All I Need ✔️

Chapter 2

Third Person POV

"Sir, the merchant delegation from Trevor's Glen has arrived," the King's advisor announced.

King Theodore sat atop his gilded throne, his sons standing on both sides of him. A crowd had gathered in the throne room to welcome the Southern merchants, as well as to get a glimpse of the merchandise they brought with them.

"Enter," the King commanded, with a deep, booming bellow.

Two merchants entered the room, with their crew pulling large carts behind them.

"Embrien!" King Theodore said cheerfully, his voice still booming.

"Your majesty," Embrien bowed. "This is my fellow merchant, Claude."

"Your majesty," Claude said, bowing.

"He sells leathers and clothing," Embrien said. "I figured it may be of some interest to your people, so I brought him with."

"Any of your fellow merchants are welcome here," King Theodore responded. He didn't have to – they both knew the kingdom was overjoyed by any merchant who would make the journey. Even if it was simply to sell useless trinkets, the villagers were thrilled to see new faces.

"What have you come to present to the court?" the King asked, excited. The first prince leaned forward, clearly also interested. The third was fondling his latest fling, the curvy, blonde daughter of one of the nobles. But the second was staring off into space, seemingly thinking about something he deemed far more important than anything happening in front of him.

Embrien began. "Well our first item . . . isn't so much an item as it was a rescue. We found a young woman on the shores of the river on our way here. She's not in great shape, but she is alive. We wanted to return her to whomever is undoubtedly missing her."

He nodded to Darien, who went inside one of the carts and carried the mysterious girl out into the throne room. In the grand room filled with everyone dressed in their best attire for the king's court, her torn clothing and frail frame seemed even smaller than it had on the boat.

"Does this woman belong to anyone?" Embrien asked, as Darien slowly twirled around with the girl's unconscious body in his arms.

No one responded, but the crowd began to whisper. All of them could recognize that she was an unusually beautiful woman. Even the third prince had stopped fooling around with his companion to look at the woman with interest, much to his partner's chagrin.

"Anyone?" Embrien repeated. "Perhaps someone might be interested in claiming her?" he asked.

As he said that, the girl's eyes began to flutter. Suddenly, her eyelids snapped open revealing striking, green eyes. She pushed herself out of Darien's arms, only to fall immediately on the floor. To her horror, when she lifted her head she saw the room was filled with people.

"She's awake," Embrien exclaimed. "Tell us, my girl. Where are you from?"

The young woman stared at him. He walked over to her. "Here, let me help you up. Let's show you off to everyone to see if anyone will claim you."

He grabbed the woman's arm, and she, without hesitation, punched him in the stomach. Reeling, he stepped backwards while she scrambled to her feet. She looked around nervously, like a caged animal. Clearly, even standing was proving difficult for her. She took a few steps forward, then, with a cry, collapsed to the ground. Immediately, a murmur grew as the crowd began chatting about the strange, violent girl.

"I'll take her," the King's middle son interjected.

The room fell silent, in shock at hearing the usually silent second prince speak. He strode confidently toward the middle of the room. Embrien, having recovered from the punch, straightened himself up to face the prince.

"Of course your highness. My assistant Darien will carry her wherever you would like."

"I'll carry her myself," the prince said dismissively, still staring at the girl.

"Sir, of course we are happy to serve the crown. But . . . " the prince turned his icy stare towards the merchant. Embrien froze, feeling as though the prince's blue eyes pierce through him.

"Yes?" the Prince's dangerous voice asked evenly.

Embrien began again cautiously. "We depend on our trip to Peria to generate profits to feed our family. Stopping to pick up this young woman . . . it was the right thing to do, but it did cut into our profits by taking away our selling time . . . "

"You want money," the Prince interrupted.

"Of course not sir," the merchant said quickly. "But if you did have anything to spare, it could help cover our losses."

The Prince had already resumed staring at the woman's lifeless body. "Here," he said, thrusting a bag at the merchant, without making eye contact.

Embrien glanced inside, and his eyes immediately widened. There was easily enough gold in there to buy a new house. He turned to Claude and gave him a quick nod.

"Thank you, your highness," Embrien bowed.

The second prince appeared not to hear the merchant, swiftly picking up the woman and carrying her out of the throne room. The room stayed silent for a minute, everyone still in shock. Rumors had circulated around the kingdom for years about the second prince's seeming lack of interest in women. Some had speculated he might be interested in men, or maybe not interested in anyone at all. So the scene those in the throne room observed that day would serve as fodder for gossip around the town for months.

The King eventually broke the silence. "Please tell us what else you have brought this time. I am hoping you have more of your wife's pastries."

Embrien smiled. "Of course, your majesty."

The two merchants then took turns presenting their items to the kingdom. Eventually the villagers started gossiping about the items the merchants had brought instead of the strange scene they just witnessed. But there was no doubt that after they left, the biggest topic of conversation would be who the mystery girl was and what exactly the second prince wanted with her.