Chapter 5

The tension around the table was growing by each passing second. The two brothers stared down at each other without breaking eye contact.

it does not take a brilliant man to notice that Prince Barlion and his younger brother Prince Victor do not like each other.

Prince Barlion's grip on his knife kept tightening up to the point that his knuckles started turning white, looking like they were about to pop right off.

While my husband was angry, it seemed his younger brother was enjoying his reaction.

Prince Victor stared at my husband with a slight smile stretching against his thin lips.

It was as if he was enjoying angering his older brother.

"Now Now, dear brother..." Prince Victor spoke as he waved his right hand. "No need to be upset that your brother missed your big day. It's not like I did it on purpose."

Prince Victor spoke with such a lazy cat manner that it made him seem like he didn't care for anything at all.

"Besides..." Prince Victor continued. "I had wanted to come to your chambers and personally congratulate you, my dearest brother, for finally finding a gem and settling down and yet..."

Prince Victor stopped once again to turn his blue eyes to me as he chuckled a bit.

"I caught your new bride fleeing your chambers. Imagine my surprise when I bumped in to the new princess."

It took me a few seconds to realize what he was talking about. 

Last night, after I ran out of our chambers, I had bumped in to some one. 

I did not stop to look at who it was but now I realized that it might have been Prince Victor.

I felt a small surge of panic as I looked over to Prince Barlion to see that he was at a breaking point.

The Knuckles are no longer what made it obvious that he was annoyed with his younger brother. The thick veins stretching up the side of his neck was giving it away.

But Prince Barlion surprised everyone when he let out a heart filled laugh, one that carried out of his howling mouth and echoed through the impressively large dining room.

Prince Victor lifted his left eye brow as he stared at his older brother, awaiting to hear for what had made him laugh.

"Following me around, Little brother?" Prince Barlion asked as he tilted his head to the left.

"Oh, No. I just simply wanted to meet your beautiful wife. I am curious as to why she ran out of the chambers?"

"What is this that I'm hearing?" The King's voice suddenly boomed in the room, causing everyone to quite down and turn their heads to look at him.

His entire focus was directed to my husband and I was able to look closely at the King as he frowned.

I realized how much both Prince Barlion and Prince Victor looked like the King. But while Prince Victor has a softer look to him that he inherited from the Queen that made him look approachable, Prince Barlion had none of Queen Sity features.

My husband merely glanced at King Viper before he went back to cutting a piece of meet and gracefully stabbing it with his fork before he brought it up to his lips.

"What happens in my chambers are none of your concerns, Victor." Prince Barlion spoke, completely ignoring his father's question as he carried on with his supper.

The King, to my surprise, didn't bother to ask again or talk to anyone.

Soon, the conversation was put on hold as they all carried out with their supper, all except Prince Victor, who hadn't stopped staring at me from his leaned back position.

Feeling uncomfortable with the attention, I shifted in my seat and caught sight of the chair next to me.

It was only then that I realized that the seat to my left was empty.

My husband sat at my right and his younger brother was from across me. But no one wanted to actually seat next to me, as if I was some dirty trash that would tain them.

I bit my lower lips as hard as I can and looked down, not willing to stare at any of the royals enjoying their meal.

I still haven't met any of them formally. Except from the first day I'd arrived here, I was fortunate in not running into any of them.

But from what Mirra told me, the castle is filled with a long string of he royal family.

There is the top class of main castle, which is for only King Viper and his queen Sity.

The King and Queen have three children that I am aware of. Prince Barlion is the eldest, followed by Prince Victor and then there is the Princess Victoria.

One look around the table and I spotted the Princess. I've never met her before but the very similar features she shares with the Queen including the same green eyes she and Prince Victor took from their mother told me that she was infact the princess.

Princess Victory looked younger than Prince Victor but the way she sat next to him and the graceful movement of her arms and hands as she ate screamed royalty.

Not once had she glanced up from her plate or made a single comment while her older brother's were shooting words at each other.

Mirra also told me that the King's three brothers and the Queen's two sisters live here in the main castle with their families.

Mirra said that villagers loved speaking of the drama that loved with the royals. She said they were just rumors and that I shouldn't believe them but it was all so intriguing.

The brothers and sisters of the King and Queen also have wives and childrens, some of which I don't know, name or face wise. In total, the royals count up to nineteen family members living with almost a hundred servants and knights to man the castle.

Mirra said that in time, I needed to learn about the royal family in this castle if I wanted to make friends and bond with my new family.

But the warning Hunder Bowman gave me still rang in my ears.

"It was indeed a very interesting wedding. I just wished it would have been more... Lively." A woman commented with an obvious mockery laced in her voice.

I turned my head to the left to see a woman with dark green eyes looking back at me. It took me by surprise because it felt like looking a somewhat darker version of Queen Sity. 

She looked a lot like the Queen but without the softer gaze of her eyes to make her look kind.

The woman that just spoke looked as if she would gladly slam her entire hand into my chest, rip my beating heart out and feast on it right infront of me. That's how cruel she looked like.

I didn't understand the sudden hostility she was giving me, but at this point, It didn't shock me either.

Sir Hunder Bowman had told me to keep my guard up and to not consider any of the royals as my friends.

The woman glaring at me proved that the guard knew what he was talking about.

Not a single person acknowledged the woman who just spoke. They didn't care to look at her of tilt their heads to listen to her like they did when the two Prince's were talking.

Deciding to follow their lead, i looked back down at my hand and ignored her too.

Weird enough, she didn't insist to talk again, which I was thankful for. I just know right away that that woman is going to be trouble.

"So,Princess Frost..." The Queen called out, dragging everyone's attention as her voice softly travelled across the table. "How have you found your stay so far?" She asked.

Unlike the King and his two sons, or the woman who snarked at me, the Queen's soft tone felt like it could command an entire room not with fear, but with love and warmth.

"It's been great, Your Grace." I answered in a small voice.

The queen stared at me and she leaned in a bit, letting me know that my voice was muffled by the thick cloth covering half of my face.

Clearing my throat, I repeated my answer a bit louder and saw a satisfied smile stretch on the Queen's face.

"That's good, very good. I've been busy with my Kingdom duties that I wasn't able to catch up with my son's bride..."  Queen Sity started and at the corner of my eyes, I saw my husband scowl at the exact same moment the queen called him her son. Either the Queen didn't see it or was pretending not to.

"I wanted to help you get accustomed with the castle but I haven't been able to. Sir Marge tells me you haven't been exploring much."

Sir Marge?

The Queen doesn't stop to explain who this Marge person is or why he reports about me as she turned her light green eyes over to Prince Barlion.

"Barlion, son." She called out in a graceful soft voice. "Why don't you show you wife around the castle after supper. I'm sure she eager to see everything."

Prince Barlion doesn't answer her or even glance at him mother. Just as he did with the King, he ignored the statement and continued on eating his food.

"Show your wife around before you come to the council meeting." King Viper ordered Prince Barlion, causing my husband to stop with his fork close to his slightly opened lips.

He finally looked over to the King and even though I couldn't see the look he shared with his father, I knew that the King had ordered and the son will do as told.

***

The silence was unbearable as Prince Barlion led me through the castle, passing by large halls and tall doors, not bother to explain any of the castle.

I was left to look at his back as I followed him around like a lost puppy. What other choice did I have.

Supper was horribly tense after the King ordered him to show me around and as soon as the table was cleared, Prince Barlion had simply told me to follow him and started walking.

There were a lot of interesting places I wanted to stop and explore for a bit, but the Prince never stopped or glanced back at me.

If he was to just walk off and I lose him, I'm more than certain that I would be lost in the heart of the castle for may hours.

So, I kept close.

He didn't open a single door or move his clasped hands from his back. And when he finally did decide to lead me other than the endless long halls, he opened a door to a large beautiful garden.

Prince Barlion doesn't say a word as he walked further in to the garden and stood infront of a marvelous fountain that had a woman's statue.

I waked closer to the fountain and stood next to Prince Barlion as I looked at the woman statue standing at the center of the fountain.

The statue was the obvious color of white but blue colors paint down the front of the dress with golden lining at the bottom.

The woman had her right hand out stretched while the left rested on her stomach.

She had a bright smile on her face and her eyes were wide open. The woman's hair flows doen her shoulder, exceeding the length of her arms and hang lower than her waist.

Water dripped from her right palm, falling down to the clear water, forcing small fish to swim around it.

In all, the statue is beautiful and with the colorful flowers and bright green leaves around, she gave the garden a light.

"She's beautiful." I commented in a small voice as I looked up at her.

I saw Prince Barlion looking at me from the corner of my eyes and I turned around to look back at him.

I instantly regret it because he leveled me with a single glare before he turned around to leave.

The amount of hate he has for me radiated from his body, deeming the light mood I managed to catch.

I did absolutely nothing to him yet... 

I snapped around to stare at him walking figure and opened my lips, unable to control the next words that escaped my throat.

"Why did you agree to marry me if you hated me this much? Why didn't you say no to this marriage Barlion?"