buried memories

Finally alone at the front balcony, princess Lilith let out a sigh as her eyes were set on the view in front of her while her hands rested on the railings. Unlike the East and the northern kingdoms where winter had just begun, winter season was about to end in the west whereby some of the areas were no longer covered in snow.

This was the place that would now become her home and the thought made her restless but she tried to push the thoughts as she continued to stare at nothing in particular.

"I thought that I would find you here." She heard a voice behind her which made her turn her head over her shoulder to see prince Wilson approach her as he came to stand next to her.

"I needed some air." She replied without bringing up the topic of what had happened in the hall a few minutes ago. "So, you danced with him and not me."

This was the topic that she was not looking forward to.

As she parted her lips to speak, nothing came out and Wilson who noted her struggles did not push her for an explanation. "Let us go inside." He stated and the both of them walked back to the hall.

As Lilith continued to dance with Wilson, her eyes swept around the room as if searching for him and not long after, she spotted him busy chatting with her father while holding a glass of wine. They knew each other? She asked herself and as if he could sense her gaze, he turned to look at her and in response, Lilith quickly averted her gaze.

"That was very rude of you Richard." King Andrew who had been conversing with him changed the topic. "And what would you be meaning by that your highness?" Richard asked while acting all oblivious about what the king was talking about but the old man could tell that he knew precisely what he was talking about.

"So many of them were eagerly waiting for you to ask them."The king's remarked while narrowing his eyes on him which brought amusement in his eyes. Raising the glass to his mouth, he took a sip while gauging the king's expressions.

"The eager ones..." He trailed before adding, "I apologize for that."

His apology was in no way sincere because he held no ounce of regret in what he had done. He had not forgotten how she felt in his arms. Like a fitting puzzle that had been missing in his life and now that he found it, he felt complete.

For a moment, he had felt her gaze on him as continued to speak with the king which made him turn to look at her and when their eyes met, she quickly looked away as of she had been caught doing something wrong and her small action brought a smug on his face that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"She is engaged to someone else. I hope you don't have the thoughts of using her as one of your amusement because that will be something that I won't take so lightly." The king warned him.

Even though the king had not spoken about it, he had watched how intimate they were while dancing and how he kept whispering some words to her ear as if he was trying to seduce her.

"You can preserve your magic for something else because that won't happen." Saying that, he took the last gulp from his glass and placed it on the tray that was brought forward by a servant. "Please excuse me." With that, he walked away from the king and also from the main hall.

He had found his way to one of the rooms in the inner part of the palace where there were only few servants since most of them were in the main hall and just as expected, a guard tried to stop him from entering and before the guard knew it, he had been pushed against the wall whereby Richard was now looking at him in the eye.

"Forget that you saw me and leave." He whispered to him and at the same time, his pupils dilated and without the need to be told twice, the guard disappeared through the corridors.

Pushing the doors open, he took two steps while getting rid of the cobwebs with his hands. The room became much darker when he closed the doors but not too dark to hinder his vision. The first thing that he stumbled upon was a painting that lay on the floor and even with all the dust that was on it, he did not miss to see the three faces on it and he picked it up and dusted it off with his kerchief.

The three people in the painting were all smiling with king William on the left and an old man who he could barely remember but without being told, he could easily tell that he was the king due to the clothes he wore and finally on the right side, it was his mother, that smile adorning her face was something that he could never forget because even as she took her last breath, it was still there.

He had come here solely with a purpose and he would not leave here without quenching his thirst for revenge. Placing the painting on an old table, he continued to shuffle through the items that were in the room whereby his eyes caught something and he carefully picked it up.

It was another drawing of his mother, but this was different because he was the one who had drawn it and it brought a vivid memory that he had long buried at the back of his head.

".....Is it done? I am already tired of sitting in one position." A woman complained to her seven years old son whose concentration was on a canvas in front of him.

"Let me finish the outline first and then you are free to change your position." The boy replied in a serious tone and at the same time, an old man appeared.

"Ricky you can continue drawing later because I need your mother in the courtroom." The old man said as he came to check how his grandson was drawing and just by looking at it, a proud smile formed on his face.

"You are really good at it. When I also get time, you will make a drawing of me."

"I'd really be happy to grandfather." The boy said excitedly.

"You can continue the rest using your imagination because I have some work to attend to." Saying that the woman walked over to where her son was and kissed her forehead before leaving.