The ruthless king and his long lost love

Chapter 6: Phillip

After we got back nothing has felt the same. I’ve felt more energized than I have in a long time, and the time has flown by. Rynn was swept away by my mother as soon as we reached the palace gate. Watching my mother embrace Rynn and cry with her was enough to make anyone emotional. I thought I was a tough and cold person but when I’m around Rynn that all seems to disappear and instead they’re replaced with strange butterfly feelings in my gut. When my mother told us that she put Rynn in the room next door to me, I felt a flood of both relief and dread rush through me. Relief because maybe sleeping knowing that she’s finally safe and in the next room might help the nightmares stop, and dread because I don’t know how I’ll be able to sleep knowing that she’s right in the next room. I’m not a fool, I know that even though she isn’t trapped with my uncle anymore she’s still not completely safe. We may be a strong kingdom and I may have a reputation as a ruthless king, but leaks and spy’s can be anywhere. And if there’s one thing uncles going to want to do, it’s going to be keeping his word, and killing Rynn. After I have that thought I realize I might just sleep less now that I’m worried about keeping her safe here and not letting her get hurt again.

As I enter the dining hall I’m immediately bombarded by Liam my advisor. “Your majesty” he gives a small bow before continuing with his business. I want to pay attention, I really do but right now all I’m focused on is the dinner that I’m about to have with my family and with Rynn. If I understood correctly, my mother has been helping her get cleaned up and dressed better these last few hours. My mother and father always wanted me to pursue Rynn before the war, they thought she came from a great family, even though they weren’t well off, they were respected and honorable. So I think my mother is keeping that suggestion alive today. She’s been giving me weird looks and double meaning comments all day about Rynn. If I had to guess, I’d say my mother probably went all out with getting Rynn ready for tonight. Now I’m even less focused on Liam and more focused on when Rynn will get here. It takes every ounce of patience in me to not bite Liam’s head off for his obliviousness, yet again he doesn’t really know me as a person that well so he probably isn’t seeing any of my not so subtle clues for him to leave me alone. Finally once I’ve given him all the answers he needs and once I’ve heard all of his opinions about what to do with my uncle, he excuses himself, and I can finally breathe. The door to the dining room opens and my heart picks up a little bit. But it’s Rowan that walks in the dining room instead of Rynn. “What did Liam want?” I can’t help but take a deep annoyed breath before answering. “Oh you know, same old same old. He’s just making his opinions known about what he thinks I should do. I swear, sometimes I think he would trade an arm and a leg to be king instead of me.” This thought has crossed my mind many times over these last months. “Why don’t you just replace him?” Honestly I don’t know why I haven’t. He helped a lot when I was first crowned king so young. He’s only a couple of years older than me, and he was a great friend for a while, but lately greed and a need for power has started to consume him. “I probably should” it’s a weird thought really. Replacing someone who has been with you for a while. But I need people around me that aren’t hungry for power. I need people that will trust my decisions and don’t second guess everything I choose. “So, Phillip, umm” I can hear the uncomfortable in Rowan’s voice and I’m immediately uneasy “well there’s something I wanted to quick talk to you about before Rynn and your mother get here, friend to friend, not solider to king if you know what I mean” the color in his face is starting to leave and I know that whatever this is, he has no reason to get so nervous over it. “It’s okay, just spit it out Rowan, they’ll probably be here soon” he clears his throat and swallows before continuing “yeah good point. Well, to be frank, I can clearly see that you have feelings for my sister. And I’m not here to talk you what to do, and clearly I have no clue how deep they are but it’s super obvious to me” my heart drops a little. I’ve been trying to hide those feelings for a long long time, so that fact that he saw them immediately is a little bit nerve racking “Rowan-” he lifts up his hand to cut me off. He’s lucky he’s on the short list of people that would be allowed to do that to me without getting their hand cut off “Phillip, I’m not here to tell you how to feel or to tell you to stop. I’m just trying to ask that you try and give her as much time as she needs to heal. We both know her pretty well, and I’m pretty positive that she’s not going to show either of us exactly how much she’s hurting if she can help it. She’ll try and convince us that she’s not affected by this last 10 years, but that’s simply impossible” I can’t help but chuckle at this, because he’s right. I’ve only been around Rynn for a few hours today and I can already see that she’s putting on a pretty good show. The only time she cracked was with my mother, and she tried to hide that as much as possible. “Rowan, I appreciate the concern and I respect your care for your sister. But you’re wrong, I don’t have feelings for Rynn, she’s like a sister to me, the same way you’re like a brother to me” at this point I don’t know why I’m trying to lie. He’s like a brother to me. I’m just trying my best not to admit that he’s right about it all. I do have feelings for her, but he’s also right about the rest, she’s gone through a lot and there’s no way she would be open to that at all. And if she is (a thought that sends goosebumps along my arms) I’m not good enough for her. I’m not sure anyone is, but I know that I couldn’t be the man she needs. When the doors to the dining room open both Rowan and I turn our attention to the door as Rynn and my mother enter together with big smiles on their faces. Her joy lights up my world, her smile makes me want to shied her from all pain that could take it away. I can’t help just stare. My mind is telling me to look away, but I can’t take my eyes off of her. She’s stunning, inside and out. Rowan pats my shoulder as he chuckles “And that’s the face of a man who isn’t in love” the comment shocks me out of my stare. He’s right, again. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought it would.