TRAPPED

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"He is a good match for shalom, he’ll treat her right and she will be the first wife" Liam said to me while we were having dinner
"I doubt she’ll like him, I think she met someone at school" I told him

Ever since I found out what he had done to his father and his entire family I had started looking at him differently but I couldn't leave, he was a king, my husband, the father of my children, leaving wouldn’t be so easy. I couldn’t even let him touch me and this led to him getting another woman but he never married her, she was just his mistress. Over the years I had learnt to tolerate him and accept my fate
"that’s nonsense, she needs someone of royal descent, someone who can protect her and treat her like the princess she is" he argued with a frown and I sighed
"she needs someone who will make her happy, even someone who is not a prince can protect her, you need to give her a chance to choose a husband"  I tried to reason with him.

The good thing was that sometimes he actually listened to me and took my advice.
"I have already sent Arthur over there, he is with prince Henry and he will introduce them" he informed me, I guess today was one of those days he never listened to me but I knew my daughter was feisty and stubborn, she wouldn’t give in that easily to her fathers demands so I decided to change the subject.

"speaking of Arthur, you keep sending him to do one thing after another, he has no time for a social life so how do you expect him to meet and fall in love with someone who would be his bride?" I asked
"he is a crown prince, he does not need to start courting. We will simply organize a ball and from there he will choose a maiden who will catch his eye and she'll be his bride* he said to me, it was really hopeless.
Liam was stuck in the old ways and our children would suffer for it, atleast his mother was dead so that was one less old fashioned toxic mind to deal with.

SHALOM.

Dressed as decent as possible, I took a deep breath and stepped out of the cab, thankfully the restaurant where we would meet Arthur was on the other side of town and if he had come with the royal entourage it wouldn’t matter much because no one I knew would see me.  I recognized the three cars with the royal seal but thankfully the maidens and guards had remained outside, they recognized me and bowed, I smiled slightly and quickly walked inside then walked towards the table, the restaurant had been emptied and I was stunned, Arthur really needed to lighten up and stop taking things seriously.

"sister, finally you're here"
tardiness was something he hated
"am sorry to have kept his majesty the future king waiting, the cab driver took a wrong turn" I couldn't help being a bit sarcastic and junior giggled then covered his mouth and cleared his throat.
"such things would not occur if you had a royal driver" said Arthur and I just rolled my eyes then sat down. that was when I noticed the fourth person on the table and from the look of his clothes he was definitely royalty.
"hello" I extended a greeting and he smiled, taking my hand and kissing my knuckles
"it’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance princess" he said and I stared at Arthur waiting for an introduction or rather explanation, I thought it was just siblings having lunch and catching up.
"this is prince Henry , heir to the throne of kimata, a small kingdom south of ours" Arthur spoke
"oh, its a pleasure to meet you" I said to him and he smiled broadly
"Likewise my dear, you're even more stunning in person" he said and I gave Arthur a murderers look, was this a set up?
Junior was just sited there trying hard not to laugh, he was the only one who knew that I had a serious boyfriend and he had sworn to keep my secret.
"the king thought it would be wise if you started getting acquainted with the bachelors of the land seeing that you will soon finish school" said Arthur
Ever since he turned sixteen he never addressed our father as dad or father, it was always his majesty the king and I felt sorry for him, being groomed to take over did not seem fun at all. Another thing which was not fun was my father hinting at a marriage match by sending this prince, I so wasn’t ready for marriage, especially an arranged one.
The lunch was really uncomfortable for me as Henry kept on staring as if I was his prey, I kept on staring at junior but he was just suppressing giggles and it annoyed me to the core. After lunch I pulled Arthur to the side