The Heir's Bride

© s a f i e

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PROLOGUE

The usual hustle and bustle inside the castle was barely audible. All maids and guards left worried because of the feeble condition of their king. 

Suddenly, a guard, taller than the rest of the men guarding the gates and the halls, marched inside the door that was left open at the end of the hall. 

The old man who was lying on a four poster bed, pale and sickly, continue to stare up the ceiling as he reminisce the past

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"My son, you ought to know better. You have to stay! The people need you..." 

"Mother I can't." The blonde young version of the king stared at the queen, his green eyes shining. "The world is waiting for me to explore; its oceans roaring for me to sail over them, its abundant lands waiting to be claimed. I can't just live like this!" 

"Jacob, you shan't speak to your mother on that manner." The king exclaimed, marching inside the door to his son's bedroom.

"Father," Jacob bowed his head down as he acknowledge the king. 

"What is the meaning of this, Jacob?" The king asked in a low but menacing voice.

"Jason..." the king held up his hand and that silence the queen. "You know that I do not want to repeat myself, son."

A few moments passed and still, Jacob hadn't replied his father. Instead, he picked up few of his favorite books and clothes from his bed and throw them inside his luggage.

"Jacob, I am talking to you." Suddenly the king was up on his feet and was holding his son by the collar on his shirt

"Jason!" 

Jacob just glared at his father, his eyes full of despair and hatred. Slowly, he opened his mouth and said, "I am going away. I couldn't bear to live like this anymore..."

The king let go of his collar and screamed. The sound startled the guards and the maids from the halls but they wouldn't dare to stick their nose into royal business.

"You are going away? You think, it is that simple?" This made Jacob to stare at his father. "Who would rule the people? Who would inherit the kingdom when I die? Who would continue the legacy that has been passed on for so many generations? Do you not understand the meaning of all of this? Everything will go to waste."

The words of the king shocked him but he won't change his mind. He is determine to escape this hellhole no matter what. 

He remain silent, watching as his father took deep breaths and speak again, his voice steadier, "You will not leave. I won't let you continue this madness of yours." He stated, making Jacob pale as he tried to catch up from the king's departing voice. 

The king was already out of the door before Jacob realise that he was going to be locked up inside his room.

"JASON!" His mother cried but Jacob knew that she won't be able to change the king's decision. Instead, he leaned his head on the door and pound his hands on it.

"Father...no, please. Let me go."

"Jason, he is our only son. Just let him be, I am sure that once his thirst for exploration has been quenched, you will have your heir back."

"No, Monica. He is too much. We gave him everything and this is what he do in return? I just want him to have a better life." 

"Father, please." Jacob's voice is barely audible as his father spoke yet again. 

"He would marry Genevieve and continue this legacy. I will have my men secure the gates and the halls. Including the ports." And with that the king marched off, leaving his wife wailing in front of his son's door and hearing that agonizing voice of his one and only boy.

"My king," Argus voice startled him as he drifted back into the present. One could clearly see the nervousness as the guard slightly tremble under the King's gaze.

The old man did not acknowledge the guard with words, nor ask him about what could be the news he would tell him. One look from his royal guard means everything and that everything is a news about the past. Something about his heir.

The king nodded making Argus take a deep breath and speak, "We found him"

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