Rejection By Nobles

Damien sent a glare towards the guard that had stopped. Under the disguise, the guard could recognize that glare anywhere. He moved backward and bowed down, "I'm sorry, your highness, I didn't mean to stop you. I thought you were…" He couldn't complete his statement. Who was he to refer to the prince as a commoner; the last thing he wanted was his head rolling off the ground. It was worse that it was Prince Damien.

Damien removed the blonde hair and the fake mustache. "Where is the king?" He never referred to him as 'father'. There was a time he did, but since Dorothy came into the family, he only referred to them as king and queen.

"He's in the throne room, your highness." He scurried away from his presence in fear.

Damien retired in his chamber. The moment Zeus saw him, he purred and jumped at him. He picked Zeus up, rubbing its back. He gave him food and water and decided to change from his disguise. Unlike the other royals, he didn't need the maid's help to change himself. He worked on himself. He pulled off the clothes and soaked into the tub. As he reminiscenced the things he had heard from the gamblers, he frowned. He had more interest in the commoners than he used to do. In a way, they were similar to him, both abandoned by the nobles of the kingdom. He didn't care for their thought about him.

He was enjoying his much-needed bath when a strange knock on his door caught his attention. The maids usually avoided his door, so whoever was at the door must be bold enough. He took his time to step out of the tub, dried himself, wore his clothes, and went to the door. The person didn't dare knock for the second time.

When he opened the door, a high-level guard stood there with his hand at his back. Those guards who wore blue attire worked directly with the king, and that seemed to get into their heads.

He arched a brow at him.

"Your highness, his majesty requests your presence in the throne room?"

Damien nodded, and the guard scurried off. He frowned at the thought of walking to the throne room. One of the privileges of being the estranged prince was that he was left to his device. He enjoyed his company so much that he wasn't bothered about it, and he had his plans to work on, so he was rarely bored.

The palace was quiet as it was late now. Most maids had retired by now, so there were hardly any gossipers around. The sound of his feet was his only accomplice to the throne room. 

In the throne room, different Lords were seated. They had all concluded to plead with the king to withdraw the invitation for the prince's bride selection. The idea of having such a beast as a son-in-law would only cause damage to their reputation.

Annoyed by their combined disobedience, the king had requested Damien's presence, leaving most of the nobles in a nervous state. The last thing anyone wanted was to confront or be confronted by him. Yet, they kept quiet and waited for his presence.

The crown prince, Alexandra, sat on a smaller throne that looked like his father; it was where the crown prince sat to learn how to rule from their predecessors.

Damien walked in, and his gaze moved around those in the room; it was rare for the Lords to hold a meeting at night. It was even stranger for them to invite him to the meeting. What they wanted badly was for him to be quiet, not attend a meeting, and not have a voice. It was interesting how things were going, and he already knew whatever reason they had come had to do with his pending bride selection.

He hid his smirk and bowed to the king, ignoring the burning eyes of the nobles.

Glad to see his first son, the king sat up. "I want you to all say what you've said about my son in his presence."

Silence.

The king chuckled, "If no one can stand up and boldly say anything about it. I'll have to reject your proposal, and ask the guards to bring in every eligible maiden in the kingdom. I'll handpick a bride for him myself."

A soft murmur went around, disrupting the silence. After much deliberation, one of the nobles stood up. Damien frowned at him; he was the Duke of Philo, and he held the highest rank after the royal family. In the kingdom, the royal family had the strongest magical power, which made it difficult for anyone to oppose them. But, the Philo family had a close power with the royals. If any problem arises in the kingdom, they could easily be the next family in line to the throne.

The Duke of Philo cleared his throat, "Your majesty, I believe we should be more after the kingdom's welfare. Instead of finding a bride for the prince, why don't we search for one for the crown prince? The crown prince is one and twenty; he ought to have a crown princess by now to unleash his magical powers."

The royals only get their powers after getting married. The Duke of Philo had more interest in becoming the future queen's father; it would only add to his power in the kingdom, and he wanted to know how powerful the crown prince was. The gods had claimed that the next king would be the most powerful in the kingdom.

Herbert frowned; he hated when his authority was tested, but he tried as much not to be an authoritarian. "The eldest has to get married before the younger brother."

That seemed to be a more debatable issue with the nobles. As more of them argued to make the king see why he should be more concerned about the kingdom's stability, it didn't help that the kingdom was on the brink of war with a rival. Creating a more stable kingdom involves the crown prince having a crown princess.

Damien sat beside one of the lords and held the urge to smile. He knew the nobles hardly cared about the kingdom or the commoners; they were all interested in power. The only way their families could tap into more power was to get their daughters married to the royals. It had more to do with the magical power than political power.

After various arguments, the king was cornered but still respected Damien enough to ask if he was okay. Everyone knew the king loved the former queen very much, and it extended to her son. They had no idea why he had not chosen him as the crown prince, but most thought it was to protect him.

"I'm fine with it." Damien responded.

Alexandra wore a huge smirk; finally, his mother's hard work had paid off by getting in touch with the nobles. He would be able to make the pick of the most beautiful woman before his brother. He wanted what was best, and he deserved it more than an estranged prince.

Damien didn't wait till the end of the meeting; he knew what would follow. He stood up and went out of the throne room without an excuse. He moved towards the west of the palace; it was where the royals had been buried. He moved slowly to his mother's grave, deliberately taking slow steps. The last he remembered of his mother was her warnings never to trust anyone.

He was young and didn't understand what she meant, but the older he got, he started to understand it. The nobles were like snakes; there was no one among them he could call his. So, he preferred the path to becoming a commoner.

His mother's grave was a headstone that had her name, year of birth, and year of death. It was old but neat. He took it upon himself to clear her grave regularly. If there was something else that pricked his mind, it was the reason his mother had died. She wasn't sick. She had just woken up one day and started feeling pains in her abdomen; she tried healing herself – as that was her magical power – but she couldn't feel her powers. It felt like something had drained her power and was draining her life. She had told Damien all that. He wished he could have summoned his power to save her, but he was still young and unmarried. 

He knelt in front of the grave, pulling out the weeds that surrounded it, "Mother. I wish you were here. I'm still trying to best to find a way to leave this palace, but the king wouldn't let me. I've a new goal. I learnt that most of what the nobles fed the kings was lies. I want to help the commoners. I want a better place for them all. And I want to know why you asked me not to trust anyone. What happened to you?"

Outside the palace, Audrey sat close to her mother, snacking on a biscuit and tea. She lifted the tea to her mouth, peering at her mother from her long eyelashes. Her interest was simple: how would the king react to the rejection of the crown prince's marriage proposal?

It had never happened in the kingdom for a royal invitation to be rejected by all nobles, but according to rumors, all nobles wanted nothing to do with this prince. It got her thinking what this prince must have looked like; she knew it had to do more with his look.

"Mother…"

Her mother paused from her sewing and stared at her, "What?" She knew that look on her face; She was curious about something. Kate had warned her daughter numerous times, but Audrey always did what she wanted. Her father made sure of that.

Audrey smiled, hoping it would make it easier for her mother to respond, "Have you ever seen the prince?"

"The crown prince?"

She shook her head, "No. The first prince."

Her mother shook her head, "The prince doesn't come out. Apart from the Lords, no one knows how he looked like. There was once a rumor that he had a huge scar on his face; it was one of the reason he avoided looking at others."

Audrey shuddered; she got why he had to hide. If she had a scar like he did, she wouldn't want to go outside, too. Her looks were everything to her. She looked like a princess, and she planned on becoming one. With the season getting closer, she had been busy getting fit.

It was late at night; her mother was about to urge her to bed when she heard some maids hurrying up to attend to her father. Audrey dropped every idea of resting and ran towards her father. As the only daughter of the baron, she had everything she wanted in surplus. She was treated like a princess; she only needed to become a real one.

Her father paused and smiled at her, "My princess. How was your day?"

Audrey had more pressing matters in mind, "How was it, father? Did the king expect to cancel the marriage?"

Her father smiled at her eagerness, "Of course, my princess. The king saw no reason to marry the first prince off, but guess what happened."

Audrey wasn't a big fan of the guessing game. "Can't you just tell me, daddy?"

He sighed, "Fine. The crown princess selection will be holding. You've the potential of becoming the crown princess. The invitations would be sent early tomorrow morning, better start getting ready."

Audrey held the urge to scream; she would become a princess. None of the ladies in the kingdom's beauty could match hers; she knew that. She just needed to start preparing.

She hugged her father a goodnight and ran into her room. She would do anything to become a princess; It was her biggest dream.