Chapter 3 - Truths unfold.

I awoke the next morning feeling more apprehensive than I had ever felt before as I dressed in an emerald gown and le my hair down loose. I hated that the prince had such an affect on me, stirring hot and fiery sparks that always arose from my stomach every time I saw him, it was both electrifying and scary at the same time. I found myself eager to see him and it unnerved me that he already had that power over me, a man I still barely knew.

Just as I was walking down the corridor toward the castle doors, I felt a presence behind me, and I could hear panted breaths. I swung around to see the prince swiftly approaching with a jovial smile, I curtsied as he reached me and I could already feel my heart pounding excitedly... “Mallon, good morning”

“Good morning, Aurelia, I must say you’re looking more beautiful every time I see you”.

I sniggered at his compliment, feeling myself heat up under his gaze. “Are you on your way to see the king?”

“Uh, no, I’ve already had word with him this morning, just after breakfast, I didn’t see you there though, why didn’t you join us this morning?”

“Oh, I like to eat in my room sometimes, it’s more peaceful, do you have anything to attend to now, or would you like a little tour of our village?”

“No, I’m all yours Aurelia, lead the way!”

We left the castle and made our way through the grounds and down to our village. Our kingdom was rather large, but most of the land was inhibited, apart from a few homes that belonged to the guard’s wives, but our village was the heart of our home… or at least that’s how it felt to me.

We walked slowly through the bustle of people as they traded goods, tried to tempt buyers into purchasing from their makeshift stalls. Ale, rice, flour and fresh vegetables were being sold as we passed through. I knew who I wanted him to meet first, so I took him to Nora’s stall. She was hammering a leather shoe together when she looked up as we reached her.

“Hi Nora, how are you this morning?”

“Uh, very well princess, how are you?” She looked unsure as her eyes kept darting from me to the prince and back again, of course Mallon did look rather regal in his navy and white clothes.

“Nora, I’d like to introduce you to Prince Mallon. Mallon this is a friend of mine”.

“Nora” he spoke pleasantly “It’s good to meet you”

“Oh” She blushed “And you, your majesty” She bowed, seemingly flustered “If I knew you were popping by, well I would have tidied myself a bit… forgive me, but it’s been a rather busy morning, although that’s a good thing for me”

Mallon chuckled as he walked around her stall looking at all the ranges of shoes and boots she had made “Please don’t apologise, I know a shoemaker back home, he’s a good man, but it’s tiring work”

“Tiring indeed your majesty, but it’s what I’m good at”

“Yes, I can see that, these all look really good, you can’t even tell they’ve been worn” he admired as he held a boot similar to his and inspected it “You are skilled Nora”

“Oh, well, thank you your majesty”

“If I shall need any repairs while I’m here, I know just who to come to”

“Ooh, oh, well your majesty I would be honoured” she blabbered as could barely contain her excitement.

Mallon smiled at her warmly then looked back to me, he opened his mouth as if to say something but hesitated. Looking thoughtfully, he turned his gaze back to Nora “Nora, tell me, do you fair well here, I mean with the work that you do?”

“Um, well I do alright your majesty”

He nodded “You eat well then? Have a suitable home… that sort of thing?”

“Oh, well… I guess so. Most of the food I have, I catch myself in the woods just past that wall over there” she pointed to the narrow stone wall that swept around the village, parts of it had broken off and started to tumble down.

“Hmm, wow so you’re not just skilled at making all these look brand new but you’re a good hunter too?”

“Most of the time… sometimes I don’t catch very much”

“So how often so you have to hunt?”

“Oh well, you see your majesty I usually share my food with some of these other poor folk, some of them are too old or ill to feed themselves most days, so I do my best to see that they eat a good meal at least once a day”

“Wow, Nora that’s incredibly noble of you”

“Oh, your majesty” She blushed “I only do what others here do, we’re like family you see, we all try to look out for one another”

“Well then, it’s very humble of you all”

She smiled at him as she shifted on her feet, unsure of what to say next, and I felt just the same. I couldn’t understand why he was asking such questions, was he really that interested, or were things here very different to what he knew back at his home?

We said goodbye to Nora as we walked some more, looking over at each stall, Mallon had even purchased some fresh bread from Mr Fielding, he was so touched by Mallon’s generosity at paying him more than he owed, that Mr Fielding’s eyes began to water, and I saw his throat bob as he tried to swallow his tears and it made my heart twist tightly in sympathy.

We were coming up to the end of the village as we walked upon a narrow gravel path that was surrounded by greenery fields and trees in the distance that lined the woods. Mallon was quiet and I could feel there was something on his mind, I glanced at him to see his eyes were far away, deep in his own little world, and for some reason I had to know why he was so far away.

“Is everything Ok? You’ve grown rather quiet!” I asked softly

He rapidly blinked his eyes as I jolted him out of his thoughts “Um, yes, I think so”

“You think so?”

He looked at me as his brows furrowed with uncertainty “Aurelia, can I ask you something? And if I did, could I trust in you to be honest with me?”

I smiled uneasily “Um, yes, I guess so”

He looked down at the large loaf of bread he held in his hand, then looked out again at the scenery before us. “Why is everyone here so poor?”

“Oh” I paused, I suddenly felt caught off guard and I didn’t know what to say, do I tell a man I hardly know the truth and risk the wrath of my father if he found out? But the sad expression that was on Mallon’s face compelled me to be honest, after all he did ask that of me, and I’m not a liar… or at least I try not to be, when it’s not necessary.

I sighed and looked to the ground as our walk begun to slow down “They work hard, they really do, but no matter how hard they work, it’ll never be enough, at least not for them”

“Why not?” He asked curiously

I let out a deep breath at the frustration I felt over my father “because the more they make, the more goods they manage to grow or buy at the docs, the majority of it goes to the king. He just takes more and more”

“Why?”

I shrugged heavily “I don’t know. He just does whenever he feels like it”

Mallon scoffed and shook his head in disgust “I can’t say I’m surprised after all the expensive ornaments, rugs and tapestry’s he has but I hoped I was wrong, that maybe he was more of a collector over time, rather than robbing his own people of their hard earned living!” he spat

“Your home… is it different to mine then?” I asked feeling slightly disheartened

He nodded “Yes, Aurelia, it really is. When I first arrived, I just assumed that perhaps the king’s people were lazy and didn’t care about living with such little means, but I was wrong, they’re being completely neglected! I mean I noticed their homes that we passed, they’re barely holding together!” His voice began to raise as he spoke angrily “does this not bother you? To see YOUR people so neglected and mistreated? Half of them look like they haven’t eaten in weeks! They’re being treated no better than rats! How can you and the king think this is ok? Have you no heart?” He scolded

I blanched at his strong accusations and my body burned with so much indignation, that I knew I couldn’t hold back! Edric might want me to always be submissive, but I can’t be, not when I’m being accused of something so disgraceful “HOW DARE YOU!” I stared at him firmly, my chin up facing him, standing my ground with confidence.

“You think you can judge me, oh mighty prince? You think I don’t see what you see? I see my people barely able to survive every damn day! Who do you think you are to assume I have any part in this? Have you not noticed anything prince? Your so blind by your own perfect view that you can’t see what’s right in front of you? YOU’RE A PRINCE AND IM A PRINCESS AND YET MY CLOTHES HAVE NO EXPENSE IN COMPARRISON TO YOUR FLASHY WEALTHY ATTIRE, EVEN YOUR BOOTS ARE WORTH MORE THAN MOST THINGS THAT I OWN! I AM MERELY AN UNWANTED GUEST IN THE KINGS CASTLE, I DON’T HAVE THE VOICE OR THE LUXURIES THAT YOU AND OTHER PRINCESSES HAVE! DO NOT EVER COMPARE ME TO THE KING EVER AGAIN!” I felt so hurt by his assumptions of me and my rage was boiling over, I turned away from him and darted back toward the village, I didn’t know if he tried to follow me or not but unlike him, I knew a shortcut back home through the castle grounds, I hurried back to my room before I had any chance of bumping into him.

I took my time dressing for the evening meal, Maude had informed me that the king demanded I’d be there, he must be annoyed at the prince spending so much of the day with me instead of him. The king never wanted me to dine in the same room as him unless he was angry about something.

Edric was sat at the head of the long table, with Mallon to his left and his guards occupying the seats next to them, of course as always, I sat on the opposite end. I tried to keep my eyes focused on the food in front of me, I ate as quietly as I could, but I could feel Edric’s hard glare on me, as if he was hoping the harder, he stared, the more likely he’d be able to burn holes through my head.

Just eat a little more, so you’ve been here long enough than leave! I thought to myself

Edric suddenly laughed and it echoed though the room, he clonked his cup back on the table and tutted “See prince…and men” he addressed them all “Women are so dull” he said as his eyes tore into me with distaste “plain, nothing good but offspring to offer and even then they disappoint you on that… the one and only thing they could be useful for” he chugged down more of his wine and burped as he nudged Mallon with his arm “that’s why I’d advise you to take up a mistress, have some fun lad, that’s what I did! I’m sure your own father has a few of his own” he laughed again, and his guards nervously chuckled with him as Mallon unvoluntarily cringed

I felt repulsed at his admittance of bedding other women whilst he had my mother as his wife, I felt sick and completely indifferent to this ugly man who somehow was my father! It was times like this that I’d wish he’d just die!

“Excuse me” I spoke calmly trying not to let my expression show what I was really thinking, I got up and started to make my way out of the hall, when suddenly a dish flew past my head and smashed into pieces on the wall in front of me, I gasped in shock and turned around to see Edric smiling as Mallon and the guards looked on in shock.

“Did you show the prince a good time today?” Edric asked with a hard glare

“I… I hope so… my king” I stuttered. Typical, he couldn’t let me leave without reminding me who had the power here.

He looked to the prince and smiled as he begun to sway drunkenly in his chair “Well, did she? I don’t want my favourite guy here being disappointed” he flung his arm over Mallon’s shoulder and grasped it then patted him on his back.

“No, no I had a great time with her today” Mallon quickly replied as he gritted his teeth and tried to move out of Edric’s hold.

“GOOD!” Edric shouted as he looked back to me “Well go on then… fuck off!”

I refrained from rolling my eyes and got myself out of the hall before he decided to keep me there longer for his own amusement.

I rushed to my room as quickly as my feet would move, once in the safety of my own chambers I slammed the door and tried to hold back the tears that wanted to explode out of me. Tears of frustration and complete rage. I hated that man… with every fibre of my being, I hated him!

I practically locked myself away in my room for the following two days, not just so I didn’t have to face Mallon, but I was still so angry and embarrassed after how Edric had behaved at dinner. The guards might be used to his behaviour towards me, but it still got to me, nonetheless. I’d only leave my room to hide down in the kitchen whenever I felt hungry, and Maude was the only company I had when she had time to check in on me.