Chapter Text
Eden and Silas exited the library, leaving me behind with the pile of books we both sifted through. I thought Silas would barge into the library at some point, so I snuck the first biblical or religious book I could grab my hands on into Eden"s satchel. The City of God sounded like a religious book, and it was a bonus hearing that Silas had read and approved of it. I"ve never read it, but luckily, it helped conceal the other book on magic I gifted Eden.
I was left alone, stewing in my thoughts about how nice it was to have a friend like Eden. Having her in my life felt nice, but Mr. Harker and Silas don"t seem keen on us being around each other. I understood why Harker wanted to separate me from Eden. He wants to make me into a warrior and a proper prince. The man won"t let me visit her until I follow his orders. It was a scummy scheme he hatched against me and Eden, but Silas seems more unreasonable than Harker.
“A distraction,” I mumbled to myself.
That"s what Silas said Eden and I would be to each other. I don"t understand why he"s so protective of her and why he"s so distrustful of me. I returned to Mom, who was still in the guest room waiting for Danasty. She was on a sofa, lying on her side with her eyes closed. She was propping her head up, laying it on the palm of her left hand while drawing circles with her finger on the cushion of the couch. There was a slight smile on her face, and when I got closer, I heard her humming a little tune that I wasn"t familiar with.
“Mom?”
Mom opened her eyes when she heard me call for her. The smile turned into a full grin when she saw me. She didn"t say anything to me. Instead, she patted the cushion of the sofa in front of her, inviting me to lie down with her. Mom was always an affectionate woman, but Dad never seemed to receive nor give it back to Mom. I was the only person she could regularly give affection to, and she smothered me with her motherly love via hugs and kisses. It"d break her heart if I didn"t give her the love she needed, so of course, I obliged. I laid down next to her where she embraced me and kissed me on the back of my head,
“I love you, my sweet little prince,” she said.
“I Love you too, Mom.”
“I know, dear, I know. So, how did your second date with your girlfriend go?”
“Girlfriend?”
“Eden, my dear. I was talking about Eden.”
Eden was already my girlfriend according to Mom which I found amusing. If it made her happy to think that she was my girlfriend, I wasn’t going to correct her saying Eden wasn’t.
“It went fine. We had fun…we had fun until Silas came to pick Eden up.”
“Oh. What happened?”
Mom began grooming my hair, straightening it out while she was listening to my story.
“Silas got upset with me because he thought I gave Eden a book on magic.”
“Well, did you?”
“Yes.”
“You did?! Did you get caught?”
"Luckily, no. Silas didn"t find the book on magic I gave Eden, but he still seemed upset with me over something. I don"t understand, but he was still upset with me, acting like I was corrupting Eden. He treats me poorly because of that and thinks we"re a distraction to each other."
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Silas is very protective of Eden.”
“Is that how you see it?”
“What do you mean?”
“He may be protective of Eden, sure, but from what I’ve seen of him and from what you’ve told me, the boy seems jealous of you.”
“Jealous?!”
That was such an absurd idea to entertain. Why the hell would Silas be jealous of me? I"m a prince, sure, but he doesn"t strike me as a man who"d be envious of wealth and power.
“Yes, my dear. Jealous.”
“What makes you say that?”
"Your father was a man of many women, yet he didn"t want me to seek any other man while he was philandering with other women. He fooled around with other women, saying it was because he wanted a pure-blood son from the British Isles to be his new heir, but I was the only woman who could produce sons for him. He kept trying many other English women and Hibernian women he kidnapped, but he failed every time."
“Why didn’t Dad let you be with any other man if he was with other women?”
"Because he was afraid I"d be whisked away by another man. He was afraid he"d lose the only woman who could birth sons for him, even if they weren"t "Pure blood" as he desired. He made sure I"d have as little contact with other men as possible, going as far as to hire an entirely female staff to service my needs. You and Cyrus were the only other men I could regularly see."
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
I never knew how controlling Dad was until Mom told me more about him and her life. I felt horrible that Mom had to go through all of Dad"s nonsense, and I felt disgusted at myself for being the one who inadvertently caused her to be captive in her own home.
“Don’t be sorry, my love. You and your brother were the only men in my life I’ve truly loved after I left Carthage.”
Mom kissed me again on the back of my head. She was cuddling me, and I could feel the warmth of her love as she embraced me in her arms.
“You made life bearable and worth living,” Mom reassured me.
To give her the affection I knew she wanted, I kissed her on the back of her right hand, which she held above my chest.
“What does this have to do with Silas, though?” I asked, remembering who the conversation was initially about.
“Silas—I don’t think Silas is as bad as your father, but I can tell he doesn’t want to let go of Eden much like your father didn’t want to let go of me.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“I don’t know. I’m guessing that since he’s a priest, this is the only woman he loved—in a brotherly and fatherly way.”
“I don’t get what this has anything to do with me.”
"Tyrus, you"re the man who"s going to take Eden away from him, and he can"t bear the idea of another man loving and caring for her."
“Oh, okay, I guess.”
“He’s not aware of it yet, but Silas is jealous of you, and he won’t be happy with you until he learns that Eden is her own woman who can get to decide who she wants to be with in her life.”
“Hmmm.”
I wasn"t sure how to respond to Mom"s remark, but from what I could understand, I wouldn"t be able to change Silas"s mind about me. It"s up to him to change his mind about me and being protective and possessive of Eden. I thought about another topic I felt Mom would like to talk about.
“So, how did your chat with your boyfriend go?”
“Oh, Danasty? He’s a charming, handsome man. I’d certainly love to get to know him better.”
“How do you plan on doing that?”
“I’m hoping to go on a date with him. When he comes back, I’ll have to invite him for dinner for the two of us alone.”
“Aha.”
“Oh, you want to spend time alone with him?”
I knew what Mom was implying, but I wanted to tease her.
“Yes, some quality time alone with Clint would be ideal.”
I don"t know precisely what type of man Danasty truly was, but I"m glad Mom can spend time with another man she cares about. I fell asleep in Mom"s arms while waiting for Danasty"s return.
"I"m telling you that man is insane!" I heard someone"s voice out in the distance. The voice woke Mom and me up because whoever was speaking spoke with a vigorous distaste for whoever he was talking about.
“I wouldn’t say insane.”
“Well, how the hell else would you describe him?”
“A man who’s dedicated to his cause.”
"Really? You think the man who witnessed hell on earth in Hibernia and is hellbent on getting his vengeance going back is a dedicated man?"
“If you’ve witnessed hell itself and are willing to go back to take your vengeance, then yes, I do think Harker is a dedicated man.”
“Psh, you’re as insane as he is.”
“That’s okay, that insane man made me the Admiral, boy. I’m officially the top dog in the Royal Navy.”
“You’re an easily bribable man, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
“Hah! I’d be lying to say that I wasn’t, either.”
“Damn, right.”
Danasty and Hawthorne entered the guest room. Seeing them, I got up from the sofa so I wouldn"t get in Mom"s way. The moment Mom and Danasty locked eyes, a delightful smile grew on their faces. I bowed my head at the two men when they were right before us. The men bowed their heads back at me. Danasty went down on one knee, grabbed Mom"s right hand, and kissed the back of it. Mom grew a grin of pure delight, flashing her pearl-white teeth as Danasty put on a little performance for her.
"My queen," Danasty said to Mom.
“My captain,” Mom’s response made Danasty smile.
There was a heavy sense of romantic tension between the two. Mom and Danasty stared into each other"s eyes briefly before Mom broke the silence.
"I was hoping we could go on some date. Dinner with you sounds nice. Would you be interested?"
“Nothing sounds better than that. When and where will this dinner take place?”
"We have a special dining room in this castle where the two of us can converse. I"ll have my servants prepare our dinner, and we"ll have the night to ourselves."
“That sounds splendid!”
Mom got up from the couch to stand in front of Danasty. The two kept eye contact.
“Perhaps you’d like to stay the night here, too. We have a special room for guests I think you’d find most pleasing.”
“I wouldn’t mind being treated like royalty for a night.”
“I shall give you the royal treatment you deserve. Allow me to prepare myself for our upcoming meeting. I want to make sure this night is special for the two of us.”
“As you wish, my queen.”
The two grew a sly smile on their faces.
“Are you two done?” Hawthorne interrupted the two.
Danasty looked at Hawthorne, then back to Mom.
“Are we done?” Danasty asked Mom.
“For now, yes. Come back later tonight. I’ll have Sir Charles guide you to me when I’m ready.”
“Sounds good to me. I’m looking forward to meeting you again.”
“Me too.”
“Alright, let’s get the hell out of here.”
Hawthorne grabbed Danasty by the arm, pulling him away from Mom.
“Hey, wait!”
“Nope, we’ve got shit to do. I’m the Admiral now, boy. Have you already forgotten that?”
“No.”
"You do as I say, or I"ll throw your ass in the brig."
“But…”
“No buts, Danasty—unless you want to miss out on your date with the queen.”
“Hmph, Fine.”
"That"s what I thought. Now hurry your ass up, you little wanker. We need to get to work."
As Hawthorne and Danasty were leaving, Danasty looked back at Mom and blew her a kiss. Mom stuck out her hand to catch it and held it to her chest.
"I shall return as soon as possible, my dearest Asherah."
“I’ll be waiting for you, my captain.”
Hawthorne rolled his eyes at the two.
“Oh, for fuck sake.”
Hawthorne yanked Danasty"s arm, pulling him away from Mom.
“Ow! Hey!”
"You"ll get your dick wet later, boy. I"ve given you plenty of time to flirt; now, let"s get going."
Mom and I giggled, seeing Danasty getting dragged away.
“Haha.”
“Haha.”
“What are we going to do now, Mom?”
“You’re coming with me!” Harker’s voice rang out.
Mom and I darted our heads toward Techwin, who entered the room and looked directly at me.
“Huh?”
“You heard me, boy. Your ass is coming with me.”
“Where?”
“I’m taking you to the templar barracks. Your boot camp training starts today.”
“Today?”
“Yes. Now let’s get going because we’ve got little time to waste.”
“But—”
“No, buts! You’re going to do as I say when I say it, got it?”
“Hmph.”
“Tyrus, remember that you’ll only be allowed to meet your little girlfriend until you fulfill your princely and soldierly duties.”
I looked at Mom, wondering if she could help me out of this situation, but she shrugged, knowing she wouldn’t be able to.
“Delaying your training won’t make your situation any better.”
“Fine.”
I relented to Techwhin"s demand, seeing that I had no other choice, and he was keeping his promise to keep me away from Eden until I fulfilled my obligations.
“Be careful, dear,” Mom said as I walked off with Harker.
Mom would usually be upset whenever I left her presence, but I guess the excitement of going on a date with another man numbed whatever pain she"d usually felt when being separated from me.
“I’ll try,” I responded.
Mom waved me off with a smile, leaving me in the hands of a man who seemed determined to make me a soldier. There was a world of hurt ahead of me, and all I could hope for was that all my sweat and tears would pay off. I understand that I"m a tool for vengeance, but I also want to become a better soldier and a better leader. If I had any motivation following Harker"s wishes outside of earning my time with Eden, it would be that I wanted to become a better man than my father. I have a feeling he has more past sins that I have yet to know about, and I"ll have to rectify all of them. I"ll do whatever it takes.