The King and His Love
150 years ago
King Elathion was happy. He felt like nothing in this world could make him frown at this very moment. His lover, Harika, lay next to him. He had his arm around her as they looked at the grand high ceiling above them. He reached for a strand of her hair, and started stroking the dark silk.
The beauty in his arms turned to him and said, "My love, I don't belong here and neither does Míla. She and I can no longer live in the castle."
His heart stopped for a second, in shock.
He put his hand on her cheek and said, "Harika, my love, haven't I treated you well? You and Mílathiel have your own quarters and you both will never want for anything. I know that we are not married but, I love you. I truly do."
Elathion hated the look on beautiful Harika's face as she said, "I think that your wife is not happy with me here, Your Highness."
Elathion grinned because she only used "Your Highness" when she was being playful. He moved his head closer to hers, ignoring the fact that she had mentioned his contemptuous wife. He put a hand on a voluptuous hip as he pulled her close, but she pushed against him with tears coming out of her eyes.
"Elathion! Stop. Please! Can't you tell that this is hard for me? We are not married! My daughter is illegitimate. She will never fit in among your people."
Anger welled up in him as Elathion sat up in bed and yelled, "What?! Who have you been talking to? She will fit in because she is my daughter and because I say so! She will become a princess and I will always take care of you! That is what we agreed on. Remember?!"
She was wounding his heart. She couldn't leave. She had lived in the castle for 20 years now. She was his and he loved her. He loved their little Míla and had loved seeing her everyday for these past 10 years.
Harika clutched the sheets as she cried, " I do not belong here either. Your wife deserves your full attention, El. You cannot keep me. I must get out of here. She hates me and you know she has power to destroy both me and Míla."
As she was crying, Elathion saw the wisdom in his lover's words. She was right. His wife's pride and anger put the both of them in danger. He cursed the day that he was bound to the horrible witch. More than once, the Queen had tried to have their baby as well as Harika killed.
Unabashedly, he started crying when he realized that he could no longer keep Harika as his mistress.
Realizing that Harika meant to take Míla away as well he stood up on the bed, wiped away his tears, misdirected his anger at Harika and yelled, "You cannot take our daughter away! No child of mine will grow up away from the palace!"
Harika then got up on her knees, "She needs a mother El, you know this."
Angrily wiping his tears he said, "What you request for, is impossible. She has royal blood, she deserves the best."
He then got out of the bed and slammed the door as he left the room. Behind the door he could hear that he had awakened the baby. Cursing and wiping his unending tears, Elathion went to his chambers and threw himself grumpily on his chair.
How dare she request that?!
He was King and no one was going to take his child away from him.
Then he thought of his wife and his other three children. Harika was right. The queen would never let Míla get far in life if she stayed here. There he sat and continued to cry about his love and his sweet daughter.
The next day
When the king returned to Harika's quarters and when he opened the front door he found his (at the time) youngest son Jax teaching Míla how to play the pianoforte.
The King interrupted them and said, "Jaxion please take Mílathiel outside. I need to speak to Harika in private."
Jaxion smiled at his father and said in a maturing, adolescent voice, "Yes, papa. Come on Míla! Let's go catch those green butterflies you love so much."
She squealed as he lifted her up and settled her little baby body on his shoulders. On their way out, she put a little hand to her mouth and blew a kiss to her father.
"Bye bye papa!"
His broken heart clenched and he strode through the room with more determination to talk to Harika.
He found her on the balcony with her back facing him. He groaned as he looked at his lover's beautiful backside. It hurt so much that he was going to lose this woman.
"I agree with you, that you can no longer reside in this castle. After all of this time, it seems that I release you from me. It truly breaks my heart, Harika, that we cannot be together." He watched her beautiful form tremble as the words left his lips.
"Thank you my lord. I…"
He interrupted her and said with tears, "I promise to let you and Míla live your lives in peace with a few conditions. The first being that I will provide money for you." She turned around and started to protest.
Then he held up a hand. "You have made me happy these long years and I would have you live comfortably. The second condition that I have is that my daughter will be raised and educated, as a princess should. She will have lessons, just as she is having now. The third is that when she comes of age, she is to reside here, in the castle 3 times a week. The other 4, she is allowed to be with you. I know that it is not ideal for a person to live this way, but she is my daughter too."
Harika had become very still and said, "She cannot be anywhere near your wife. She will kill her. It is too dangerous here for her. El… my lord… she is just a baby."
He interrupted her when he said, "That is why I said when she becomes of age. She already has shown an affinity with water. I am sure that you and your brother can teach and train her in ways that she may fend for herself. Jax will also be here to protect her." With a smile he continued, "Míla has him wrapped around her finger."
"But he is just a boy, Elathion! What can he do to protect her?"
The King stood proud and beamed, "He is turning into a fine young man. Besides he won't be a child for so much longer. Míla will also grow up, Harika. Remember that."
He then grew somber as he looked into the love of his life's eyes. "I know that you were hurt when I had children with her. But, he, at least, is a good child. Even you have come to love him."
She smiled and said, "Yes I do. He is a wonderful boy."
"Do we have a deal then, My Lady?"
She looked at up at him and waited for a moment. She then put her hand in his and squeezed.
"Deal."
XXX
Many of the King's royal subjects were surprised that the King had let Harika go. They were even more astonished that from Míla's thirtieth birthday onward, she was requested at every royal event and outing. She was still an adolescent at the time, but it was during these years that Míla started to become well known throughout the Kingdom.
Elathion's subjects would note her resemblance to the King and marvel that she wasn't a full royal.
Before she was an adult, she became a favorite among the people because of her sweetness, innocence and kindness.
Because of her affinity for water and her mother's training, she was very good at water dancing. She would perform dances and water tricks for her father's subjects whenever they came to visit. She always made sure to make friends with her father's loyalists from far lands. They would say that her company as well as her dances refreshed them from their long journeys. As Jax would say, "It is diplomatic insurance."
Her name amongst the nobles became, "The Sweet Princess," because the King's far older daughter had shown only interests in dresses, gems, shoes and gossip. She had been 900 years old when Mílathiel was born, but she never had shown as much care as this violet-eyed child had.
The Kingdom laughed at the Queen's bad fortune to have only one child that possessed the Purple of the Rulers. Out of the King and the Queen's Union, by the time Mílathiel was born, only their eldest child had possessed Purple in him. The ridicule and blame all fell to the Queen, for she was the one that seemed to lack the skill to produce "suitable" heirs. This slander to the Queen, however, lessened when she bore Prince Nephelion 60 years after Míla.
The Queen hated Míla. She hid none of her malice and anger whenever she was forced to be in the same room as her. The Queen tormented and devised plans against Míla weekly. The King knew of this and so did the whole Kingdom, but there was nothing he could do to stop her. The only thing he could do was constantly remind Jaxion to protect her.
This middle son was the only child of Elathion that loved Míla. Being only 25 years apart, they were very close. Sadly, they were his only children that he genuinely liked. The other three had been corrupted and had inherited the Queen's lacking qualities. He hoped somehow that his good son and daughter would piece together this failing Kingdom after he passed on.
