He's my King and I'm his Queen

Chapter 37

Azalea's POV

     A week passed and nothing changed. Christopher was still distant and alone as more manors were attacked, the high queen was hidden in her suite, the twins played in their room- oblivious to all troubles, Mitchell headed the missions to take back some Cardinian land from the rebels, and I too followed my same regime. I woke up, ate, studied in the library, left to the health rooms to help out however I could with the wounded soldiers, and then returned back to the library after a quick bite to eat. Except, one day, the medics relieved me of my duty earlier and I arrived at the library at an earlier time than I normally would be- only to find a boy frantically reading something.

            “May I ask who you are?” I asked him.

The boy bolted up from surprise and looked at me with his lovely aquamarine eyes. The last time I saw those pair of eyes and that tidy ash blonde hair was at my wedding.

            “Are you…Christopher’s brother?”

He shut the book he was reading and tried putting it out of sight. I walked slowly towards him as if he was a fragile, frightened animal.

            “May I ask what you were reading?”

He was silent, as if he could not speak. As I inched closer, he inched farther. Finally, I backed him up to a corner. He gave me a look and as I stared into his eyes we had a momentary lapse of understanding. He knew it was futile to hide the book from me any longer. I gave him a gentle smile before taking the book out of his hands.

            To my surprise, the book he had in his hand was the book I hid a certain letter in a week ago. Was it just a coincidence?

            “Why were you reading this?”

He continued standing there, quiet. I opened the book to where I placed the letter and pulled it out. I held it up to him.

            “You would not happen to know what this is, do you.”

His face was that of a guilty child. I gave a sigh before closing the book, putting it back on the shelf and began walking out the note in my hand.

            “I figured it out.”

His voice was deeper than I thought and had a certain confidence in it. He spoke clearly, as if he knew what to say. I was surprised that he was the same boy who would not mutter a word a second ago.

            “I figured out the letter. I know what M is trying to tell us.”

            “How do you know who M is?”

            “I pick up a few things.”

            “You eavesdropped did you not? Sneaking around is not a good habit to have little prince.”

            “Says the queen who snuck off when she was supposed to stay inside the castle.”

He knew about that? He was more than I expected. I had heard about this prince. Since he was a child he had always been ill and kept safe in his room. He was the quiet prince, the weak prince, and the favorite of the queen. I expected a child but he was neither a child nor a man. He was stuck in between- trying to become a man but taken care of like a child. I decided it was best to listen to what the boy had to say.       

            “Studying and reviewing it closely, you will see that it is talking about a poisonous snake.”

            “A snake, but why would M talk about a snake?”