Chapter 10

"You wanted to be useful and now you are. No need to prepare anything, a carriage will be waiting for you on the outside. You best hurry, Amelia, or you will disappoint all of us before you even start," Richard placed his hands behind his back mocking her with a smile.

"You need to give me more details about this trip before I agree to it," she knew something was wrong but couldn't pick up on what. Had she been her naive younger self she might've believed her father had finally seen her worth.

All she saw in the room were conniving smiles as the snakes in the room had successfully placed her in a trap.

"I ordered you to go in my stead, Amelia. There is no room for you to object. John, prepare everything for my daughter's trip and then return. Farewell, my daughter," Richard said as he sat right back on the throne.

As John opened the throne room door, two guards fell onto the floor as Cyrus lined them up against the door to stop them from lying unconscious on the floor after knocking them out. Cyrus stood with his arms folded staring down at the fallen guards.

John shook his head at the fools for being taken down by the northerner and walked past them to get everything ready for Amelia's little trip.

"I have told you to keep that thing away from my men. It should be punished for harming my guards!" Richard yelled from the throne. It was an insult to have a man of the north walk around freely in his castle whilst making a mockery of his guards.

Other kings would laugh at him if they knew and he was certain Amelia enjoyed every moment of it.

"His name is Cyrus, father. It is not polite of you to refer to him as a thing. Perhaps it is not me in need of manners. Sending me out of the castle won't make it easy for you to use my mother's funds. Do not play around with my mother's things. That is where I draw the line," Amelia warned her father in a low voice but he was able to hear it.

"And what will you do if I do not listen, child? Kill me?" Richard clapped his hands and laughed soon followed by the other eight men in the room.

Amelia turned around laughing along with her father but when her back was completely turned, her mood changed. "If only," she said in regards to killing him. If she had things her way he would be long dead by now. "Cyrus, we have a trip to go on thanks to John," she said as they both left the throne room.

"Find Gina quickly to tell her to send word to the high priest that I have not signed off anything for my mother's funds. Gina has to be careful no one sees her or they will try to stop her from going to the priest. Hurry," she ordered Cyrus. The man was quick on his feet and would deliver the message in no time.

Amelia was curious to know where her father was sending her off to. What meeting could he have to attend in one of the villages and why did John look so amused that she was going? She knew it wasn't their plan to send her from the beginning since they kept this meeting a secret in order for her to not barge in. This was something they wanted to hide at first but John changed up the plan back there.

"What are they planning?" She muttered following behind John from a distance as he was meant to get a carriage ready for her to leave.

She knew going to this location might be bad for her but she had no choice now. It was a clear order from the king. Her father would also never let her forget this one moment he gave her a chance to go out and speak like a royal. She was in between a rock and a hard place but tried to remain positive.

Amelia watched John whisper something to a man right before he caught her staring. "Mr. Crook. Just accept it," she said when he looked annoyed by her changing his last name.

In her eyes, he was nothing more than a crook so it was what he deserved to be called.

"If you keep poking at people in the castle you won't like where you end up princess. We all have our places in the world we must remain in. Your father must sit on the throne. I must look out for the well-being of the people. You must be quiet when asked to be. You lived all your life in luxury and now it is your time to pay the price for having such a good life."

"I'll pay the price when you do the same. Surely you are aware of the talk surrounding your family suddenly getting rid of all their debt around the time you were promising people you could find them riches if they invested their money in you," said Amelia.

John folded his arms, interested in what she had to say. It wasn't the first time someone brought it up to him but like the others, she was too late. He had everything covered up thanks to his connections.

"A pity those people all died in a fire and couldn't speak about your crimes but don't worry," she patted his back. "My father isn't going to let a crook like you out of his sight when you are so useful to him. I hope you remember that since my father built you up he can destroy you when he no longer finds you useful."

"You are a good observer princess. It's a shame-"

"If you mention anything about me being a prince, I will curse your family for three generations. Trust me, you don't want an enemy out of me. It's hard for me to let go of my grudges. Now tell me, where is my father sending me?" She asked.