The Prince's Wedding

Venom. 5.

ALEXANDER

"Why, thank you so much." Melissa says as a young girl hands her a basket of fruit. I watch from my window as she accepts it and smiles at her, while the other little children braid her hair with flowers.

Look at her.

Being so...thoughtful and nice and...

And rendering me speechless.

I hate to see women cry.

I don't like seeing any girl, lady or woman cry and when she had called me back, I could hear the tears in her voice. So I couldn't say anything... I could just stare.

It's not like I didn't have anything to say, I had a lot to say but how could I? Contradicting her would have been stupid because she was right...

Plus she was crying.

Right in front of everyone.

If they didn't see me as a monster before now, they definitely do...which is why I'm standing here, staring at her. I can't just let a commoner correct me in front of my men, no matter how right she is.

She told me I was wrong.

To my face.

And somehow got everyone to feel sorry for her….as if they haven’t already.

So is this the kind of situation I fix or punish?

She may have been right but she still had no right to talk to me that way...in front of my men no less!

"I want her punished."

I hear Felipe sigh behind me.

"Your Majesty, you can't do that—"

I spin around to face him, anger coursing through me.

"She disrespected me and in doing so, disrespected the crown."

"You called her a commoner in front of the entire staff."

"Because that's what she is!" I yell, furious now as I turn and watch her put a flower in each little girl's hair as they line up for her.

"I mean look at her down there with the servants! It's in her through and through, she knows nothing about this castle or the responsibilities of being royalty and she expects to be addressed like one?"

"She expects not to be insulted." Felipe replies firmly and I turn to glare at him but he maintains a cool gaze.

"She shouldn't have expectations, period. Being here is already beyond her wildest expectations and yet she feels she can talk to me that way? No, I want her punished."

Why did she have to cry, though?

“Do you realize how this would appear to the people? How it would make you look to them?”

“Summon her Felipe.”

“She cried, Your Majesty. She must have been scared but she still had to say what she said. Doesn’t that make you realize how hurt she was?”

“I said, summon her.”

"Fine." Felipe says, staring at me with disapproval, his voice coming out tense with anger.

"What is her offense?" He asks and I don't hesitate.

"Disrespect to the crown."

For a few seconds, he just keeps staring at me and saying nothing, almost like he is expecting me to change my mind.

"Now, Felipe. Summon her." I say, dismissing him and he bows.

"If you insist Your Majesty." He says and heads for the door, then pauses with his hand on the door handle.

"And just to let you know, how can she know anything about her Royal responsibilities when you keep her locked up in her chambers everyday?"

With that, he leaves.

I know the words are meant to have some effect on me but I shrug them off, as I walk back to the window and watch, waiting for the guards to summon her.

She has a lesson to learn.

And she will.

***

I'm sitting in the throne room when the doors open and the guards march in, followed by a confused Melissa, along with some maidens.

Her yellow gown is sweeping the ground from behind as she walks and her long mane of hair is braided to one big braid designed with numerous flowers.

But as she walks closer, I don't see what I'd hoped to see...which is the unmistakable look of fear.

No.

She doesn't look scared...she looks surprised.

Like she shouldn't be here, like she has no idea what she has done and the fire of revenge in me dies a little.

"Your Majesty." She says hesitantly as she curtsies while the guards and maids separate themselves to either side of the room, leaving Melissa to stand alone.

She observes the room, scanning faces slowly and when her eyes meet mine, I see it.

The look. She's scared.

Without saying a word, I turn to Felipe and he clears his throat, then speaks.

"On this very day, before the staff of this castle and His Majesty Prince Alexander, you, Lady Melissa disregarded the Prince's instructions and disrupted the peace of the castle—"

"What?" She says quietly but Felipe keeps going.

"By challenging his opinion—"

"Wait a minute—"

"And therefore disrespected The Prince which is an offense of disrespecting the throne. You will now receive the punishment for your offense."

The room is now quiet, except for Melissa's heavy breathing as she turns to me, her eyes watery.

"Your Majesty, I meant no disrespect, I swear." She says, looking confused and scared and somehow, it gives me relief.

To see her this way.

For the staff to see her this way.

"Solitary confinement on the cliff. One week." I say and she gasps, both hands covering her mouth as she stares at me with shock.

"The cliff?! No! No, please, you can't!"

But the guards have already surrounded her and I watch as she stares at her maids for help but no one meets her gaze.

"I was just trying to defend myself—"

"Let's get something straight here," I say, unable to resist as I walk up to her.

"You had nothing to defend because you were not being attacked. You're here to wear a mask, Melissa. That thing you called being worthy because of my father? He picked you to play a role and you're the body behind that mask. Whereas I, am a true heir and royalty by blood. No where on earth can your opinion supersede mine and the minute you think it can...is when it becomes disrespect."

“Mel?” A small voice says and everyone glances back to see her little sister standing there, holding her midsection and bending over a little as she leans against the door.

“Halley.” Melissa says softly.

“What’s going on?” She asks weakly, and I can see that’s she’s oddly pale.

“It’s nothing. Are you okay?” Melissa asks, attempting to head for her sister but the guards block her.

“I don’t know…. I don’t feel so good. The food tastes weird.” She moans and I can’t stop observing her, the way the tips of her fingers are turning blue while she keeps getting paler by the second.

This time, Melissa forces her way through the guards who are all distracted by the little, pale girl at the door. But before Melissa gets to her, she slumps.

And then, chaos.

Gasps, murmurs fill the room as Melissa rushes to her sister, accompanied by the other maids in the room.

“Halley!” She screams, holding her by the shoulders and lifting her a bit.

But the girl’s head dangles in lifeless manner and an unexpected wave of panic overcomes me.

“Caspian!” I yell and he hurries in.

“Your Majesty.” He bows.

“Halley wake up!!” Melissa is still screaming and I turn to Caspian.

“Take two guards with you and get her to the Royal physician now!”

Caspian rushes to the little girl as the maids give way and he gently picks her up with ease before rushing out the room with two guards behind him.

Melissa gets up to follow but the remaining guards hold her captive and she looks at them angrily.

“What are you doing?” She asks, but they say nothing and keep staring at me, waiting for my command.

“Unhand me!” She yells and they remain quiet, waiting on me.

She turns to me too, and the panic I see in her eyes have me frozen to the spot.

“My sister is unconscious!”

My mind is blank.

For the moment, I can’t think of anything.

This was supposed to me a teachable moment, to her, to everyone. A few seconds ago, I was royalty and she was an offender.

But now?

Now it’s a human moment…

“You can’t possibly be serious about sending me to the cliff for a week! Not now, please!” She cries, bursting into tears and everyone has their eyes on me.

“Please, she’s all I have…. I’m all she has!”

The helplessness I feel is overwhelming and I turn to Felipe, for the first time ever, for help.

He frowns at me, like I’ve gone insane, and tilts his head towards Melissa and I can almost hear his words.

‘This isn’t up for debate! Release her!’

I turn to Melissa now and her panic has reached a point of rage. She looks like she might claw my eyes out if I send her away.

“You’re no longer sentenced to stay in the cliff. You may see your sister and stay with her, but you’ve lost your movement privileges to any other place outside your chambers.”

Then I turn to the guards.

“Unhand her.”

The guards let her go and for a few seconds, Melissa remains standing, refusing to leave as she glares daggers at me.

Then she runs out.

The room is dead silent and before it even occurs to me to say anything, Felipe speaks.

“You all have duties to carry out, so go get them done. Show’s over.” He says firmly and the maids and guards return to their positions while I sit back on the throne, still shocked and confused.

I may not be very pleased with Melissa in anyway…but Halley? I always wanted the best for her.

She’s just a little kid….she has no role in all this betrothal drama.

“I have to say, I’m pleased with how you handled this.” Felipe says, drawing me out of my thoughts and I look up at him.

“Thank you, for your help.” I say and he nods.

“The little girl, will she be okay?” I can’t help but ask and he sighs.

“I hope she will, Your Majesty. That was a most unexpected turn of events. She looked oddly ill.”

“That’s exactly what I thought, but she looked fine this morning. I saw her at the ballroom.” I say, thinking back to how she was admiring the portraits of the former kings and queens of Nirvania.

“What was that she had said about the food? That it tasted weird?” Felipe asks thoughtfully and I look up at him in alarm.

“Poison?”

“Could be, but I certainly hope not. Who would want to poison a little girl?”

*****

“POISON?!” Melissa shrieks just as I enter the physician’s place, accompanied by Felipe and more guards.

“Your Majesty.” They all chorus, excluding Melissa as she takes her time to get up from the chair next to her sister’s bed.

“Your Majesty.” She says rather quietly, her eyes fixed on the ground as she curtsies and immediately turns back to the physician.

Fine.

She’s still very angry with me.

“What’s wrong with her?” I ask, turning to Robert, the physician and he bows before he responds.

“It appears she’s been poisoned, Your Majesty. The blueness of her fingers, lips and ears can only be caused by poison and not just poison….venom.”

Melissa looks up at him in alarm and I divert my eyes away from her worried face to look at the little girl on the bed.

The tips of her ears and the corners of her lips were indeed…blue.

I turn to Felipe and I can feel my expression mirrored on his face.

Shock.

Someone did try to kill her.

“What kind of venom?” Melissa asks as the physician puts together a sort of mixture.

“Spider venom. And this particular one is usually harmless if the person is stung by just the spider, but once mixed with food, it is definitely effective. Whoever did this knew what they were doing.”

“Can you heal her?! Is there an antidote or something?!” Melissa is almost screaming now and I watch Caspian take her hand in his to calm her.

The gesture takes me by surprise, more so because it actually works.

She looks up at him as he squeezes her hand reassuringly and nods at her, and I watch as her worried look slowly vanishes.

“Yes, my lady. The good thing is it’s a common type of poison and I can make the antidote. We’re lucky she came to you on time before she collapsed because the way the poison works, it makes the victim unconscious before the fatal effects kick in.” Robert says as he walks up to an unconscious Halley with the mixture he was making.

“But…” Melissa’s voice comes out shaky, “what if….what if the fatal effects have already kicked in?” She says, tears running down her eyes and Caspian hands her a piece of cloth, still holding on to her hand.

At that instant my first instinct is to tell him to stop. To just stop whatever it is he’s doing.

But the words don’t come out and I clench my hands into fists as I look away instead.

I don’t care.

So she needs a little comforting and he’s doing that.

Definitely better than me…

“She’s still breathing, My lady. The antidote will tackle the venom on time.”

And Robert slowly opens Halley’s mouth, pouring the mixture into her mouth.

“But why would someone want to poison a little girl?” I ask, and Robert looks up at me.

“Oh I don’t think she was their target, Your Majesty.”

He says simply and everyone in the room looks up at him.

“What do you mean?” Melissa asks.

“Wait.” I say instantly, stopping Robert from answering and he remains quiet.

Then I turn to the guards,

“Wait outside.” I say and they all march out the door, shutting it behind them.

It’s just me, Melissa, Caspian and Felipe in the room with Robert now.

“Proceed.”

“You mentioned that you eat together?” Robert asks, turning to Melissa and she nods slowly.

“Yes, but today she was meant to eat separately because I was taking a walk around the castle grounds.” She says tearfully.

“Did she know that?”

“…No.” Melissa says hesitantly and I feel a pang of guilt hit me.

She wasn’t able to tell her sister because she was in the throne room where I summoned her.

“So she may have eaten from your meal unknowingly, which wasn’t the poisoner’s intention. I’m afraid to say, their target…was you, My lady.”