The Mad Queen

Chapter Sixty

My mother and aunts stand in a line beneath the throne. They stand straight and proud as the doors open. Prince Hanlon, Lady Esmee and their son Leander Drake, who is our current councilman of the military, all walk in. Followed shyly by my father.

He wears extremely fine clothes. A jacket of purple silk lined with silver is the main feature of his attire. It makes him look a lot older than the thirteen years I have guessed he is.

"So, this is the boy?" King Orion asks.

"Yes," Prince Hanlon replies with an awkward smile as he pushes my father forward. My father walks to the foot of the throne and bows deeply. My grandfather raises an eyebrow. "Strange that you would endorse a Baylon, brother," the King says. "Especially when it was the Drakes who stole their position and aided with the Baylon downfall," he says as he leans back in the throne. "What makes this one so special?" he asks.

"The boy is an excellent swordsman and has a good aim with distance weapons..."

"As do most of the young nobles across Vivelle," the king replies. Prince Hanlon clears his throat.

"He is a well mannered young man and as you can tell by his features, he will grow to be very handsome..." The king sighs.

"Again, there is nothing special about him..." he sighs.

"Well," Prince Hanlon says. "Let him live here and learn the ways of the nobles for a while. Give him a chance to show his true self. I think you will be impressed," Hanlon smiles. The King takes a deep breath and his eyes fall straight onto my father.

"Do you want to be the King, boy?" My father gulps and bows again.

"Of course, your majesty," he replies as he keeps his voice even and calm. The King raises an eyebrow.

"Of course you do," he sighs. "They all do." He stands up and walks over to my father.

"An invite here does not mean much," he tells my father as he puts a hand on his shoulder. "There are plenty of young nobles whose families are much more powerful and wealthy than yours. It is going to take a lot for you to even get noticed." He doesn't look at my father as he walks down the steps toward his brother.

"I'll give the boy a chance. I trust in your judgement brother, even though I think the reason behind your choice has much more to it than you are letting on. Though I suggest the Drake family take him personally under their wing and teach him the ways of the court to their fullest. It would be embarrassing if the Drake family were wrong with their choice, wouldn't it?" he asks.

"Yes, your majesty," Prince Hanlon says and bows his head. The King doesn't look at his brother again as he walks out of the room.

"Come, girls," he calls back. My mother and aunts walk delicately down the stairs. My mother stops at my father.

"Hello, Lord Matthias," she says before giggling and running off behind her sisters. My father turns and watches her as she runs. He smiles softly. Leander spots this.

"One day, one of those pretty little princesses will be all yours," he grins and slings his arm over my father's shoulder. The smile falls off my fathers face.

"If I am chosen," he replies.

"You do not need to worry about that," Leander chuckles.

For the second time in the last two days, I wake up in pain. Though this time there is a much more innocent explanation behind the pain. I groan, roll over and try to bury my head under my blanket. I definitely had too much to drink last night.
"Wake up, Princess," Odelia says next to me and I groan again before sitting up. She hands me a glass of water and I begin to sip it. "Here, this will help with the pain," she chuckles as she passes me another liquid. I add it to the water and begin to drink some more. It has a nasty, bitter taste but I get it down. I hand back the mug and stand up slowly and stretch.
"I can't be the only one," I say as I see her amused expression. She laughs.
"Why don't you come and see for yourself?" she asks and leads me from my small cavern room. My eyes widen and I can't help but laugh as I enter the main cavern.
"Holy shit," I chuckle. The cavern is a mess and sleeping bodies lying all over the floor. My eyes go to Wyatt who is lying on top of Zoran. I smile as an evil plan forms in my mind.
"Do you want to grab a bucket too?" I ask Odelia. Merissa, Jack and Stefan appear next to us. They had stayed on guard and did not drink last night. They click on to my plan straight away.