The Reluctant Queen

Chapter 10

Prince Wilhelm had always maintained a cordial relationship with his guards. When he left home, the King only permitted Adolf, the commander of those guards, to accompany him. The other ten men were handpicked by the King himself and Wilhelm had always known them as those who stole away his secrets and handed them to the King. When the ten were in his presence, they felt his impatience and forced tolerance.

Karl, the leader of the ten, rushed over to Prince Wilhelm, head hung but with impatient feet. Wilhelm internally groaned, refusing to look up at him. The seething anger held for his father, that Wilhelm usually had clamped down, effervescence and leaked to the surface. The ten were an ugly reminder of the control the King held over everything that Wilhelm held dear. One misstep and it would be Agatha’s life, Wilhelm knew that. Did they report his impertinence to his father, Wilhelm wondered. It was only the beginning of his impertinence. By the time all his plans came through, his father, and perhaps even his brothers, would hate him when it was all was said and done.

Wilhelm couldn’t help the disdain that he carried for his father’s men. Since his arrival, Wilhelm had not heard back from Alexandre or Philip. His mind went through several scenarios of how Agatha and their child were doing. He hoped that messengers had been sent to offer her any support that she needed. He didn’t dare put pen to paper. Wilhelm recognised that his father won the first battle and any miscalculation on his part would be costly, so he patiently waited and plotted. Patience, after all, was a virtue.

Karl removed his cloak, folding it over his arm and lowered his head before Wilhelm. He took a breath and looked up at the copper-haired Prince with impenetrable violet eyes, cold just like his father. “Your Highness,” Karl said in a way of greeting.

“Report,” said Wilhelm, with a bored and detached tone. He lifted a piece of melon into his mouth with a disinterest that made him almost statuesque.

“There has been an attack and a number of rebels were arrested by the palace guards and have been brought to the King.” Wilhelm lifted his head at that. Information on the rebels was limited and they were spoken of more as an urban legend. Rumour had it that they wanted to end the rule of the monarchy but no one knew why. It was one thing to be disillusioned by the rulers and another to kill nobles in their beds. From his poking and prodding, Wilhelm figured that fear was rampant among the gentry. And nothing good ever came out of fear without bravery. “A woman was injured.”

Wilhelm stopped in the middle of bringing a fork to his lips.The Prince was poetry in motion. His looks were compared to that of angels in song. A man who was a terrifying warrior in battle and maidens called him into their beds in the same breath. A gentle beloved Prince, protector of the people and ruthless to his enemies. And the ten were his enemies.“I suppose I should care about this woman.”

“The palace guards are speculating that she’s a palace maid having an affair with Prince Lucien. He was quite angry when he found her.”

Wilhelm frowned, his brows meeting in the middle. Prince Lucien did not have a warm relationship with his wife but they seemed cordial. He didn’t know the man long but Wilhelm doubted that Lucien moved between women as easily as the King. If he did, he would be careful about it. “And I assume that you are not of that belief.”

“Movement in and out of the palace has been restricted. There has been a commotion at the Princess’ palace. I believe that it was she or her servant who was injured.”

“You may leave,” Wilhelm said with a thoughtful frown. “And Karl, if I find that you have been obstructing my letters from home, you will learn the hard way that I am my father’s son, am I understood?”

A tremble went through Karl’s body and then he lowered himself into a respectful bow. It was no more than thirty minutes later when Adolf entered the room with a stack of letters kept together by a blue ribbon. He waved them in the air. “What did you do?”

Wilhelm shrugged. “I am having breakfast, what else do I look like I’m doing?”

Adolf let out a small laugh and handed Wilhelm the letters. No food or drink held any interest after seeing those letters. However, Adolf said something that gave Wilhelm pause. “The woman Karl was telling you about is Princess Giselle. She was arrested by the magistrate while petitioning him to look into the Duke’s neglect of his residence.”

Adolf’s expression was stern and somewhat angry. The little time that he had been looking into Princess Giselle, he found that she was a figure both covered in myth and legend. She was a veiled figure seen only performing acts of kindness with the sisters of the church, that she ceased being a person. An angel. A saint. Perfection. No such person existed and the more Adolf looked, Wilhelm had realised that perhaps she might have been, if she could turn Adolf without ever speaking to each other.

“You are giving me that look,” Wilhelm said dryly.

Adolf huffed. “What look?”

“Like a petulant child,” Wilhelm stated, eyeing Adolf from across the table. “Were you not the one warning me to stay away from politics that has nothing to do with me?”

“She’s a danger to herself.” Adolf groaned. “I cannot see how such a man could be King. If he were my King, I would have killed him.”

“That is treasonous speech from a man of the law,” Wilhelm mused, much to Adolf’s frustration. Adolf moved across the room, took the wine decanter, and put it to his lips. A mouthful. Two. Four. Wilhelm’s brows rose.“Was she badly injured?”

“The things he does to rebels is worse than your father’s punishment to his enemies and he did them to his sister!” Wilhelm bit into the corner of his mouth, staring into the distance. There was no doubt that King Charles had not designed those things for his beloved sister. It was a net cast to catch everyone but her. However, Wilhelm didn’t say that. Adolf knew that too but he was blinded by his fondness of the Princess. Princess Giselle had avoided Wilhelm for two months, she was intelligent and he doubted that she was ever an unknowing participant in anything in life. Again, that would have been stating the obvious. Adolf frowned. “Don’t get any ideas.”

Wilhelm smirked.“I may as well live up to my reputation.”

“Wilhelm, don’t even think about it or so help me God, I will sabotage all your plans.”

Prince Wilhelm laughed. For all of Adolf’s admiration of Princess Giselle, the lines on the battleground were drawn, and finding their way home was their primary objective even if it grated against him to see her struggle. While Wilhelm faced off against his father regularly, he and his brothers were united in their bottom line of surviving their father.

It was difficult to fathom the dynamics of Giselle’s family. It made little sense how she was treated like a stepdaughter of the family— more of a guest than the Lords and Ladies who took periodic residence in the palace upon the King’s invitation. Perhaps it was why Adolf took a protective stance where she was concerned.

“I’ll pray to Saint Giselle and she will guide me.”

Adolf crossed his arms against his chest, returning the decanter where he found it. “I did not call her a saint. I said that’s what they call her.”

Wilhelm picked up his letters, going over the names signed on the envelopes. Alexandre. Jacobus. He tore into Jacobus’ letter first. The man was to the point and addressed most of Wilhelm’s worries first. He had found Agatha and moved her to one of Wilhelm’s private homes. The rest of the letter was relating to Wilhelm’s investments and after reading that Agatha was well, nothing else mattered. He didn’t need to be present for his investments to flourish. With Prince Wilhelm’s keen understanding of people and thirst for knowledge, he backed the right people with interesting ideas and in turn, it made him money. In the envelope were ledgers and a number of files that Wilhelm had been waiting on. He pushed it aside and moved onto the letters from his brother.

Alexandre had checked in on Agatha and explained what happened, promising to continue to do so. It came as no shock when the rest of Alexandre’s letters moved on to pleading with Wilhelm to make amends with their father. One thing about Henderiksen men was that they were stubborn to the end of time. Alexandre knew it was a longshot to plead with his brother but he tried anyway. The peacemaker. It was in his blood to smooth over the troubles caused by Wilhelm and Ferdinand.

Wilhelm sighed, pushing the ledgers and files towards Adolf. “I suppose this should be enough to form our base here.”

Adolf’s expression hardened. While they had been waiting for the ledgers to arrive, some part of Adolf had hoped that they sank in the middle of the ocean, even though that might be Wilhelm’s doom. With those files, Wilhelm’s hatred of his father became action and some things cannot be taken back. “Must we do this?”

“Agatha and I will be married and I am not the sort of man to let my family starve.” Wilhelm was used to a certain standard of living but Adolf didn’t doubt that the Prince could step into the mist and vanish with no issue.

“Does Alexandre have any clue about the plans you have for his future?”

“My brother is unattached and while I am sorry for forcing the crown on him, he has always known that should anything happen to me, the crown is his.” Wilhelm fell silent as a servant walked into the room. He moved away from the table with Adolf hot on his heels. They entered his private chambers and Wilhelm pulled out a box from underneath his bed. He removed the key from around his neck and placed the letters there. “I do not have a choice.”

“You know your father.”

“I also know that my father knows my weakness. This is the only way to succeed, with him not yet understanding the rules of engagement.” Even in all his selfish thoughts, Wilhelm was not foolish or cruel enough to subject his people to a war. His father would get the Princess he wants and King Charles would get a marriage — it just wouldn’t be to him. Too many lives hung on the choice of a Princess and so what if he manipulated it a little. Did it matter where she took her vows if she took them in the end? Wilhelm knew his brother and Alexandre wouldn’t hold on to a woman who doesn’t want him. But that was the problem, Princess Gisellle wanted no one.

“You will escape with Agatha but he knows that you care for your brothers. The things he will do to them to make you mend…”

Wilhelm lowered his head knowing the extent that his father could go. How many friendships had the man severed to make Wilhelm strong? How many unspoken threats have been passed through those dead eyes? King Maximilian made Wilhelm a lonely island. It was a wonder that he hadn’t ripped Adolf away. Wilhelm sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “Who am I to ever assume that I could protect them? He is the King, the ultimate power.”

“I don’t say this often but you would have made a wonderful king.”

Wilhelm laughed. “Alexandre will be kinder to you, so I’m sure you’ll be happier to serve him instead.”

“Are you sure?” Adolf asked again. Wilhelm had always had an interest in how things worked. Since he was a child, he could pull things apart and put them back together better than what they had been. Keeping the secret that the Crown Prince had a second identity as an investor never seemed so life or death. It was a secret that was well guarded to shield from the embarrassment of the royal family. It was a hobby that Wilhelm had been waiting for his father to discover and snatch away like everything else that the King had taken. His double life as the man who loved a commoner was more guarded than even that. Adolf had not thought that those two lives would ever completely merge. Now being a Crown Prince was more a masquerade than the other personas. “What if you regret it?”

“I’ll be with the person I love doing the things I love. What’s there to regret?” Wilhelm stood up, briefly looking at the ledgers tucked under Adolf’s arm. He sighed. “Don’t frown! I still have to wear the crown until I have Agatha in my arms.”

“There are too many threads to this game, Wilhelm. I fear it will all fall apart and tear you down. If you make the Princess fall in love with you, only to give her to your brother, how do you suppose that will work?”

“I have no intention of making her fall in love. I just have to convince my father that’s what I’m doing.” Wilhelm sighed. In his heart of hearts, Wilhelm knew that perhaps the Gods were protecting Giselle from him, knowing his intentions. He was destined to cause her pain and even knowing that, Wilhelm was too selfish to leave her alone. He was glad that she was smart enough to avoid him. Princess Giselle was collateral damage in a fight that she had no idea was happening.

“Do you think your father will simply let you give up the crown?”

“I can be as ruthless as he is when pushed and on this, I will not sacrifice.”

“But you are,” Adolf retorted. “It’s the Princess’ life and heart that you are willing to sacrifice.”

“What do you want from me?”

Adolf shook his head. “The Prince I know, and once served, would realise the folly in sacrificing a girl for his own gain. But I am a selfish man and would like to go home far more than I care to stop you.”

Wilhelm rolled his eyes. “Alexandre is far kinder than I am. She’ll forget me once she realises that.”Adolf closed Wilhelm’s chambers, placed the ledgers on the bed and stepped towards Wilhelm, cloak in hand. Wilhelm stood still as Adolf placed the cloak around his shoulders and tied it around his neck. He moved on to the circlet on Wilhelm’s brow, staring into Wilhelm’s eyes as he removed it. “You are afraid,” said Wilhelm, studying Adolf.

“Plotting the fall of a kingdom is treason last I checked.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Wilhelm said with a mild chuckle. “It is no coup.”

“I promised your mother that I would look after you. Occasionally, I have doubts that this is to your best interests. I know nothing has made you happy since your mother passed except for Agatha. However, I think this is the only time that I have ever found you to be short-sighted. Perhaps, it is because the King is forcing you to choose.”

“Short-sighted?” Wilhelm questioned. For a brief moment, Wilhelm let the words sink in. It was short-sighted of him to think his father would accept Agatha as easily as he had. That shortsightedness and hope that his father would be rejoice at Wilhelm’s happiness was the reason he was shipped away. The pain of losing his mother was a dull ache that he carried with him every single day and sometimes he was so busy that he forgot to think about her. When he remembered that blunt but ever-present pain, it stabbed into him like a knife. Along came Agatha and she made it bearable. With Agatha there was a hope that life needn’t be so mundane.“Have you ever known my father to compromise? I have no other choice than to beat him at a game that he doesn’t realise we are playing. For my family, I will do anything.”

And that was the part that Adolf did believe— for his family, the Prince made any sacrifice required of him. In the past, family consisted of his brothers but now there was an unknown factor that Adolf didn’t like. “Friedrich makes me a little wary. Forgive me, I spoke out of turn.”

“Friedrich is concerned about his sister. It will be fine once my intentions are clear. If it was your sister whom I had left him, you too would think me a scoundrel.” Wilhelm let out an easy smile. “As for forgiveness, there’s nothing to forgive. If I do not accept counsel from my friends, then who will I listen to?”

“Don’t act like you listen to me!”

“But I do let you speak far more than most,” said Wilhelm, turning towards the bed and picked up the ledgers. He moved towards the window and looked back at Adolf for the last time. “Keep Karl and Co busy until I return.”

Adolf flicked his brows up in agreement. “Isn’t it ironic that even with distance between the two of you, you and Princess Giselle have both been jumping out of windows to escape your lives?”

“Heavy is the head that wears the crown and all that,” said Wilhelm. He gave a small salute and jumped.