Noah
My legs ached as I entered the cab again. My eyes sparkled in happiness when I recollected the way I taunted Ashley. Her lips seduced me to make a move and I didn’t want to do it without her consent so I touched her hand and waited for her to receive it while I settled for her neck and she responded well to my delight.
But why did I feel an ache in my heart when that man called Mason stepped into the bakery shop and why did Ashely’s eyes lit up like a flame when she saw him?
I was far more handsome and muscular than he was but he had that innocent boyish look that I didn’t have.
I was planning only to work at the bakery for a day or two and then pretend to be sick with a contagious flu but the way the customers kept trooping in, admiring my hair and my looks and the smell of the pastries wanted me to stay for a little while and play along.
Emily seemed cheerful and it reminded me of Rose. Her warm spirit and her cheerful side talks brought a smile on my face but Ashley…
She looked at me with contempt when back in that storage room, it seemed as if she desired me and it brought a subtle pain to my nerves. I remembered the way her shirt strained against her succulents chest and I could feel myself getting hard.
When she kept berating me, all I wanted was to smash my lips against her and keep her shut. I didn’t understand why I felt this way. My heart kept thumping against her chest anytime an image of her crossed through my mind and my mind kept reminding me that she was only a woman who will never see me as a man.
It kept reminding me that in a few weeks, I would be engaged to Matilda and I’ll never see her pretty eyes never again.
“How was your day, sir?” I heard Daniel speak in a hushed tone as his hands clapped his cap unto his head.
“It was pleasant, Daniel.” I promptly responded as I reclined and crossed a leg over the other and looked through a newspaper that Daniel had carefully folded beside me and then my eyes got buried in the pages.
****
I had barely stepped a foot into the castle when I sighted Ruby walking towards me. A groan escaped from my lips and my fingers slides against my forehead, trying to rub out the non-existent wrinkles.
“You’re avoiding me, Noah.” I heard her speak as she placed a hand on her hip with her racket dangling across her shoulders.
“You observed that early enough.” I let the sarcasm drip from my lips and exert itself in the form of a sneaky smile.
“Mother is worried,” Ruby spoke again, “If this is about the whole arranged marriage thing.”
“So now you want to play the concerned older sister, Ruby.” I interrupted, “-and I’m sure that mother is fine. I’m just rebelling a little.”
“Rebelling? The fate of Midon depends on this.” I heard Ruby speak.
“You mean, the fate of Midon depends on me, right?” I asked, “I don’t have a choice here. Why don’t you get it?”
“I am betrothed to a man I don’t love and I’m not being rebellious or childish. We all have to sacrifice as royals.” Ruby countered back.
“And you forgot the part where you tell me that you meet other men and flirt with them.” I told her with a stern look.
“Noah…”
“You are the one supposed to defend me. You’re my sister and yet you want me trapped in an arranged marriage.” I pointed an accusing finger.
“Noah…” she called again, her hands reaching to clasp mine.
“This discussion is over, Ruby.” My tone was strong, harsh and that was the way I wanted it to be. My eyes searched hers as I walked past her. I had always had a great relationship with Ruby but when we turned adults, she moved closer to Mother like a magnet.
I walked into the royal kitchen and was greeted with a sharp smell of roasted chicken, sauce, bread and pancakes. I sat and smiled at the workers, bowing my head slightly as they appraised me.
Gordon thrusted a bowl of chicken soup and dipped a spoon in it.
“I’m not hungry.” I shook my head and pushed the bowl closer to Gordon
Gordon crossed his arm across his chest, his white crispy shirt creasing at the sleeves, “What worries you, my boy?”
“Nothing,” I forced out a reply, “I just wanted to clear my head.”
“You can talk to me about anything, you know that, don’t you?” Gordon set a hand on my shoulder and by reflex, I patted his hand.
“I’ll try, Gordon,” I caught the smile on his face as I rose up on my feet. Even though I had no courage to discuss it with him, he still encouraged me regardless and that gladened my heart.
My legs strided along the hallways, my thoughts oscillating between confusion and perseverance.
Should I just give in to my mother and marry Matilda?
Or should I follow my heart made remain stubborn?
I finally found myself standing in front of a room that I once had to inhale severally before knocking. A room that scared me and made my hands tremble in fear.
My father’s chambers.
****
I was greeted with the smell of drugs, saline and disinfectant. The room was lit in lamp-light glow, electric rays spreading as petals upon the walls. The king-sized bed only revealed my father’s upper body as his lower body was wrapped in a large duvet. Holding his thin, frail hands was my mother who seemed to be immersed by trees outside the large window.
“Father,” I called out, my legs making sounds against the floor, “I’m here.”
My father’s head slightly moved while my mother sharply turned, her eyes blazing red and filled with fury.
“Where have you been, Noah?” Her voice held no affection, no concern.
I felt a lump in my throat and I swallowed in a haste. My hands touched the poles that held the bed where my great-grandfather slept and the previous kings before him. All they had in common was that they died before they could see their grand-children.
“I-I won’t marry Matilda. I have no intention of making her my Queen. I just came to deliver that message to you, Father.” My eyes met the ceiling as I spoke the words my heart threatened to pour out
“Have you lost your mind, Noah?” I heard my mother say, “We discussed this.”
“No we did not.” I cried out as I pointed a finger at my dazzled mother,”You lied to me. Why do I have to be in an arranged marriage?”
“Noah….”
Rage pulsed through my veins and in a flash, I felt a flicker of irritation roll over my entire frame.
“I know that the entire royal family have survived on arranged marriages. But I don’t want it. I don’t want to be the sacrificial lamb. I want to marry a woman I love and not bounded to one because of a favor. I’m not interested in the Duchess of Arendelle-”
I heard my father cough as his white hands formed a fist around his mouth.
“You will marry that woman and that is final, you ungrateful-”
Anger coursed through my veins as my father spoke and my hands swiftly picked up a red flower vase and I smashed it onto the bare white floor.
“W-What is wrong with you?” I heard my mother yell and a smirk landed on my face.
“Wrong? The only person who is wrong here is you and father. I’m not an object or a tool for you or Midon. I’m a person with feelings and I have a right to marry the woman of my choice.” My breathing had turned ragged with each note that flew out of my lips.
I noticed that neither of them made an attempt to speak as their eyes held fury as well. I bit my bottom lip and turned around. I bolted the door loudly behind me, making sure that the guards behind it noticed how I felt with that loud bang.
*****
“Have you lost your mind, son?” I heard my mother’s voice behind me as she held my arm and turned me around to look at her in the eye.
“Maybe.”
“You were disrespectful to your father.”
“He disrespected me first, Mother. Did you ever think of how his words crushed me, huh? He called me ungrateful just because of my refusal to marry a woman I don’t love and now you’re berating me. Maybe I should have never returned to Midon. I should have stayed in Boston.” I yelled.
“You are not the son I know, ” My mother started with a whisper, “My son used to be considerate, respectful and-”
“Weak,” I completed, “I’m tired of listening to you, Father and Ruby. You all think I’m selfish and disrespectful but you don’t want to listen to me. I am your son. I’m your-”
“The engagement dinner is in a few days and you’ll meet her parents as well. And then you’ll have to reveal yourself and Matilda to the people. You’ll have no reason to hide who you are from the public.” My mother’s voice was firm once again.
“The engagement?” I struggled to speak, “You’re still going to force me into this?”
“I have no reason to speak to you about it since you already can not reason with me. What is there to discuss when you’re adamant and arrogant? You better show up on that dinner because the entire fate of Midon depends on your marriage. Don’t mess it up!”
And with that, she walked past me while I stood rooted on the spot, unable to believe how much my mother had changed. My words now seemed like wilted leaves to her. My eyes turned glossy as I felt my head begin to pound and ache.
I wished it was my heart that ached instead.
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