CHAPTER SEVEN

The king's face was so beautiful and angelic and - 'How can you be thinking about a man in such way' He reprimanded himself,trying to push the thought away 'Was he going crazy?'

After Brenda finished planting the seeds that were in her hands,she stood and moved to Bryan's side where the rest of the seeds were but while she was picking it,the seeds fell into the rose garden because it was right beside Bryan

"I'll help you pick it up"Bryan said and went to pick the seeds

While he was picking it,a thorn pierced his right thumb

As a soldier,he didn't feel any pain and didn't see it as something he should worry about but Brenda -

"Your thumb is bleeding -" She said immediately after witnessing the scene

"It's nothing your highness"

She sighed before going to get some materials to help him take care of his wound

"You should rest now"She said after taking care of his wound "I told you not to plant the seeds but you wouldn't listen"She said again,not smiling

Shane was disturbed

Derek told him he didn't know what became of their mother

After all the troubles and pain he went through to look for their mother

He didn't know what else to do

He wanted to help the people who were in the dungeon with him out of their misery

"Your food is here you lazy animals" A guard shouted and opened the small part of the dungeon door

A woman came in and served them

"Finally"Derek muttered

It's been almost close to ten days since they were fed last and for Shane,this was the first time since the day he was imprisoned that he would be given food

Shane paused after taking a bite from the food

It tasted familiar

"Wait minute, this food tastes the same as my mother's"

Derek looked at him

Brenda walked back to meet Bryan after she was done planting the rest of the seeds

She sat down and also asked him to do the same

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"She asked

"No,your highness"

"How would you feel if I decide to make you one of the three leaders of the army next month" She said but she noticed his countenance didn't change

He should expressing his joy after what she said

"You won't like it?" She asked

"It would be an honor your highness"Bryan said "But to be sincere,I don't think I'm ready for it"

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't even want any of this in the first place,my father was the one who brought up the idea and -"

"You didn't want to be one of the army's leader,why?"

"Don't get me wrong your highness, it's an honor but I don't feel like I'm ready yet. I don't know...maybe sometime in the future but not now"

"Are you scared you wouldn't carry out your responsibility well enough to suit people's expectation of you?"

He stared at the king

"You may not want to admit it but I'm just going to tell you that it's alright to be scared and anxious. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience.This king of a thing still feels new to me and it scared me at first but now, I'm getting used to it and I'm doing things my own way"She said "As long as you carry out your duties effectively,you don't have to go out of your way to please people and for someone like you,I don't think you even need to do anything to please people,people are already pleased with you,I mean they all support the decision of you becoming one of the army's leaders"

Bryan stared,thinking about all what the king just said

"But it's your choice, I'm not going to force you"Brenda added

"I-"Bryan paused and looked up when a guard came into the rose garden

"What's the matter?"Brenda asked when the guard got to her

"A message from golden willows kingdom your highness" The guard bowed, handing a letter to Brenda

"That's the kingdom you just came back from"Brenda said to Bryan

He nodded

The guard left,leaving the king to read the letter

"The kingdom of golden willows wants to appreciate the king of Cyan Haven kingdom for lending them their army by having a feast at the Cyan Haven palace tomorrow" Brenda said after reading the letter "They'll also send a few their palace workers to handle all the preparations" She added"Seems like we have a big day tomorrow.We should leave the garden, visitors will start arriving"

She stood up began walking out of the garden

Bryan sighed and stood up

He had wanted them to talk more on the topic they were talking about before the guard walked in with the letter

<THE FEAST DAY>

Different dishes could be seen occupying the extremely long table in the large dinning hall

Maids could be seen going about, performing their duties

All members of the royal cabinet were present including the royal cabinet from the golden willows kingdom

Brenda stepped into the dinning hall with Bryan behind her and immediately, the chatting stopped and they all stood and bowed to greet her

She smiled shortly

The king and queen of golden hills kingdom walked to her with smiles on their faces

"It's an honor to meet you your highness"The king said

"You too" Brenda said

"We hope this feast is not too little to express our gratitude"

"Of course not"

The king and queen smiled

"Will the princess be attending the feast?" The queen asked

"No, she's not around at the moment"

"Oh,too bad. Would have loved to meet her. Heard her beauty was striking and flawless"

"You're kind of meeting her in a way" Brenda said "My sister and I share a striking resemblance"She said and they laughed

They kept on chatting and the dinning hall kept bustling with laughter from different angles

The feast started after a while and they all went to sit down

Bryan wanted to stand behind Brenda as she sat but urged him to sit down

"I must say it's very nice,the two kingdoms meeting. It's something I've always hoped for"The king of golden willows kingdom said,standing "Words alone can't express our gratitude and neither can this feast but we hope we've been able to show how grateful we are"He said

"Of course" Brenda said from where she was sitting

They chuckled

"For successfully dethroning our previous king, let's make a toast"The king raised his cup which contained wine"To our victory"

"To our victory"The rest chorused and drank from their cups

Brenda hesitated before drinking

She wasn't a good drinker but her brother was and she had to make them believe she was her brother

She gulped the entire contents of the cup

More toasts were made before and even after the feast began

"Your highness,I think you've had enough to drink" Bryan whispered to her noticing she was becoming drunk but was trying to hide it

"Let's be merry and drink the night away"A member of the royal cabinet said and others cheered him including Brenda

Bryan resisted the urge of giving the man who spoke an angry glare and sighed as he turned,facing the king

<NIGHT>

Brenda staggered as she walked to her room

She felt dizzy

"Your highness,are you okay?"Bryan asked

"I'm... I'm fine" She said and continued walking

Suddenly,she fell and collapsed but Bryan was there to catch her

Bryan carried the king to the king's room and placed him gently on the bed

He took off the king's shoes

The king's leg didn't feel muscular,he noticed

He went ahead to loosen the king's collar so he would be able to sleep comfortably

He saw a necklace around the king's neck

The necklace used to belong to the late queen but was later given to the princess

He was still a palace guard then

"Why would the king be putting on the princess's necklace?" He asked himself "unless...No" He shook his head trying to push the crazy thought out of his head but his curiousity got the best of him

He loosened the king's hair and was shocked at what he saw