Nixiesocean: What a mean cliffie, huh? Ah, well, here's another chappie for you to enjoy.
Chapter 6: Reality
"What the hell are you doing?" Perhin demanded. He felt betrayed. Horrified. Why was she with him in a hayloft of all places? When the princess didn't say anything, he asked again. "What the hell are you doing up there?" He asked, with more anger.
Ditri stood and jumped down the ladder (without showing her under-clothes, a feat that she was extremely proud of) to stand in front of Perhin. "I told you call off the marriage, sweetheart. You refused. I'll tell you, ass hole, I love Tristan. Not you!" she stormed off, leaving a stunned prince behind. Tristan attempted to sneak off, but in vain.
"You- you have some nerve, commoner!" Perhin screamed at his valet. "You betrayed me! You – I told you!" He wanted to kill Tristan. Tristan, ever the cool-headed man, stood there and took the verbal abuse. He, unlike Ditri, had no protection from Perhin's wrath. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Tears ran down Perhin's cheeks, it was horrible. This whole day had been horrid.
"That I had no control." Tristan said quietly. This was definitely the wrong thing to say. It only infuriated Perhin more.
"You had no control?" Perhin repeated. "God damnit, Tristan! I love her! She is to be my wife!" He hissed though clenched teeth. "How could you go and take her?" By the time Perhin had finished his rants, he must've used every cuss word in the book. "Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"
"That I love her, the princess, and there isn't anything you can do to take away my love to her or vise versa." Tristan walked away from the fuming prince. It was hard. They'd been like brothers since either could remember. They had been so close. He'd even attended Perhin's prince-training lessons. They helped each other do homework and even had developed a secret language that only the two could comprehend. Ditri could never understand how they had managed to create such a patois. (ooh, cool word, huh?) Now, over Ditri, they were being ripped apart. After he'd gotten a sufcient distance from the stables, he cried. Yes, guys DO cry. Everything, from meeting Ditri to that last moment before pulling up to the palace had been wonderful. Then, he'd felt a calling to go to the stables.
After h was finished, he headed back to the palace. Perhin had already left the stables… wait… how did he know that?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"But Mom, they both said it!" Perhin whined. He was depressed and angry. Sure, the princess wasn't his first crush, but he knew that he had to marry Princess Ditri. His mother, the queen, held him in her arms, he was crying. She was comforting. His father was busy with being a judge for a case in court.
"Sweet, I know you love her, but, maybe you should've picked her up, not sent Tristan." Mothers had a way with hindsight. "I'm sure she just attached to you valet because he was the first person she met from Auszin."
"But, I joked with him about stealing my bride… he laughed about it and said 'I won't, liege.' But he did, Mom, he did!" He stood.
"Are you sure?" His mother asked. "Are you sure he said those exact words?"
"Well, no, but I got the feeling… wait! How would you know about our conversations?" He truly wondered how his mother could hear his and Tristan's conversations, no one else could.
"I'm your mother, silly. Now go apologize to my future daughter-in-law. I don't want a reluctant bride." His mom turned and looked at the painting of Tristan and Perhin that she had made for her and her husband's rooms. "I take that back, call Tristan, your father and the princess, we are going to have dinner like a real family." Sighing, Perhin touched his skull.
"Tristan. I know you don't want to talk to me, but my mother asked me to have you and the princess come to dinner." He felt the message touch his valet's mind. Though it was perplexing, how he could do it. He'd always been able to do it, like Tristan's ability to change his features. Hugging his mother, Perhin left and went to go inform his father of Mother's intentions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dinner was… intrusting. Tristan and Ditri were seated the farthest away, at Perhin's request. "So." The queen started. "How is dinner?" She asked the princess.
"Very good, my queen, very well cooked." Ditri replied in the most courteous way she possibly could. She didn't want her future mother-in-law to be angry with her. Then again, she probably already WAS angry with Ditri because she didn't like Perhin. "My compliments to the chef." Tristan touched his forehead, then his temple. She sighed, he was communicating with Perhin.
"Stop showing that we're communicating!" Perhin said into Tristan's head.
"I'm sorry, its habit." Tristan returned to his submissive state-of-being. "You said the queen called me and Ditri here. If she called us, why are halfway across the table from each other?" Tristan asked, truly wondering how much the queen knew.
"Because this is a celebration of Ditri entering the family, not of you two being lovers!" Perhin growled.
"Boys." The queen said. "If you have something to say, say it aloud." Tristan looked at the queen. "Now, the true reason I called you here is…"
"So that the princess can be formally inducted into the family, right?" Perhin asked eagerly.
"No, honey, I'm sorry." The queen was downcast. Why had her husband convinced her that she had to say this? "But, you see-" As cliché as it may be, a servant dropped his tray and ran to the queen, pulling a dagger. Tristan was the closest; he pushed the queen out of the way, taking the dagger full in the stomach. The servant, seeing what he'd done, ran. Guards caught the servant with ease. Tristan bled.
Ditri was stunned. Perhin was horrified. The queen was recovering from being shoved over. The king reacted first. "Get a surgeon!" They all crowded around Tristan.
The queen leaned over him. "You're my son too, Tristan. You're a twin."