Spell on my hair
Chapter 19| Spell on my hair
"I have a strange feeling about the human." Abba gave Tristan a look, that confused him as he couldn't place a hand on what it was trying to say, what he was trying to tell him.
"Abba, you don't even know her. How can you dislike her abruptly."
His father chuckled making Tristan stare at him, the sound so foreign. He racked his brain, thinking hard to when last he had heard his father laugh so heartily. Never, that was when.
Maybe before he was born, because according to Abba, Kings don't laugh, play or say a joke. Else you become a clown and you get trampled on by your enemies. If just Kings couldn't do all this, how much more a King of Kings?
"Don't look at me like that, you'll soon be King. She is your tool to my throne." He shook his head, amused.
Tristan didn't like the sound of Kimberly being called his tool, but what could be done? Abba was always right or was he? He pondered.
Kimberly would be helping him surely, that is if his guts feelings were close to right and she didn't want to be here as much as he didn't want to be on his father's throne, but all that will happen as them being equal.
No tool. No equal. Just like every relationship he has had, a contract, a signature that'll make sure nobody was taken advantage of. Him inclusive, he couldn't trust the human.
He didn't know how closely bound she was to her words. He did know how filthy dishonest Humans could be but he wanted not to judge her because of that singular fact, the same way he hoped he won't be judged.
Regardless, he knew he had started on a wrong foot with her, they weren't friends. He shouldn't make her think that. They should try to be cordial in the least like his relationship with the devil and just like that he won't forget that he is tiptoeing on the brink of an abyss. Just one mistake from the human, a miscalculation on his part and he was going to be heading there.
He looked out of the window. She was shaking her head, her mouth full of food.
He was trained to sneer in disapproval, yet he couldn't believe he found her unladylike mannerism somewhat cute and adorable.
He found himself almost chuckling even as she gave Saif a thumbs up. Resisting the temptation of listening to their conversation reminding himself how uncultured that will be, he just watched them.
"Isn't she almost like a doll? So delicate, fragile... So human." If not for years and years of nobility and confidence being drilled into his life, he would have jumped at his father's voice because he had completely forgotten he was still in the room.
"Of course Abba. Whatever you say." He managed to say, so strongly. He inwardly high-fived himself for not stuttering.
Seemingly impressed by his reply, his father stood next to him, his gaze directed on the human, "She could easily be pressured into staying. She could easily be intimidated."
Prince Tristan flirted with the idea of outrightly telling his father, that he got that part wrong but instead he said, "Is that how the other human had stayed, though coercion?"
"Not really. You know the Portal closes when they have a form of intimacy that isn't about birthing a child, a bond. So many considered it love, some attraction but we know that won't be the case with you." The King sneered, a familiar ugly expression on his handsome face, "You'll keep the human just for conception. For more children with eternal life. But we both know that Annabelle is your Queen, the woman you'll grow to love. So before then, treat the human nicely, make her think you've fallen or something. Humans are gullible."
Tristan nodded. His hands folded behind him. He wasn't that kind of man, he would have liked to tell his father to his face, but he wasn't ever one in the nature of talking back, Saif was.
He was the exuberant trouble maker who had hosted a party in the palace terrace and making a mess there, he had reported himself to the King himself.
The audacity, Tristan was almost tempted to laugh, as he remembered how that had thrown Abba off guard. He couldn't find words for minutes and Saif had patiently waited, his hands tucked away in his pockets.
He could never be that brave, that free. His responsibilities chained him, He was well learned, it was supposed to be an advantage but it didn't feel like it most times. It felt like a chain, a lock.
"But you should keep her away from Saif. I don't want her thinking that she has options just like that rogue son of mine." He gave Tristan a sidelong glance, "You do understand what I'm trying to say. You need her as naive as possible, as helpless as necessary, as dependent too."
Tristan nodded with a slight bow, "Of course Abba."
A hint of fatherly love and pride shone in his eyes, "You'll make such a great King."
As your puppet, you are hoping? Prince Tristan thought but instead smiled meekly, "As long as I follow your footsteps that is a possibility."
Abba grinned, "I'm so proud of you, Tristan. I'm glad you are the one with the crown. My successor."
"I consider it an honor." And as botched and crazy that sounded, he knew he did.
Despite how reverenced his father wanted to be, how insensitive he could be and how they have two very different opinions about things, he has always looked at his father with such awe, such respect. Though he won't be King just sitting and tapping from his father's wealth of powerful knowledge was just enough.
He strode back to his Chambers, thought of how to approach the human calmly on his mind and lay his deal on the table.
She approached him first as he perceived the waft of the daisies she had on earlier that day when he had teleported to the dining room alongside Saif.
He craned his neck searching for her. One minute he was anticipating her presence and the next she was blocking his trail.
"How did you__" He blinked.
She shrugged, "Saif has been teaching me some spells." She produced a wand behind her.
"Oh, you seem to be adapting a lot into all this faster than I have assumed for someone who was a lawyer and only knew how to back up hard facts?"
She blinked, "How do you know that and what spell did you cast on my hair?!"