King of Griffindale

Chapter 3 - King Theodore's Death

The next day was one of mourning and silence in Griffindale, as it was announced that the King had died the previous night, giving in to his fever. As the customs demanded, everyone in the kingdom mourned for him from that morning until the next daybreak.

It was a sudden edict, and a warning bell was rung to make sure everyone's attention was drawn to it, as violators of the rules stated in the edict would be highly prosecuted. 

On that day, all the restaurants and shops were closed, and everyone observed the mourn for the late King. All the bustling streets were now quiet, and barely any sounds could he heard from any of the businesses as they were all shut down.

Back in the Palace, the body specialists in charge of taking care of the King's dead body had embalmed it so that it wouldn't rot and stink before the day of cremation. 

As the custom demanded, every member of the royal family was expected to come pay their respects by dropping flowers on his deathbed and taking a bow. Queen Regina, for some reason, had not come to do as demanded, choosing instead to hold it off for some time, presumably waiting for the other two to pay their respects before she did, as she didn't want to encounter them. 

Now it was almost noon, and into the room came two of the people Queen Regina hated the most, despite her late husband's urge for her to regard them as members of the royal household just as he did.

They were Thea Locksley, the mother of the King's bastard son, the woman Queen Regina hated so much that she could not stand the sight of her, and her son, the illegitimate son of the now-dead king, Cyrus Theodore.

They each stood at opposite sides of his bed, watching the king seemingly sleeping peacefully with his eyes closed and hands placed on his large tummy. His red beard ran down from his chin to his chest, and his hair was scattered and messy, as usual. 

He looked like his typical self, except not alive. It seemed like the embalmers tried their best to make him look very good for a dead man while also trying their best to keep his wit and charisma alive even in death. If that was their mission, then they had done a great job. 

Cyrus' mother dropped her flowers, and Cyrus dropped them almost immediately afterward. They both put their hands together, over the King's body, reciting their religious prayers for the dead for about a minute. 

After the prayer was done, they remained as they were, staring at the king with tears slowly forming in their eyes. They couldn't bring themselves to leave formally, as the grief was heavy within them. 

Although Thea cried the most, she placed a hand on Cyrus' shoulder, comforting him. Seeing that she was in worse shape than he was, he placed a hand on hers, calmly comforting her. 

Seeing how hard she was fighting to hold back her tears, he drew her close, and she fell into his embrace, sobbing profusely.

He cried as he comforted his mother, who was devastated by the sudden tragedy. She deeply loved his father, and he knew it. 

While this was happening, the door to the room opened, and in came Queen Regina, with her flowers in hand, coming in to pay her respects to her dead husband.

The moment she saw Cyrus and his mother, she frowned, almost holding her breath like they stunk. 

She looked at the corpse of her husband and could identify the two flowers that belonged to both of them, as they were parallel to their positions. 

“Are you finished?” Queen Regina asked rudely. “I want some time alone with my husband. Or would that be a problem for the both of you?”

Cyrus was still comforting his mother when the Queen said this, and he glared at her with great anger written all over his face. But the moment Thea noticed him glaring, she placed a hand above his head, forcing him to stop looking at the Queen like that. 

“No, that won't be a problem for either of us,” Thea said to her before looking at her son. “Come on, Cyrus,” she said to him. “Let's go.”

Reluctantly, the boy left with her, frustrated by the way the queen addressed his mother. Though it was not the first time the Queen had shown such resentment toward either of them, she had never attempted to hide her disgust from them since the very first day she was knew them by formal introduction. 

Though she did nothing to cause it, that day had always come back to haunt her, and seeing them anywhere near her would only trigger back that memory. It was frustrating, and on this day of grief, they had managed to make it feel worse for her. 

Thea and her son, Cyrus, were like thorns in her flesh, and the mere thought of having both of them living under the same roof as she did bothered her deeply.

She frowned angrily until both of them had left the room as she had wanted. After they left, she scowled as if their presence stank so badly that she couldn't breathe while they were there. 

Seeing their flowers lying on the body of her late husband infuriated her even more. She just couldn't stand it. So she shoved the flowers off her husband's body, causing the both of them to fall to the ground. Then she replaced their flowers with hers, carefully placing the flowers on his chest as her eyes watered involuntarily. 

“I can't believe that I'm crying for an ignorant fool like you,” she said as she wiped off the tears from both eyes. “It's such a shame that I still love you, despite how you treated me. And I hate myself for that.”

Then she joined both hands together and recited the religious prayers for the dead. She turned to leave, knowing she would break down in tears soon. But as she turned to leave, she looked back at him. She wanted to say more to him, but knew that it wouldn't be good for her.

Her life with him alive had already brought her enough sorrow and hardship for a lifetime, so she wasn't going to let his death do the same thing to her all over again. 

So she left the room immediately. 

-

Moments ago, when Cyrus and his mother had gotten sent out of the King's room...

The moment the both of them had closed the door, Cyrus went in front of his mother angrily. 

“What was that about?” he asked her quietly. 

“While it is not all the time that I turn the other cheek to the Queen's abuse, this time I had to bend the knee,” Thea said to her son. “I had no choice.”

“Says who? Why does that have to be so? That was unacceptable, even for you,” he said to her. And she immediately looked at him with a slight frown. 

“I meant no disrespect, Mother,” Cyrus said, looking away. “But it's the truth. You are hardly assertive whenever the Queen is involved with you, and it is only at a few times that you manage to speak up for yourself, and those few times are only when Father is there to stand up for you.”

“That is the reason, my son,” she said to him. “You are right, Cyrus. But I don't regret what I just did, not in the slightest.”

“Why?” Cyrus asked plainly. 

“Because your father is not here anymore,” she said to him. “There is nobody here to validate my stay anymore. You are the King's blood, and I am just the woman he fornicated with. You might have grounds to stand up against her, but I don't. That is why I bent the knee to her. We would both have to bend the knee from now on, at least until you come of age. But with the way things are going, I don't think that day will come as expected.”

“You think she can kick us out of the palace before that day comes?” asked Cyrus. 

“Yes, she can! Without a shadow of a doubt, she can, and most likely will,” Thea replied. “Your father is not here to defend us anymore, and with her in charge, I don't think she would calmly wait until you come of age only to end up stealing the throne away from her.”

“You are right,” Cyrus admitted, taking a deep breath as he faced forward, walking slightly ahead of his mother. “She is the next in line by custom to lead the kingdom, with absolute power over everything. Only God knows what she would do with us when she becomes Crowned Queen.”

“I'm glad you understand, my son,” she said to him. “We have to be careful now. As far as I know, that woman might use the slightest mistake to incriminate us for the worst crime just to get rid of us.”