The Lost Heiress Of Ladin

Chapter 3

The sun eventually returned to hiding, setting in the west and casting darkness over the lands. The night sky over Ladin was filled with stars and a bright silvery moon such that the entire castle seemed to glow with the light from windows and open doors.

The courtroom, served two purposes for the Royal family. It was also the dinning hall. King Edward had returned safely from his hunting trip and now it was time for dinner. The three members of the Royal Castle sat in silence eating slowly from the sumptuous banquet prepared for them.

“I learned that you lost three knights today” Queen Rowan was unable to deal with the silence and decided to strike a conversation with the king.

King Edward looked up from his food and nodded at his wife. His tense expression immediately softening. Like his wives, King Edward was a handsome man. While he wasn’t as cold as Queen Nevaeh, they actually shared more similarities between them than he shared with Queen Rowan. For example, his eyes, mannerisms and unconscious gestures radiated great power and authority. It seemed to be a natural thing for anyone raised in a Royal house.

“Yes, we happened to come across a few savage bears.” He replied without going into too much details about the issue. He was not usually silent during dinner but what happened on his hunting trip today was beyond bizarre.

Bears were solitary creatures, yet today three of them worked together to attack him and each of them seemed to be seriously agitated for some reason. It was thanks to the Royal Guards he brought with him that he could come back alive, unfortunately, three of them lost their lives.

What annoyed him the most was that at the end of the day, they hadn’t managed to kill the bears! They killed his knights and before the knights could do them any substantial damage, they escaped.

Queen Rowan could tell that her husband was not in the mood for a conversation so she decided not to press on about what happened on the hunting trip. Taking a glance at Queen Nevaeh, she was not surprised to find how unfazed the latter was. Neither the death of three knights nor whatever danger the king faced interested her. She just quietly ate her food.

Feeling a strong sense of crises, Queen Rowan decided to use the king’s power to bring down Queen Nevaeh. After arranging her thoughts, she spoke up again.

“The Great Queen ordered the whipping of all the Council members today. It has caused quite a stir in the city as never before has nobility had to go through such I’ll treatment” she talked like she was just relating some events and not reporting Queen Nevaeh’s actions in the king’s absence.

“Even the Royal Guards who lost their Captain are getting agitated.” She added.

“Lost their Captain? What happened to Sir Freeborn?” King Edward asked startled by the report. Was there an attack on his castle? Who would dare do such a thing?

“He disobeyed an order from me, so I ordered his death” Queen Nevaeh replied impassively.

“How dare you!” King Edward slapped the table in annoyance causing the dishes to bounce almost splashing soup on the face of Queen Neveah who was still eating. Fortunately, she seemed to have expected it and she sat upright at the same time avoiding the splash.

“Watch yourself My King. It would be unpleasant for the servants of the castle to see the man they adore give way to emotions of fury and rage” Queen Nevaeh’s head turned slowly too her husband and for the first time rage burned in her eyes. Her expression turned ruthless as the coldness in it disappeared.

“You killed my Guard Captain neglecting the safety of this Castle and you ask me to watch myself?” King Edward was still furious. He had yet to realize that he was projecting the happenings of his hunting trip to Queen Nevaeh. By law, she had acted well within her rights!

“I will not tolerate this King Edward. Not disobedience from a guard Captain nor embarrassment in front of a merchants daughter!” Queen Nevaeh looked away from him and continued to eat.

“SHE IS MY WIFE!” King Edward lost his cool at that comment and slammed the table again this time managing to get soup on Queen Nevaeh’s face. The room seemed to pause as he realized what just happened.

Queen Rowan smiled proudly feeling good about herself while Nevaeh slowly picked up the cloth beside her plate to clean her face.

“Sleep well King Edward” she rose and bowed to the King before walking towards the door.

“Nevaeh” King Edward called, his tone gentler. But she continued to ignore him and walked out of the room. His eyes turned to Queen Rowan who had retuned to eating her food.

“You have no idea what women from Idor are like. Ladin cannot stop their Large Shield infantry troops. If you continue this, you will destroy both this kingdom and our lives.” He tried to warn Queen Rowan but she wasn’t paying him much attention.

“I didn’t say a word to her” Queen Rowan replied pointing out that King Edward was the one who humiliated Queen Nevaeh.

By now, the servants and guards around were trembling in fear. They knew they could be killed for what they just witnessed to prevent the spread of the news that the king had shouted at Queen Nevaeh and spilled soup on her face. It was too much humiliation for the Great Queen.

King Edward was stumped by her words and a sigh escaped his lips as he lost his appetite. He rose from the table and walked out returning to his Chambers. A moment later, an older man entered and stood quietly by the door watching King Edward who was standing in the middle of the room while in thought.

“Queen Nevaeh was different today” Edward turned around to the older man and told him everything that happened in the dinning hall earlier.

“There was something different in the way she looked at me, her eyes were…” her stopped for a lack of expression.

“We were facing a war with Icar when your father Eddard Chrome sought you the daughter of Idor for marriage. Idor honored us with the hands of the second princess but over time you have dishonored her and Idor. The only reason we have peace now is because people fear Idor not us. Forgive me for being blunt but if they learn of your treatment of Queen Nevaeh, they will gather their army against us without hesitation. The Kingdom of Idor will not honor the king who continues to insult them” the older man shook his head at King Edward who let out a sigh.

“I don’t love her Uncle” King Edward looked up at him.

“Do you really think the Great Queen cares about your love? Edward you have grown arrogant” the Grand Duke sighed in disappointment.

“For nine years you have caused her humiliation and pain. That’s not because you do not love her, I know you harbor no hatred for her, but aside from you and I, no one else believes that. The Great Queen especially does not. Today, she was testing you, not only did you fail, you failed by a slide. She was not expecting that. Whatever happens next in your house will be what anyone will remember you for. Of all the kings to have ruled Ladin, you are the most foolish” the Grand Duke walked out of the king’s chamber immediately after, but he did not head home. Instead he headed for Queen Nevaeh.

King Edward stood rooted to his spot after the Grand Duke left. He would never have thought that his Uncle felt so strongly about this issue.

“Guard!” he called aloud.

“My King!” A guard entered and bowed low to him.

“Bring me the most informed person in the castle, I want to learn all about the experience of Queen Nevaeh.”

***

Queen Nevaeh was once again seated before her mirror when the Grand Duke knocked on her doors. With a signal from her, one of the maids stepped forward and opened it letting the old man into her chambers. The door was left open to prevent the spread of rumors which seemed to be the best feature of the castle servants.

“You are a man of great insight, Grand Duke. You should know better than to stand against me now. Nothing you say will change the events of the following days. History, will remember this period of your nephew’s rule” Queen Nevaeh did not wait for him to speak before she did.

“He is your husband too” the Grand Duke replied softly.

“Yes, a mistake by my father. We heard tales of the great Prince Edward Chrome who had respect and love for the lowliest of his subjects. There are so few noblemen of honor. Despite being the Prince of a lowly kingdom, my father saw honor in him, and I became his wife. This will be recorded as the greatest mistake of Idor. My father’s good name will be stained with this bad decision. So I will color it in gold once again. I have respect for you, do not spill your own blood in my chambers”

Realizing that the Great Queen had already made the assessment she needed, the old man sighed once more and left her chambers. He regretted not being at that dinner. Queen Nevaeh had given them one last chance, not to love her but to respect her, from her words of reminder it was clear. Usually she would tolerate injustice, but at the table she reminded King Edward to honor her. The old man found it difficult to fathom why the usually intelligent king did not notice those odd sounding words from the quiet Great Queen. Now he could only hope that her heart was as kind as it was years ago before she married the king.

One may wonder why he didn’t consider taking any action against her. The reason was very simple, to Idor, Ladin was a playground!

**

After listening to the reports of all that Queen Neveah had to suffer since getting married to him, King Edward finally realized he had a major problem on his hands. He understood why his Uncle was so disappointed in him and why he judged him to be the most foolish king. His heart thumped in his chest in fear. What would happen if this news made it back to Idor? He didn’t dare to think about it.

He decided to go to see Queen Nevaeh and profess love to her but he paused. After nine years? He tried to out himself in her position, would a confession of love change anything? It would only cause irritation and anger!

Regardless, he needed to at least talk and apologize. So he got ready to head to her chambers. He had only gotten up from his seat when three guards burst through the doors.

“My Lord, it’s Queen Rowan” the guard announced and at this time the castle bells started ringing very loudly causing King Edward to freeze in place.