The Queen's Wife (girlxgirl)

28. The birth of a king

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Alaric was born on the first day of the first moon, a king's day.

Therefore he was given the name Alaric by his dying mother, who saw something much greater behind his shining brown eyes. She held him up in the air as he cried, and declared that he had a large destiny ahead of him. A king's destiny. That it was written in his eyes for him to one day rule this empire, and that as a saint she knew it to be true. She would've been hanged for claiming such things, not to mention the controversial saint thing. But alas she died of childbirth only moments later, and as she had been a traveler from somewhere far away, the people of the city of Birds had no idea who the father could've been.

Alaric, the destined king and saint's son, would be raised at the overfilled and dirt poor orphanage of Birds. Not a suitable place for a future king to live in, that's for sure. The nuns of the city of Birds saw no more greatness in him than they saw in the other children. Orphans in a poor city like this one have no future ahead of them. They must simply be taken care of until the day they either die of disease or turn to crime and are hanged. Only a gods chosen few get out of the crippling poverty and harsh reality and become something more than just a street rat. Whether or not Alaric would become one of the chosen few was of, and is, none of their concern as of today.

The newborn child doesn't even know how to walk or talk, it's too early to think anything of him. Even with a name like Alaric, he is nothing more than a mouth to feed, just like the other kids. In the future he might even be teased for his name. The kids at the orphanage often get jealous of those they think have more than themselves, and they can only take it out on other orphans who have nobody to protect themselves. They can't touch the kids with their parents. But Alaric is only a baby, so none of the older kids have really thought about it yet. For now, he is simply the newborn child called Alaric.

Who knows what the future will bring? The woman who came to their city in labor two months ago, claiming to be a saint, never truly expanded on that thought. She simply left it at that. Nobody believes in the words that she had once said, and they have no reason to. What peasant could ever possibly become king? Nobody would be so fortunate. However, if she was in fact right, and saw the king's light within his eyes, what could truly stop him from fulfilling his destiny?

What if Alaric truly is a future king?

That is what his name would suggest.

"Guards"

Maud feels a little chilly, as she watches the unfamiliar, icy cold expression on Adelio's face. His eyes are unforgiving and cruel, even as they are pointed towards a sick old lady who owns nothing. Suddenly everything around him seems darker, as he towers over her with a hidden kind of anger that sends chills down Maud's spine. His jaw is clenched shut and his face is morphed into the most stoic expression he could muster, clearly holding himself back from not forcefully pushing the old woman off him in an instant. Maud cowers slightly away from the crown prince, as he suddenly seems taller and scarier than ever before.