HPDBC Chapter 20: Princess in the Tower
Chapter 20: Princess in the Tower
Chapter 20: Princess in the Tower
The dark shadows of the night drowned the area around the royal palace in its thick black blanket.
Rhaegar, concealed in his long black cloak, stood silently in the shadow before the princess' palace; only his bright, glowing amber eyes were visible in the blackness of the night, reflecting the silver moonlight.
Born with a shadow wolf, the man had no issue blending in with the shadows surrounding him, but his eyes were always flaming like two burning coals, betraying his presence.
Rhaegar took a deep drag of his fragrant cigar, exhaling thick gray smoke from his mouth.
Tonight, the pain was somewhat unbearable.
Smoking usually helped with that. Naveen was good with everything herbal, and she made sure to make this special blend of a pain suppressant just for him; for his personal and very irritating needs.
Rhaegar took another drag and closed his eyes, feeling the smoke fill his lungs and sending a slight relief all around his tense muscles.
It was not enough.
Nothing was.
Ever since he turned eighteen, it was his time to look for his breedmate. The beasts knew better than to prolong this process. After all, if a beast refused to mate, their body would start rebelling, and that rebellion would inevitably turn into a bone-crushing ache that could not be endured.
But Rhaegar repressed his inner beast.
The herbal cigars helped him tolerate the pain, but then, for the first time in years, he encountered something that relieved him of his suffering completely.
It was her. Princess Lorelai. She was his mate.
Thinking back about that tiny, fragile woman made Rhaegar scoff. It was ridiculous. Of all the people all around the continent, why did it have to be her?
No, he refused to believe it. Or maybe... he had to check it again to make sure.
His glowing eyes shifted slowly to the only window that still had the light on.
'The only one working, huh? I guess there is nothing else you can do when you are locked in the tower with a dragon watching over you.'
"Let's not jump to conclusions. And to be honest... I could not care less if it does."
***
Lorelai pulled her legs closer to her chest and hugged her knees, resting her tired head on top of them.
Once she turned the lights off, her headache finally subsided and she was able to relax again.
Visiting her father tonight was a definite mistake. Now, even though it had been hours since she returned from his chambers, she could not help but think about her family.
'I miss Mother...'
Lorelai missed the late queen every day. Why did she have to leave her so early?
Althea played the role of the queen perfectly in front of others, but she could never care to even pretend to act like Lorelai's mother.
She was the one who bullied the late Queen Sienna to the point that the latter drowned herself in the lake.
Sienna was the only daughter of Archduke Zenett and it was only natural that she were to become the next queen of Erelith. Her marriage to King Yanis was not perfect, but she did her best to work for the sake of her people.
Her only flaw, as it turns out, was her poor health. Sienna miscarried six children before she could give birth to Lorelai, and two more after that.
Lorelai was not enough. The king needed a male successor. And that was when Althea suddenly appeared.
Beautiful and cunning, she arrived at the royal palace holding a son in her arms and claimed that he belonged to the king. There was no mistaking it; the boy had the king's bright green eyes, but most importantly, the blood test performed by the Temple confirmed his royal lineage.
King Yanis got his successor.
Later on, Althea accused Archduke Zenett of sending a sick girl to the king in order to obtain more power, and after a long trial, he was executed while his daughter, the ousted Queen Sienna, ended her own life in shame.
As soon as Althea was crowned the queen, Lorelai's fate was sealed––she was no longer considered a successor; now she was just a puppet in the hands of a greedy queen.
But it was not only the princess who was Althea's puppet. Somehow, it seemed as if the Queen had bewitched almost every noble in Erelith, and since no one wanted to oppose the crown, her silent tyranny was doomed to continue for years.