Shadow wolves: The Prince's Servant (Book 4) - Complete

Chapter 7 - Saying goodbye.

Julius

“Oh yes, some nonsense about you not being disturbed, but surely that wasn’t meant for me. I’m your mother.” She waved her hand through the air and her voice went up an octave or two at the end of her sentence.

“It was specifically meant for you! I am trying to find out why our kingdom is completely ruined financially, and you keep inviting guests and arranging extravagant parties! Why was I never told about the mess the kingdom is in? Did you and father think I would never find out?” I was furious.

“Now, Julius, there is no need to be upset with me. Your father was the one who made the decision. Just like it has been the decision of each King since that mad great-grandfather of yours who originally made the deal.” She couldn’t look me in the eye and I knew she was lying! I knew the influence she had over my father.

“What deal, mother? What decision?” I glared at her. I had been trying to track the origins of the so-called deal for the past half hour, to no avail. Finally, deciding that it would probably be something that would take a while to find. My mother sighed.

“That the King’s firstborn girl in our bloodline be given to some devil. A deal was struck, but by the time a girl was born, the king decided not to honour the deal. So did every King after him. Your father and I had only you and decided when you were born, we would only ever want you and not live in fear of having to give up a daughter. That is why we didn’t share a bed after you were born.” She looked ashamed, looking at the floor. “We really did love each other, but I would not be able to live with myself, knowing I had given a child to a demon to save our kingdom.” I could have sworn I saw tears in her eyes.

“What was this deal, mother? What did the old King get out of it?” My voice is a little softer now.

“Nobody knows my son. It has been so many hundreds of years ago, that nobody knows what he received, only what he didn’t give in return.” She sighed, sounding a little defeated.

“Why now, mother? Why was I not told about this before?” I frowned.

“Your father didn’t want you to carry the burden of the kingdom at too early an age. Neither of us thought that he would leave us so early. We still thought we had many years ahead of us and here we are. You will be crowned King at a mere twenty-one years of age.” She sincerely looked ashamed and in anguish. I stood up from behind my desk and walked over to her.

“Come mother, let’s put tonight behind us and start over in the morning. It is father’s funeral tomorrow. We will honour the traditions and I will attend to the rest after the two days of mourning are over.” I sighed.

“I would appreciate that, thank you, Julius.” Putting my arm around her shoulders, I led her out of my office, closed the door and locked it. I joined her again, letting her hook in my arm and put her head on my shoulder as I escorted her to her rooms.

“Have a good night, mother. I will see you in the parlor tomorrow morning.” I dropped a soft kiss on her cheek.

“Good night son.” I walked down the passage, passing Anna’s rooms, noticing the lights on. Hesitating for a moment, I decided to knock.

“Enter.” I heard her soft voice. “Oh, Prince Julius!” She immediately turned her face away from me.

She rushed to her dressing table, quickly putting some powder on her face.

“Please, Princess Anna, there is no need for …” I started as she turned around, and I could see traces that she had been crying. “Please, call me Julius. I did not mean to disturb you. I was simply walking by and saw your light still on. I just wanted to find out if you were okay after the way the staff had treated you today? I do apologize for their behaviour. They are very protective of me.”

“I am fine, thank you, Prince Julius. I know that you don’t want me here, and it is clear that your people do not see me fit to be their Queen. I accept that. You clearly have feelings for someone else. I have arranged to leave the day after the funeral.” She kept on looking away.

“Anna.” I started again.

“Like I said Julius. My decision is made.” Turning away from me again, I had no alternative but to leave her room.

Third Person

The kingdom slowly woke up to a dark rainy day. It was the day they would say their final goodbyes to the old King. Everyone was nervous about what awaited them with the Queen ruling the kingdom. The service was held in the castle chapel. Nobels first filled the front rows to show their respect and if there perhaps remained seats left, commoners could sit in the back. The commoners had to clear out before the service ended, so their filth and stench did not remain to insult any of the nobles, or worse, the Royal family. The King’s casket would then be carried to the cemetery to be buried in the tomb of the Kings. The royal family, then the nobles followed, as the kingdom walked behind the casket in honour of their fallen king.

Once all the tears were cried, the important people returned to the castle to talk and reminisce about his life and how amazing he had been. How much they would miss him and started working on alliances with the Queen. All the while, the commoners had to go back to work and the castle staff served them decadent, expensive dishes. Food is imported especially for this event. Not a single potato was in sight.

Emily

“The so-called chef, preparing the food complained about the kitchen!” Cook walked into my room. They had both been told the kitchen was off limits for them today. There was a special person coming to prepare the food. This person was called a “Chef” and he was rude. Cook gave him one look, decided not to show him anything in the kitchen and left. She had packed us some food, and we were going to spend the day in my room. We were planning to go outside for a walk, but with the rain, we were stuck inside.

“How are you doing, my girl? You have been so quiet lately, and you hardly eat.” Cook frowned.

“I’m okay. I’m just tired of my father, who has been so sick,” I sighed.

“That old piece of excuse for a human. You would be so much better off when he is dead.” She huffed.

“Cook!” I exclaimed.

“Well, it’s true. But I am sure he is not the only reason for your melancholy?” She touched my hand.

“I would rather not talk about it.” I really didn’t want to.

“Friedrich tells me the Princess is returning to her kingdom tomorrow.” Cook tried to cheer me up, but I just kept my head down.

“Why? That is the biggest mistake the future king can make! This kingdom needs royal alliances. Surely he knows that!” I looked up at Cook.

“Well, clearly he doesn’t, or it is not what he wants.” She shrugged.

“Then he has doomed us all.” I sighed. We sat in silence for a while. “Would you mind keeping an eye on my father? I would like to take a walk around the castle.”

“Sure honey.” She nodded. Since moving to the castle, I had spent time exploring the servant passages leading through the castle. Such an enormous home for so few people. I imagined it full of life. The towns' people each have their own place, nobody is called commoners anymore. Once in a while, I would catch a cleaning maid stealing something, but I would not say anything. There were so many places, cold and dark, that had no life, just like most of the kingdom. Sometimes, I would even walk into the room and explore, if it looked like nobody had been in the room for a long time. There was one specific bedroom I really loved. It was a baby’s room. It must have been one of the prince’s rooms, done all in soft blue, with a crib and all kinds of baby things around. I had locked the door from the inside, keeping the key in the lock. There were precious silver toys that I felt should never be removed from the room by a maid to be sold. Finding a new room, I walked in through the servant’s door. There were beautiful windows overlooking the forest. It must have been an amazing view once. Standing in front of the windows. The curtains were deteriorating with age.

“Hi Emily.” The voice made me jump with fright. I immediately recognized the voice of the creator. I looked over to where I heard the voice. “You are right. It was once an amazing view. I thought I would look in on you. Your heart is broken, and I wanted to know if I could do anything to make you feel better? Take away your heartache?” He continued.

“What? What do you mean take away my heartache?” I frowned.

“Remove the memory that made you so sad, of course.” He shrugged.

“I don’t know if that would be possible.” I looked out the window again. Suddenly, the room turned a bright warm colour. The curtains were fixed and looked brand new, the fireplace was lit, and I could see rows of books on one wall.

“Isn’t this better? Now we can talk.” He smiled.

“How did you …?” I looked around me, wide-eyed. “Talk about what?”

“Your heartache.” He shrugged.

“There is nothing to talk about. It is impossible. It can’t happen, and I will get over it.” I sighed.

“Tell me what happened. You are one of my purest creations and I hate seeing you hurt.” He insisted.

“I fell in love. Actually, on the same day I first met you.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Ah, then what happened?” He nodded.

“He is the prince, his betrothed arrived, and it can never be.” I looked down at my hands.

“Come, let’s sit down.” He walked over to the chairs in front of the fireplace, indicating that I would sit down. “Why do you think it can never be?”

“I am a commoner. He is the prince.” I waved my hands in the air, letting them drop back to my lap.

“Yes, and? I didn’t create one creature above another.” The creator frowned.

“I don’t understand.” It was my turn to frown.

“That is why I chose you to be the Moon goddess. To you, all creatures are equal. Until now, at least, they were. You love, no matter the person, or the creature,” He explained.

“I don’t. I fear merchants and hate nobles.” I glared at him.

“If you were to look deep into your heart, could you really say that you hate or fear?” He asked and I sighed.

“I don’t know what to do.” I picked at my nails.

“If it was up to me, I would take you away with me now. But it is not. I want you to come with me willingly. Regarding the Prince … It looks to me like his mind is made up. He wants you.” He smiled. The light in the room disappeared, and the creator was gone. The curtains were back to their torn tattered self.

“You are very confusing you know!” I shouted into the air.

“I know.” I heard him reply. Seeing the sun slowly rise, I jumped out of the chair. I did not realize the time. Did not realize that I had been away for so long. Rushing back to the kitchen, I found Cook cleaning up after her kitchen was “Left in a shamble!”

“These so-called cooks have no idea how a kitchen works! My spoons and pots are all in the wrong place! We need to reorganize before anything can be cooked, and the Queen is going to ask for breakfast at any moment now. Where have you been?” Cook sounded agitated.

“Sorry, I fell asleep by accident. Where do you need me to start?” Strange soft footsteps suddenly came down the stairs.

“Cook. Thank you for your service. I will be leaving today, but it will not be for long, I am sure.” It was Princess Anna. “When I return, I will bring along the required ingredients for these recipes. Make sure you know how to cook them by then. I don’t want a repeat of the picnic disaster again.” She turned to walk away, then turned back, looking at me. “Oh, and Emily, when I return, I want you to be the cleaner in my room, where I can keep an eye on you.” Smiling, she turned away and walked slowly up the stairs. Cook stood there with her jaw on the ground.

“Flies Cook. Flies, remember.” I said, through gritted teeth.