Timothy and Izzy walked side-by-side and walked together into the king’s court where they were immediately surrounded by both the kings, Alex, and Annie.
Timothy felt Izzy stiff but she did not dare stop where she was standing. Timothy taught her better than that. She would face him straight on no matter the affect the evil king did to her.
“Hello King John. King Henry. Prince Alexander. Princess Annie,” Timothy said politely and Izzy did the same with ease but he knew the truth behind those friendly greetings.
“Ah, Timothy and Isabelle. I am so glad you are able to make it in time before you headed out to practice,” King John smiled genuinely. His gaze lingered over Izzy as he saw her growing little by little into the young woman he wanted her to be. Her beauty was beyond words and he could not help but notice some of the same features she had as Marrisa, Izzy’s biological mother. A mother, he reminded, she would never know.
“Prince Alexander and Princess Annie is going to town today,” King Henry explained when he saw that King John was too distracted by Izzy to say anything else. What was he staring at her for? Was there something he had missed?
“Ah, yes!” King John smiled, shaking off the silent vibe. “And both of you will be assigned to protect the two future couple. Isabelle, I want you to practice guarding Zander today.”
Izzy was about to decline on going and calling it sick but she could not fail King John, the king who had raised her since the day she was born but she was weighing if she should be guarding Alex. She felt him study her since she came in the room but she tried to ignore any eye contact because of King Henry and the issue with the kiss she could still not decipher.
“You have our services,” Timothy bowed and Izzy followed. “When will we departure?”
“Half an hour,” King John instructed, “the carriage will take off. I will see everyone upon their departure. Everyone is dismissed but Isabelle.” Everyone had agreed and began to leave quietly. King Henry gave Izzy a warning look and left closely behind Princess Annie, whispering into her ear inaudibly.
When the door was shut behind them, King John spoke up immediately. “Isabelle, is there something wrong?” The king asked as if he already knew but Izzy knew that no one knew and could ever tell the king about anything. Timothy was too careful to confront the king.
“No, I do not understand what you are trying to say,” Izzy said, looking into King John’s eyes and lying for the first time in her life. The lie sounded good but she knew if anyone knew anything about her, it was King John. He raised her from a newborn child and she symbolized him like someone would to a father although the relationship between them became professional once her trainings started. However, Izzy remembered in her younger days when he would equally distribute his attention to Zander and herself.
“I know you, Isabelle,” the king said, suspicious of Izzy. “There is something off that you will not tell me.”
“I-I It’s my mother,” Izzy said, trying to find anything to divert anything present. She was surprised she had called out her mother instead of anything else.
King John stiffened but his expression softened as he took pity for Izzy. “What about your mother would you like to know?”
Izzy gasped quietly as she realized that she could ask the king anything she could about her mother, an opportunity that had yet reveal itself.
“What was she like?” She asked this question before but she loved it when the king would describe her.
“She was special and quite the woman,” King John said, memorizing everything about Marrisa. “She had your strong green eyes and that long beautiful hair. She was charismatic and she could put anyone into a good mood. She was smart with speech so she was very well educated and intelligent when I met her and she was the most caring and loving person anyone could ever set eyes to.”
Izzy closed her eyes as she visualized her mother in her head but she could never get a full picture of what she imagined her mother to look or act like. However she knew her mother was a wonderful person without meeting her. She could tell by looking at King John’s eyes as he described Marissa.
Izzy felt something tighten as she asked this next question. It was a question that plagued her mind since her childhood and she never had the courage to ask until now.
“King John, where is she from? Do I have an extended family?” Izzy asked, holding her breath as she watched King John’s expression go blank but he sighed.
“I wished to explain everything on your eighteenth birthday but I understand your curiosity. However there was not much on your mother’s background. She came to the front gates of the castle nine months before you were born, bloodied and on the verge of consciousness with a maid by her side but both of them were in no condition of answering any questions.
“I immediately took them in and nursed them back to health. When she was strong enough to take in questions, I asked her where she had come from but she replied that she was alone with her maid and had no family. I tried asking what town she came from but she only begged me not to ask her again.
“I favored your mother. There was something different about her and she was a very highly educated woman. I hired her as a teacher for Zander when he was about two years of age. She nursed him and was his nanny until there was a clear sign that she was pregnant.”
King John stopped where he was and took a deep breath. His eyes were filled with emotions and Izzy wondered if her mother had any personal connections with King John. He shook his head slightly and continued.
“I asked her who she had laid with but she would not answer. All she would say was that it was not anyone in the castle and that she would never betray her duty as a servant in my castle. I believed her and let her continue her job until it was time to deliver you. Your mother had passed away from childbirth that night, leaving you with without a name or a parent.
“That night I had a dream of a woman’s voice and woke up to the news. When I saw you in my arms, the faint voice tugged at my heart and told me you were to be Zander’s bodyguard.” King John looked at Izzy with such wonder and emotions that Izzy did not know how to take any of this. All her life she was so curious about her mother but King John had all the answers all along.
“Was she beautiful?” Izzy whispered, a thought that had intruded her mind for ages. She could see a vague picture of her mother that she had buit in her head but she wanted to hear from King John himself.
“She was very beautiful. One of the most beautiful woman I have ever met,” King John smiled sympathetically. Izzy allowed a few tears to drop as the emotions overwhelmed her strong guard.
In a distance, Izzy heard the trumpets roar as a signal that Alex and Annie were soon to depart.
“I believe this conversation must end here Isabelle,” King John said, brushing her tears away.
Izzy felt his rough hands brush her tears and she felt the king’s affection towards her. Izzy recollected herself as she stood straighter and sniffed any remainder of tears and snot away.
“Protect my son well, Isabelle,” King John smiled kindly and lightly kissed her on the forehead, a sign of love and affection that was greatly known in the kingdom.
“Yes sir,” she whispered quietly, afraid her voice would crack. She was making her way towards the door when something stopped her. More of a question that did not leave her head. “King John?” she said politely, turning around to properly face the king.
“Yes, my Isabelle?” he asked with the same kindness he showed for his son.
“Did you love my mother?” she asked, surprised at her confidence of asking such a personal question but she hoped that he would answer her.
King John seemed to think this thoroughly and carefully, wondering if she should know what he felt towards Marrisa. A soothing wave passed through him and he thought he felt the calming touch of Marrisa on his arm but when he looked, no one held his hand.
“Yes, Isabelle,” he spoke and he felt his eyes water. “Yes, I did.”