Some of the glass cracked and broke.
The guards in the main hall put their hands over their heads as they covered their faces from falling glass.
I slowly turned my face towards Gonzalo. As soon as our eyes met, he was in shock. His eyes widened in horror. He took a few steps back as he kept himself far from my reach.
My jaw clenched as fury whirled inside of me. “Do. Not. Ever. Speak. Of her. In such a manner,” I gritted through my teeth.
“Your Highness,” Gonzalo pressed on but immediately stopped when I raised my hand towards him.
A whirlwind whistled from my hand, the guards knelt and pleaded with me, begging for me to control my anger.
Gonzalo, however, did not flinch. He stood his ground, his hands clenched into fists by his sides.
I was more than prepared to shoot the whirlwind onto him and I did not care about the possible damage it could implicate on him. However, a hand landed on my shoulder. I turned my head and Elizabeth appeared from a white mist.
“That is quite enough, little brother,” Elizabeth spoke as she gently put my hand down. She then stepped forward and stood between Gonzalo and me.
“Your Grace,” Gonzalo quickly bowed to my sister, “The guards and I are in your debt.”
“Just because I stopped him from killing everybody in this room, that does not mean I was pleased with how you acted, Gonzalo,” Elizabeth replied sternly.
Everyone was surprised at how Elizabeth spoke. She was known to be soft-spoken; always gentle with everybody. No one ever dared to enrage my sister. And perhaps, this was the reason. She might have been in rage but to handle the situation with class was intimidating.
“I beg your pardon, Your Grace?” Gonzalo stuttered as he asked.
“I heard the entire conversation. And the both of you acted like children,” Elizabeth remarked.
I sighed as I bowed my head in embarrassment.
“But, Your Grace, I was only telling the young prince the unavoidable truth,” Gonzalo protested. He continued, “He is more than willing to break tradition; the very core of our entire existence. The very rules that have protected us and our realm from those low-life scums.”
“If you continue to disregard their existence as a nuisance, I will not hesitate to rip your lips off of your face,” I stepped forward as I pointed a finger at him. Elizabeth immediately put her arm in front of me as she kept her eyes on Gonzalo.
“Your Highness, may I remind you that because of their greed, our race became close to extinction,” Gonzalo snarled as his teeth gritted out of anger. He continued with his rage, “We have given them everything. We welcomed them into our arms and what did they do? They plotted to eradicate us and become gods themselves. Their suffering satisfies me.”
With a smug expression, Gonzalo added, “I am surprised that they lasted this long.”
“Not all mortals are the same, Gonzalo. There are a fair few that have a heart of gold,” Ireplied as I kept Laura in mind. Everything that she stood for accompanied my words. Kindness. Understanding. Compassion. A giving heart.
She gave me the reason to believe that even the most evil beings could change.
Gonzalo chuckled as he rolled his eyes. He turned away for a brief moment. He answered, “Thay have fooled you, Your Highness. It is their tactic to lure others and take advantage of their weakness. For a prince, you should have seen through that facade. Why would you believe such a false act of kindness?”
“Because unlike people such as yourself, they have given me nothing but warmth and acceptance. Something that I craved for the longest time,” I said.
“You are allowing your emotions to rule you and your judgement,” Gonzalo stepped closer but still kept his distance. “That will be your downfall. Look at what it’s doing to you now. You look pathetic.”
“I think enough words have been exchanged,” Elizabeth interrupted as she put a hand on my shoulder. Her power of persuasion quickly took effect on me. It allowed me to stay silent and have deep breaths.
Elizabeth stood in front of me and faced Gonzalo. “Gonzalo, if innocent lives are at stake, traditions and rules can be overlooked. After all, we need the patronage of humans. Each one of them counts,” she said.
“Your Grace, we are talking about one mortal. Her absence will not have that big of an impact. It will not make a difference from millions of other humans,” Gonzalo continued his debate against us.
I was about to answer when Elizabeth grabbed me by the arm. Instead, she replied, “I suggest that we bring this matter to His Majesty. As our king, he has the power to decide without a biassed opinion.”
Gonzalo snorted, a manner of showing further resistance.
Elizabeth’s grip on my arm tightened. This time, however, it was out of anger. Without hesitation, I quickly grabbed hold of her arm in an attempt to control her fiery rage.
“Your Grace, His Majesty will never agree to your plight,” Gonzalo said. “He values tradition above everything else. To approach him will only be a waste of your time.”
“Then, why don’t we proceed to the Crystal Palace now? I would like for that confidence to come out from His Majesty’s lips,” Elizabeth retorted. She turned to the guards and commanded, “Gentlemen, prepare the royal carriage.”
The guards around us bowed and quickly moved, only to be stopped by Gonzalo.
“You dare to disobey my command?” Elizabeth snarled as she turned to every guard in the room.
“Your Grace, going to the Crystal Palace is just a waste of time,” Gonzalo repeated as he stepped towards us. “The elders will not allow us to enter the hall. Also, His Majesty will only disagree–”
“If you are so certain that His Majesty will disagree with what my brother wants, why are you so insistent to stop us?” Elizabeth snapped, visibly annoyed at this point. I could feel her impatience as it slowly burned within her. She could be seen as meek and kind. But once you crossed a line, Elizabeth wouldn’t hesitate to bite back.
I tightened my hold on Elizabeth’s arm as I didn’t want for her to unleash her wrath onto everybody in this room. At this moment, she was not in a forgiving mood.
With her hands on her waist, Elizabeth continued, “If you are incredibly certain that the king will oppose that idea, isn’t it better for us to go there and for you to prove us wrong?”
Gonzalo kept his mouth shut after Elizabeth’s reply. He avoided her glare as Elizabeth has never reached this stage of fury. Her rage towards Gonzalo, however, wasn’t her breaking point. It was not the anger that I feared from Elizabeth. I was afraid of her silent anger, which was what she felt right now.
And at this moment, Elizabeth would be willing to use her powers to make things happen.
Elizabeth turned to the guards and yelled, “Well, what are you all waiting for? Fetch the royal carriage now!”
The guards scrambled to leave the hall as quickly as possible. They didn’t want to be near her at this rate.
As her brother, my knees quaked as she bellowed a command.
Silence came in between the three of us, only for it to be broken by Gonzalo. “I will assist the guards with the carriage,” he said. He bowed and left us standing in the middle of the room. His head was down in shame as he walked away.
I stepped in front of Elizabeth as I sighed in relief. “Is it possible for you to calm down now? You are scaring me too much,” I said.
“I should say the same for you,” Elizabeth replied as an arch brow. She was obviously frustrated with me. “The only reason I intervened is because you lost your composure. And with the abilities that you have, you can easily kill anybody in a snap of a finger,” she continued.
A sigh escaped my lips as I hung my head low. I was immensely disappointed with myself as I received her scolding. I was easily irritated, easy to taunt. I should have used my mind instead of emotions.
“Robert,” Elizabeth then put a hand on my shoulder. Slowly, I looked at her as she proceeded, “I understand that emotions are not easy to handle. Even monarchs have instances where they are taken over by what they feel. However, there is a difference between using it to our advantage and it being to our disadvantage.”
She added, “And I know that you know which of those choices happened today.”
I nodded as my lips formed into a firm line. “My apologies, Elizabeth. I was too focused on what I have to do. And I guess that my personal attachment to this person has made me weak. I am embarrassed that you have to step in,” I replied.
For a while, Elizabeth merely stared at me. Her silence was put to an end when she cracked a smile. She then messed with my hair.
The happy princess has returned.
“I do not blame you entirely for what happened. Gonzalo had his own fair share with my rage,” Elizabeth said. “But as my younger brother, I implore you to be wise with your next step. No one has to get hurt when it comes to helping others. Most especially, you.”
My brows furrowed as I grew confused. Elizabeth didn’t seem to be opposed with my plan to rescue a mortal; a mortal that I had a different sort of attachment to. She has abided with all the rules of this realm.
And yet, she was still on my side.
“You seem to be in shock, brother,” Elizabeth smirked.
“I am just surprised that you are not against the idea of me rescuing a mortal,” I answered, still in awe.
Elizabeth smiled and said, “You are only doing what you think is right.” She continued, “As the future king, your mind, your way of thinking is trained to think of the welfare of your people and others as well. Judging by the way you acted, I do not see anything wrong with it.”
“But, Gonzalo said I will only waste my time in doing so. Why do you still agree with my idea when the person I am concerned for is not even a part of our kingdom, let alone our realm?” I asked.
“We are raised by our mother to be compassionate to every single being that the ancient gods have created. And I do not believe that mortals are as evil as what Gonzalo is implementing,” Elizabeth replied. “Do what you think is right, little brother. And I am certain that James and Mother will see it from that standpoint.”
I nodded as I felt assured that James could see me eye-to-eye on this matter.
“Lady Elizabeth?” our conversation was cut short when a guard ran towards us. He bowed as he reached us, “The carriage is waiting outside.”
“Fantastic,” Elizabeth smiled as she walked closer to him. “We must head to the Crystal Palace at this instant.”