AN: And to the person who left a review earlier and used a guest account to criticize, i am not pleased. I am just a tenth grader and not an expert in writing, i do not have a degree in creative writing or whatsoever. If you don't like it, the door is always open, you can leave :) i am not forcing you to read it so if you don't like it, then don't read it. If you want to talk about something, pm me and i would appreciate that even more.
This chapter seems to not be scattered this time, unlike the other one. I finally found time to write despite all those things that keep me busy. Once again this chapter is edited by hptriviachamp.
minor details were edited as of 6/16/20.
Natalia anxiously walked towards Ian and contemplated if she was doing the right thing. She whacked him on the head just like she used to when they were children.
"What was that for? How dare you hit your brother who is the king of this country?" Ian furiously shot and Natalia only rolled her eyes.
"You were my brother before you were crowned king. What did you tell my sister-in-law that made her run out of your study crying? Ian Kabra, you are impossible," Natalia scoffed.
"She was the one who screamed and threatened me. How can she be upset for a simple matter of handing over an heir for peace?" The king reasoned out and Natalia rolled her eyes.
"Did you not consider how she would feel? You may be king, dear brother, but you don't use your head. How are you certain that Amelia can carry your heir to full term? If she doesn't, Berasienne will still go to war," Natalia questioned and caught her brother off guard.
"She can," the king simply replied.
"You are mistaken. Women can die in childbirth, Ian. You are making it worse by signing a treaty that she doesn't agree with. How certain are you that she will survive childbirth?" Natalia asked. The king stared at his sister who did not realize her words.
"Are you somehow involved when Amelia was poisoned? Yes, it could have been you. No one has extensive knowledge of poisons besides me."
Guilt crept up on Natalia as she fell silent upon hearing her brother's words. Fiddling with her thumbs, Natalia never found the courage to answer her brother.
"If Amelia fails, how can you fill in the responsibilities of that treaty?" Natalia countered.
"I have Lady Cara," he simply said but Natalia just scoffed.
"Can you stop playing tricks with me, Ian? Everybody certainly knows you don't want to be with her. Mother even said that you escaped the night of consummation with her and spent it with Amelia," Natalia said, her voice raising.
"I am not playing favorites if that's what you mean. I need to sign this treaty for the empire not to bother us again. Do you think I am happy with this, Natalia? I am not," Ian admitted.
Silence engulfed the study room and Natalia did not find the words to counter her brother once more. The atmosphere changed inside the room as Natalia gently walked towards her brother and squeezed his hand.
"Whose side are you on?" Ian asked.
"Yours. I might be redeemed this way," Natalia stated and the king looked at her younger sister in disbelief.
"What happened to the little girl who would always obey her dear mummy?" he chuckled.
"I grew up," Natalia said seriously.
"You will always be my impish little sister," Ian teased.
"I am not!" Natalia whined and the king just laughed at his sister. She whacked him in the head for the second time.
"What is it this time?" Ian asked, annoyed.
"You should not be here laughing with me, dear brother. You have a queen to comfort," Natalia said. "I feel bad for Amelia, who has a husband who is so moody." she teased.
"I am not! How dare you insult me like that?" He asked pretending to be offended.
"Well, I am your impish little sister."
Captain Holt secretly trailed behind his mistress. He stood at a distance and watched the distressed queen. The queen sat on a swing set under the large oak tree that was in the middle of her garden. Dark clouds loomed over the sky mirroring the queen's damp spirits. He was at a proximity where he could see that tears streamed down the queen's face.
How could you be so delicate, Your Majesty? How could a pure angel like you continue to thrive in this twisted palace court? Hamilton thought.
Those words of the captain remained unsaid as he just stood in the distance. The queen had been put through enough already and Hamilton bore witness to all of that.
The captain had been so accustomed to watching over the queen, seeing her smile. In the dark eternity of the palace and the captain felt like the queen's presence was sunshine, that fell onto him.
It was not until he realized that his feet betrayed him to be near the queen's side. Behind the oak tree, the captain contemplated if should approach the queen or not. Fishing a white handkerchief in his pocket, the captain walked towards his mistress.
"Your Majesty," he approached.
The queen faced him with swollen eyes due to crying. The red rouge on her face was smeared in her fingers. Hamilton gave her a handkerchief that belonged to him.
The queen hesitated, however.
"Take it. You need it the most, Your Majesty," Hamilton urged and the queen reluctantly accepted it.
Was there another life waiting for them? In a world where she was his and he was hers?
"Did I not command you that I was to be left alone?" Amelia asked indifferently.
"I am following protocol, Your Majesty," Hamilton said as he sat down on the swing under the oak tree. The queen did not mind that he sat next to her.
"Are you alright, Your Majesty?" The concerned captain asked.
"I'm fine," Amelia sniffled as she used the borrowed handkerchief to wipe her tears. The captain, who had spent years in military training was not convinced.
"You say you're fine when you certainly are not. What has caused you to be upset like this, Your Majesty? You and His Majesty seemed to be in good terms." Hamilton pointed out.
"He chose to hand me over to the devil himself. Does he expect me to be okay if my child is handed over to the enemy? He had become my greatest horror and I regret awakening that monster in him," Amelia choked out a sob and the reluctant captain gently patted the queen's back. Her cry seems empty and forlorn. The captain treated her with the greatest of control that his brusque force could muster,.
Hamilton did not say anything as he boldly pulled her towards him and embraced the queen he served. Boundaries were broken, the captain could not hold himself back as the queen sobbed over his shoulder.
"You can punish this servant later for his impudence. I swore an oath to protect the person I will serve one day, even if it was of shield her from this kind of pain. From afar I wish you near, and with your every fall, I tremble in fear. "
In the distance, the captain saw the king. He made a treacherous move when he pulled the queen closer to him but she didn't seem to mind. Hamilton immediately saw a change in the king's expression for what he had witnessed.
"Why is looking out for you is such a painful thing to do? These feelings for you that I can't just throw away. Why can't I stop loving you?"
The captain let go of those words even if he knew the king was there. The king bore witness to his treacherous confession, for despite how he felt, that foolish love had to be, or vanish.
Madison sensed that something was wrong after her brother escorted the queen back. The queen was visited by her brother in the drawing-room. Hamilton appeared right beside her and they sat down for a cup of tea.
"Did something happen when you trailed behind Her Majesty?" Madison asked.
"Nothing," Hamilton said curtly.
"Then why does she flinch when you came in contact with her?" she wondered. Once Madison realized what happened, she turned to Hamilton. "You dolt! What have you've done this time?" Madison questioned angrily.
"I said and did something I shouldn't have," Hamilton confessed.
Madison sighed in resignation. Her brother may have been in deep trouble. If the king found out about it, there was a chance Hamilton could be stripped of his position or much worse, beheaded. She snapped out of her thoughts when they heard raised voices inside the queen's drawing-room.
"What is it that angered Her Majesty this time?" Hamilton asks as they rushed into the drawing-room.
"-So it was all an empty lie? To make it seem that you cared about me? And what did you do? You stabbed me in the back by joining the people who wish to get rid of me!" Amelia said rigidly.
"If you have known the pain I had to go through, you would know I had no choice," Daniel attempted to explain but Amelia paid him no mind.
"Should we butt in?" Madison whispered to her brother but he just shrugged.
"Your sister?" Amelia scoffed and looked at her brother with pain visible in her jade orbs. "I was your sister until you decided to betray me openly that day," she countered.
"Get him out of my sight!" Amelia commanded but Hamilton hesitated. "Did you not hear me? Get out!" she spat.
"I'll take care of Her Majesty, brother. Get him out before she blows up her rage further," Madison hurriedly said to her brother before returning to the queen's side and ushering her out of the room.
The two men were left in the drawing-room by themselves. Hamilton pitied the younger Cahill whose eyes were downcast to the ground silently.
"She doesn't mean it. You simply spoke to her at the wrong time," Hamilton said.
Daniel Cahill looked at him and the captain was met with the same jade orbs that the queen also possessed.
"Amelia says what she wants. I never saw her so upset and I certainly know she won't forgive me for betraying her," Daniel said sadly.
"She feels as if the world has come crashing upon her. Why does she fight with all the men in her life?"
"She gave that cobra a taste of temper? What did he do to make her mad?" Daniel asked.
"Underrated choice of a nickname," Hamilton remarked. "You might not want anyone to hear about that or else it will also be off with your head with you," he reminded Daniel.
"Were you telling the truth when you said Amelia did not mean it?" Daniel asks quietly.
"You have my word," Hamilton said, adding with a chuckle, "Now get out before she sees you again."
"Protect her," Daniel plead as he left.
"With my life," Hamilton replies in conviction.
And I mean that. I will serve her until my dying breath and will not abandon her when others have. I will make sure she stands high and proud in history, the captain thought.
The politics of Berasienne court was shrouded in lies, especially in the inner circle of the king's court. Minister Pierce had allies that made up the king's inner court, mainly the patriarchs of the Holt, Starling, and Wizard families.
"Do you think you can easily take Her Majesty down? The king will surely put up a fight to keep her safe. And that reminds me, Lord Holt's daughter and son seemed to be loyal to Her Majesty. Isn't it strange to see them alongside the enemy?" Lord Starling questioned.
Lord Holt remained silent.
"Continue what you are doing. The more that everything is turning against the Cahills, the better." Pierce said flatly.
"His Majesty cannot keep her untouched forever, and he made things worse by installing her as a queen regent. The position put her in the center of political power," Eisenhower Holt stated and others agreed to his word.
"How are you certain that Lady Cara will ascend to the throne? The royal family has been silent about the news of the queen but rumors slipped through the cracks that the queen is already with child," Broderick Wizard piped up, and the members looked at their silent member suddenly speaking up. It could also seem that Lord Wizard was challenging the authority of the prime minister.
"Learn to have faith in Lord Pierce- the queen is just a minor obstacle in the way yet you falter in your beliefs," Lord Starling scoffed "I would rather have you stay silent than babble incoherent ideas."
"Just continue with what you are doing and Cara shall take care of the matters of the inner palace. It is good that the dowager queen is siding with our cause." The prime minister said towards his inner circle.
After Minister Pierce spoke to his inner circle, his daughter awaited him in one of the drawing-room attached near the courtrooms. It was rather strange of her to be seen in the royal court rather than the palace.
"Father," she approached.
The minister checked if anyone is listening in their conversation. Finding the coast was clear, he nodded for her to continue.
"Is everything going according to plan?" Lady Cara asked.
"Our other allies have been working and I trust you have brought the information I asked you for?" Minister Pierce asked.
"It took me quite a while to find, Father. The persons involved around it seemed to be more on the queen's side. I heavily relied on what I heard from the dowager queen, but it will suffice," Lady Cara stated matter-of-factly.
"This better be good, Cara," the prime minister said.
"It turns out, the queen seems to be involved in a scandal- with her personal guard, no less."
Minister Pierce raised an eyebrow and scoffed.
"Her lapdog who is the captain of the royal guards, how pathetic," he drawls.
"It very well may be, as Captain Holt boldly confessed his love to the queen when the king was in proximity, Father. But this one was so big that the king himself swept it under the rug and kept quiet," Cara said as her father became more curious about what happened.
"Enlighten me," Pierce asked.
"The Queen..." Cara trailed off, "committed treason against His Majesty. It was such a grave issue that the king held a sword to that delicate Cahill neck. With that said, you can easily brand her as a traitor."
Ian contemplated if he should sign the treaty or not. He became hesitant after hearing Natalia's words who defended the queen's side. But the scene in the gardens felt like scalding water was dumped on him.
Just then. Captain Holt entered his rooms.
"You will join the troops starting tomorrow, Captain Holt. I expect you to report to me early in the morning," Ian said to the captain of the royal guards.
The king felt no need to respect the captain after what he had witnessed. The clueless captain raised an eyebrow and asked:
"Pardon?"
"Did you not hear me? I said you are to be transferred to the battlefront. It should have been this way before," the king replied nonchalantly.
The captain fell silent.
"I believe my primary duty is to keep the queen safe, Your Majesty. That is the reason I did not want to join the troops,"
King Ian sighed and faced the captain. Hamilton was surprised to see the king stared at him scrutinizingly. The king then asked:
"You protected her enough that you were willing to hide the fact that she committed treason. Wasn't the oath you swore upon states that you uphold the truth no matter what the cost?" he questioned. "You were willing to hide the fact about the painting. Do you think you can protect her, Captain Holt? It seems to me that you cannot."
"Did you not also do the same thing, Your Majesty? Then you would have beheaded her and the people will brand you as Ian the Bloody because you killed your wife?" the captain of the royal guards countered.
"How dare you!" the king asked outraged and scoffed in disbelief. "Hamilton Holt, who do you think you are?"
Hamilton was surprised when the king grabbed him by the collar in anger. He stood unmoved and did not react.
"Or is it something else?" Ian accused with a venomous tone. "Are you secretly lusting after someone you cannot have?"
The captain stared at him this time. matching the tone of the king he served, he spoke with venom in his voice.
"She is unfortunate to have you as her husband. How many times has she gotten hurt because of you? How many people have wanted to kill her the moment you decided to make her your queen instead of Cara? If you had not been stubborn, I wouldn't have betrayed you this way," Hamilton said coldly.
The king let him go harshly and pulled out a sword to the captain's neck. The king flashed back to a moment where he held a sword to Amelia's neck. Just like the queen, Captain Holt remained unmoving.
He was not a murderer like his mother. He was not a puppet like his father either.
"Your Majesty, Her Majesty the queen wishes to have a word with you." A servant walked in and Ian dropped the sword and it clattered to the ground.
"We'll talk about this later. I'm not done with you yet," Ian said icily.