The Dark Prince's Bride (the original version of Will You Love Me?)

Chapter 8

That evening, Benjamin sat at the table having dinner with his parents. He wasn't really eating though, more picking at his food. He was nervous, he couldn't stop thinking about what his parents might want to talk to him about. Whatever it was he couldn't imagine it being very good.

He'd been sitting there for almost an hour, no one said anything. An awkward, uncomfortable silence gripped the room and made him want to run away. He hadn't seen his parents since he was thirteen, he didn't even know what to say to them. He'd imagined this several times. He had always had a thousand things that he wished he could say, but now none of them came to mind.

"You're not eating?" his mother asked. Her voice was filled with concern. "I had the chef make your favorite casserole."

"Oh... it's very good," he said, taking a big a bite. He hadn't realized how long he had been sitting there staring at his plate.

"We're glad to have you back, Benjamin," Mea tried to spark a conversation.

"Thank you, mother," he replied quietly. "Renee told me that your heart grieved in my absence, mother."

"Yes, I love you and I was afraid for you. I've missed you so much," said Mea.

"I missed you too," he answered. "I'm sorry that I brought grief upon you."

"I was only worried that harm would befall you," she replied. "I feared for you. I never believed in my heart that you had truly betrayed us."

Benjamin nodded and silence returned to the room.

"Now that you are here, it is time for you to start taking on some of your duties as future king," said Henry.

Benjamin looked up and gave his father a pained look. He didn't deserve the throne and he didn't want it. He wanted nothing to do with it. He'd caused the kingdom enough trouble as it was. He feared that if he became king he would only lead Anoria to ruin. "Father... I don't deserve the throne, not after what I've done. Isn't there anyone who can take my place?"

Mea shook her head. "You are the only heir, other than your uncle... but his only daughter died a few years ago. So you are his only heir. And we have no other relatives, accept your cousin Natalia and she has her own kingdom to worry about. If something happens to us this responsibility will fall to you. That's why we need to prepare you now."

"Milia died?" he asked. He hadn't even known that his cousin had died. He felt saddened as he remembered playing with her as a boy.

Henry nodded. "She was ambushed by an orc pack."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't know," he said. "But I can't do it, I'm not like you. I'm not strong enough to rule the kingdom. I can't do it alone."

"Benjamin, no one ever said that you have to do it alone, you'll get married one day," Henry smiled.

"I don't know if I will, father," he replied. "I don't know if any girl would ever be able to look past my appearance or my past... the rumors that have spread across the land about me. And..." he broke off, not wanting to tell them about Drake's threats. He did want to marry Renee, for he had loved since the very first time he had seen her in a dream. His heart felt strangely bound to her. But he was also afraid to... because he didn't want her to get hurt on his account.

"Well that's actually what we wanted to talk to you about. We have been advised to arrange a marriage for you," Henry told him.

"I can't get married," he said, a little more harshly than he had intended.

"Why not?" his father asked. "Are you married already? Or do you have a special lady waiting for you somewhere?"

"No. I don't... I just can't get married. Drake swore that if I did, he would feed my wife to his dragon." A few tears slipped from his eyes as the horrific images of the wives of some of Drake's men being fed killed by the dragon filled his mind. He tried to stop himself from crying, knowing that his father was watching. Benjamin wasn't sure what was worse... watching a helpless woman being burnt alive by the breath of a dragon... or seeing her husband scream and cry out in agony as he watched his beloved die. The men were made to watch, from above where they would be helpless to save her. No, the worse part was his own guilt. How many times had he risked everything to keep their marriages secret... how many times had he tried and failed to save a maiden from such a terrible fate?