Lost cause

The walls around Mircea were closing up on her. She couldn't believe what had already happened. She was dreading this for days, however, life had shown her no mercy. She tried to console herself, there was nothing she could do... if it was fated.

She wanted to blame somebody for it, her father, her mother, Faustina, she wanted to blame the saints but she knew it was no one's fault but fate.

Mircea also knew unlike people fate wasn't going to apologize to her for snatching her mother from her life. It had been exactly 6 days 23 hours 15 minutes since her mother's death. 

No one had come to console her that she would come back somehow, no one had said sorry to her. Everybody wanted to fill up her position. Faustina was nowhere to be seen. She had no idea what her father was upto. She wanted to go to him and hide in his arms if she couldn't hide in Faustinas'. Mircea never was a crybaby but she couldn't stop crying. 

She had always wanted to be strong like her mother, even so now she saw no point in being strong. She had no one to be strong for. 

Mircea stood on her balcony alone in the dark of the night. She watched the small lights that had been lit up by the villagers. She always wanted to visit the small village with her mother, however her mother never got time from her duties. 

She saw two soldiers standing below her balcony. She wondered if they were for her protection and if they were, what would she need protection from.

She then heard the whispers.

"Did you know the king came back to-day?"

"Yes, he was gone for 3 nights, I heard." 

"But no one knows where he went."

"Oh, yes. I even heard the King cut some cruel deal with the devils after his wife died."

"It has been only a week, saints know what he is upto. He seems sad but I hope he doesn't increase the taxes just because the queen died."

"Let's pray he doesn't."

Her father was back.

Mircea didn't know he had gone out of the kingdom. She sighed, not interested in their conversation. Listening to them chatter more about her family would only make her dejected further. 

A single drop of tear fell down her cheek. Maybe she should give another chance to her father. It was only fair for her dead mother.

More than anything else she wanted to be consoled by her father that she was going to be okay now that the saints had taken her mother away from them. That they would be okay as years would pass by. 

She rubbed the salty water off her face by the back of her hand. She had decided she was going to give her father another chance. Their torned relationship and another chance. She pulled a thick coat over her small frame and stepped out of her chambers. 

Mircea found it annoying that her chambers were all the way in the west wing of the palace opposite to the wing where her rest of family resided. She never got why her father had done what he had with the arrangement of the chambers. Nevertheless she didn't dare question his decision. 

If things would go right she planned to sleep in the bed where her mother slept with her father. She would love to ask him to tell her stories she didn't know about her mother. She cried more as she thought about it. 

Oh how she missed her mother!

She moved fast as the night was growing deeper and the chances of her father retiring to bed early were more. The number of soldiers that were coming out of her father's room made her question her decision. She wanted to turn around and go back to her chambers. 

It was definite that she wanted to give him another chance now that she had no one but this didn't seem the right time. 

It was now or never, her subconscious called out to her. 

Hesitantly, she stepped through the mass of body. Compared to her four three then, the tall and huge men around her made her feel uneasy. 

"Now or never" She whispered under her breath.

"Little Mircea, what are you doing here?" Carsten asked, looking down at her. 

She felt relieved after seeing his face. "I want to meet my father." She sighed visibly.

"Do you want me to take you to him?" He questioned looking around, after a moment the space that was filled with mass bodies was cleared and only Carsten was standing within five feet distance. She felt safe with him, she thought. He always made sure to see if she was okay. Her crying heart warmed up at that.

"Yes, please." She croaked. 

Carsten put his big calloused hand in front of her face. Mircea glanced at it for a minute before she realised he wanted her to take it so he could help her walk where her father was.

Mircea took his hand without wasting another minute. They both walked for about another three minutes before they entered her father's study. He was talking to some soldiers when Mircea reluctantly walked around the room to get closer to him. 

The king gazed at his daughter before he went on with the conversation he was having with the soldiers. It was exactly five minutes after he sent them away and set his hard gaze on Mircea. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked her in a gruff voice. She hadn't realised that Carsten had slipped out with the soldiers. Mircea's brain had gone blank. 

Then slowly a traitrous tear fell from her right eye. "I miss mother." She whispered looking at her feet. 

Her father, the king, didn't say anything for a moment until, "I miss her too, but we have to move on. I don't appreciate you disturbing me like this. I'd rather you keep to yourself." He huffed glancing at the documents that were spiralled on his desk. 

Mircea felt a sharp pain pierce through her heart after she registered what he had said to her. She didn't know what to do with the words that he had spit into a perfect sentence that she knew was going to hurt her for the rest of her life. 

It hadn't been a month since her mother died and her father was telling her to move on. 

Mircea felt the little connection that she had with him was gone at that moment. She took a step back, then another and then one more and some more until she was out of the room. She couldn't bear to breathe in the same room as him right now. 

Mircea stared at the five brown papers in her hand. She was indeed right about them being dated one month after her mother's death. 

There were no specifics in it. She wondered if Carsten knew about this and if he did, why did he not warn her or Faustina about it? If they had an alliance with the werewolves there was no need for them to break it and form another alliance with the witches. 

Mircea got up to pick the letter she had first left at the small desk by his windows. She closed everything as it was in the first place and took the alliance papers and the letter with her. 

She wondered how her father would've felt about her going through his things. He didn't hate her but he didn't particularly love her as he should have. Mircea didn't hold a grudge against him. She simply wanted to prove that she was something. Someone significant that he should acknowledge and respect. 

More than anything she wanted to be someone in his eyes. 

That is why she desperately wanted to save him. She thought at least saving his life would make her somewhat important in his eyes. However, she had failed him and everyone. 

Mircea breathed in and out to calm her thoughts. She didn't have time to look back at that, if her father was here he would have told her to move on from the self pity or whatever her brain was trying to do and look after the kingdom. 

She laughed sardonically at the thought. Her feet started moving towards her own chambers. The guards followed her closely. A big body popped in her eye frame out of nowhere astonishing her and the guards. They instantly took a defensive position pushing Mircea behind them. 

"Oh, come on. Don't kid me, it's Lord Athos." His loud voice boomed in the narrow hallway. Mircea peeked above the tall, buffy guard's shoulder to get a neat look at him. 

She shook her head moving in front of the guards. "We have to move if we don't want a war." Mircea grumbled, taking his hand and dragging him to her study.