We The Kings: Book Two

Chapter 62

We had headed back to the castle in time to prepare the soldiers that afternoon.

Johnny and Daniel summoned everyone in the castle  to the throne room. They waited for the arrival of the king and queen.

We stood on the thrones in the marble throne room. The room went silent upon entering. Everyone bowed at the same time. My gut cramped with a wave of overwhelming fear. I had no prepared words. I took a deep breath. Mavis stood by me, studying me.

"First of all, thank you all for coming today. Thank you for the continued support in the war. The war won't end easily I fear. I must ask you to all join me in battle against the Vendov Empire. It's time to take back Lafayette, and protect the rest of the kingdom's that the empire threatens."

I saw a few heads nod in the sea of people.

"We will be going through the mountains of Salkon to weaken Vendov's strongest ally. It will be a hard journey, and an even harder battle. But I know that all of us working together can defeat the empire once and for all. We will make preparations today, and leave tomorrow." I said, gaining more head nods.

"Everyone will be split into three units. Lafayette soldiers will follow me, Belmonte soldiers will follow Daniel, and Johnny will be leading the Naporian soldiers. We will be receiving supplies from Darlington shortly." I said.

The room was energized from the battle. The people were ready to take back their home, and seek revenge for the loved ones they lost along the way.

We all ate a hearty dinner in the large dining halls. We ate with the soldiers, as opposed to our private dining quarters.

"Your majesty, do you think Vendov's dragon will be there?" One of the soldiers asked me.

"I am hoping since we have the element of surprise that we won't be seeing the dragon, but it might come upon word of the battle."

"I heard those mountains are cursed." Another soldier spoke up.

"I have been to the mountains once before. Nothing out of the ordinary happened." I said, disregarding the screams Samuel and I heard through the night.

"I will do everything I can to protect all of you. From Vendov, and whatever the mountains had to offer."

Orion passed by with his food. I was hoping he would sit near me and the other soldiers, but he kept walking. He took his strew and sat in a corner, alone.

"Orion looks sad. Do you think him and Daniel are fighting?" Another soldier whispered to another.

I went up to check on him.

"Can I join you?" I asked him.

"I'd rather you didn't." He said shortly.

"I'm really sorry. I wanted to come see you last night. I did."

"But you didn't, is the thing. Nor did you tell me so. We have a battle to focus on, perhaps we should do that." He said, initiating the end of our conversation.

I let him have is peace, brainstorming ways I could make it up to him. Perhaps I could show up at his chambers tonight, I thought. Perhaps I could gift him something, but what? Would that be too forward? Too pushy?

Perhaps I ruined my chances with Orion, and I needed to accept that. Who knows, maybe he wasn't going to say anything romantic in the first place. Perhaps I misunderstood our relationship.

Yet, I tried to stuff my feelings before. It never goes well. They end up spewing out of me like an explosion. My feelings could not remain hidden forever.