Loyalty Until Death

Taylor started slow clapping and remained the only one clapping until his claps faded into silence. His smile, however, did not. Everyone else looked horrified. Caspian remained remarkably speechless throughout the entire ordeal.

"It had a long time coming but I wasn't going to be the one to say it, you know?"

Aretha glared at Taylor and climbed back up to meet her husband. She rested on the arms of his wheelchair and made sure to touch their noses since he leaned back as she got closer.

"Are you scared of me, husband?" She whispered.

"I...am not!"

"Excellent. You mustn't run from me or that would be quite terrible. You see, I have grown accustomed to you and losing you would make me quite...anxious."

"I can't even run."

"Really?" she said, turning over to look at Taylor. He smiled and waved at her, despite being covered in terrible bruises and injuries that slowly healed. Satisfied, she picked him up from the wheelchair.

"What are you doing?!" he whispers, struggling.

"Don't struggle. I want to show you something and it'll be inconvenient if we're being slow."

"But this is embarrassing."

She put him back on the chair and begun thinking. This scared Caspian as he didn't know what kind of devious plan she was cooking up again. She finally shrugged.

"I guess it'll have to wait then."

"Can't we just take a carriage?" He asked, still curious to see what she wanted to show him.

"A carriage can't climb a mountain, now, can it?"

"O-Oh."

"Let's just go back inside. We have much to do."

"Alright."

Taylor watched them go in, a smirk on his face. He turned to the rest of his compatriots.

"You can't be supporting this madness, Taylor!"

"Finally found your tongue, Bernard? Why not voice it out while she was here?" He asked, raising his brow. "And why can't I support it? It sounds perfect to me."

"We are knights! This is our divine duty!"

"Fine. When the war starts, you can defend the King. I'm sure you'll get a reward and become the new guardian of the North. As you can see, it's a honorable position."

"Ridiculing the king like that is treason, Taylor."

"Is it, Egerth? I apologize then. I should watch my tongue. Hmm, most of my injuries are healed. I must attend to Milord right away."

"Why would someone of the bloodline of the Duchy serve like a lowly servant?"

"Maybe because my ancestors were servants? Or you can just accept the fact that I owe the Duchess a favor."

"Taylor, I know you're frivolous but this isn't a matter to be taken lightly," Egerth calmly argued.

"Perhaps it's because my tone is humorous, Sir Egerth. Do I look like I'm fooling around to you?"

They took one look into his eyes and felt spine chilling fear. Egerth looked away first and Taylor scoffed. He turned around and walked away without another word.

Inside, Aretha was fighting another battle.

"What is this, I hear, your grace?"

"It is exactly as you heard, Conan."

"Your grace, I let you get away with many things as a child but I cannot let you get away with-"

"And what exactly can you do to stop me? Threaten me with your life? Why don't I quicken it with my own blade?"

"I think we are being too hasty here! There's no need to draw your blade, your grace," Caspian intervened, placing himself between them.

"You would…kill me, your grace?"

"If you stand on the side of the King, I will not hesitate to kill you, Conan."

"I gave everything, EVERYTHING to raise you. I betrayed my master and this, THIS is what I get?"

"I ASKED FOR YOUR UNDYING LOYALTY, CONAN! YOU DO NOT QUESTION ME IF I WANT TO BETRAY A BASTARD, OKAY?!"

"You cannot deal with a revolt, your grace!"

"And you cannot continue viewing me as a child, Conan! I am not weak!"

"Physically, yes, you are not weak, your grace. You are not unintelligent neither do you lack good judgment. However, this isn't your fight, your grace!"

"Conan, this is not my fight, you say? YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID!"

"Please, let's calm dow..."

"It's better not to interfere, milord. Their arguments can get...very nasty," Caspian hears. He turns his head to see Taylor now dressed in his butler outfit. His injuries were almost completely gone.

"It will do you no good to stay between them. It's better to watch from afar."

Despite his objection, Aretha and Conan did not stop fighting. He felt as if he was the only thing standing between Aretha hurting Conan. She looked so angry her veins were popping.

"Do not worry, milord. There isn't a thing in this world that would make Her Grace harm Conan."

Hearing that, he realized he wasn't actually helping by staying between them. He was an obstacle that could easily be bypassed. He was...getting ahead of himself. He wheeled shamefully to where Taylor stood.

"Do they need to argue?"

"They do. In a way, you can say that Conan is the Duchess's father."

"Isn't that presumptuous?"

"It is," Taylor responded with a chuckle. Even in such a situation, the mischief of the young man still ran strong. "It is more presumptuous to find a servant that argues with their master so strongly. Normally, his head would've been lopped off...hey! I want to see it."

"Do you hate Conan?" Caspian asks, confused and a little terrified.

"Of course not. I have no reason to hate him. I just want to see his head roll and wonder how angry the Duchess would get."

Caspian slowly raised his head to look at Taylor. The young man smiled back innocently, sending a chill down Caspian's spine. Even Aretha, at that moment, wasn't as dangerous as Taylor.

"I won't harm you as well, milord. That's impossible. I'll lose my life before the thought even forms, hahaha."

"So you were considering it?"

"Of course not, hahaha."

He did not believe it one bit. Taylor was hard to read and he wasn't one to trust someone who wasn't transparent.

"There is no reasoning with you, is there? You've absolutely made up your mind and I can't change it," Conan sighed. "Can you at least promise me one thing?"

"...I am a woman of my word."

"Do not return to me like you did that day. Please."

"I can't promise you that. In war, there's always life and death."

"But you survived! I thought I would never see you again but...you survived. Please, for the sake of your husband, please...come back home safe."

"What are you talking about?" she smirked. "I'll never fail," she said smugly. Conan sighed and shook his head, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Is this how most fights end with them?"

"Hmmm, I wouldn't know. I only just moved here myself."

"WHAT??!"

"Are you surprised? You shouldn't be, milord. It is extremely hard to enter the main house. I'm the son of a servant and a lowly peasant. Even though I carry the bloodline, if the main family were still here, being let into this house would be nothing more than a fantasy. I really ought to thank you, milord. This would've been nothing but a dream."

Caspian took a look at the young man again. His expression was the same but there was something about it that seemed different. Caspian just settled on the fact that he was seeing things.

"Damn...I'm hungry," Aretha suddenly said.

"Is that so? Let's go, your grace. We are all set for you," Conan says, bowing. She looks back at Caspian and smiles at him.

"Let's go, husband."