Chapter 1

Blake's Pov

I sat down on a swivel chair in the royal garden so I could get enough fresh air from the evening which was so cool. It seemed cloudy as if it was going to rain but I didn't mind staying there because these past few days had been so hot especially when one steps out of the palace.

I think the weather was trying to make up for those past hot days , although I was boiling so hard in my heart. My hands folded ,with my legs crossed against each other, as the seat spinned from side to side. One could tell that I was in a bad mood and needed my privacy.

It was like the whole world was about crumbling before me and I was going to loose all I had worked hard for since I turned eight. The throne, which was my birth right was about to be taken from me by those council men who always presented themselves as the custodian of all our cultures. I had never had a cause to worry about my future than now.

While pondering over those last words of Liliana, the duchess of Albania. She had left me so worried with her statement and I found myself being enslaved in it. The guts she had to agree to such a deal made me get that feeling of great betrayal. I knew that at this point ,I should be more alert than ever as she had just set the challenge between the both of us at such a time were the council was mounting up such pressure on me.

" You should do as they say brother. If I am offered that position, I wouldn't turn it down. I'll gladly take it", she had said before dropping the line on me. I had placed a phone call to my dear loving sister, who I had always for all her life to report the case I had with the council and how they planned to over throne me.

I expected her with a more positive answer , which should be that she would help me beg them for sometime to find myself a befitting queen, but instead she came up with such a daring answer which really put me off. When I remember that Liliana and I had never had a cause to quarrel or have any fight in the past, I get even more scared to have heard her sound that way.

" Was she really saying all that to my hearing and was she really interested in taking my place?" I found myself asking, I felt some little doubt within me, I had heard her say she had no interest for the throne in the past and that was one of the reasons she always stayed far from it. She spent almost all her years in Albania , serving them as it's ruler and making sure it was a better place.

She had never shown any interest and i was never bothered , but now I felt like there was someone behind the sudden change of mind and I had to figure out just who it was.

How could she be this mean towards me. Our relationship had always been a good one and we had always had each other's back from day one.What was the sudden change all about, and why would she desire what was mine.

There was only one thing that I could think of and that was how to remedy what was about to become my wildest nightmare.

Being a crowned prince came with lots of duties and expectations, starting from the way matters would be approached , most importantly finding a loyal crowned princess who would carry out her functions more effectively and help me in keeping the country in togetherness and unity as it's future mother.

This had been my expectation as the future ruler of New Orleans ,but I have never been after just a loyal princess. I wanted something more beautiful and special. If I could find love ,it would make my function as the ruler of my country much easier.

I didn't want a woman who would be just loyal and obedient to all my commands for the sake of duty and status, although it was paramount to have her posses such features ,but I believed strongly that I would be able to rule better with a crowned princess that I loved.

I admired the love life between my father and mother and that was my strongest desire. It all seemed like they failed to acknowledge my aspirations but only were after my finding a befitting bride from a noble family to take as wife.

Dad was currently down with a chronic illness which had affected his heart. The doctor said that he had series of heart attacks in the past unknown to us which led to him slumping one certain day. He was rushed to the hospital and that was when we found out about the sickness and how he had been hiding it from us and getting series of treatments by the royal family doctor secretly.

I was so annoyed that he couldn't tell us the situation he was into, doctor Dante had told me that the reason he was unable to reveal his sickness was because he didn't want us to get worried and he had made him swear not to tell us about it. Dad was able to speak for a few months but he was unable to work because he already had been paralyzed on his legs.

Although he was still down, he managed to rule the country from the hospital until a particular day when he fell into coma .Ever since then ,dad had never opened his eyes or spoken to anyone. All pressure had been on me to get a wife as they all had a strong believe that he might not make it out alive.

Hearing the pressure they gave me everyday to get myself a crowned princess, who would ascend the throne with me if father eventually dies made me wonder if they actually wished for their King to pass. I actually understood better later on that this was for the purpose of keeping the Royal lineage of the country.

While growing up as the children of His Highness ,we were all betrothed at the age of five to our betrothals . I had two younger siblings ,both females.

There was Liliana the duchess of Albania, who was betrothed to Williams Shaw ,the son of a noble minister of war in Greenville. Williams happens to be the master of the sea as he was in charge of the seaports of New Orleans. My second sister happened to be the duchess of Noblesville, Kyra , a eighteen year old medical student at Noblesville University.

When I turned five I was betrothed to Maria , a very beautiful blond haired damsel, with the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. She was the daughter to Lt. Col. Adams Steve, the commander of the army at New Orleans ,a very respected man who had commanded so much respect around the world.

I was willing to have her even though she was chosen for me out of duty. We schooled together until high school and our relationship was great. She was every guys dream, very nice, intelligent , sweet and caring. I admired her alot and I was sure that she was very much attracted to me. We always had lunch together when it was our free time and I was very willing to take her as mine.

She was someone I knew I could do life together with,but it was all cut short the day she fell down from a cliff. There had been reports on her sustaining a spinal injury which took her life days after. She remained Unconscious before her death and even her nanny who was with her before the attack went into coma.

We all felt it wasn't just an accident z but someone had really lunched an attack on the both of them. No one knew who it was and just like that Maria died and her nanny lost all her memories when she Finally got out of coma. That was the first time I felt my love leaving me.

Father made plans a year later to get me a new betrothal ,his plans failed when Veronica came with the reports of her being pregnant with my child. She was the best friend to Maria, the daughter to Santiago Rodriguez ,the most famous jewelry lord in New Orleans. She was always with Maria back then in school and she went with us to the schools cafe whenever we wanted to have lunch.

Maria loved her so much and would always talk about her whenever we were together. She called her her special friend and her bestie and I was happy that my bethroned had a friend she could rely on.

After Maria's funeral, I found myself drifting away slowly . I had been close to Maria and loosing her created this emptiness in me. Veronica was always there. She consoled me , because she had also lost a dear friend. She kept visiting me from to time to time until that particular day we decided to drink.

I woke up the next morning finding her next to me on the bed unclad. I had no recollection on how the night had been ,but she claimed we had made love , showing me some blood stains on the purple bed sheets.

I was not too sure as I tried to remember but it was hard. I didn't want to doubt her , because she was already in tears. it was a state of confusion ,but I decided not to take it the had way. She was a lady and might get hurt

I knew that I had no sexual experience before and had no clue what really happened between us, but I didn't want her to feel too bad if really something had happened that night.

When Veronica Rodriguez showed up with the pregnancy ,I had to inform father and although he was at first disappointed that I had gotten someone pregnant in high school, he quickly matched us up. Veronica had to quit school until after she had our daughter Flora who is currently ten .

We began dating, but it only lasted for a very short period till the day I found out about her use of hard drugs and alcohol. I had to call off the engagement, but although we both decided to part ways ,she till had a very strong influence over me and always had her way to getting up close with me.

It had been hard selecting a wife , especially when my daughter's mother was always so close. Veronica has this close relationship with my mother and it makes it even more difficult that we part. Flora stayed in the palace with me and Veronica always came over to visit her.

" If you can't find yourself a befitting bride, I suggest that you consider your daughters mother", mom would always say whenever the issue of getting a bride comes up.

The council members had just visited me and their discussion with me ,left me even more confused than before. They had said it was very obvious dad wouldn't scale through his attack and if he happens to pass soon ,then the country would need a new leader.

" You won't be ascending the throne without a bride, if his Highness should pass today", one of the council men said.

I was taken aback by this statement and was left shocked when I was told that if I failed in providing a bride ,then the throne would be passed from me.

" Passed to whom then? Or do you intend scraping out the royal family?", I asked.

" We don't intend doing that your Majesty"

" Then who would you be passing my birth right to?", I asked.

" Your father has two daughters and to the best of our Knowledge, your sister Liliana would be considered as queen and her fiance as her king consort", another blabbed.

This was the most shocking news I had heard in a long while. Liliana and Kyra knew nothing about the throne and that was why they were raised in a different town away from the palace. How could she be considered queen all of a sudden.

I tried talking out things with them, but they left without any more words. I immediately called Liliana to talk things with her and inform her on what they had said, and to get her thoughts on what I should do. If Liliana was right about the council telling her that she would be the next ruler of the country, then they must really be joking. Why would they choose my immediate junior sister over me to rule them in the first place.

She surprised me with her words , which showed that she had interest in becoming the ruler of the country, something she knew would be like a treason if she ventured into such. I have been trained all my life to become the future king of New Orleans, I went through the necessary schools, got the necessary training, which father had placed me on since I turned eight.

I wondered what gave her the impetus to think she could be the next ruler knowing fully well that she had no experience or training on what the ruler of the country should know and should be able to handle that his disposal. It was quite funny as I thought about who was beating the drum to the song she was dancing to. Even the council knew she wasn't qualified, so why would they even choose her for the position.

" How can my own blood sister be interested in a position she knows is actually my birth right", I kept pondering.

Swivelling on the seat, James my right hand man, rushed in to inform me that Veronica had arrived the palace and she was heading towards the garden to see me. She had lots of food with her which she carried in a basket and I immediately knew that she was going to insist that I ate the food. Veronica always hard her way when it came to enticing me .

She always thought about her strategies so well and most of the time they worked out successfully for her . I knew this was another of her strategies, in which she was going to use on me making sure that she got me to eat or equally use our daughter Flora to get closer to me and I wasn't ready to let that happen.

" Rush now! tell her that I just stepped out", I said quickly rushing out through a pathway that lead to the front of the palace. I got into my car and started the engine as the cloud became darker accompanied with some thunder storms which kept on for a long time.