Tyranny of the Heart

Chapter 3: The Aftermath

Hello again! This is a rather short chapter and its kind of a filler. I promise though we are nearly through all the exposition and things will start picking soon. Hopefully, I can upload the next chapter even later today or later on in the week. 

Thanks again for the support! And don't be afraid to comment and tell me what you think, whether you loved or hated it! I want to know! 

As I have said before, death affects everyone differently. When my mother died, I was still too young to fully understand, so I hardly grieved. When my father died, he had died in front of my eyes. The man that I had once thought to be the strongest and bravest man to live, laid in bed weak and unmoving. I cried over his body for an hour before Professor dragged me away.

At first, I was angry. Angry at my father, at the world, at Caspian, at anyone and anything that came to mind. I wanted to scream until my throat was raw. But then, all I wanted to do was lie in bed and not move.

After my father’s funeral, I did not come out of my room for any reason for a couple of weeks. Professor and Caspian tried their best to console me, but I pushed them away. Any attempt of socializing or a fleeting moment of happiness felt as though I was betraying my father. I felt that if I was happy for even a second, I was ungrateful and I would disappoint him.

“Mother, are you alright?”

The old woman realized that she was crying. She quickly wiped away the tear rolling down her wrinkled cheek. “I am sorry.” She smiled, trying to reassure her son. She had never been one to show many emotions, and she certainly wasn’t starting now. “Old wounds never fully heal, I suppose.”

“Why don’t we stop for today.” Her son rose to help her to her bed. Since she did not show emotion much, he was greatly concerned for her.

“No!” She commanded in her best commanding voice. Her son sat automatically, since she only used that tone when he was in trouble. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “I need to tell you the story."

The boy nodded cautiously. “Then, perhaps you should skip to a happier part.” He suggested.

The woman was grateful for her son’s concern for her. It was an admirable trait, indeed.

Well, anyway, I thought that way for several weeks. Eventually, Professor was able to convince to get out of my room, but I did not interact much. Lord Miraz, my adopted uncle, only enraged me every time I saw him.

He was a hard and cold man, rarely put others before himself. After my father passed, his arrogance grew ten times than what it previously was. He behaved as though he was King, treating everyone, including Caspian and myself, as though we were his servants.

Caspian tolerated it, for he did not want to cause any ill feelings with his uncle. He was, after all, the only other living blood relative to him. I, on the other hand, did not. I fought him with everything I had except for my swords and daggers. That could have put me in a lot of trouble if I had ever harmed him physically. He was a council member, and therefore did not care that I was grieving for my father. In fact, he often saw it as childish and a waste of time. I was convinced that if his own wife died, the man would hardly blink.

With all of the fights Miraz and I got into, Caspian was the calming force. He was always there to step in, before things got too out of hand. And after that, he would pull me away and listen to me rant about how much I hated Miraz. He always tried to remind me that Miraz was like my uncle and I should learn to respect him a little. To me, that was a very naive thought. The man did not act as though he was keen on the idea of family.

Not long after my father died, it was announced that Caspian would soon be of age to become the King of Telmar. It was around that time when I started to forget about the pain of losing my father, and try to console Caspian, who acted as though he forgot about his future until the announcement. We had decided not to announce mine and Caspian’s betrothal until after Caspian was crowned. No one knew about it, other than Professor, and that’s how we wanted it. I think we were still coming to terms with our agreement, and were still unsure about it all. Caspian especially, with his coronation coming soon, did not feel ready.

He spent many days wandering by himself. Professor started to teach us both on how to behave like royals and what some of our duties would be.

And that’s how life was for a couple of months. Until one day.