required to have intercourse with her. You are, however, required to stay the night, in the same bed, in the same room, with her."

I groaned, sighing. "Father, this is unreasonable—"

"Unreasonable?" He gawked at me. "It is unreasonable to ask you to spend one night a week in the same bed as your wife?" He asked.

I looked away, uncomfortable, before I gave a slight bow. "I knew you had mentioned this before, but I didn't think you were going to really enforce it. I already eat every meal with her—"

"So, sleeping in the same bed with her won't be much more to add," he said. "It is not negotiable."

I sighed, but I gave a bow. "At your command, father," I said softly, turning and walking out of his office.

I felt completely hopeless. This girl could barely handle being in my presence as it were, but to subject her to such...intimately close behavior?

I wasn't sure how she would respond to such a thing.

Tonight, I would be made to stay in the bridal chambers with her. Willing or not, it was a command from the king.

I sighed heavily, regretting this already.

This poor girl...

She was going to be terrified, and I couldn't bring myself to be happy about it.

I strode through the halls, and I saw the group of maids leading Kynareth out of her chambers as I arrived to escort her to the event.

She looked beautiful, with her hair in a braided bun, bangs swept to the sides and pinned back, no makeup on her face...not that she even needed it. She had clear, smooth skin and a pretty, pale-peach complexion.

She wore a traditional gown in her favorite color, and I smirked as I recognized it; I was the one who'd had it prepared for her. I had spent some time pouring over fabrics and materials to have her some new clothes made for palace life about a month prior to the wedding ceremony. I'd send for her measurements from her maids and everything.

I was glad to see that the fabric seemed to suit her well.

She glanced at me, and though her body trembled lightly, she took my offered arm without any hesitation, at least.

I glanced down at her. "You look lovely, wife," I told her.

She blushed, glancing up to meet my gaze. "Thank you, your highness." She looked me up and down. "You look dashing," she complimented.

I chuckled. "Thank you."

We walked through the halls, making our way out to the long, vast pavilion behind the palace that led out to a large stadium.

Along the pavilion, there were small shops and stands set up, already in full-operation, festivities already beginning as people purchased festival treats and breakfast foods.

"Have you eaten?" I asked her, and she shook her head. "I see. I thought not. Would you fancy something?"

She glanced around, taking in the food options. Seryn trotted closer to her.

"My liege," he said, pointing out a stand in particular. She looked at the stand, observing, before her face lit up in excitement.

"Sticky-buns!" She smiled brightly, tugging me toward the stand. I watched, amused, as she pulled me to the stand and beamed an adorable puppy-dog expression up at me. I gave a small scoffing-laugh, pulling out some coins and purchasing a couple of sticky-buns and handing them to her. She took them with a positively enrapturing grin of joy, chomping into them without preamble.

Seryn leaned to whisper into my ear. "She only gets these once a year, so it is a particularly special treat that she adores."

I glanced at him, and he gave me a smile and a polite, small bow. I gave him a nod, appreciating the explanation,

I felt my face heat a bit as I watched her suck the icing off of her fingers, and I swallowed, looking ahead of us.

As we walked toward the stadium, she was rather interested in several small games, including a dart-throwing game, and a game that tested how hard you could slam down a mallet.

She also rather enjoyed a doll stand, gazing with fondness at the selection of dolls on display.

There was a stuffed fox doll that she seemed particularly interested in, and as she gazed at the stand, I whispered to Seryn to take her on ahead as I held back, buying the doll she had loved the most, and hiding it in my arm beneath my cape before I caught up to her.

Why was I doing this?

Was it because she reminded me of a young child, with her eyes lighting up so brightly over a mere doll?

Why was I buying this for her and doing something I normally wouldn't do?

For a girl that I hated?

We finally reached the stadium, and we took our seats in the Imperial box across the stadium from the King and Queen's imperial box.

The imperial box was a specially-built-in viewing area, built specifically for the King and Queen, and the Crowned Prince and Princess.

Until this tournament, I had always just taken a seat among the other nobles, alongside my brother and sister.

This year, however, since I was newly married, Kynareth and I would be taking our place in the box meant for us.

We got seated, and waited for the people to get seated and for the event to kick off.

Seryn leaned forward between the two of us so that both of us could hear. "I shall go and sign in and prepare for the tournament, my lady," he said.

She had him kneel before her, and tied a ribbon to the hilt of his sword, as was tradition. "Be safe out there," she smiled. "Please, give these two to my father and brother?" She asked.

He gave her a nod, before he looked to me. "I shall see you in the finals, your highness?" He asked, a cocky grin on his face.

I laughed. "Yes, I will be there."

It was tradition, for the final act of the competition, for the winner of all of the battles to have a friendly duel with the Crowned Prince. If he was victorious, he would win a title and land. If he didn't win, he would still be recognized as the winner of the other competitions and receive a chest of gold, so even if they didn't receive a formal title, they'd have enough to buy a decent house and possibly a little bit of land.

He went on down to the waiting area for the fighters, and we saw her father and brother arrive there as well.

An announcer came out into the middle of the field. "Your majesties, the King and Queen," he addressed first, before turning to our box. "Your highnesses, the Crowned Prince and Princess, I offer you all my greetings!" The crowd erupted into cheer before he got them to settle. "I welcome you all to today's special tournament, in honor of the Crowned Prince and his new bride! As games and markets happen along the pavilion, today our battles will happen in three parts! First, we shall have the jousting competition. The winner will be allowed to ask for a kiss on the cheek from the Crowned Princess, and to ask for one prize within her ability to grant!" He paused as the jousters rushed out onto the field, and then...

The hush.

I leaned over to my bride as she watched on in innocent ignorance. "Princess," I whispered as she gazed around. "Clap your hands."

"Oh!" She whispered back, looking back down to the field.

She lifted her hands, and she gave a strong, loud clap, before the stadium roared with cheer as the horses began to charge at one another.

We watched twenty sets of jousting before we got to the final two competitors, and when there was a winner, the winner entered the stairwell that led up to the stadium seating, before he climbed his way up to our viewing box.

"It is an honor, princess," the man said, kneeling before her.

She smiled, giving a small curtsy before she leaned down, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Congratulations," she said. "What request might you have to ask of me today?"

He wrung his hands nervously. "I would ask you to grant me a title and knighthood, your highness."

She glanced back at me, and I smiled. "You are allowed to grant that," I informed her. "There is, however, only one rank that you can give. It is the lowest, but it is still a nobility ranking."

She nodded, turning her attention back to the man, and I handed her my sword.