Meeting

Saeria had totally forgotten he was standing at the pond. Had he been listening to them the whole time? From the pond?

"She should be queried". The woman said with venom, annoyed he interfered.

"She can do whatever pleases her. You're in no place to reprimand her". He almost shut her out, finally stepping away from the pond.

"Elgan! Show some respect!" The prince cautioned him, defending his wife.

Elgan? Was his name Elgan too? Saeria threw him a twisted glance and he caught it. He was quick to look away, focusing his attention on his brother till he was standing next to Saeria.

"We were about to leave. The king must be expecting us". He told his brother, his eyeballs sweeping over her as he said the last sentence.

He walked past his brother arrogantly, sparing him a glare as he did. Saeria was left speechless. She didn't just cause an arguement between two brothers, did she? She didn't dare look up at the prince in front of her but she was sure his eyes were burning in fury and she didn't know what to do. Apology would worsen it, she was sure of it. She'd have to save her apology for later.

"Are you going to just let him stare at you?". He stopped to say when he noticed she stood still in front of the prince.

Astounded he said that to her, she inhaled sharply and bowed to the prince, mumbling an apology before scurrying away from their presence.

It took her a while to gather her thoughts as they walked together. The thought of him having a bad blood with his brother didn't linger on her mind for long. What she wanted to know was his name. Was her father wrong? Her father had told her his name the night before her marriage but could he have lied because he didn't know anything about him?

She kept glancing at him as they walked inside, wondering if to question him or not before her curiousity consumed her alive.

"What do you want to know?" He asked as he turned right into another corner. From afar, two maids came out of a giant golden door guarded by two fierce looking guards.

Saeria jolted a bit. "I want to know your name, your highness. Apparently, my father had told me the wrong name". The last sentence came out of her mouth softly, her gaze down as she walked behind him closely.

The prince kept walking, ignoring her again and Saeria almost rolled her eyes. Was she going to live with a man so cold forever? She didn't mind of course, as long as she wasn't going back to her family.

Halfway to the giant door, he stopped and shifted his gaze to her. Saeria lifted her eyes to look at him and her stomach couldn't help but twist when she saw his overwhelming gaze brushing all over her face.

"Why should I tell you?" He asked, "You're not going to use it anyway". His eyes were glued to her face for a long while until he rolled them away.

Saeria was barely done processing what he said and how he stared at her when Elden, as what she had decided to start calling him, grabbed her hand and intertwined them before pulling her gently to the door.

"The king is quite unwell." He told her beforehand.

Saeria nodded, promising herself to be in her best behaviour.

Meeting the king took them shorter than she expected. It was very obvious the king was ill. His face didn't look good and he hardly made a sentence throughout. The queen who sat next to him had no emotion whatsoever on her face. She showed total displease in her and she made it really obvious she didn't like her. Why would she show no interest in her son's wife. Could she be the reason why no one attended her marriage? Was it because she was human?

"I don't think the queen likes me". She murmured, loud enough for him to hear after they left the king.

"The queen is not your husband. She doesn't have to like you". To her surprise, he replied her and at the same time, messing her thought with his reply.

Was he saying he had plans of liking her? As her husband?

She kept glancing at him secretly, wanting to know if he liked her or not. At first, the thought of why she cared crossed her mind but curiousity ate it up.

After mustering all the courage to ask him what he meant by what he said, he shut her up before she could even open her mouth, her courage shattering.

"My mother wants to meet you".

Saeria blinked. "But we just—" Her lips sealed tight as realization hit her. "I'm sorry". She said quietly, a bit relieved the scary looking woman was not his mother. Then could his mother be the second queen....or the mistress?

Saeria's relief and hope drained once more but in a more surprising and shocking way this time. The woman she thought would be happy to see her dropped a flower pot on making an eye contact with her.

The woman was all smiles until she saw her. Her eyebrows met and saeria was quite sure she saw tears in her eyes. She stared at her as though she was seeing a ghost. She walked closer and Elgan couldn't be more confused. The woman blinked repeatedly to push her tears away but they gushed out like waterfall when she touched saeria's face.

Saeria who had tears in her eyes out of fear and sympathy, looked at Elgan, demanding an explanation.

"Mother. Are you okay?" He asked, grabbing his mother's arm.

"It's...it's...Are y..you—" She stopped to pull herself together. "Who are you?" She swallowed before going on. "Are you her daughter?"

Unsure of how to reply, saeria glanced at Elgan.

"Mother, you should sit". He said and tried to help her to the seat behind her but she jerked herself out of his arms.

"Answer me. Are you?"

"Who..s..whose...I'm not sure wh—" Saeria stammered.

"Nerina".