When the Walls Start Tumbling Down

Chapter 4

Enoch awoke with a jolt to the banging on his door. He completely forgot that he had an important dinner with his father. He hastily pried open the heavy door to see a wide shouldered guard standing behind it. The guard informed him of his fathers "disappointment in his punctuality" and left. Enoch rolled his eyes and said mockingly "Enoch, you are to be king one day! You need to be ready to take on the responsibility! That starts with consistent punctuality!". He swung the door closed behind him and made his way down to the grand dining room, mocking his father in his mind the entire way. He gently opened the double hinged doors to the dining room and peeked his head in. 'Good,' he thought,
'He's absorbed into flirting with the maid again." The dining room was fit with tall ceilings and magnificently polished tile floors. The crowning around the walls was certainly pure gold, as was the finishing on the long wooden table. The table was sat with food of all kinds, which half had been eaten by his father, he assumed.
Enoch crept into his seat opposite his father and waited for him to notice him. When he did, the King gave him a glare full of fatherly disappointment. "Finally, Son," he bellowed into the echoey room, "It's been ages since I've seen you!"
"It's been about two days, dad," Enoch said unimpressed.
"Oho, so it has! Anyway," he started, "I've made an executive decision about your future! You know that girl you're always hanging out with?"
"You mean Adelaide?" Enoch asked, becoming more curious.
"Yes, Addison! Well, I'm sure you're aware that she is a duchess in waiting, are you not? Abilene has proved to be an up-and-coming wielder of political power. And for that reason, I have arranged a marriage to take place between her and you when you turn 16 next year," King Alistair stayed as plainly as if he were relaying that mornings newspaper headlines. This took Enoch by such a surprise he dropped his fork on his plate, which made a silencing clatter in the echoey room. "F-Father! My birthday is in three weeks! And even then I don't think I'd be ready to marry at such a young age! And... and... and..." Has words tumbling out in short bursts.
"And what, boy?" King Alistair said, clearly offended by his son's outburst.
"And I don't even love her! How do you expect me to marry somebody I have no romantic attraction to?" Enoch gasped, regaining his vocal stability.
"You do not need 'romantic attraction' to somebody to marry them, son. I did not love your mother and she did not love me! We were simply wed for the sake of political advancement!" the King said, flustered as he took a sip of wine from his glass. Enoch was shocked-taken aback- appalled- you name it! He had always cherished his mother who he'd lost at a very young age, and to find out she didn't even love his father? The one thing Enoch remembered about his mother was the fact that she saw the beauty in everything, and as angry as his father made him he always kept in mind that she had to have loved him for something. Something that he maybe just hadn't seen yet, and that was what helped him keep his head in heated arguments with his father. And now, to find out all of it was a lie, he didn't know what to feel. "You... didn't love mother..? She died for you... for her kingdom, for me! And you couldn't even spare her a fraction of your energy to give her a loving glance?" He was furious. The King said nothing. He picked up his wine glass and took another sip, all while avoiding eye contact with his son. Enoch, unable to stand being in a room with the emotionless creature that called himself his father, stood up abruptly, nearly knocking his chair backwards. He removed his napkin from his leg and crumpled it into a heap next to his plate in anger. "I shall be in my room. Thank you for dinner," he thanked the chef genuinely, who had emerged from his kitchen to respond to the commotion, and flung open the double hinged door. It swung back and forth between the door frame as he pounded up the stairs. He didn't even stop to pet the intelligent cat that always somehow made its way to his floor of the palace and poised its multi-colored fur under the sunlight that streamed into the polished windows. He found his bedroom door already open as he rounded the corner, and became even angrier. He paused with wide eyes when he spotted Adelaide in his room, flipping nonchalantly through his notebook. "So you have been going out to the hole every morning..." she said as if she were a mother spotting a dirt stain on her child's shorts, despite telling him he could not play outside that day. "Can you believe my father? Wanting us to be wed?? In only a month??" Enoch sputtered like an old car. Adelaide said nothing, only put on a face of confusion as she attempted to decipher his handwriting. "Adelaide, did you know about this?" He asked more urgently this time. "Oh of course I did. Although, I never expected my mother to go through with it," she said.
"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" He implored.
"I had... requested to... be wed to somebody with... status. My mother agreed to my request and asked your father to make an arranged marriage," she said carefully choosing her words. "So basically, you asked to marry me- not even me, you asked my father- to marry me without my consent or input?" Enoch asked, almost at a yell. Adelaide fiddled with the hem of her dress and said, "I thought you would say something like that, so I decided to have your father ask you if you would..."
"My father told me! Not asked me!"
"How was I supposed to know he wouldn't ask you?!"
"Oh I don't know- ask me yourself! Better yet, ask me if I even like you that way!" Adelaide stopped wide eyed, dropping his notebook down on a stool, "You don't like me...?"
"As a friend, I do! Not as a potential suitor!" He said desperately trying to get his point across. Adelaide straightened and composed herself, "Well, there's nothing we can do now. You'll just have to deal with it." She started towards the door.
"There's-there's actually plenty we can do. Can we please just talk about this-" Enoch was cut off by Adelaide slamming his heavy door closed.  He sighed greatly and his shoulders slumped in despair. He walked over to his notebook and saw it open to the pages where he had scribbled the purple monster the most. 'If I am to be king,' he thought, 'they'd never let me anywhere near The Hole.' He closed the book, "If I am going to make my way into the inner side and meet that monster, I'll have to do it sooner than I expected. I'd better be prepared." He removed his crown and gripped the bridge of his nose with his first finger and thumb- his head was suddenly spinning. 'Wait,' he thought, his eyes suddenly wider than ever before, 'she knows I go down to The Hole.'