Guardians of the Throne; Part I

by Rose-Merry Unan

nodded, and I put his chair up against the wall on the side so he could look. “So that’s him?” He asked.

  I nodded. “I think that it’s him, I mean I’ve never actually met him before. Now be quiet so I can hear what’s going on.”

  “I’m glad that you’ve come,” I heard my father say. “I have long dreamt about the day, when I could welcome my brother back and reunite our family.”

  “I have thought about this day often as well,” Harold replied. “I am especially joyful to finally meet my beautiful niece.”

  He looked to Uncle Charles. “Don’t I have another niece?” He asked.

  Charles nodded, and looked solemn. “Yes, but I’m afraid that she is gravely ill.”

  “Oh no” Harold said. “I hope that she will make a recovery.”

  “The doctors don’t think that it’s likely,” he said.

  Harold shook his head. “I would like to meet her before her time has come then.”

  Charles hesitated. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. The doctors think that it’s a case of the plague. Not even we’re allowed to see her.” He grabbed onto Aunt Mary’s hand. I wondered if the lie would work.

  “The plague?” Harold asked. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a case of the plague?” He suddenly sounded mad.

  “We just found out about it last night,” my father stepped in. “Catherine had just returned from a trip to see her mother’s family. She was isolated immediately.”

  Harold shook his head. “Well, I hope that there aren’t any more cases. I am sorry to hear about what has happened to your daughter. I will pray that she still makes a recovery.”

  William

  I was sure that he hadn’t bought the bait. I was sure that he had to know something was going on.

  I leaned closer to the wall to try and hear more of what was going on.

  “I think we should discuss peace terms,” Harold said abruptly.

  The King took a sip of wine. “Don’t you think we should do that in private brother?” He asked.

  “No, let’s do it here, and out in the open,” he said. “ I want what’s mine.”

  “I have ruled this kingdom for twenty years,” the King said tartly. “It’s stable, and I won’t release any of my lands.”

  Harold stood up as if to leave, then turned around drawing his sword on the King.

  Immediately someone grabbed Catherine, and there were a dozen swords pointed at Harold.

  He held his sword at the King’s throat for a few minutes, and then finally put it down.

  “Throw him in the dungeon,” the King ordered. “Make sure he’s well-guarded.”

  “By morning, there will be war on your doorstep,” Harold warned. He eyed Catherine and the Queen. “All that you hold precious is now in danger.”

  Catherine hid behind Mary as Harold was led out of the room. I nudged Isabel. “Now would be the time to go,” I said.

  She grabbed onto my wheelchair and began pushing me as fast as we could. We knew that we didn’t have a lot of time to get back to the passageways.

  Sir Owen

  I grabbed a hold of Catherine as soon as Harold had drawn his sword on the King. I had been waiting for it. His demeanor had been to calm, to joyful. It didn’t make sense to me that after so many years of conflict, that he would be so happy to see his family. I knew that he was up to something.

  On the King’s orders, I escorted Catherine, the Queen, and Lady Mary back to the passageways. I was careful not to speak to anyone. I had the eerie feeling we were being watched. I knew for certain Harold had spies in the palace, maybe even some of the kings own knights were traitors. It suddenly made more sense to me why we had been taking in the orphans. They made for loyal servants.

  All of a sudden, all of the non-orphans, became would be assassins. Every time I passed one of them, I began to wonder if one of them was a traitor. I made a mental note to change the guards of the passageways. After tonight, only the orphans would guard them. I knew the rest of the orphans felt like I did, and would never betray the King.

  Luckily, I had left the most secret of the passageways unguarded. I waited until we reached one out of eyesight, and entered that way.

  When we were inside the Queen commented, “I didn’t even know this entrance existed.”

  I smiled. “I don’t think that the King even knows this entrance way exists.”

  She put her hand on my shoulder, with her eyes beaming. “I’m proud of you,” she said.

  I stopped for a second. It was the first time that she had ever whispered such praise to me.

  You don’t know how much that means to me,” I replied. I hesitated not sure if it was appropriate, but I couldn’t help it. “Your majesty, I love the king and you as parents. Especially you, you’re the only mother that I’ve ever known.”

  She smiled. “I’m proud to call you my son then,” she said. “Come on, we should hurry. Although I’m sure Isabel and William will appreciate the extra time to get back into their beds.”

  I looked at her curiously. “You mean they weren’t in their apartment tonight?”

  “I know my daughter, and William well,” she said. “Trust me, they wouldn’t miss what happened tonight.”

  “What about their guard?”

  “I’m sure they waited until he was asleep or managed to pass by him somehow.”

  “No,” I said. “None of the guards under me would ever let that happen.”

  “You have much to learn about our children,” Mary interrupted. She looked down at Catherine. “Doesn’t he?”

  Catherine’s face flushed. “ I don’t what you’re talking about,” she said innocently. “I’m sure the Princess and William wouldn’t do anything wrong.”

  “It’s ok Cat,” Mary said. “What’s important is that right now you’re all safe, and you did an excellent job tonight.”

  The Queen began to walk back towards the apartments.

  “Mother, I don’t understand what happened tonight,” she said to Mary. “Uncle Harold seemed so nice, and then he tried to kill the King.”

  “None of us really understand the man,” The Queen said. “ He had even me fooled. For a moment I really thought that he did want peace.”

  “Why doesn’t he want peace?” She asked.

  “Because he wants power,” Lady Mary told her.

  “But doesn’t he love us? Doesn’t he want to be good Uncle to me?” She asked.

  “I think that he does love his family,” the Queen said kneeling down. “I just think that he loves power more.”

  I felt bad for Catherine. It was too much for a young child to understand.

  “Why does he want to hurt us?” She asked.

  The Queen shook her head. “Try not to think about it anymore,” she said. “Come now, we must hurry.”

  We continued through the rest of the passageways until we reached the secret royal apartments. As we opened the door we could hear scurrying coming from the bedrooms, and we saw a light go out.

  “It looks like we got here just a second too late to catch them,” the Queen commented. She glanced over in the corner, and my eyes followed her gaze.

  My guard was sleeping. I felt furious. I would have his head later.

  “Not now,” the Queen said putting her hand on my shoulder. “You can relieve him, but I don’t want my children to witness anything more than they already have tonight.”

  She looked drained all of a sudden.

  “Can I get you some tea,” I asked her.

  She smiled. “That’s not part of your duty, but yes I would like some tea,” she said.

  The Queen

  I looked at Owen curiously. I had realized that night that I had felt the same way for him that I had for William. It’s strange how you can go such a long time without realizing how much someone means to you. It was natural of course. I had raised Owen from the time that he was a small boy. Of course he would see me like a mother, and I would see him like a son.
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br />   Suddenly I felt overcome with guilt. How it must have hurt him all this time for me not to lavish the same love on him that I had on William. I would see to it that the King and I made it up to him somehow.

  I thought back to the night that Owen had come to us. It was much like the night that William had come to us. He had been brought into our private chambers late at night. He was a small boy, but a handsome little boy with dark hair and bright blue eyes. We had been the ones to tell him about his father. I held him and tried to comfort him while he cried himself to sleep. Like William, the King had insisted that we take care of him, to make sure that he had a proper upbringing. I had been hesitant, but I had reluctantly agreed. I realized that it had been one of the best decisions we had ever made. Over time, we adopted more and more orphans like William and Owen. But Owen had been the first.

  I thought back to all the warm memories I had of Owen as a child. He had always been a sweet child, always eager to obey and please. I felt a slight twinge of regret that I hadn’t spent more time with him. It wasn’t that we had treated him poorly, or even neglected him. We hadn’t neglected him in the least. We had lavished him with toys, and when he was older we lavished him with horses, and the best that an education could afford. He had the finest of upbringings. We just didn’t spend nearly enough time with him.

  Once again I thought back to the night that my own daughter had been attacked, and felt guilty. I hadn’t spent enough time with any of my children. Not my own natural daughter, and not enough time with the orphans that we had taken in; except for William. William, we had treated more like our biological son. I knew that it was because