4. Unfair
2443 Words
Breakfast was a joy compared to the silence of their supper.
Kolton hadn't made it to lunch and took his up in his room, much like he had two years prior when there was tension in the family over Lexi being Kane's choice as a mate. This time, though, it was everyone against Kolton and not his mother, the Queen at the time.
Kolton spent much of the morning in the garden ignoring the people in the palace and catching himself staring up at a window he shouldn't want to be staring at. Yet it was a compulsion, something he couldn't stop, so he eventually made his way indoors and up to his room.
In the game room, after his lunch, he tried to practice a bit at his favorite game room game, billiards. Kane was forever beating him, and he was on pretty even keel with Kade, much to his chagrin. He hated to lose. Once Kade came in with an angry Queen Alexandria, he froze in place.
"Kolton, you are needed for babysitting duties for the rest of the afternoon," she told him and stalked toward him. She was a small thing but could be just as scary as his older brother when she had the proverbial hair up her ass.
Such as now.
"I went to breakfast!" he immediately objected.
"And you treated our guests to a cranky, irritated old goat of a prince!" Lexi scolded. "I've half a mind to become 'ill' and have you take the twins for the rest of the week."
Kolton literally shuddered. He loved his nephew and niece and wouldn't want anything to happen to them, but even an afternoon running around after them was tiring. He didn't know how Kane and Lexi did it. They must have stunt doubles to take care of the dirty diapers and occasional bouts of projectile vomiting.
"But I went to breakfast! I won't play nursemaid to your two fiendish little children all week just because I am forced to be an unpleasant ass who is forced to mate a female I want nothing to do with!"
Lexi scoffed and gave him her best glare. It reminded him a little of Kane's and he wondered if she had been studying her husband and King a little too closely, or if the stare was garnered through osmosis as they slept. Whatever the reason, it had Kolton bending the knee to his Queen and allowing her to bring her children up to his room to play. Fortunately, his room was not the mess Kade's was, and nothing would be broken at the end of their visit.
Lexi wasn't so cruel as to not send help to Kolton, for she knew he would need it. His room was baby-proofed by way of Greta, the children's nanny, and pretty soon all his valuables and electronics were placed high on shelves and the two babies were set down in the middle of the room. Kate decided that Uncle Kolton's knee was where she wanted to be, while Karter crashed Duplos together in a game Kolton could not for the life of him figure out.
As soon as dinner time came around, Greta was up in Kolton's room and grabbing Karter up from the floor as Kolton stood up from his bed with Kate on his hip.
They all moved into the dining room silently where Kolton placed Karter in one of the high chairs near the head of the table. With the twins, Lexi and Kane each shared the duties of feeding their twins. Karter and Kate were placed between them near the head of the table while two servants brought in small baby-sized trays full of mushy and unappetizing-looking baby foods.
Kane and Lexi each fed the babies while the other servants came in and dished out portions of venison, greens, and rolls. The others would be halfway done by the time Lexi and Kane would even start on their meal.
Adam DeWitt was at the other end of the table with...
No... no one else was there with him, and Kolton had to wonder where Eliza was. He almost asked when he saw the empty spot at the table, but then she was there, apologizing for her tardiness.
Her head was down, meek and contrite as she took a seat across from her father and miles away from Kolton.
"It's alright dear," his mother said softly. "I know how those afternoon naps can overcome you at a moment's notice."
Only she didn't look like she had been sleeping. At least the hollow look in her eyes and purplish bruising under them spoke of sleeplessness and nothing else.
Eliza smiled anyways and thanked Margot, the former Queen.
The girl ate sparingly of the venison and nibbled on green beans and carrots like she had no appetite whatsoever. She did finish her small portions and waited quietly as Kane and Lexi finished their own dinners swiftly before a peach cobbler was brought out.
Eliza declined the cobbler and opted for tea over the after-dinner coffee most of the others partook in.
Light talk consumed the room as Xavier asked Adam about life in his part of the world.
"How are things with the business, Adam?" Xavier asked as he sipped his coffee with cream.
"Tolerably good, Xav," the man told him. "If things weren't under control I never could have taken a leave for a bit to... settle things on the homefront."
It sounded like he wanted to say more, and Eliza flinched, her brows knitting over her forehead at her father's words.
"May I be excused?" she asked softly, to which Margot replied.
"Of course, dear. Why don't we go into the sitting room and the men can talk?"
Lexi took Kate, who was starting to snooze, and Margot grabbed a still-boisterous and awake Karter, who struggled in his grandmother's arms.
"Tell me, Eliza, what of your home life back in - where is it you are from again?" Margot asked as Lexi settled Kate into a playpen and let Karter move free through the sitting room.
"I'm from just outside of Chicago," Eliza said, sipping at her chamomile tea. "Father works in the city, and I'm going to Northwestern University."
"What are you majoring in?" Lexi asked as her eyes traveled across the room, following Karter as he spraddled across the carpets and wood.
"I haven't decided yet," Eliza told her. "I was thinking of child psychology before-" She stopped herself.
"Before?" Margot prompted. Louisa just looked over and tilted her head, wondering what the girl was about to say.
"Uhm, before I found a love of gardening," Eliza said, making something up on the fly.
"Yes, she really enjoyed the gardens when I took her for a tour around them yesterday morning," Louisa piped up. She had an odd look on her face as if trying to dissect the conversation they were having.
"You have a wonderful set of berry bushes out back," Eliza said. "Do you bake pies with them?"
"Jams mostly, but I do love a good blueberry pie every once in a while," Margot said wistfully. "We almost lost all those bushes ages ago when a particularly stubborn crop of aphids came and nearly wiped out the entire crop!"
Margot was off and running on her favorite part of the garden while Lexi watched her children either sleep or play, though Karter was starting to look drowsy. He was rubbing his eyes and almost bonked his head on the hard surface of the floor a few times while he tried to stave off sleep. The last time he did it, Lexi got up and picked Karter up from the floor. The little one couldn't help but curl up in his mother's arms and she rocked him a bit before sitting down on a chair and letting him tuck a thumb into his mouth and pass out.
"What made you choose child psychology?" Lexi asked quietly above Karter's sleeping head.
"Oh, I love children." Eliza's face brightened on her favorite topic. "I love the way they think. So very innocent and one-track minded."
"And very narcissistic," Louisa said. "Especially little Karter. He is all about getting what he wants right away. Kate is different though."
"Yes, she is very intelligent and picks up on feelings and thought processes better than Karter," Margot told her.
"I could watch them if you ever needed me to," Eliza offered. "I used to babysit for the family down the road from me when they had their weekly 'date nights'. They had four children, so two would not be a bother."
"Thanks, Eliza." Lexi smiled at her, thinking her brother in law was a stupid, foolish creature. This female was perfect for him and he was too stubborn to even try to give it a shot with her. "Why don't I bring the children up during the afternoon and we can chat? They'll probably want to explore a bit, but they'll soon be napping."
"I would love that!" Eliza exclaimed softly, looking over at the sleeping Kate in the crib.
After a little while, the females finished up their chatting and decided to head to their chambers for the evening. Eliza was the last one out as Louisa and Lexi took the two children and headed up to the west wing to put them in their cribs. Margot was off like a shot to her own bedroom as she was ready for a bath and some time alone. Though she was no longer Queen, people still deferred and pestered her all day long with requests and favors.
Eliza closed the door to the pink sitting room and heard another door slam shut down the hall, heavy footsteps walking towards her.
Kolton's large body loomed ahead and she found she couldn't move or look away from the determined look on his face.
"Listen, Eliza," he told her, his voice cold as an arctic freeze. "I don't want you and I don't want a mate. I want to be able to do as I please, so don't get comfortable here at the palace and don't get complacent. I will find a way to convince my father and Kane to leave me be and let me find a mate in my own time. In the meanwhile, stay clear of me. It's best for both of us if you do."
He stalked off and Eliza stood there for a moment, waiting for her knees to steady from the harsh tone of his voice.
By the time she was moving toward her bedroom, her knees were just fine, though her lips trembled and her eyes were blurry from tears.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"The Mondblume Elixir should be ready by next Thursday."
Kolton's head shot up from the staring contest he had going with the Persian rug in his father's study.
"You mean to tell me you are still wanting to go through with this farce?" Kolton was astonished. He had thought he made it abundantly clear that he had no wishes to become mated. He had hoped that his piss-poor attitude would have made his father realize that he was either undeserving of a mate, or that he wasn't mature enough to have one.
At least not one as good and kind as the small female they had chosen for him.
"Of course I am serious," Xavier told him, looking over to Kane for support. "You will be mated to Eliza and then wed within the year. It is on order of your King." He gestured to his oldest son who nodded his head.
"It is already decided," Kane said. "Moreover, everyone here likes her, and you know how rare that is with our mother. No offense, Dad."
"None taken, son."
"Unbelievable," Kolton grunted, closing his eyes. "No one takes into account what I want. What I need. And I don't need this!"
"Kolton. It is customary and you have known since you were small that this would happen. It should not be a shock to you and you have had years to become accustomed and familiar with the idea or your mating." His father shook his head. "The Mondblume Elixir has been made and is stewing. You will mate and marry Eliza, and she will become Princess Eliza henceforth."
"This is unfair," Kolton said, standing up.
"What is unfair is..." Xavier shook his head, stopping himself from blurting out what he thought. "What is unfair is the way you are treating her and the way she deserves to be treated. You will apologize to her tomorrow and beg her forgiveness if need be."
"If you don't, you will be kept on this island until you do," Kane said. "No amount of money given to the men whom you always convince to bring you to the mainland will be enough. I will tell them first thing that if they disobey, they will be cast out and exiled as a rogue."
"You can't!" Kolton's eyes flashed black with the threat.
"Consider it done, brother," Kane told him. "You will apologize and in less than a week be forced to ingest the potion and mark and mate with your female. It is how it has always been done, though no one in all the history of our lineage has ever wished to be unmated after 21 years."
Kolton said nothing and looked to Adam DeWitt, whose face scanned the ground sadly.
But the man said no more and walked out to the hallway, angered by their inclinations to force a bond upon him.
There was a figure standing in the hall, one so diminutive it was almost child-like.
Eliza. Eliza and her long, red hair, looking pretty as a picture and frightened to be alone with him.
It almost made him sorry for what he said next.
"Listen, Eliza," he told her, almost hating the cold sound of his tone on such a small creature. "I don't want you, and I don't want a mate. I want to be able to do as I please, so don't get comfortable here and don't get complacent. I will find a way to convince my father and Kane to leave me be and let me find a mate in my own time. In the meanwhile, stay clear of me. It's best for both of us if you do."
He stalked off, glad to not hear the sound her footsteps following him.
For if he had, he may have caved and turned back around to do what he really wanted to do.
Push her against the wall and kiss her until he stole her breath away.
- Writer
