The Princess Choice

Chapter 22

He walked into Francis study where they had been using it as a start point and sat down frustrated. George walked up with some tea and placed it quietly.

"Sire... if I may... maybe it is time to think like Francis so we can find her..." George looked around after a minute then he walked out.

Richard sat in the study frustrated as he heard Francis laughing "Maybe they are dead already it has been over a week... yes I am sure they are dead." Then inspiration hit Richard like a house of bricks.

Richard walked up to him and stared at his eyes "You claim to have loved her yet here we sit you laughing at her pain."

"You know the saying if I can't have her no one will." Francis laughed.

"That is not love... when you love someone you don't care who they are with as long as they smile and are loved... I would give anything for her to love you and leave with you as long as I knew she was okay." Richard watched as his eyes flickered to the wall and back. "Let's talk to her I am sure you know that she hates me for allowing our son to be taken... let's talk to her and if she decides to leave with you I will step aside." Again, a flicker to the same wall.

"You would never step aside... I am not a fool..." Francis looked at the wall and back.

Richard smiled and walked away "You do not understand what love is boy..." he walked to the wall and looked at it carefully. "You may have become a king but you never became a man you are still the same boy who got angry and took it out on the girl who loved him with all of her heart." 

Francis panicked behind him "Fine let's make a deal!"

Richard turned back having found what he was looking for. "What is your deal..."

"I will tell you where you can find them, and you let me go... all of this before they starve of course." Francis smiled in false mockery.

Richard looked back at the wall and hit the switch "Thank you for the offer but I rather not..." the wall spun and showed a long-lit corridor. "I think I can find them from here."