Loving a Prince Charming - By Danielle Monsch Page 0,11
reading a book beside the fire. The Captain of the Guard looked up as they entered but said nothing, his gaze expectant and weary.
A second chair was pulled in front of the fire, separated from Taren by a small table. On the table were two cups of half-finished tea. Seth glanced around but no other visitors announced themselves. Taren volunteered nothing, so Seth spoke first. “Tolshire is being evacuated. The curse has been expanded. Why was I not told?”
Taren put his book down beside the teacup nearest him. “His Majesty did not want you to know.”
“Not a good enough reason from you,” Seth said, anger propelling him forward until he towered over the older man. “You’ve always told me things the king wished to keep from me when it’s the right thing for me to know. Why is this time different?”
Taren sighed and turned to look into the fire. For the first time, it struck Seth how old the man looked. Deep lines grooved themselves into every inch of skin and his face had an ashy undertone that the firelight couldn’t quite hide. The man was a warrior of unparalleled caliber even now, but his best days were far, far behind him.
The firelight highlighted an internal battle going on behind the man’s eyes. Seth turned to Kira, but for once her eyes were not on him. Instead she too was looking at her father, her own confusion at the man’s odd behavior reflected in her face.
“This damned curse,” Taren murmured, a small speck of sound that Seth wasn’t sure was meant for his audience. “Pride brought it about, and pride has kept it alive.”
“Taren?” Seth asked, taking the seat across from the man.
The man’s gaze shifted to him then. He nodded, coming to terms with something inside of himself. “I’ll tell you all I know. I don’t know everything, but at least you’ll be a little less in the dark.”
Kira came over and sat on the arm of Seth’s chair, waiting for what her father had to say.
Without preamble, Taren began. “The curse began because King Matthias insulted a ruler of the magical kingdom, The Elf King, who sent an emissary to tell Matthias he and Queen Esmerelda would have a daughter and he wanted to wed her to one of his warriors. King Matthias would have none of that. He told the emissary his daughter was a princess and would never be so low as to marry a warrior. He dismissed the man without any courtesy.”
“That was what started all of this?” Seth had never known. What a ridiculous reason to destroy a child’s life. “The Elf King is a low being.”
“No argument,” agreed Taren. “But while I doubt the Elf King is the type to react well to any rejection, the fact that Matthias did it so publicly and with so much derision was what assured the fairy ruler would strike back. Matthias and your father had always had an understanding that their children would be married, and with the news that Matthias’s child was a girl, they turned around and announced to both kingdoms the news of the engagement.”
“Did the Elf King have any part of Queen Esmerelda’s death?” Kira asked as she rubbed her palm over her thigh, a gesture she often displayed when she was upset. Seth reached out and enfolded her hand in his.
“We don’t know. We don’t think so. He seems the type that if he was indeed instrumental, he would announce it rather than keeping silent.” Taren picked up his cup and drained whatever liquid was left. “Still, Esmerelda’s death was an ill omen and, looking back, the start of it all. Because Rosamund was the firstborn and because they had to make the engagement official, neither king would not delay the introduction ceremony, but we all felt it was a mistake. We – I – begged them to wait. I didn’t know if the Elf King would ever forget, but I wanted to at least give him a chance to. They would not. They said they had a plan.”
“The fairies,” Seth supplied.
Taren nodded. “The fairies. Esmerelda was from a blessed kingdom, one with great ties to magic. It was the reason the Elf King sought their daughter in the first place. The fairies would be there to bless the child. Our kings hoped that the presence of Esmerelda’s magical kin would dissuade the Elf King from pursuing any vendetta.”
“Instead it probably spurred the Elf King on, because he could not allow