King of Griffindale

Chapter 5 - My Cousin Is the Prince?

Earlier on that same day, Somewhere not too far from the capital city...

Felix, a young boy living on the outskirts of the Highlands of Griffindale, in a region that was not considered part of the Kingdom, sat outside his house with both hands joined together as he stared at the skies. His eyes were red, and huge bags could be spotted beneath each of them even under the dim light of the moon.

He was in a small village about a day's distance on horseback from the capital city of Griffindale, with a large forest acting as a natural demarcation between the jurisdiction of the Kingdom [of which it was not a part] and the other territories.

That was where Felix lived as a young boy, surviving with his mother, who was now terribly sick, giving the impression that it would not be long before she kicks the bucket. She was barely in her early forties, so she was not dying of old age. He wondered what sort of sickness had taken hold of his mother, drastically reducing her from an actively exuberant woman to a bedridden log that could not do almost anything for herself.

Staring at the heavens, Felix had begun to wonder what fate had in store for him, given the circumstances. His mother did not have a lot of time left, as confirmed by all the best physicians their pockets could afford. It was an unknown sickness, one that seemed new in almost every regard.

While he sat outside, she lay inside, fast asleep. Given the pain she had been experiencing earlier that day, it felt like a miracle that she was finally able to rest. She could not sleep during the previous night, as the pain was at its peak all through that period, and her fever was so high that she was sweating profusely, despite the slightly cold weather.

It was just before daybreak when she was finally able to sleep, and the young boy was glad she did, even though he could not sleep either.

She had suffered to the point that Felix had imagined himself being full of grief and yet relieved when he would hear that his mother had finally died.

Given the agony she was experiencing, it was perhaps better for her to find rest in her own death than to keep holding on to a life that had nothing pleasurable to offer anymore. Nonetheless, he loved his mother dearly, and hated that she was suffering this way.

Though he had barely gotten any sleep the previous night, he could not bring himself to sleep after his mother did. So he got out of bed and went outside to get a breath of fresh air, believing that the serenity of the atmosphere would bring him comfort.

But instead, the opposite happened—he found himself being all the more anxious and depressed about the situation. The urge to sleep had left him, even though he now had visible bags under his eyes. He stayed that way until daybreak; at that time, the fellow villagers had begun to come out of their homes, all preparing for their various businesses of the day.

It was sometime later when he heard his mother's frail voice calling upon him from inside the house, and he turned immediately to answer her.

“Yes, Mother?” he answered as he entered the house, and there she was, with her eyes open and alert. They looked so vibrant that Felix almost thought she was suddenly recovering from her sickness.

“My son,” she said to him. “I have something to tell you.”

“I'm listening, mother,” he said, kneeling next to the mat she was lying on. She opened her hand, and Felix slowly took it, kissing it tenderly as she stroked his hair.

“I wish I could tell you otherwise, but I won't keep doing that,” she said to him. “You know the truth, don't you? I am dying, and won't be with you for much longer.”

“Don't say that, Mother,” Felix said, shaking his head and refusing to accept his mother's admission of the situation.

Since the sickness was proven to be fatal, he had been the one with all the pessimism about the situation, but she had always been the one who was hopeful and optimistic, amid all the odds.

For the several months she had been suffering from the sickness, it had been that way: he would be the one speaking negatively, while she would in turn berate him for talking like that, instructing him to express some optimism about the situation instead.

But this time, it was different; now she was the one being all dark and pessimistic, and he did not like it. If his positively thinking mother could become this lethargic about the situation, then there was indeed no hope anymore, and he could not have that.

“I could get all cheesy about it, but we both know the truth,” she said to him. “Even now, I can feel myself slowly fading away, and that is why I called you.”

“Stop talking like that, Mother!” he shushed her, just like she would always shun him whenever he expressed his pessimism.

“I don't have the strength to argue over what is apparent or not, but at least listen to me,” she said to him. And the son nodded in response with tears slowly forming in his eyes.

“Alright, mother,” Felix said, “I'm listening.”

“Good, my son,” she said to him. “I have a sister.”

This made her son frown, as he never knew she had one, and she had never talked about her family to him before. Whenever he tried to bring it up, she would either shun him or change the conversation topic immediately.

“You never told me you had a sister,” he replied. “You never even wanted to talk to me about your family, ever.”

“Listen to me!” she said to him again before coughing profusely, with droplets of blood shooting out of her mouth with every cough. Even as she covered her mouth with her hand, blood could still be seen flowing past her fingers.

Normally, when this happens, Felix would tell her to stop talking and then get her back to sleep after handing her some water. But this time, he had to let her talk, as that was her wish.

She had never been so assertive about telling him something before, so for what she was experiencing, the message she was trying to convey had to be worth the pain she was going through on purpose.

She placed her blood-stained hand on her clothes, rubbing off the blood, before looking back at her son.

“She currently lives in the King's residence—the King of Griffindale,” she said before coughing briefly. "

“And she has a son with the King, one who is almost as old as you are.”

The more his mother talked, the less sense anything she said made to him. So she had a sister, one who had a son with the most powerful man in the area, and yet here they were in a remote village, suffering as peasants? But not wanting to interrupt his mother any longer and knowing that every word she spoke came with a lot of pain, he let her keep speaking.

“Though I might no longer be with you, keep in mind that you do not have to be alone,” she said to him. “You have a cousin—her son, Prince Cyrus, the son of King Theodore. Given the illegitimate circumstances surrounding his birth, life has been difficult for them in the King's residence, and I suspect that they have been restricted from coming to see us.”

Then she explained further; “I mean, she once came here with her son to see me, but that was a long time ago; you were barely 3 years old, and your father was still alive at that time. She told me everything she was experiencing in the king's house because of his wife, even though she was the mother of his child.

Presumably for that reason, I have neither seen nor heard from her in a long time. Still, when I die, I would want you to meet and get to know them. I don't want you to live alone, as all that is left of me and my sister is you. Instead, I want you to get to know your cousin and build a relationship with him, as it would be of great benefit to you.”

While she was still speaking, Felix could no longer hold back his rage, so he interrupted her talk by asking some questions.

“Is that enough reason for her to act like you no longer exist? - She is your sister, for goodness sake! Does she even know about your condition?” asked Felix. “Why should I be the one to form a relationship with them? The son doesn't even know you, let alone me!”

“Because it is my final wish for you, my son. It is my will that you reunite with your cousin. Only then can I be rest assured of a better future got you,” she said to him. And he suddenly kept quiet, knowing there was no way he could get around such an answer.

It was plain and simple, and he felt like asking further questions would only be selfish on his part.

“Will you do this for me?” she asked him. “Please?”