The Prince Ch. 04

"The usual captain of this ship was given this excursion off. He had been at sea for a very long time and needed the break as much as I needed the change," Captain Charles paused for a moment after he had said this and he pondered asking "Tom" one last question. His curiosity won out as he asked, "Can I know your real name?"

The Prince grinned thinking that this man was one of the few that actually deserved to know. Unfortunately, he could not take the risk of his identity being exposed or how the captain might react. Therefore, he replied, "No you cannot. I do not wish to sound rude by saying this, but things would become dangerous for me and this ship if my identity were to be known. You have discovered more than anyone else has when I have done similar things. Please do not treat me differently as I do not wish to arouse suspicion. Pretend as though we never had this conversation."

"I understand your position and will follow your request. Though, I can't deny my curiosity and will continue to wonder who you actually are Tom."

"I cannot blame you for that. May I return to my duties?"

"Yes, you may."

With that, the Prince turned and exited the room. Leaving the captain alone with his thoughts. It had proven to be a surprising day that made for a surprising trip. He wondered if anything else would come of the conversation he had just shared with his deckhand.

***

King Henry was not happy. The Prince had been missing for nearly five weeks. Only he and three of his staff members knew that the story told of his son going on a hunting expedition was a lie. He knew that it would bring his son into danger if it were found out that he was out roaming the world unaccompanied and unguarded.

He had considered letting it be known simply to teach his son a lesson on more than one occasion. However, he had never acted on the impulse as he was the heir to the throne and the only one that could keep the succession of the monarchy intact.

King Henry had once thought that his son would make an excellent monarch. The Prince had always exceeded in all of his studies and seemed to have the ability to conquer any field of battle he chose. The king had once looked upon his son as a source of great pride.

That began to change as he grew older and started to argue with his tutors and to best his swordplay masters. His son recognized no authority other than his own and would rebuke even the greatest of scholars and insult the other members of the nobility. Many of these actions were not uncommon for the heir to the monarchy to undertake, but he had ruined agreements with visiting diplomats and affronted the scholars to the point that they would avoid the palace at all costs.

The king had been angry at his son for these things. He had never exacted to great a punishment on his son though for two reasons. The first was that the Prince had always shown such promise and always presented such good arguments that he had often had a difficult time deciding on the correct level of punishment. The second reason was the Prince's mother.

Queen Iliana had always held a power over him that he could not deny. She had been stunningly beautiful and had had a radiant personality. Both the king and the Prince would ultimately succumb to any request that she made. She had never once made a demand, only requests, but those requests had been seen fulfilled far more readily than even the demands that King Henry himself had made.

She had always kept the peace between him and her son. This was true even though he could see that she loved her son far more than she would ever love him. She had always done what he had asked or required, but she never went further than that. It had pained him to know that she did not care for him, as she cared only the monarchy itself.

He had always loved her and that is why he secured her hand in marriage not long after meeting her. She had never returned his affections. She had been on the verge of engaging another man before he had made the request himself. Iliana's father had forced her into the marriage as Henry had forced him to. She had cried in outrage when the news was announced to her and she had looked at him that day with a glare of hatred.

At the time, he had questioned whether or not it had been right to do what he had done. He had never fully answered that question, having simply decided that the proper place for a woman such as her was as a queen and nothing less. He would not allow the most beautiful creature that he had ever beheld to marry anything less than royalty.

He had expected to see that glare of hatred when he saw her again on their wedding day. He did not find that expression. In fact, he did not find any expression on her face other than that of indifference and apathy. There was nothing improper in her manner or behavior, but he felt uncomfortable in her presence. He felt as though somehow she was not real or, even more disturbingly, thathewas not real and she was.

After the ceremony, he consummated the marriage. Her body did not respond to his touch that night. She simply lied there ignoring his presence altogether. Henry had never experienced anything like this. It disturbed to such a great depth that he felt as though sex were not a tool for enjoyment, but a vehicle of suffering and damnation.

He very rarely slept with his wife and they lived in separate quarters. Whenever enough time passed though, he had always been driven to her room and had taken her. She always gave herself willingly, but the encounters always left a loathsome taste in his mouth.

For the first few years, the king was faithful to her. The problem was that he kept having vivid fantasies of what he would do to her and found that he always did the same thing and was always left unsatisfied. He found himself drawn to the ready and willing harlots to a greater degree with each passing day.

He found that he enjoyed sleeping with the cheapest slut to a far greater degree than he ever did his own wife. He knew that she as well as many in the palace knew of his actions, but he did not care. She had driven him to this. She had left him no choice. It was her that had made him commit these actions.

Their son had been born shortly after he had began doing this. She had loved him dearly and had done everything in her power to bring him up so as to be the greatest man to exist. She treated him wonderfully, but also fairly. She did not spoil him as many mothers would; she simply fed his voracious level of ambition. She took care of him when he was ill and found the greatest joy in spending time with him.

He was the bright shining star in her life and she taught him many lessons that he had carried throughout his life. It was her that had taught him that instructors can be wrong and that you must hold true to the convictions you carry and to never give up on them. She had taught him that there were many things left to be discovered and that he could find all of them if he wanted to.

It was in no small part because of her that the Prince had grown up with such a fierce pride within himself. No one could touch that pride as the fire that fueled it came from within and he needed no one's approval to carry it. She could not have been more proud of him.

She had died not long before his seventeenth birthday. It had been a rather prolonged death caused by consumption. She and the Prince had spent as much time together as the doctors allowed. They greatly feared him being affected by the illness and had allowed him to spend little time with her.

It was during this time that he began to turn from a happy and exuberant youth to a jaded and arrogant one. As his mother's condition worsened, he became impossible to placate. He was angry at all of the fools surrounding her and all of the fools he saw surrounding him. Only when he saw her did he return to that joyful state that he had known all of his life.

The king had not shown much emotion towards his dying wife. He found himself thinking only that he had wished that she had helped him produce more than one heir and that she had not corrupted the one he had so fully. He blamed her for his son's stubborn nature.

He had thought that he could correct his son's faults after her death. The king had tried to make him act as his position demanded and to properly groom him for the throne. It was not long after this that his son had disappeared for the first time.

The king had continued to blame his mother for the corruption that had been placed upon his son. He tried to undo the work she had done only to be met with failure and frustration. He drove his son further from him.

After some time King Henry began to believe that the only solution to his son would be for him to marry. He thought that a woman had been able to control him as he had grown and that only a woman would be able to control him now. Once again, he was met with failure as none of the many women that he met held even the slightest influence over him.

Even though he all but gave up on the idea of taming his son, he still feared that his son would take the throne without an heir of his own. The king may have had great personal differences with his son, but he did not want the monarchy to pass to any family but his own. It was for this reason that he continued pushing his son to marry and had continued to have him meet women.

The king knew that his son would be returning soon. He had never stayed away for more than six weeks and had always found a way back without the slightest warning. King Henry did not know how to deal with his son or have any new ideas. He decided that for now he would let his son have his way with things and lie in wait. His son may have been brilliant, but no one is perfect and everyone makes a mistake sooner or later. He would wait for that day to come to teach his son a lesson.

***

Amber's life had settled down a significant amount since the Prince's departure. She had once again established a normal routine and had become used to working at the Prince's home. The anxiety and power of the place had been exchanged for a sense of attachment. She really did love working here and thought it to be a wondrous sight to behold.

Marissa had also stopped worrying over her so much as it became known that the Prince was no longer here. She made sure to check up on Amber constantly and do her best to see her smiling and happy. Amber did not mind this. Although, she honestly felt fine and did not need the extra attention, she appreciated the friendship that she had and knew that she would do no less if the situations were reversed.

The weeks had passed by uneventfully, but Amber found herself with a reluctant sense of trepidation that she was never able to rid herself of fully. She had a hard time tracing its point of origin and was left to wonder about it. It was clear to her that the Prince was in some way connected to her anxiety's source, but she could not tell in what way he was connected.

Amber felt lonely, even when she was surrounded by people. She felt an even greater disconnect to them than she had for most of her life. She had always had a hard time understanding why the things that interested her almost never interested anyone else or why all of the things that most girls spoke about were so meaningless to her. It had never made sense to her and it had been difficult for her to make friends because of that.

The few that she had found in her life would always be very dear to her. Marissa was no exception to that rule and that was one of the reasons why she trusted her so very much. Amber loved Marissa as the sister that she never had. It was because she had a friend like Marissa that life was as simple as it was then.

Amber had often pondered when the Prince would return and how things would change when he did. She knew that he would likely turn her life upside down again upon his arrival, but she did not know in what way. The longer he was away, the more that she questioned whether he would ever touch her again. It seemed plausible to her that the reason that he had left was simply because he did not desire her.

She thought that it was possible that everything that had happened between them had been meaningless and that he would now toss her aside as simply as he had ravaged her body. The thought of this left her depressed even though she knew that it shouldn't. It seemed to her that she should be happy if he were to never touch her again, if he were to leave her alone. Instead, she began wondering if she had done something wrong.

She wondered if something about her made her unwanted. It was depressing to think that she meant nothing to him. It hurt for her to think that he may never touch her again. She tried to avert her mind from such thoughts knowing that they did not do her any good and that they should not matter.

Nothing about him should matter was all that she kept telling herself. The message never sunk into her mind. When she thought of him, she saw only those radiant eyes of his. They revolved around her head at times without her consent. Somehow, they seemed to represent him and everything that he was.

She still knew that those eyes held the secret to who he was. She could not explain how she knew, but she was certain that she was right. She had tried not to think of him too much as she was afraid of experiencing the pain and the torment that she had felt the night that she had confessed to Marissa. The pain never came when she thought of him, though; it was much more like a dull ache.

His actions and the reason he performed them remained ambiguous to her. She caught herself thinking at times that he had not been in full control of his actions. This could not be the case though, as she remembered the distinct feeling of complete and total dominance that he had placed over her. She had not even been able to stand before him. How would it be possible for anyone else but him to be in control when she had been so weak and powerless in his presence.

As she once again thought of the feeling of his dominance over her, she felt a warmth spreading between her thighs. She had started to become used to the feeling as often when she would think of him she would experience it. At first, it had been nearly impossible for her to stand when she felt this way, but she had gained strength as time had passed. Her work was no longer stopped by the feeling.

That sensation left her aware of a need for something. She did not know what it was, but she knew that it had to come from him as she only experienced this feeling when she thought about him.

Her thoughts had left her distracted and she could not help but to jump as she heard the deep and familiar voice say from only inches behind her, "Let us see if you have been following my rules in my absence."