17

It was already seven at night, and Knight was still observing his now-asleep mother. She had slept for two and a half hours, right after he went out to meet Edward, who had just arrived from the Lancaster house and wherever else he needed to be.

"Mother, let's go have dinner," Knight whispered, the sole reason he came back to check on her after heading out.

His mother stuttered a little, turning her fragile body to face Knight and, in one flip, opened the blanket as Knight helped her up.

"Should I call the maids?" Knight asked for directions, despite knowing the maids were what he should call. However, he knew his mother trusted only two maids, and they were far away in Wales Palace.

"Give me that," she called out after slightly placing her feet on the floor. It was a simple white robe placed in the open closet. Knight got it for her, and she wore it. She, of course, had sleeping garments on—a simple royal sleeping dress—and her hair was well tied into a beautiful crown. I wonder how it hadn't ruined as she slept.

Later, after dressing, Knight took her hand and helped her up from the bed as she slid into some slippers, and they walked side by side towards the outside and towards the dining room, where they were yet to start their meal.

"Feeling no better, my queen?" Lady Evelyn questioned as Knight pulled the next chair in which he would sit for his mother.

"A little better," Knight's mother replied after sitting down, and Knight started placing some food on her plate—Knight feared losing her; no one knew how much until he did! After placing some vegetables, meat, and pork, in addition to a large watermelon and orange, on his mother's plate, Knight sat and served himself. He cared not that the rest—Lord Hordy, his brother Edward, Lady Evelyn, and the two guards who stood beside her—were watching him. He just wanted to make sure his mother ate well and then, hopefully, headed quickly back to the Lancaster. He was already late for his shift, and soon the Earl, who was very attentive when it came to work despite seeming otherwise, would stand to question him.

"Most sons are wastrels and good-for-nothing bastards! How lucky of you, my queen!" Lady Evelyn stated, distantly eyeing and scrutinizing Knight—she liked the boy! However, realizing Knight looked not up at her, she called a maid to serve Lord Hordy, Edward, and herself, as Knight had already acted as a maid for his mother and himself.

"Did you find a lady of your liking?" Knight's mother questioned, now full and suddenly full of energy. Her eyes first laid on Edward, who eyed her back with glittering, great-news-bearing eyes.

"Mother, I certainly will bring you the best of the best." He paused, drank some water to clear his throat, and continued, "A Lancaster lady. The Lancaster first-born daughter, Lady Victoria!" He finished, grinning in excitement and triumph.

"The card is not cast yet, dear; hold your happiness. Don't point at one source; it might dim," Lady Evelyn interceded, making Edward nervously toy with his food, turning it over with his fork, his mind clearly understanding what Lady Evelyn meant.

"At least you acquainted yourself with one, dear! Although true, the source lights up many, be careful!" Knight's mother added, satisfied with one of her sons. And now, there was the other who sat next to her, quietly, acting as if he were busy searching the almost-finished plate on his table for a better style to finish it. She observed Knight carefully. She, of course, being his mother, knew much of him—a lot. When he was silent, and his eyes were buried on a plate, and his actions seemed too concentrated on that plate, his mind was far away, far away from that plate. She ought to ask him if he had found himself a woman, at least an admirer for a least bit of hope. And Knight, on the side, wished she wouldn't ask him such a question; he would hate to lie to his mother. Or worse, to disappoint her.

"Harry…" Knight's mother's words caught him and sharply entered his eardrums and into his mind, replaying his name a thousand times. And now, he looked up and at everyone. Everyone, even Lord Hordy, who knew he had not even tried to acquaint himself with any, also waited for an answer.

"Mother," he started, cleared his throat, slightly touched his neck, which popped up his big Adam's apple—probably the reason for his deep voice—and then scratched the back of his head. His actions were clear; he hadn't even tried, and his mother got the non-verbal cues. But she needed it from him. She needed to hear it from the horse's mouth. "I…" he called out, and now looked at his mother, whose eyes were upon him. Her blue eyes, that he barely took after. "I'm trying, Mother!" He finally found the courage to finish his endless fear.

"What is it you mean by trying?" Knight's mother insisted.

"I still search, I…"

"He lost my hold when I was to acquaint him and his brothers with the ladies in the ballroom at Winchester!" Lady Evelyn accused Knight to his mother, clearly cutting off Knight's talk.

"You danced with none at the ballroom?" Knight's mother questioned, as the chuckles from his brother Edward were heard.

"He stayed a minute or two and left to God knows where! He sleeps here not even." Edward added, fueling the anger and acid in his mother's voice.

"You have a lady in a brothel?" she questioned, as Knight's eyes diverted to his brother Edward, who was smiling in victory—he liked making Knight get in trouble. It was probably one of his greatest wins in life. And he always did.

"Mother, I know no brothel here!" Knight defended himself.

"I found him with Lord Andrew, the Lancaster lord, in the brothel at the other end of the city. They were sharing a drink…"

"No, no… you say that not, brother!" Knight cut off Lord Hordy before he could state all his actions. He knew Hordy was no man to be trusted, especially in front of his mother. Hordy always tried to earn points for himself toward Knight's mother. He always did, and Knight knew his mother acknowledged Hordy and valued him much. How much did he want to be acknowledged.

"Princes in a brothel without even a guard. Stupid!" Lady Evelyn blurted out, as Edward tried to calm her down by slightly touching her hanging hand, but she rejected the calming hand before it could even reach her.

"Mother, I… I wanted to know Lord Andrew better. He, he, was the one who called me for a drink," Knight explained, not knowing the next question his mother would ask.

"Tell him to come have dinner with us tomorrow." Knight's mother called out making Lady Evelyn spurt out a little of her drink.

"A witty and intelligent man who lays with a certain actress on the other end of the city. You want that not for a friend of your son, my queen!" Lady Evelyn remarked. She sure knew all the gossip. Wonder how she knew not that Knight stood as a guard at the Lancaster door.

"You shall not see him, as of today, my dear. I need you to have good and helpful friends…"

"Like his brother Christian, who is the same age as yours. Pity he still depends on his family, not yet grown enough to think of starting a family!" Lady Evelyn offered an opinion. Knight had never acquainted himself with Christian, Andrew's brother. He barely even knew if his English had errors or if he had a sharp tongue like Andrew's.

"Lord Andrew is truly a hard nut. He stands as my only barrier to getting Lady Victoria!" Prince Edward called out, shaking his head, showing his contempt for the Lancaster first-born son.

"He bought the lady a peacock, my queen!" Lady Evelyn stated, now smiling. She indeed was proud of what Prince Edward was doing. But was she?

As they spoke, Knight distantly eyed the wall clock in Lady Evelyn Somerset's living room. The minute hand was yet to strike twelve, and this meant it was yet to be nine, and then ten, and then eleven. Probably the hour when the Earl left his chambers back to his sleeping room.

"You're heading somewhere, dear?" Knight's mother questioned. She had already seen Knight's eyes on the wall clock. She already had a desire to know of Knight's actions. She thought Knight was enjoying his night with a brothel woman out in the night. She needed to curb it.

"No, Mother," Knight added, his voice soft. He knew his mother would not rest until she was sure of his activities. "Mother, I have no woman in the brothel," he added, his voice quivering, a sign of desperation. His mother just shrugged, standing up, as Knight suddenly held her and slightly reached out to his brother Hordy and Lady Evelyn with a gesture of a nod, showing a respectful style of seeking leave.

After, he helped his mother to her room, helped her into bed, watched her for a while, and before he left, he heard her whimper a 'mhh' and then add, "You better have no brothel woman for your pleasures, Harry. A disease shall not kill me, but you will kill me if I am to learn the truth of you in a brothel or God knows wherever you are leaving for now," she finished.

"Mother, I…" Knight tried to call out, but he knew his mother would not listen to him until she proved to herself that her son was not wasting away his life.

"You know no pains of being a bastard! Don't bear yourself one, son. You know so well we would be on the streets, God knows where, seeking refuge. I know marriage was never on your bucket list. It isn't for many, especially those young sixteen-year-old girls forced into society and into marriage. But dear, you save yourself not by wasting your days making unimportant promises to a brothel lady. And you hurt me much, by making me a loser in sending you here to find yourself a suitor out of a silly competition, as I know you have it in your head. You have a McVourse surname, I refuse not, in addition to many others, of your brothers and sisters. But what does having a surname aid you in making you one of them? You wish not your sons and daughters to be acknowledged as no-names. I just want you, Edward, and Nick when he comes of age, to at least have a child before I depart. I can fight for their rights with a grandson in my arms. But I can't fight without one.

"Mother… the Wales Palace!" Knight stated, now closer to his sleeping mother.

"The Wales Palace is yours and your brothers', and you know it, but is it enough? You don't get along with Edward, and there is Nick, and there is John. The Scottish Palace is promised to the firstborn child. I need you to get yourself a son, either Edward, or you. I just need to know that the Scottish Palace lands on us. It can't have another," Knight's mother finished, as Knight sighed, the weight of duty certainly feeling heavy on his shoulders. "Leave love for later, son; fulfill your duty first. Your father had five of us, and still barely knows what he loves. Love is just a word to blind duty!" Knight's mother finished as she slightly pulled up the warm blankets over her shoulders. But Knight stood there, his mind fogged with the question of… How does he fulfill his mother's wish for the Scottish Palace, when he_ wanted Love_?