Lucas’ POV
Headache again.
Not new.
I drank a lot again.
I should really quit it.
I didn’t remember much.
Another blackout.
Nicholas.
I was with him.
Now I wanted to know what happened.
If I said something I shouldn’t.
How I even got home.
I was on the couch.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Two cans on the table.
I probably drank both.
I sighed, then took my bath and freshened up.
I had somewhere to get to.
I checked my phone for any messages from Nicholas before leaving, there were none. It made my skin itch but I ignored it. I had other things to do.
I was meeting up with Phillip, First Prince of Norway, who was going to be the King sooner than anyone anticipated. First lesson on Phillip, never anticipate.
Norway had business with Finland, they always did. The bond between them was special, intimate.
There was going to be a meeting soon. The first since the assassination of the King and Queen of Norway. Treachery. Felony.
It had been ages since there was a case of a King being assassinated, since it was almost impossible. All measures taken to have the royalty of the highest rank safe were never taken trivially.
From the multiple food tasters to the ban on weapons. Arrows and swords were allowed but only when a person was licensed, a useless rule when anyone could use a knife or a fork.
What actually had effect was the ban on the creation and the destruction of advanced armory like bullets, guns, and bombs. A universal rule in every developed nation.
I still knew a certain someone who made them though.
Well, back to what matters, the King and Queen of Norway. They weren’t killed with a gun. It was an inside job. Someone close, nearby, good enough to plan a murder and have a back story to hide himself. Someone close enough to be believable. Someone like Phillip.
His whole story was bogus but people believed it anyway. But to be honest, why would an heir kill his parents?
He made his followers feel sympathetic as he punished every official he accused wrongly. It’s not like I felt sorry for them either, just upset he killed them off before I had the chance to.
Phillip was like me in a way. Carefully sorted out plans, accurate precision, perfect execution.
What made him different from me, what made me hate him, was every other thing about him.
Phillip was not a good person. His whole being can be summarised to one word, ‘wrong’. Being born a royal messes with people’s brains. A man would kill his brothers, cousins, nephews, his whole family just for a throne.
They forget they’re humans before royals.
Phillip was twenty-five, the youngest king you’d see in this day and age. The youngest ever was five. Written in the books.
His parents were also assassinated. The throne could’ve so easily fallen into the wrong hands but the father’s younger brother was good willed. The father made it his dying wish, telling his brother that if he wasn’t going to make it out alive, he wanted his son on the throne next.
How did a five year old rule? You may ask.
He didn’t.
That was when the Emperor title was created. The brother was made the Emperor while the son, the King. The King held the highest power in the land, then after him the Emperor.
The Emperor ruled till the son became old enough and started taking up his responsibilities as King.
Beautiful story.
The Emperor title had been abolished in some countries at this stage, they tended to overstep. It was always a test, some sort of power play.
While the previous King of Norway was still alive, the title was abolished. One of Phillip’s ploys. He wanted full control and he had his way of getting exactly what he wanted.
He came to Finland in secrecy but nothing slipped past me.
He said he wanted to see the country as a regular republican, I didn’t buy that. But I also didn’t care, all I wanted was to get in on that meeting. I told him to meet up with me. He said he could only do so at a dark alley.
I got to where he said we should meet up and the first thing he asked was, “How’s Romeo?”
I leaned back on the wall before I replied, “Alive and well.”
“Thank you for taking care of my little brother for me, Lucas.”
“For you, that’s wild.”
He chuckled, slightly.
“There’s a meeting being planned between Finland and Norway,” I said.
“You aren’t supposed to know that, it’s under wraps.”
“I want in,” I urged.
“This is important.”
“So am I.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Big words coming from a king.”
“You’re going to get me into that meeting,” I said in a matter of fact tone. “What’s your representatives for?” I let him add it up.
“He can wait till he’s a Viscount.” He’s always tried to force the Norway out of me, always reminded me that I was Finnish.
“Not when he has a nice king for a friend.”
“You’re Romeo’s friend.”
“And yours too.”
“Lucas,” he said like a warning. “Haven’t I done everything you asked me to?” His tone was quieter but deeper.
“Not everything.”
“But enough,” he said and then looked at me like I was going to change my mind.
One.
Two.
Three.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he said.
“Now that’s the Phillip we know and love.”
A few minutes passed before he talked again.
“The game you’re playing, it won’t end well.”
“Doesn’t need to.”
It just needed to end.
The meeting was in a month’s time. I had to wait a month.
I was never a one plan man. If plan A didn’t work out, I always had a plan B.
In this case Nicholas was my plan A, Phillip was plan B. I liked nothing that had to do with him but I still needed a steady fallback.
It was not like I was getting any progress from Nicholas. He knew what I wanted from him, he wasn’t stupid, but he wasn’t giving it to me either.
He talked to me, asked questions about me, flirted with me, took me to different places but he drew the line at anything that had to do with the palace.
I took my phone out and checked again for his message, still nothing.
I know I saw him the night before, I know, but even with that I always had a text I woke up to from him.
One I barely paid any mind to. One I replied to whenever I felt like. Not really a ‘Good Morning’, more of ‘Where did you sleep last night?’ or ‘What do you think I should eat this morning.’ It was a different thing every time.
I thought maybe he woke up late or planned to send it later but any kind of excuse I came up with nullified itself.
He sent those messages at eight A.M every morning, for two weeks. Two weeks.
I went to the academy after. Nicholas was always there, never skipped a day since his first year. I stepped through the gates, the atmosphere not any better than before.
I saw him in the hallways, he was heading to a lecture room.
I got myself to the academy, that was the easy part. But the thought of walking to him had my legs weak.
What would he say?
What would I say?
What was I meant to expect?
I got my legs to move without answering any. And the first thing I did when I was close enough was look into his eyes. They were always the gateway to his emotions. Happy, sad, angry, I’d seen all but only subtly.
I stopped in front of him, his eyes found mine. The corners of his were tight, tense. “What’s wrong?” I asked. And I wondered why I didn’t say hi or hello immediately after.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing happened in the lecture room?”
“No, nothing.”
“Nothing happened at home?”
“The palace,” he corrected.
“Anything happen at the palace?”
“None that you should know of.”
I wasn’t even trying to dig then. I just wanted to make sure he was fine.
I held his forearm and rubbed it, a light massage. Nicholas liked being touched. Even for something as light as shoulder brushing, he became giddy.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” I said with more gentle rubs.
He didn’t say anything this time.
“It was some vexing officials.”
“What did they do?”
“Things they weren’t meant to,” he murmured. “And so did I.”
“Sounds like you got back at them. What’s really bothering you?”
“I was told to kneel to the Emperor and beg for forgiveness.”
“Did you?”
“Why would I kneel to that old---- He doesn’t know when to quit.”
“If you can’t kneel for the Emperor, who would you kneel for?”
“Well…”
“Well what?”
“You’ll see.”
“I’ll see you kneel?”
“If you’re lucky.”
“Now, why would I see that?”
“You don’t want to?”
“I don’t know,” I said, he smiled.
“Wanna go for a drink later?” he asked.
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
“I’m staying in.”
“Then can I come over?”
“And do what exactly?”
“Anything.”
“There’s nothing to do.”
“I’ll follow you home.”
“It’ll be boring there.”
“Nothing about you is boring.”
“If you believe so.”
“I have to go now, see you later,” he said then he slipped out of my hand.
See you later.
I went back to my condo, thinking about those three words.
Even with all the thought, I had no idea what he’d do when he got here, no idea what I’d do either.
Staring at the roof was the best way to kill time when I wasn’t drinking. That was the only reason I told him no. I didn’t plan to drink. I didn’t need him to see that side of me. But I made the worst decisions when I was drunk and I pretty much always had been these past few weeks.
The doorbell ringing got me out of my trance. I stood and opened the door for who I knew stood outside.
“Make yourself at home,” I said while leading him to the sitting room.
“When did you start living here?” he asked while still standing.
“Few months ago,” though I’d been moving from one apartment to another for almost two years.
“Why?” he asked.
“Why?” I repeated, questioning the question.
“Why do you live here? Why do you live alone?”
“I like it that way.”
“You already have a home in Finland.”
“I’d rather stay here,” I said, his brows furrowed. “It’s peaceful.” I offered.
He let it go, then he sat on the couch like he was familiar with it.
I loosened my tie. How does one forget what he’s wearing for hours just to stare at a roof? It’s like I became more self conscious when I was around him.
I took off my tie, went into my bedroom, tossed it on the bed, unbuttoned my shirt.
I needed that drink.
I was wearing a vest under, I’d remove it but I had a guest. I took my trousers off and wore joggers.
I stepped out, went to the kitchen, opened my fridge and grabbed a can.
I should’ve emptied the fridge too but then I’d just fill it again. I could manage not drinking for one day. I could manage that, so why was I still popping the can open?
I went to my couch like I always did but he was right beside me this time. I wasn’t out, so the drinking was justifiable, right?
Having him there was better than drinking alone, oddly enough.
“Hey, Luca,” he said. He nicknamed me Luca but I barely heard the name from him.
“Yeah?”
“Is there anything you hate?”
I hate a lot of things.
“Anything specific?”
“I hate princes, kings, queens, princesses.”
“You hate royalty?”
“To the depth of my core.”
“Why do you hate princes?”
“Why does anyone like them?” I asked. “They’re all lies and people are too blind to see that.”
“What kind of lies?” he asked.
“Lies about the kind of people they are.”
“They’re greedy and entitled. They want to rule without bothering to know who they’re ruling. They would do anything to get what they want, be more than what they are. Anything. Without a care in the world.”
“What if there are good princes?”
“That can’t happen, the system changes people.”
“What if it doesn’t?”
“Then it breaks them.”
“Isn’t Romeo your best friend?” he asked, but it felt like he was asking about himself.
“A prince first.”
“Doesn’t look that way.”
“He gets anything he wants, doesn’t he?”
“Like he got Fiona,” I said.
“How were you guys?” he asked. “You and Fiona, I mean.”
“I don’t know anymore. We were together, now we’re not.”
“It’s hard to imagine someone like you being in a relationship.”
“Well I barely indulge myself in that.”
“You really liked her?”
“I’d say otherwise.”
“Is that why you’ve been drinking so much?”
“Not really.”
“Then why?”
“Because I’m bored.”
“Why don’t you find a new girl to mess around with?”
“Never been a fan of messing around.”
“You messed around with her, didn’t you?”
“That was different, it felt like something I needed to do.”
“Felt like?”
Bad choice of words.
“Did you not like messing around with her?”
“I didn’t hate it. It’s just something necessary in life. I don’t get it the way other people do but I don’t really mind.”
“How many women have you slept with?”
“Two.”
My drink had finished, I stood up to get another then went back.
Nicholas kept on asking me questions like before. I started rambling about my mom somewhere along the line and I felt okay, even though it was partly because of the drink.
He placed his hand on my thigh. “It’s getting late,” he said then gave it a light squeeze, “I’ll be leaving now.” His hand left and he stood.
He looked down at me and I looked up at him. We just stared at each other. Something that had been happening a lot recently. It felt like we had a different language, and that look meant goodbye.
He left and I felt like a part of me left with him.
ns216.73.216.141da2
and then Add to home screen.