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

Chapter 6 - A horrible history.

Julius

Anna opened the basket again … Her shocked facial expression made me burst out with laughter when I looked into the basket.

“Potatoes? Peeled potatoes, how are we supposed to eat this?” She squealed. We walked back into the castle. Princess Anna huffed, looking very upset. She didn’t even look at me on her way up the stairs to her room. After, I couldn’t stop laughing at the ‘special’ lunch she had arranged. She did not speak a word! Making me have to bite my tongue, not to laugh all the way home. Taking the basket back to the kitchen, I walked down the stairs …

“Who was so clever to put potatoes …” I started. “Oh mother, how nice to see you in the kitchen of all places.” I held the basket behind me.

“Oh, I see you and Anna went on your picnic.” My mother smiled. “Am I to guess it was a success if I look at your smile?”

“Yes, mother, it was a raging success. I had loads of fun.” I smiled from ear to ear with mischief in my eyes. The kind of mischief only Cook new. Cook was probably wondering what I did to that poor girl because I was so happy about the picnic? Surely, I wouldn’t have changed my mind about her so quickly.

“Okay, well, I am going to rest before dinner. Cook, you will see what I have asked.” My mother frowned.

“Yes, your highness.” She bowed.

“Are you coming?” My mother held out her hand to me.

“No mother, I need to arrange a special lunch with Cook for tomorrow. I will see you at dinner.” I grinned again, fighting back laughter.

“Oh, well then I won’t keep you.” She winked at me, smiling as she walked up the stairs. With her out of earshot, I decided to make sure even her handmaiden was gone by checking the stairs.

“Well done on the picnic, Cook! You had me in stitches and I nearly didn’t go!” My voice was filled with amusement.

“Well, I thought the Princess had better get used to what we have available to eat as soon as possible.” She said, with a straight face, not a sign of a giggle on her face, making me burst out in hysterical laughter.

“You have just absolutely turned my day into a great one. How’s Emily? Is she here?” I looked around the kitchen.

“No, I sent her to go look after her father this afternoon. He has taken a turn for the worst.” She frowned, which had me worried.

“Maybe I should make her something.” I grabbed a piece of bread and scanned the table.

“No, please your highness. I think it is best if you leave her be for now. Her heart needs time to heal. You will marry your Princess. Your mother will see to that. Emily is just a kitchen maid, a commoner. There is no future for the two of you. It is best you don’t make any further attempts to see her.” I was stunned that Cook would say such a thing.

“But I …” I started and she glared at me. “I think I’m in love with her Cook.” I sighed, coming out with it.

“Prince Julius, love alone cannot run a kingdom. You know that. You need royal blood and alliances to keep a kingdom strong. I think it is best you stop this now before things get too hard for Emily. Go to your Princess.” Cook turned around to wash dishes. I opened my mouth to say something. My happy mood was completely crushed. Turning around, I left the kitchen and went to my office. My mother was on her way down the passage on a mission. She grabbed me by my arm, pulled me into my office and slammed the door behind her.

“I hope you let that little kitchen wench go! How could she humiliate Princess Anna like that! Your future wife, the kingdom’s future Queen!” She started to rant and I rolled my eyes.

“Mother, calm down.” I sighed.

“I will not! You have let that girl get away with so much, that she thinks she is part of the royal family! She is a commoner, filthy, mud-covered, probably selling herself to the merchant’s commoner! Now you want to be associated with filth like that!” My mother looked disgusted.

“Mother.” I clearly tried my very best to keep as calm as possible. “I have warned you about talking about her like that. She is not a wh@re.”

“How do you know that?!” She interrupted me, this time making me lose my temper. I turned around and grabbed her by the arm.

“I know! I did my homework. Father did not raise an i***t for a son. He taught me how to look out for the signs of a wh@re … Like you, and not get caught like he did!” A gasp and look of indignation formed on her face.

“How dare you!” She screamed.

“I dare, because you were given a chance by a Queen who did not judge where you were from, but wanted her son to be happy. Now you judge someone that is innocent of any crime. Tread lightly mother! I will send you to the cottage two towns over with just the essential staff!” She gaped as I roughly let go of her arm. “Now leave. I have important business to attend to!” I almost shoved her out the door, slamming it closed behind her. Walking over to the window, I pulled my fingers through my hair. I shouldn’t have said that to my mother, but why did she keep on pushing my buttons like that? Why did the bloodline matter so much now all of a sudden?

I sighed, going back to my desk to work through the mounds of paperwork my father left behind. He gave me instructions on some of it, but there was a lot that hadn’t been attended to and the more I started going through the work, the more I started forming a picture that my kingdom was actually completely broken. How could my mother arrange all these extravagant parties? I took the key to the vaults and took a stroll to see for myself how much there was. Maybe my father made an error on the ledgers. Unlocking the door, I expected rows of gold, but that was not what I saw. There was not a single gold coin, not one! Walking through the vaults one by one, I found them empty. Opening the last one, I found a chest half-filled with coins. The kingdom treasurer must have heard about me walking about by now as he rushed in to explain.

“Your highness!” He exclaimed.

“I was wondering when the spies would tell you I am down here. I guess there is no use in asking what happened here?” I glared at him, then scanned the vaults.

“There is a good explanation, if you want to hear it, your highness. I won’t lie.” He wrung his hands tightly together.

“Sure, let me hear what manipulation my mother was up to this time.” I sighed.

“No, your highness, this is not your mother’s fault. Yes, she might spend a lot on the lavish parties, and we would then have to tax the people, but the origin of this evil started long before your father was born.” The man looked as though he wanted to smile but couldn’t.

“Excuse me? I think it is best to discuss this in my office and take that chest with you. I don’t trust our only money to be lying about for anyone to take.” I felt like wringing someone’s neck!

“Yes, your highness.” The treasurer and his assistant followed me up to my office, where the chest was stored away, and I sat down behind my desk to listen to the explanation.

“So, get on with it. I don’t have all day.” I glared at the man.

“You know of the story of your ancestor that had the deal with the devil?” This time he smiled, but it didn’t go all the way to his eyes.

“Honestly, that is just a story! What does that have to do with all of this?!” I lost my temper.

“It is not just a story highness. The old king promised his firstborn daughter to the being. He did not keep that promise and the kingdom was cursed. Since then, there have been no plantations because nothing grows on this land. People go hungry most days, because the food the merchants bring is first brought to the castle for your kitchens and then the town folk can buy from the leftovers. Because it is cheaper, and they cannot afford the better items.” He started to look nervous.

“You are still not telling me about the empty vault!” I interrupted his story.

“I am getting there, highness. Over the years of having to buy food, and not being able to produce our own. The lavish parties, keeping the front garden in shape and paying the castle staff their pittance, the vault slowly started growing smaller and smaller. Nobody could pay taxes anymore because they couldn’t earn salaries anymore. They either couldn’t find work in a doomed kingdom, or worked for the nobles who, if you are a woman … Well, I would rather not say what happened. It is well known that if you work in the castle, you do not get paid at all, but if the girls are careful … They can pocket something of value and sell it to the merchants for money.” His cheeks turned bright red and I sat there wide-eyed.

“Thank you, you may go.” I waved my hand through the air.

“That is not all your highness.” He sighed.

“I’ve heard enough! Now go!” Stunned and without words, I sat behind my desk. All my life I had been lied to. I wasn’t a Prince. I was a commoner living in an extravagant castle that should belong to the people! Or by the sound of it, the people were taking bit by bit in any case! How did the staff survive without being paid? They didn’t get food from the kitchens, so stealing would be their only option. Why did none of the treasurers over the years stop this? Stupid question! They had to deal with idiotic kings, who would rather have their kingdoms suffer than spend one day without their ridiculously decorated outfits! Their blinding greed, generation after generation, put me in this current position.

“Well, Julius, you have no other choice but to start making work of this. No use in sitting around complaining about a bunch of dead bones that fu.cked up.” I said to myself and started reading up on the family tree to see if I could find the ancestor who made the promise and did not keep to the deal. What kind of deal was it? What could the old king have received, that he would have promised his firstborn daughter in return? It was clearly not the myth I thought it to be. Could it be possible to still pay the debt, so the kingdom can be saved? Who was the debt owed to, that the kingdom could be suffering so much? At dinnertime, Friedrich came around asking if I would be at dinner.

“No, I have a mound of paperwork here to work on, thank you, Friedrich.” I sighed, rubbing my eyes.

“Sorry for my boldness, but I gathered that was what you would be doing, so I brought dinner to you.” He smiled at me, pushing in the trolley with dinner, some chocolate pudding and freshly brewed coffee.

“Thank you, Friedrich. You know me well. Do you have any news for me about the young Miss Emily? Cook won’t let me see her.” I frowned.

“None of the staff really saw her. She is in the kitchen corner early in the day, goes out to take care of her father at lunch, and then works in her corner again until late at night, when it is time for her to retire for the night. She never smiles, she hardly speaks. Even Cook mentioned that she was looking pale. You know that Cook is not one to talk about personal matters.” Friedrich shrugged.

“Thank you, Friedrich, and if mother asks, please tell her I’m not to be disturbed, before she and that princess get any ideas in their heads.” I frowned.

“Of course, your highness.” He bowed and left me to my dinner. Knee-deep in Grandfather's and Great-grandfather's history, the door barged open, and my mother was standing in the doorway.

“Oh, so you are eating. Why couldn’t you have done that with us? You humiliated me! We sat there until the food was cold, waiting for you! Only when I asked Friedrich where you were, did he tell me you weren’t coming! What do you have to say for yourself?” My mother’s face was blood-red with anger.

“Mother, what else did Friedrich tell you?” I raised a brow.

“What do you mean, what else?” She huffed.

“Did he perhaps say anything more than the fact that I would not be joining you?” I sighed.