Beyond the King's Gate

Chapter Fifteen

"Thank you for being so understanding, I really didn't know how this would go over with you. I didn't want to hurt you." Ronald felt the weight of the world come off his shoulders with revealing the truth.

Katherine's gentle blue eyes sparkled. "I'm sorry, I know this may sound harsh but, I didn't want to marry you. As charming as you are."

Ronald smirked.

Her easy smile eased off, and a worry line creased her complexion, "When my mother announced she had arranged a marriage with the prince in the neighboring country, I was only eight then. I cried all night until I fell asleep. I felt like an accessory that could be used or sold. My mother didn't care about me, or what I wanted." Katherine's shoulders dropped just a bit, letting go of her perfect composure.

Ronald embraced her. He couldn't stand to see her like this, "I'm sorry to hear that. I know how hard that is, to have someone commanding what you can or should do." A bit of resentment resonated through his words, he pulled back so he could see her. "But you are more than some accessory, you are your own person. Go after you want. Don't let her get in the way."

Katherine's fierce blue eyes were ablaze now, with a note of stubbornness, "So let's make a pact, not to let them control our lives anymore." She gave him her soft delicate hand, to shake in a pact.

He shook her hand. "I have been working on that."

A laughter slipped out, the silliness back between the two of them, a cough spread through his lungs. He ignored it, and smiled. "Will you be okay? I'm sure the news won't be easy to reveal to your parents, if you want I can be the one to break it to them?" He asked her, he would help in a heartbeat.

"I always knew you had a good heart." Kathrine said. "I'll be okay, I need to be the one to do it." She paused and then said, "Thank you for giving me this freedom." Her eyes shimmered with genuine gratitude.

It broke Ronalds heart to hear those words. "It was never mine to take."

Tilting her head, she said, "True. But you could have easily roped me in for a life long marriage which we both would be miserable. I suppose I went along with it, so in a sense, I allowed it." She shrugged it off.

"When you go home, make sure you stand your ground. Don't let your mother push you around. You are stronger than you know."

A moment of brief silence held between the two of them.

"Thank you for giving me courage to stand up for myself." She told him, with that she strode across the room, but then turned. Worry etched in her eyes. "You're sick, you need to get checked. The doctors may need to prescribe you something."

"I'm much better, I won't be needing a doctor, my cook has sharp herbalist skills. She knew exactly what I needed." He had been plagued with weakness and bouts of shivering but nothing that kept him in bed. After being locked up he was itching to move around.

When she was gone, it was just him standing in the middle of his room, fighting unknown battles within himself. Ronald felt both guilt and happiness. Guilt for feeling happy with their broken engagement when Kathrine has only been so kind and understanding.

And yet at the same time, he felt happiness for being free. Free from a marriage that would have forced him to separate from the one he fell madly in love with.

And he wasn't ashamed to admit it. And he would do just that to his father in the upcoming days.

The day has come to a close and night began to fall. He decided to put off the news for a later time. As he got ready for bed, one of his butlers drew a bath to help him recover from his sickness. He paced the floor, waiting.

Uncertainty filled his heart. Something wasn't right, though he couldn't place the feeling.

He hasn't seen Bethany all day. And last they were together she was talking the same way his father spoke of servants. As some different class of people, that didn't belong together. Though he ended that with a kiss, he still felt fear she still thought the same way. That she didn't belong.

Putting on his clothing once again, he made an instant decision to go in search of her. Flinging a cloak upon his shoulders, he flapped the hood over his head, and slipped past the guards unnoticed. At this point the prince was convinced they knew he was leaving and they didn't plan to stop him.

As if they knew the impending royal title would concrete everything into place and they could give him this last year of freedom.

He slipped into servants headquarters so smoothly, he was proud at how skilled he had become.

Bethany wasn't in the common room, where he would find her reading just before bedtime arrived.

He was so excited to tell her the news. His shoulders dropped and his excitement deflated. Where is she? He couldn't help when fear began to grow. What if his father sent her away?

There was a noise behind him, startling him, he whirled around to see who had caught him. "Oh it's just you." he blew out a breath. "Mrs. Bolace, where is Bethany?"

Mrs. Bolace had been crying, that being evident in her red tear stained eyes. Ronald feared what was coming, "She left, she went to live who knows where. I tried stopping her, she went on and on about how she would get us kicked out if she didn't leave. I'd thought she had all but lost her mind. I don't know what happened today, but something must have happened because she was so upset. She told me she was never coming back, saying it would be better that way." Mrs. Bolace then sank into a nearby chair, her small but strong frame, shivering with emotions. Ronald took off his cloak, and with a swift move it was sheltering her from the cold.

She looked up at him, with something in her eyes that was unreadable. "Why are you so kind to me? To Bethany? Your Highness should be far removed from the servants quarters, and yet here you are." She shook her head as if it was all wrong.

He pulled up another chair to sit in front of her. "You know how uptight and insincere people are with titles? I can't stand to be around such phony people. I had enough of it growing up. You are genuine with me, you treat me as though I have no title, as if nothing differs from you or I, and that's all I wanted." He was honest with her.

"You are nothing like your father, of that I am certain." She said this as she sunk deeper into the chair, worn out from the day.

"I won't bother you for long, you need to get some rest." he was about to continue when she interrupted him.

"Oh I won't get to sleep until later into the night. I still have so much work today. King Fredrick and his wife are in town, and they will be having a feast to celebrate something, tomorrow." She waved it off, Ronald kept in a laugh. Mrs. Bolace could care less about what they were celebrating, that's for certain.

Ronald was stuck on the mention of little sleep. "My father isn't treating you well, is he?"

Her tired eyes sought out his face. "I have no grievance with your father." She lied, she knew it too. Ronald couldn't blame her. His father had been a harsh ruler, making it hard to see him any other way.

"Well then I won't keep you from your tasks but I did want to ask you before I left," she was already getting up, so he stood and helped her. Ronald was certain that when he became king, his servants wouldn't suffer. He wouldn't allow it. "Did Bethany say where she was going?" Desperation was settling in, how would he ever find her?

He was beginning to feel the loss. Without her life was bleak, and he wouldn't go through ruling a country without her.

Mrs. Bolace must've seen the desperation, because she told him, "I can talk to King Fredrick to send out some men to track her down."

Ronald wasn't sure how or why the King of Iris would help but it didn't matter.

"Any help would be greatly appreciated." He paced a few paces, then turned. "And you are sure she didn't just leave for an hour or two, to fetch something?"

Mrs. Bolace solemnly shook her head no. "She was adamant that she would get us kicked out and said we would be better off without her. She packed up what belongings she had and left."