28 Chapter 28 : Tomorrow I’ll ask Ella to be my wife!

When prince Nathan arrived at the royal palace, he was greeted by the maids and butlers who all stood in two different queues bowing towards him.

“Welcome home your grace.” They all said in unison.

Nathan nodded and one of the butlers came forward and took his coat.

“Have you seen my father?” Nathan asked the butler, “I need to give him my report of our trip to Gavaria.”

“Yes your grace, the king informed me to let him know the minute you arrive, I shall let him know at once.”

“Alright, thank you Jeffrey” Nathan responded, “I will wait for him in the study.”

The well dressed butler bowed and left to get the king, the other maids and butlers also excused themselves and Nathan made his way to the study.

When Nathan opened the door to the study he was greeted by his lovely mother’s face, queen Juliet Aldos. She was sitting on a sofa nose deep in a book and sipping on some tea, she had not noticed her son come in. The sight of her made Nathan’s mind wonder back to how warmly lady Morrell had treated him, maybe it was time to build a bond with his own mother as well.

“Good afternoon mother, good to see you again.” The prince spoke enthusiastically

.....

When the queen lifted her eyes to look at who was speaking, she jolted backwards, almost falling off her chair. Nathan rushed to her side to try and help her but the queen abruptly stood up and scampered backwards.

Nathan was surprised, the woman looked like she’d seen a ghost. True, his mother had never really been fond of him, actually she had never been fond of any of her children. Nathan figured it was because her marriage to king Aldos was arranged and she was pretty much forced into it, so he understood her actions sometimes. But now she was acting stranger than usual, Nathan even had to look over his shoulder to see if maybe there was someone behind him who had startled her.

“Mother what’s wrong?” Nathan asked the trembling woman, his voice was a little hurt. Was she afraid of him? Or did she really hate him that much.

Juliet Aldos swallowed hard as she looked at her son, that dark aura that usually surrounded him had grown immensely, most likely due to him spending all those days with that Morrell girl. The vivid memories of the white haired witch’s terrified face when she talked about Nathan was in repeat in her mind, what sort of monster had she given birth to?

“N- Nathan..” the woman whimpered, “welcome home my son, I didn’t see you come in you gave me quite a fright.”

She didn’t want this creature to know that she knew what it really was in fear that it might kill her to silence her. The witch had said it would be ‘the end of us all’ so she had to keep a low profile until she could find a way to kill it.

“Oh I’m sorry mother, let me help you clean up the mess,” Nathan inched closer to the table where the cup of tea had dropped and broken, spilling out its contents.

“No stay back!” The woman screamed, making Nathan halt in his tracks, “errm sweetie you’ll hurt yourself, you just stay here and I’ll get a maid to clean it up.”

Juliet forced a smile and turned away from Nathaniel, rushing towards the exit of the study. Nathan narrowed his eyes as he watched his mother leave the room. Juliet Aldos was a strange woman indeed.

Moments later, the king walked into the study and gave his son a wide smile, “ah my boy, good to see you.” The man gave Nathan a pat on the back and gestured him to take a seat.

After the two men were seated, the king called for a butler and asked him to bring them a jug of wine and some cups.

“So tell me my boy, how was it?” King Bradley Aldos asked his son.

“It was great father, Gavaria welcomed us wholeheartedly,” Nathan responded. He took a cup which a maid had placed on the table and poured some wine for himself and his father.

“That’s good to hear son, and the knighting ceremony? How did that go? I was told a little incident happened.”

Nathan gulped down his wine and poured himself another cup, “my lady wasn’t feeling too well, but I assure you she’s better now,” he responded, “I’m actually planning to go and see her at the Morrell household tomorrow.”

King Bradley gulped down his wine and gave his son a mischievous smile, “Nathan...”

The prince looked up at his father, why was the king smiling at him like that? “What is it?”

“Could it be possible that lady Ella is with child?”

Nathan choked on his wine, he went into a coughing fit trying to get the wine out of his windpipe and the dirty thought out of his mind. Oh what he would give for Ella to carry his child, what he’d give to savor every moment of the baby making process.

“She’s not,” Nathan responded after his coughing had died down.

historical

“Well what are you waiting for? This kingdom needs heirs, you’re turning twenty five next year, you’re not getting any younger.” The king sipped the last of his wine and lay back on his chair. “I want to retire next year Nathan, you’ll have to take over. And I’d feel a lot safer if you did that with an heir.”

“Why are you retiring?!” Nathan asked, he was a bit nervous, his father was not old and the man had the strength and agility of a thirty year old. So what had prompted this sudden decision? “Are you sick?”

“I’m in good health no need to worry,” the king responded, “I just want to relax now, spend time with my wife, travel and all of that. I don’t want to grow old and die on the throne. The sun is setting on my time as king my son, it’s time it rose on yours.”

“Father I-”

“So you need officiate this relationship you have with lady Ella,” Nathan’s father’s added on, “The king of this land must have a queen, not a girlfriend.”

“Do you think this is the right time?”

Nathan knew that Ella had finally opened up to him, and all the signs pointed to her being open to them having a real relationship but would she accept to be his wife?

“You’ll never know unless you try,” king Bradley responded, “I can have the royal jeweler prepare a fine betrothal necklace for her, you can ask her to come over tomorrow and ask her. You’ve been together five years, it’s about time you took it to the next level.”

Nathan didn’t notice but he had a huge grin on his face, his mind was filled with euphoria as his father’s words echoed in his ears. Ella as his wife, Ella as his queen, Ella as Mrs Aldos. It sounded like a dream.

“I’ll do it!” The prince responded, the excitement and determination in his eyes brought a smile to king’s face. “Tomorrow, I will ask lady Ella Morrell to be my wife!”

*

“Good afternoon your grace,” Julia spoke as she made herself comfortable on the sofa adjacent to the handsome dark haired prince who was sitting on his bed. “You look very handsome today.”

Julia was really excited, she had always known that Adam was just playing hard to get. He just needed a little time to finally own up to his feelings and fall for her. The queen had made it clear that he had been wanting to spend time with her, and of course she was more than willing to oblige. She couldn’t believe that she was almost worried about that red head woman from the ceremony having taken Adam’s attention away, clearly it was her he really wanted, he was just a little shy.

“I’m sorry Julia but I have a lot going on right now,” Adam responded, his fingers gently massaging his sore temples, “could you please behave.”

Julia walked over to Adam’s bed, she moved behind him and gently started rubbing his shoulders, “I know your grace, you must be so stressed after all the events of this week, allow me to help you relax.”

Adam removed Julia’s hands from his shoulders and got up, “Julia please, this is now getting ridiculous.”

Julia lightly bit her bottom lip and looked up at the tall handsome man, her green eyes sparkling with desire. She had dreamt of the day she could finally have those strong arms wrapped around her body, the day she’d burry her face into his strong chest, oh how she’d love to wake up next to this man every single day.

The young woman got off the bed and stood in front of the prince, “don’t be shy Adam, I know you want this as much as I do.”

Julia reached out to Adam and trialed her finger along the buttons on his shirt, popping them open one at a time.

Suddenly Adam grabbed her hand and glared at her, “Julia please, stop it.”

The green eyed girl giggled and moved her hand to her blouse, untying the notes that were keeping her breasts hidden. When her bosom was in full view, she inched closer to Adam and slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing his face closer to hers.

Mere inches before their lips touched, Adam grabbed Julia’s arms and pulled them off him.

“Julia,” his voice was deep and angry, “you need to leave, now!”

Julia looked at the prince wide eyed, how could he be resisting her? Couldn’t he see she was offering herself to him? Couldn’t he see her beautiful perky breasts?!

Julia removed her arms from Adam’s grasp and pushed herself against him, making them both fall backwards onto the sofa. The green eyed girl then pulled Adam’s shirt and forcibly claimed his lips in a kiss.

Adam pushed the girl away and hurriedly stood up, putting some distance between him and Julia. “What on earth has gotten into you Julia?! Have you lost your mind?!”

“Adam have you lost yours?!” Julia’s eyes were misty, she felt so humiliated and embarrassed. She had literally thrown herself at this man and he so bluntly rejected her. “I’m young, I’m beautiful, what more do you want Adam?!”

“Julia I’m sorry but I don’t like you in that way, stop trying to force things!”

“Then you must be either stupid or blind!” Julia screamed, “why on earth would any man ever resist me?! I’m the most beautiful woman in all the five kingdoms!”

“I love someone else Julia!”

Julia’s eyes went round, it took her a few seconds for her brain to process what her ears had just heard, in love with someone else? Who? Which woman could ever hold a candle to her beauty?

“Get it through your head Julia!” Adam repeated, “I love someone else, so please leave me alone!”

The prince stormed off and slammed the door behind him, leaving the green eyed girl in complete shock. Had Adam really just turned her down? Her? Julia Boleyn? No, he must be under a spell.