Beyond the King's Gate

Chapter Two

The Prince Ronald of Eldore followed the butler, all the while he couldn't get his mind off the sweet servant girl.

She looked to be his age. She had the most shocking red auburn hair. He wondered if she was from the neighboring country. He visited once, he saw people like her, with hair like fire. His father always said people with red hair spelled trouble, but he found her to be a great friend.

The butler stood to the side, in his respectful place, and Ronald waited for his father to arrive. He tensed when his father stormed inside. He was arguing with Mother. Again.

Queen Marie, she stood taller and younger than the King. She was considered the most beautiful in all the land, the most fair. His father once swore he would divorce her if she ever looked in another's direction.

Ronald sighed.

The bickering. The bickering of who's right. Who should've listened to who. His mother wasn't like most queens. Resigned, and quiet. Not to ever speak up, no Queen Marie spoke her mind. And yet it still got her into trouble, his dad was a king that ruled with an iron fist.

"I told you I wouldn't have it any other way!" His fathers voice rose with fury. Raising his hand along with his temper, "But no, you insisted. We must have a ball. Do you not see it is not the time or the place to do that?"

"You see My King," His mother solaced his fury with her sweet gentle voice that carried like honey, "a celebration would mean people would be merry. It would solve our problem of the people wanting to go to war over the simple misunderstanding of King Allen stealing our land, which I assure you he did not."

How was his mother so confident?

Ronald sighed. It was only then his father noticed him. The King broke into a smile. "Son, you sure did brighten up this cloudy day." Maybe a good sign, maybe he would allow him to skip lessons today.

"Dad can I go riding?" He risked asking.

The king shook his head no. "Your tutor is waiting for you, you will not miss another day of learning. You will one day be king, now how will you lead a country if you know nothing of leading?" Of course it would be a no.

Ronald didn't say anything, all he could think about is he wished he wasn't the only one in line for the throne. He didn't want to turn out like his father, with health conditions from all the stress that comes from a country.

He walked sulking to the room where the tutor stood waiting patiently for him. Ronald eyed the pile of books. He would rather be reading with his new friend. Bethany made reading books the most treasured thing she'd ever done.

It gave him a new perspective.

"Your majesty, we may start the lesson when you're ready." As if he read his mind.

"I want to get it over with," he said uninterested. They sat down together and he opened his notebook.

"Your majesty, education is the most valuable thing." He tried to make the prince smile but the prince didn't want to be here. Tried with all his efforts, to make him think this was something he wanted to do. He didn't. No amount of convincing, would change his mind.

The lesson went by uneventfully, and soon prince Ronald could freely run out the door of the study. He raced down to the hall where the library was. First he would check if his friend was there still. She wasn't. His excitement faded. She probably had to leave.

For some reason she left a huge impression on him because even as he walked down and got onto his horse and raced through the meadows, all he could think about was her. What was her life like? What did she do?

He wished the butler hadn't interrupted him. Anger filled him, he always was controlled. Day in and day out, people told him what to do, and what to say. What to wear. Yet still the prince fought, and sometimes even wore his clothes he wore to sleep. He remembers a day that he did that, with clarity. He tilted his head in laughter.

That day he snuck into the breakfast room and his mother was there, perched on the chair like the queen she was, and in one second the serene expression turned to alarm. She quickly chastened him.

"Son that is inappropriate!" Shock rang true in her voice. "Did your servant not change you?" She looked ready to kick the servant out of the gates of their palace.

The prince came to the rescue, "No, of course not. I just asked not to dress. For now," he rolled his eyes as he exhaled in an exaggerated way. "Mom!" He whined.

"This will not do." She shook her head in disdain. "How do you think people will look at you if you walk around like this?" She assessed his attire. Then before the prince can recall what was happening she summoned a servant with a swish of her hand, and he was being whisked away to his bedroom.

Laughing, he nudged his horse faster. That was a good day. His mother warned him that his father would be angry. And he did get angry when he found out, the prince listened to a heated lecture from his dad for that. But when was he not angry? Only when he talked about his future, did that bring joy to him.

He was raising him to be a better king than him.

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Authors note :
What do you think of Bethany and Ronald so far?

I'll try to update every Tuesday and Friday.

Thank you so much for reading, and for the votes I've gotten, I appreciate every one of you! xoxo