The King's Pain

In the morning, Nathaniel awoke from knocks on his door. Hoping it was not Katherine, since he didn't want to fight so early in the morning, Nathaniel opened it a crack. "What?"

In front of him stood Aston, but he was not the normal sunny boy. Instead, there stood the scowling someone-just-woke-me-up grumpy version of a brother. "Message. From Dad."

"Since when does he need you to play the messenger? Doesn't he have servants?", Nathaniel asked, amused at the unwillingness his brother radiated.

Aston threw his hands in the air with annoyance. "Somehow, Dad thinks you would be more inclined to listen when it is me talking to you. Surely, it has nothing to do with you two screaming yourselves hoarse at the last meeting. Anyhow, can you just let me get over with so I can sleep again?"

With a raised brow, Nathaniel looked at Aston as if to say 'who would want to talk to you when poison is oozing out of your every pore?', yet remembering his responsibility, he only said: "Come in then. Make it fast."

With a yawn, Aston stepped over the threshold. "You don't know how glad I'd be if this was possible."

As soon as he slouched down in a chair looking like a human starfish with hardly any muscle or bone, the blonde-haired Prince came to the topic. "I don't think I need to repeat his wishes, right? Have you thought about it?"

Though Aston couldn't see it with his head leaned back so much that it was nearly falling over the lean on the other side, Nathaniel grimaced. He knew exactly what the other meant. However, it just felt like this was the wrong timing all over again, like the events purposely kept on falling in places he didn't expect them to, and at the wrong time.

As he mused over his answer, his thoughts turned back to a day ago. That was a day where many secrets had been revealed to him, secrets that could topple the kingdom, if it wasn't already toppled right now.

.

In a room filled with the scent of medicine and fresh linen, Nathaniel stood there as if struck by lightning. His eyes held the confusion and anger of someone toyed with by the gods, forced to believe that something he always thought true, was the biggest lie in his life.

His gaze at the person on the bed before him was murderous. It even made Lady Orchid, who sat by the side holding the King's hand, shift in the attempt to move between them. Yet, the strong grip of her beloved held her back, telling her non-verbally to keep out of this. William Timothy Icefall met Nathaniel's gaze squarely, not appearing any less like the intimidating old lion he was because he was below eye-level.

"If you are as intelligent as I thought you to be, then you know that there was no other way. Not then, and not now", the King said slowly, adding weight to his every word. The blue eyes, only warming up when he looked at his mistress or Aston, were as cold as they could be. "All I did was for the good of the country. One life, even yours or mine, is never worth as much as all humans living in these lands. So, I won't ask you for forgiveness."

Nathaniel's hands were fisted, the rage slowly boiling up. He fought to remain in control of his magic, instead growling like a beast whose tail had been stepped upon: "You could have told me! That is what you could have done. If I knew you weren't my father, I would not have expected anything from you. You could have let me grow up in the countryside, not on the battlefield, then - "

"And would you have remained there, an obedient little nobody?", the King retorted, drowning out Nathaniel's voice. "With the knowledge that you - not I - are the rightful heir to the throne, you think you would have just lived your normal life? Throw your ambitions to the wind? Let me tell you: never ever would you have done that!"

The words echoed in the room as they did in Nathaniel's mind, and the silence following the outburst was only filled with the King's panting. Since he was still recovering, yelling like that took quite a toll on him. Concerned, Lady Orchid poured him a cup of water.

He took a few sips to calm down, before he continued in a quieter voice: "You are much more ambitious than I am. You yourself know that you would have fought for your birthright, since you are the legitimate son of the former King, and the throne is lawfully yours."

King William looked in Nathaniel's unchangingly dangerous eyes, then shook his head. "If you had been who you are today, I would have yielded willingly. But when my brother died, you were not even born. How could a baby be a King? At most, you would be a marionette, which is nearly as worse as having no King at all.

At that time, your mother Layla was not as well-accepted in the Icelands as now. She was just a young Falumor bride, ambitious like yourself, but without connections or knowledge of the Icelandic costumes. Even without my willingness, the nobles would have tried to put me on the throne instead as soon as something went awry. They would have rebelled. People would have died."

Mentioning the possible causalities, the King's face became even more stern, his brows knotting together. "Meanwhile, if you grew up in the countryside as some nobody, eventually, someone would have riled you up to forcefully take the throne from me. Most likely, your mother would have done so herself. She really likes being Queen, and would do almost anything to remain in that position. At that time, the situation would have been even worse, since they'd have time to prepare, and you would not be a listless baby anymore."

"So, you married my mother and took me in as your firstborn son", Nathaniel ended, forcing the last word out against the bile in his throat. The further he thought, the more disgusted and enraged he got with all these lies. Who was he to these people? A game piece they could push around as they pleased? Thinking this way, it got even harder to keep his voice calm.

With an aura as dark as the deepest abys, he continued to draw out what possibly happened at the time he was young. He just wanted to confirm that everyone was as vile as they seemed. He wanted to know all the reasons to despise them, especially this self-righteous man in front of him. "So, I guess, when you yourself got a son with her, you forced me out so he would be the heir. My mother must have been glad it would not be her monster of a son who she had to rely upon when he was King. I'm sure, she was happy to forget about me and who my father was for the sake of an even better life, was she?"

"Nathaniel...", Lady Orchid started, but got silenced by her beloved once again. Nathaniel was glad about it; he didn't want this gentle and kind woman to suffer under his anger. All of this was already reserved for the man in the bed, who pretended to be somebody he wasn't.

Alas, the King shook his head, finally showing signs of remorse. "I never planned to replace you. Would everything have gone as planned, you could have gained the throne after growing up as my son and rightful heir. I promised to make that happen in front of the - "

A snort cut his explanation short, making his features twist. Patient all the time, his limit was reached with Nathaniel's obvious disbelief. When he saw that even Aston listening quietly in a corner all the time gazed at him with doubt, he finally snapped. "DON'T YOU DARE BELITTLE MY PROMISES, YOU BRATS! You have no idea how hard it is to be a King that actually wants his people happy! I will see how you two do that when your time comes! Believe me or not, Nathaniel, but you are only still alive because I willed it so!"