Chapter 13: Chapter 13
“You did not take it,” he repeated while pointing his fingers outside. Shia could not quite understand what he meant. He repeated his gesture and pointed outside the tent to the direction where the servants have just left.
His voice sounded even louder and more matter-of-factly than before as he spoke, “I proposed to you by the river side, remember? You said yes, so now you are wearing it.”
Shia’s mouth hung open in utter surprise at the make-believe story she is hearing. She realized how ‘thoughtful’ his majesty really was of her. Seeing how he had put this ring on her while she was passed out, he might have already assumed that Shia will meekly follow his absurd idea just because he is the prince and he can get away with it. Now that they were alone, Shia only wanted to do either one of two things: slap his face one more time or punch him in the stomach for putting on a ring on her finger without her consent and assuming that she will agree to be his make-believe fiance and sleep with him. He would also probably ditch her as fast as he had single-handedly decided to make him his betrothed after he finds a better solution to his problems.
Before Shia could decide which action would best inflict the gravest of pain upon his majesty however, a group of men went inside the tent and greeted his highness. They did not look like ordinary towns’ people or mere servants. They were donned in capes and light armors.
The men gave a sudden and rather stiff but dignified bow, but one of them, a blonde, hairy man with a big, silver medal on his right chest who seemed to be leading the group looked at Shia from head to foot in silence. It did not look like a welcoming stare at all. He looked back at his majesty and spoke, “I am sorry to interrupt your... date, your highness, but there is a pressing matter I must tell you about.”
He then proceeded to withdraw a parchment from beneath his garments and handed it over to the prince. “This came in today while you took your, um, unplanned excursion, sire. It’s a letter from His Grace, the king.”
His majesty, Prince Langrion, unfolded the letter and skimmed over the contents. “Another party, I see,” the prince replied dryly.
“Not just any party, sire...It’s your brother and Lady Edelfina’s engagement,” the man exclaimed. “It will take place in two weeks. We must make haste back to the Capitol then, sire. If we hurry, we can be there in a week to make the necessary preparations.”
“And what preparations might that be?” the prince inquired in a non-concerned manner.
“The preparations for the party, sire! I am sure that all the members of the high society will be there, and we need to look our best to be able to find a... suitable marriage partner,” at his final words, he gave Shia a smug glance that definitely looked like he was insinuating a fight.
‘Another spoiled royalty,’ Shia thought wryly. She said nothing, but she held her head high and drilled her eyeballs at him directly until he himself lowered his eyes in embarrassment.
The prince, seeing all of this, spoke curtly, “Lord Bragford, I certainly would not tolerate that look in your eyes and the way that you insult my betrothed. One more word from you, and I will strip you off your title.”
“I-I apologize, your majesty,” he said bowing lower than before, but still giving Shia a sideways glance that did not look like he felt even a little sorry for what he did. “I must have been out of my mind to speak in such a way.”
Prince Langrion waved his hand in disgust. “Very well. Send a message to the king and to my brother to congratulate him and his future bride,” he said, “As for the party, tell them that as much as I would love to partake in their happiness on this momentous occasion, I have more pressing matters to attend to and that we will definitely miss it.” He handled the letter back to the dumbfounded Lord Bragford.
“B-but, sire! The party won’t be complete without you,” he protested.
“Ha! I doubt that,” the prince answered. The twinge of sarcasm in his voice was so apparent that Shia herself wanted to laugh. “You have my permission to take leave and attend it in my stead, Lord Bragford. As for the rest of the envoy, we will continue with our visit to Sensala,” the prince continued.
The mere mention of the prince’s approval to attend the party seemed to make the smug Lord Bradford suddenly beam up with delight. “As you wish,” he said, bowing down to his majesty as he and his men left as hastily as they entered.
“Crazy fool...” the prince seemed to mutter beneath his breath. He collapsed on the bed and rubbed his temples as if trying to quell a budding headache. By the time he raised his eyes towards Shia, his left eye was already bathed in a deep, red, glowing light.
“Thank you for you help, Shia,” he said. His voice sounded a little bit gentler than when he spoke to her in front of the servants and Lord Bragford. “I’m sorry you have to be here with me in this predicament. I did not mean to offend you by mentioning that we need to sleep together earlier. I did not mean it in an obscene way. What I meant was that we need to probably rest our heads in one room every night, and I need to probably hold your hand or put it close to where I would be taking my slumber. As what you have seen, servants and knights would come and go to visit this room. I couldn’t think of a way to keep them out of danger without stirring gossip for now.”
“We will be heading to Sensala soon. I might know someone from there who could help me mend this mask. If you could stay until then, I would be indebted to you. Know that I will repay your kindness in any way that you may deem fit any time or in the future. I gave you that ring as a sign of that promise. It’s an assurance for you that I won’t go back on my word in the future,” he continued to say to Shia.
Shia remembered the face of the servant girl who reminded her of her beloved brother and the red-headed lady who pleaded to her kindly to help the prince.
“For his and the kingdom’s sake, I implore you to please follow his wishes until we can sort out everything,” Shia remembered her saying.
With a sigh so long and deep that it felt like the silence between them would last for eternity, Shia answered “Alright. Until we get to Sensala, I will stay and help you, your highness...”
“Langrion,” he said, “Call me by my name, Langrion.” As he spoke, he took her left hand, squeezed it gently, and kissed it lightly in a knightly fashion, and she saw him smile for the very first time since they met.
“Ahhh... Alright, my prince,” Shia replied as she tried to tug her hand away from him. As soon as the kiss landed on her hand, she felt her cheeks turn hot and red from embarrassment, but he held her hand firmly and would not let it go.
“Just say my name once then,” he replied “I won’t let go if you don’t.”
“A-alright... Langrion...” she said. He finally let go of her hand while Shia was left with the strange feeling of awkwardness and embarrassment as the name of his highness lingered in her tongue.
As the night progressed, several more servants came in to tidy up the room further and to ready it for their sleep. They carried in several more pillows, a set of sleeping clothes for Shia and the prince, and some bath robes and bath towels.
“That tent exit leads to the bath chambers,” Prince Langrion said, pointing to the other end of the tent where he emerged earlier after Shia spoke to Lady Khailis. “The servants have finished heating it up. You can take a bath if you want to.”
He plumped a pillow and put it in the middle of the mattress. “I will sleep on this side. You can sleep on the other. Just make sure that you extend your hand far enough to the edge of this pillow so that I can reach to it if I have to.” Stifling a yawn, he said further, “You can take your time in the bath chambers. I will be sleeping now.” With that, Langrion lied down on his side of the bed and closed his eyes.
Shia decided to take a bath and proceeded to collect the bathing articles the servants had brought in. She entered the bath chambers and saw a makeshift bathtub full of scented flower petals and steaming hot water. Making sure that no one is secretly watching her and the tent’s flaps were firm and secured, Shia undressed. She proceeded to soak her weary body into the scented water and felt immediate relief as if some heavy weight from her shoulders had just come off.
Shia could not believe what has happened to her overnight since she had met the man in the woods. She remembered how he had tried to help her back then and how he might be helping her too now, in a way. However, she had begun to be reminded of the fact that the prince – Langrion – might well likely be responsible for the death of his family, something that she could not find herself able to forgive.
“This might be my chance then,” Shia muttered under her breath. Being his betrothed, getting close to him, and sharing his room every night might very well be the opportunity that Shia needed the most. At the end of the day, whether he is a prince or not, if he had indeed murdered her family, Shia must extract her revenge. She can use this opportunity to plan how she could make him pay dearly for what he had done in the most excruciating way possible while preventing the death of many more others. All she had to do was go by his ploy for now and strike him down at the perfect time.
‘What goes around comes around,’ Shia thought as she plunged her head beneath the warm water, and for the first time in three months, she felt her thoughts safely drifting away into a sea of peace.