The Crimson Queen

9. Funeral

The feeling of happiness was short lived for Alice.

It was time for Parcivals funeral.

She finally made her way through her door for the first time since she came back to the castle after going to Parandor. Theodore was standing guard unknowing that today was Parcivals funeral.

He bowed to the princess, but Alice had to ask him why he was staying so loyal to her, even though he was a Walzenorian knight. He placed his hand on his hilt gently and said, "I swore to protect you."

Whenever he spoke he tried to keep it short, to avoid her recognizing his voice.

Alice simply nodded, she didn't feel like speaking much today. She wore a long elegant black dress as she made her way to the funeral procession, which had walked in honor of the young deceased Prince.

Parcivals body had already been buried at a church, but his heart was being buried  into the Kings gardens. The sun shone through the dark clouds which hung low as a small drizzling rain fell from the skies. Her Mother and Father were also wearing the color of death as all three of them shed silent tears.

The biggest pain was seeing Emily, as she trembled and whimpered with her newly born in her arms. It was a young boy, who never got to meet his father.

The pain of having lost Parcival must have been greatest for Emily. Her eyes were puffy and the dark circles under her eyes made her look ill. Alice wasn't ready to speak to Emily and her nephew yet, so all she did was embrace her sister-in-law. Today was a day of pain, and not a day of getting to know each other. And quite frankly, Alice didn't have the strength to concentrate on anything else besides her grief.

It was so stereotypical that it was raining, that it almost made Alice smile through her tears.

The funeral didn't take long. A priest had come and held a speech but Alice wasn't listening. Hours after the formalities had finished she and her parents stood in front of the beautiful grave.

Alice had done nothing but cry all day, and she'd hoped that her brothers funeral would ease her pain, but right now it only seemed to make it worse.

For reasons unknown to her, a now painful memory creeped into her mind, of when the two royal sibling were no taller than a dinning table.

"Parcival! What are you doing?" Alice squealed as she jumped over to her older brother.

Parcival held one of his mother's crowns in one of his hands, that he had dug out of her dresser.

They young royal children had secretly slipped into their parents chambers.

Parcival placed his the crown on his head and rested his hands on his waist. "Bow down, Ali. I'm the new King now." He teased his sister.

"No way! If you're the King I wanna be the Queen!" Alice argued folding her arms.

Parcival laughed loudly, as he explained to his little sister that this was not how it worked.

"May you rest in piece, Parcival," she whispered sadly as she looked at the beautiful flowers which decorated the new grave. 

To her surprise both the king and queen rested their hand on either one of her shoulders.

The only thing, that was keeping her from going mad with grief was her promise. She'd decided to save her country, from poverty.

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Theodore was suffering. He knew that Alice had been crying, but to see her shedding tears all day during the funeral brought him to his limits.

Following her back to her chambers after the sun had started to set, he longed to hold her. It had been difficult to be around his little Alice, without being able to speak to her or hold her.

He'd also been feeling horribly ill these last few days, probably due to the fact that he hadn't drunken alcohol in a while. His heart raced and his head hurt badly.

Alice's head hung low as they arrived at her chambers. After everything that had happened she wanted to thank Dorn for always staying with her. He made her feel protected, even though they'd probably not exchanged more than a few sentences.

She turned to him, opened her mouth to speak but all she could think of was her beloved brother. Her eyes clouded with tears as she shook her head no, before turning to open her chamber doors.

Theodore felt her tears as they burned her eyes, he felt her heart break, he felt her anger and her despair, and he knew it was gnawing at her goodwill, because he breaking too.

"You should smile more," he whispered.

Alice's eyes widened, she let go of the door she was about to open.

She turned to him abruptly, making her hair fly around her head. She wasn't imagining it. It was Theodores voice. Could he truly be here? Or was she simply going insane?

Theodore mentally punished himself, for risking his cover. He hoped she'd shake it off but she didn't.

Alice stares up at the big knight, before commanding, "Dorn...,"

Her voice broke. "Take off your helmet."

Theodore didn't move. If she saw that it was him, anything could happen. She could have him banned from Lyria, she could embrace him, and tell him she missed him too, or she could have him imprisoned or killed.

"I command it." She shouted at Theodore, as a small sweat pearl formed on his forehead.

He had no choice. No matter what he did or said now she would want to know.

She froze, her eyes still wide, seconds seemed like hours, as he lifted up his hand and pushed up his visor, revealing his face.

A short beard had grown on his face, and Alice traced, every inch of his face, for the answer to her question, but then she saw his eyes.

They almost seemed to be glowing, with their usual ocean like color in this dark hallway. His pupils were dilated but Alice was to shocked to notice.

Alice was at loss for words. She hadnt had a clue. It became clear to her why she'd thought she'd heard him when she ran off while they visited Parandor.

Theodore tilted his head, and studied her face. He was so sorry for everything, but he couldn't bring himself to speak.

He lifted his hand, cupping the young princesses face, before rubbing her sticky cheek, clean from the tear.

He needed her to react. He wanted to embrace her, and stay with her until her wounded heart started to heal.

Emeric was never far. He had just eaten dinner in the servants quarters, when he turned to see the princess and Dorn standing in front of her chambers.

He hurried towards them. Dorn was touching Alice, and it made Emerics blood cook.

To his surprise she lifted her hand and slapped his off of her face harschly.

Hearing Emerics steps, Theodore lowered his visor, not wanting Emeric to recognize him.

"Whats going on here?" Emeric almost spit, as he arrived.

Theodore didn't answer. He could only see Alice, as she stared at him in disbelief. She didn't want him to touch her, and it made his heart burn.

"Your highness?!" Emeric pushend impatiently. She was pale as chalk and didn't loosen her gaze off Theodore.

"What did you do?!" Emeric shouted at Theodore, while grabbing the grip of his sword.

Theodore's patience was wearing thin. Hurt by his mates reaction, he'd be more than happy to finally end the life of this nuisance. His hand gently rested on his hilt aswell.

"Nothing," Alice exhaled, realizing the tension, which was about to escalate.