Alliance

Chapter Twenty-Three

Halfway down to the pool, I realized I did not have a swimming suit and I changed my course to the gym. I thought it was best not to go jump in the royal pool with just my underwear.

There were limited things I could do with my knee. In the end, I stood in the corner of the gym and practiced my boxing with a punching bag.

Each swing of my arm, each hit of my fist against the bag, dulled my anger and frustration.

It made sense for Ben not to tell me who he truly was. He probably did not tell me because of how I reacted today. The hurt and anger. But I know if he told me back at the camp or at the hospital I would not have been so blindsided. Not only did I meet the king, but I found out Ben was his son. It was a lot to take in at one time.

It was a blessing that I found my room after I spent two hours in the gym and another hour walking around the Palace before adventuring up stairs.

I felt dirty inside for how I treated Ben. How I shouted at him.

My fist knocked on his door before I could talk myself out of confronting him.

"Come in."

I took a deep breath and walked in.

The bedroom. Ben's bedroom was nothing I  expected. Well, the dark blues and grey that made up his walls and furniture I had expected but the room was in absolute chaos. Guns, tools, and equipment were haphazardly thrown about the room. They were on the table and chairs near the fireplace and on the sofa that faced the worktable that Ben now stood at. The only clear spot was his bed.

Ben glanced up at me from the gun he was cleaning.

"Sorry," I blurted out before Ben could speak. I walked over to the sofa and leaned against it. "You had a right to keep your life a secret. It was wrong of me to yell. But I was mad and hurt that I didn't know."

Ben placed the gun and the cleaning tool down. The way he braced the table, the way his shoulders sagged, it pulled at my heart.

"You are not in the wrong," he said to the table before he looked up to me. "I am a quiet person about my life. Always have been, probably always will be."

I moved some stuff over on the sofa and sat down. "Is it so rough being a prince?" I mocked.

A ghost of a smile touched Ben's face. "Harder than you think. Growing up I had to go to endless balls and dinners. Thank god my brother was born first, he has to go to all those council meetings, outings, and speeches with our father. My siblings and I, we are the perfect trio. One son to be the heir. One son to be in the military. And a daughter to be married off to the highest bidder.

"The military wanted me very badly. I knew it was expected of me to be General of the Military someday. But it was Alliance where I wanted to be. I knew if I asked for a place in the Military, they would jump me up to be a commanding officer. With Alliance, I had to work my way up. They wouldn't just hand me the Admiral role. No, I had to work for it.

"Against my father's wishes, I applied for Alliance. I gave my papers to a friend who was already in the Alliance. I changed my name to Benjamin Collins on the papers so they wouldn't know it was the prince. For once in my life, I wanted to be given something not because of who I was, but who I am. My father was crossed between furious and proud when I told him I was accepted into the Alliance. Furious that I went behind his back and applied without telling him, and proud that I was accepted into the secret services of the Alliance on my own two feet and not because of my title.

"During my time in the Alliance, very few people know who I am and I like to keep it that way. Only the higher officers know who I truly am because they knew me since I was a kid. I don't want it to get around that I am Prince Benedict Roth because I don't want to have the stardom where I work. I don't want that to be a barrier between myself and my fellow comrades."