The Prince's Trust

Flowers

Took me so long to figure out this chapter, wish I had more for you but hopefully y'all enjoy it x

Frowning deeply, I watched from beside my mother as Ant buried his head in his arms on the table childishly with a drawn out groan. "Sitting here all day discussing things is pointless, Queen Anne. I'm afraid we need to act. I can't station my armies here forever. My father is already pressuring me to return."

"We appreciate that Anthony but the time isn't right. We are unprepared, our rebellion is scattered and Declan only just arrived here. We need more time."

He stood up suddenly, the legs of his chair scrapping aggressively against the wooden floorboards. My expression fell at the movement but still I stayed silent, I wanted to hear what he had to say.

The dark haired Prince braced his hands on the table and hung his head between them, shaking it slowly, "There is no time and the longer we wait the less prepared we become. I don't have enough provisions to feed my armies for the next two weeks let alone a month or through a battle. We have weapons yes, but my men are tired from travelling and missing their families. Some of us haven't returned home in well over 2 years now. My little sister was a child when I left. She'll be a young woman when the summer is up."

Slowly, deep, stormy, blue eyes lifted to pin me with a serious glare, I sat straight and remained emotionless, knowing I was being weighed and measured by the men around me. "I'm sorry Prince Declan but you need to make a decision."

How can I make a decision when you won't tell me everything? I thought, knowing he was hiding something.

"I promised to support you." He continued, "and If I could, I would. However in the next week my father will give the command to call back my army and I'll have no choice but to obey his orders." He let out a deep sigh and stood up straight, his hands clenched in angry fists, "You have to trust me when I say this is our only hope."

The tension was as thick as honey, no one dared speak as it wasn't their place to. Sometimes I forgot that other than Queen Anne, I was the only one able to argue with Anthony. He'd been a Prince longer than I, not to mention a kingdom to rule, so he had superiority there but in royal standing we were equals. I had to pretend it wasn't intimidating.

"Please sit." I spoke calmly and to my relief, the northern Hier nodded slowly, sitting down so that I could stand instead, my eyes flickering to the men and women sat around the long table before focusing back on those pretty blue eyes Id fallen into so many times before.

"I do trust you. I trust you as a General and more importantly as a friend. I've done everything you've asked. I've stayed with Vul for an entire week and have agreed to forego his execution. However I don't want any more of my people's killers under this roof."

"You are judging an entire people by the actions of their leader." Ant countered, "And I don't want the leader, I want his men. You've seen through your time with him that Vul is just a slave, what if these men are like him? Willing to do the right thing if they're shown kindness? How will we know unless we meet with them?"

He wasn't letting up on this stupid fantasy and it grated on my nerves. Ant wasn't there when the settlement was attacked, I was. I saw everything. I ran through the flames and closed the eyes of innocent people who'd been burned and torn apart by the magic powder. But in the end he was still a Prince, a man I admired and looked up to. I trusted his judgment even if I wanted to play no part in it.

"Prince Anthony, if the north wishes to affiliate themselves with these criminals then that is your choice. I will not stop you from following your gut but The Donnelly name will not support you in it. "