PRICE OF ROYALTY

14. Seer

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THEO’S POV

She annoyed me and my utter revulsion for her, had surpassed anything I’ve ever felt. She made me feel a kind of hatred I had never felt for anyone before and her sassy mouth knew just what to say to undo all the buttons of control I had sewn on my emotions.

With my gaze trained on the women dancing seductively and almost completely naked a few paces away from me, I took another sip of the liquor. This specific house of amusement was where the rich and the noble ran to find pleasure and spend a few gold coins. Owned by Lord Akas, it earned him quite a substantial amount of gold every day, easily making him one of the wealthiest men of Varci. It had been not less than three hours since I left the feast but all I could think of was that princess who thought she had everything in her control. She acted as though she could have the entire kingdom in her palm if she wanted to.

“I had a feeling I’d find you here, bastard,” I groaned at the sound of that voice. Here was another person I could not stand and calling me bastard, really? That was so old even for him.

“Fabian,” He joined me, much to my displeasure.

“Not so much fan of the new Queen too, huh?” He watched my face with keen interest, trying to read my thoughts but I was clever enough to hide behind a blank expression. Around royals, one could never be more careful.

“Are you here to drink? Or to take the w****s home Fabian? Or are you just here because you have no one to listen to your childish whining back at the palace?”

His face flushed red but I could care less. Taking another sip, I let my gaze fall on the women again. No, I was not here to take any woman to my abode but the drinks were too much of high quality to miss them.

“I may be childish but I have acres of lands and a title to my name. What do you have? Father may have taken pity on you enough to legitimize you but all you have to your name is that shack you used to live with your mother before she died. You are basically able to walk in the palace hallways only because of my brother’s favor,” That was not something I had not heard before and so just like I was accustomed to, I ignored him, paid for my drink and walked out, making my way back to my home. Nothing Fabian said got to me but with each taunt he brought on my face, I liked him even less.

The sky was clear, painted with stars, and around me were drunk men tottering out of taverns as they laughed. A few others fought on the street while others were already passed out on the streets. Why would they take liquor their bodies could not handle? Shaking my head at how pathetic they looked, I resumed my walk, enjoying the silence of the night. It was silence like this that I needed in my life but then my mind had to switch back to her. She was indeed beautiful; more attractive than any woman I had ever laid my eyes on but Elizabeth was too witty for her own good. I was going to put her in her place if she did not learn the art of keeping her snarky lips sealed around me. Her words floated in my brain.

“Do you really believe that Theo? Do you truly feel that you are not an illegitimate child even though you’ve been legitimized?”

I hated that she was right. Being legitimized had not stopped people from looking at me like I was still a pathetic little bastard.  As a matter of fact, all they saw in me was a just a weak man that the king pitied enough to legitimize so he could have a surname; a royal surname. Damn the gods for making me look like a weak man before the people with nothing to his name.

The moment I graced the palace gates, I was met by the king himself. He was talking to a group of guards but when he saw me, relief became evident on his features as he hurried toward me.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you,” Leon spoke.

“Is there a problem?” I questioned, my body alert while my palm rested on my sheathed sword.

“Relax brother. There is no problem. Can’t I just find my brother for a late night drink?” He questioned.

“A late night drink? It’s almost midnight Leon. We can do this tomorrow,”

“Come on. Have a drink with me in my chambers and we could talk. It’s been days since we sat together to exchange bits about wars and other things. I miss my brother,” He patted my shoulder.

“I supposed I could use one more drink before I retire the night,” I answered with a slight smirk.

“I’m the luckiest king alive, you know,” he snuck a glance at me as we paraded in the hallway, heading to his chambers.

“Why would you say that?” He better not be giving me the tale about his beautiful bride. I was really not in the mood to hear him gush over his Queen like she was the rarest gemstone in all the kingdoms. Her beauty was unrivaled for sure but Leon needed to live in reality.

“I have a brother I can count on and adding to that, I now have a Queen I can trust with my own life,”

“No offense brother, but how can you trust her? She is from our enemy kingdom. Garcia has been trying to overtake us for many years,” I pointed out.

“I do get your disconcert Theo but I’ll all explain in it once we get in my chambers,” He answered.

The second we set foot in his chambers, he dismissed all the guards and sealed the door leaving me confused. What could be of such utter importance to him enough to get him to be so much on guard?

“Brother?” I called.

“I know you do not want to talk about her but she was more of a mother to me than my own mother ever was,”

“Why are we speaking of my mother Leon? What has she got to do with why you trust your Queen with so much intensity?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Your mother was a seer and we both know that,”

“No, my mother was just an over imaginative woman that was foolish enough to lie to people about seeing the future when that was humanly impossible!” He knew broaching the subject of my mother like that never sat well with me. It was a painful memory I hated talking about or even remembering.

“This may be the last thing, you’d want to hear but your mother was really a seer and I believe her death was of no natural causes. She prophesied that I would be betrothed to a woman with the fiery hair and Elizabeth’s hair is the color of blazing fire. She said that the Queen would be the greatest Queen of all time and she would bridge the connection between the common people and the royals. She would change the rules of Royalty Theo. Elizabeth is the queen I’ve been looking for, prophesied and she was delivered right into my arms,”

“It may have escaped your mind though, bust she also said I would father a king and do you really think that is even in the slightest possible? I may be legitimized but I’m still a bastard with nothing to my name,” I pointed out, trying to make his see the things for exactly what they were. And who would even believe that Elizabeth would be the greatest queen of all time when I doubted if she could make through the first year with her head intact when she had the knack of calling trouble with her sharp tongue?

“Maybe because she knew you were meant to marry a Queen. Speaking of Queens, I have two of them lined up for you. Mayra of Garcia is going to be Queen after her father and there are no proposals for her as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

“Mayra? Elizabeth’s half-sister? Are you mad? You expect the people of Garcia to actually want a man from their enemy kingdom to rule their kingdom? You’ve really gone bonkers this time,” I chuckled, wondering what had gotten into his head.

“How about Queen Dianah of Sorem? Her husband died in battle and she is only twenty-one, the same age as you, and has no children. Once the mourning period is over, I will send a betrothal proposal and-“

“I do appreciate your affection for my mother and how you truly want to prove she was not a lying person with only the intention to scam people for just a few pieces of gold without thinking the effect that would have on his son but this is my reality. Deal with it,”

“All this…hatred and negativity you have against her, it’s not healthy. She loved you as much as any mother would and she was not a liar. Everything she ever did was because she loved you Theo and I truly wish that one day someone will just open your eyes to that truth,”

“Are we really here for the drinks or is it just you calling me here to taunt me about my past?” He sighed when I snapped.

“I did not mean to upset you, Theo. Let’s drink the night away and pray that morning brings something new with it,” he half-smiled.