***Trigger Warning at the end, you will know after the *s and will continue to the next chapter***
After Elizabella left to her room, the King and Queen continued to stay in the study, pondering over what the Crown Princess would ever want with a Royal Pardon. The Queen looked at her empty tea cup and frowned. The Head Steward had replaced the servant in the room and noticed that the Queen had no more tea so he offered her some more.
"What do you suppose that a Crown Princess would need a Royal Pardon for? Could We say that she is being sneaky or careful?" asked the Queen as she began to sip her fresh tea. "Is it common for people to be that careful nowadays? We wonder, was the late Baron like this, that you know of?"
"The late Baron never seemed to appear sneaky, but he was very careful. We are not sure if he had asked of such a thing back then. Head Steward Wesley, you were here when my late Royal Father was still in reigning and We are aware that you personally knew the late Baron. Tell Us, how was their initial relationship? Did the Baron also ask of such things?" asked the King as he seemed to be in deep thought while looking at his desk before looking up at the Head Steward who stepped forward and bowed politely to him.
"Your Majesty, I did indeed know the late Baron and the friendship between him and the late King. From my understanding and knowledge of their relationship, it was pure and genuine. As I recollect, the late King met the late Baron during his travels while under disguise. His vehicle had been shot down and the King barely survived. Luckily, a good Samaritan came to the rescue. He was out looking for herbs when he saw that the flying vehicle had been shot down and he came to see if he could help. From what I know, at the time, the late Baron had no idea that he had saved the late King," said Wesley as he recalled the passed.
"They later parted as backup came to take His Majesty back home. The late Baron arrived to the capital when the late King was out with his Queen and spotted him in the crowds. He was later brought to meet the King in the Palace and that is how they started their friendship."
"We find it odd..." said the King as he sat on his chair with his hands together on top of his desk, making the Queen look up at him.
"What do you mean, Your Majesty?" she asked.
"Back in those days, flying vehicles were new. Everyone knew that the only ones who owned them were the Royal Families as they were just getting started. Even now, flying vehicles are hard to come by where only rich families will own one. The manufactures have just recently started to mass produce the concept of flying cars but that will not be out until next year. Unless, they are add-ons. One can buy a normal vehicle and later add-on the jets and propellers. But that is now."
"Back then, it was unheard of to own a flying vehicle. If the late Baron saw the flying vehicle being shot down, he would have known that the owner of the vehicle was someone important. Approaching to heal him could have been a ruse to get closer to Our Royal Father. Him travelling to the capital and Our Royal Father just happens to be out on that day is sure lucky. But on the King's side or the late Baron's side?"
"And why friends? Why did he not just make him into a Royal Physician? It is all so very odd to Us."
"Your Majesty, you do not suspect that the late Baron actually approached the late King with malicious intent back then, do you?" asked the Head Steward Wesley as his face visibly turned ashen. "I saw that they would talk for hours on end about anything and everything. That was how the late King found out about his daughters in a different kingdom. He had even wanted to quickly have you get married to one of his daughters, as the Crown Princess was already decided on, but the late Baron had asked that he not do that for the fact that they were close to getting married to their suitors. The late Baron did not feel it appropriate to have had you engaged with one of his daughters."
"We never heard of this before," said the King visibly surprised as the Queen also seemed uncomfortable over the topic.
"Yes. As such, the late King instead decided to engage their grandchildren together, who at the time did not exist. Again, the late Baron protested but reluctantly agreed after he heard news that one of his daughters had given birth to a daughter while the late Crown Prince had given birth to a boy as well as you, Your Majesty. However, that topic was often discussed for years before he finally said yes at the birth of Princess Aphra. How could the late Baron have had such motives? Unless he was an amazing actor, I fail to see his insidious mindset."
Head Steward Wesley seemed adamant over the issue that the relationship between the two deceased men was pure and without calculations. The King pondered over his words and still felt that there was something wrong over the whole friendship, but now he wondered whether it was his Royal Father with the insidious mindset or if there was a third party at play.
"Alright, We will drop this subject. But We would like for you to see if you can find Our Royal Father's old logbooks or if you could find anything that the late Baron had left. We feel that there may be something deeper behind their relationship," the King said, making the Head Steward Wesley look a bit uncomfortable and the Queen seemed unfazed and distant over their topic.
"I will do as you wish," stated Head Steward Wesley as he bowed deeply.
**********
Elizabella had gone to her room feeling like she was sick. The food had not made her sick, but the discussion she had with the King and Queen made her stomach queasy. She felt her stomach had knots and since she had yet to fully digest her food, it was making her want to regurgitate her dinner.
Walliams had sensed that she was feeling distressed since they started their conversation back then, but could not come out to help comfort her. Now that they were alone, he stepped out of her shadow and brought her some calming tea that she often keeps, Blue Angle tears. This tea was not only highly valued for its color, scent and taste, but that it was proven to have a rather calming effect.
Elizabella never really drank this tea until after her parents had passed away... and even more until THAT incident happened to her. Sometimes, her nightmares were not just her going on a murderous rampage, but rather two distinct shadows that she felt were familiar trying to jump on top of her to devour her.
After drinking the tea, she calmed down greatly. Walliams sat next to her and tried to comfort her in silence, as he knows that when she gets like this, she would rather not have anyone touch her.
"They asked if I had a relationship with those two..." started Elizabella as her hands seemed to visibly shake at the mention of the past. "I hope to never see them again."
"My Lady, that is in the past. Nothing happened. They were drunk after you had turned them down. I am sure that they felt terrible after sobering up. But you must remember, they did nothing to you, physically," said Walliams as he tried to sooth Elizabella who was taking deep breaths.
"The thing is, I know they did nothing to me physically, but the thought that they could have and I almost let them is what gets me," said Elizabella as she tried to stay calm. "They were like my older brothers, for all these years and I never thought that they would be capable of even thinking of doing something like this. It is a form a trust being shattered to the point that I could never trust them again, sober or otherwise."
Walliams sat there looking at the ground as he felt truly sad and guilty for his Lady. He has always been there for her and has watched her grow up to who she is know. If there was ever anyone that truly understood her, it was him. He would even play with them together when they were all younger.
This made him upset since he knew that Elizabella's relationship with the two Princes was that of siblings when they were children, until after the passing of her family. Everything changed when that happened. A family was broken, and a friendship was stained to the point that it could never go back.