Chapter 4

After being together for two days Emilia packed the few items she had brought with her and back to her kingdom while Octavius and Angus did the same, mounting their horses and rode back to Camelorn.

Octavius practiced, with fear in his heart, the right way to tell his father he had fathered a child. His greatest fear wasn't in telling his father but having his father reject Emilia but his mind was made up, if Emilia was rejected then he would reject his duty to the throne too and relinquish power to Angus. He had said as much to Angus who had called him a dolt and rejected the offer.

"Father would have a heart attack if you forfeit your duty to the kingdom for a maiden no matter how beautiful she may be. Think how much worse a condition Garius would be in when he hears of such," Angus had told him as they packed their things to head back to Camelorn.

"When my child is born my duty will be to my child and its mother not the throne"

"I am both happy and proud of you brother but worried at the same time for the foolishness that has taken over you. No woman is worth your throne"

Octavius had curbed the urge to laugh at Angus' claim. He had once thought no woman was worth his head until Emilia came into his life and now he would gladly carve out his for her if she wanted. But Angus would never understand that, his younger brother was quite happy planning midnight trysts with the maids in the palace.

As they rode fast and hard towards Camelorn Octavius convinced himself, there was no way out, his father would either accept or not accept and he was fine with either of his father's decision because at the end of the day would do as he wanted.

The guards at the gates saw the steeds and the royal coat of arms and swung the heavy gates open, admitting Octavius and Angus. They dismounted and handed the reins of their mounts to the stable hands that came running towards them.

"Welcome back, Your Majesties"

Octavius dutifully nodded in response to their greetings and continued on his way, up the stairs, and into the palace, Angus headed was head in the other direction, no doubt to catch some winsome maid or stuff the bottomless hole that was his belly with food. He walked to the passage that led to the royal quarters and made his way to his room. There was a maid in it changing the sheets of his bed as he had commanded. His father was not to know about he and Angus' disappearance and the only way to do that was to ask the maids to bring new trays of meals to his room at regular intervals and change the sheets of his bed. The impression was to convince his father that he had spent four days in his room studying war strategies and maps. He had also convinced Garius to cover up for him.

"You can go now," he said to the maid.

The maid picked the discarded beddings and the empty tray of food and went out the door. Octavius stripped off his fur coat, hose, and tunic and laid them on the large exquisitely carved bed made of dark wood with the figureheads of lions at the corners of the headrest and bears at the foot of it, each of them artistically carved and painted to look real. There was an adjoining washroom covered with heavy velvet curtains which he entered. The maids had been alerted of his arrival, from a small door by the left of the washroom two maids came in carrying a bucket of hot water while three more came in with a gilded tub, setting it at the center of the room and with bath oils and salts. Once all was set and the bath salts had been poured into the tub of hot water they all went out of the room the way they came leaving Octavius to have his bath in private.

He sank into the tub of hot water and rested his head on the edge of it allowing himself a moment of privacy before going to confront his father. He was glad his mind was made up but apprehensive of his father's reaction to his news and his subsequent decision if things went out of hand. Surely, his father would survive the disappointment of having his crown prince chose a woman over his throne because he had another son that would take over. But he was not going to concern himself with that for now, he was back home and he needed a moment of solitude to gather himself together and get the courage to face his father.

King Philip III was no hard man but he took his duties as king seriously. Like every other king before him, he took advantage of his position as king from time to time and that attested to the many nameless bastards he sired and his numerous visits to the establishments of soiled doves. Octavius knew his father loved his mother but was greedy and had had a reputation for sowing his oats wildly from a very young age. His mother had known about his many children, children who would never bear his name, before she had married him and she knew about his regular visits with the soiled doves but he was a king and he had entitlements she wasn't going to deny. There in the quiet of the bathroom, Octavius vowed to be loyal to Emilia alone.

There was a heavy knock at the door of the main room.

"Your Majesty"

With a sigh, Octavius lifted his head and spoke "In the washroom"

The heavy door of his room swung open and the muffled sound of hard boots against soft carpet reached his ears. It was one of the guards and it was a voice he recognized.

"What is it, Dextus?"

The footsteps stopped at the front of the washroom and the Dextus voice boomed through the door "Your father, His Royal Majesty demands your presence at the temple"

"What temple?"

"The temple of Ashterah"

The goddess of war. That was not a good sign but if anything, Octavius was not easily deterred from his path so he raised himself from the tub, letting the water slid off this body, took a robe hanging on the rail on the washroom wall, and wrapped himself in it. His moment of solitude was over. He opened the door and found Dextus waiting there.

"I have been told to accompany you myself"

"Fair enough. I guess that means I am wanted now"

Dextus nodded and stepped aside for his prince to pass. Octavius donned the royal robe of purple, pulling the front close with the gold-thread cord that marked him Crowned Prince of Camelorn and slid on his finger the ring that held the signet. Dextus went ahead of him opening the door and stepping aside for him to go.