Chapter 180 Always the throne

Chapter 180 Always the throne

Without knocking on Lord Preston's door, Henry let himself into the old man's chambers and slammed the door behind him. The loud bang echoed through the room. Lord Preston lifted his head and looked at Henry in shock. He could not believe the young man had entered his chambers without knocking and behaved in such a disrespectful manner.

"Have you no respect?" Lord Preston asked, his face twisted with anger. "How dare you walk into my chambers without knocking?" he added.

"Forgive me for walking into your chambers without knocking," Henry replied, "but you need to sit down and deal with that son of yours." Lord Preston stared at Henry, unable to hide the confusion on his face.

"What are you talking about?" the old man asked.

"I'm talking about your son helping the Queen. I'm sure you heard about the fire at the kingdom's entrance."

Lord Preston frowned. Of course he had heard about the fire. He was one of the first people to hear about anything that happened in the kingdom. That was how well informed he was.

"Well, that was all orchestrated by none other than your son, Kael. He teamed up with the Queen to distract me so that I would not follow her into the village immediately."

At Henry's words, Lord Preston rose from his seat. Looking at his face, Henry could see that the old man was deeply offended that someone would accuse his son of doing such a thing.

"Do not accuse my son unless you have evidence against him," Lord Preston shot back.

"I'm not accusing your son of anything. I know he did it because he told me himself," Henry replied. Only then did a look of concern flash across the old man's face.

"Kael admitted to helping the Queen?" Lord Preston asked.

"Yes, Lord Preston. He admitted to helping the Queen and I do not know what he hopes to gain from helping such a woman in the first place," Henry responded angrily.

Looking at Henry's face, Lord Preston knew that he was telling the truth, but what he needed to find out was why Kael would do such a thing.

"Leave my chambers now. I will have this matter resolved as soon as possible," Lord Preston said. Without wasting another second, Henry turned and walked out of Lord Preston's chambers, slamming the door behind him once again.

Left alone inside the room, Lord Preston paced the length and breadth of his chambers. His mind raced as he wondered what reason his son could possibly have for helping the Queen in the first place.

Elsewhere,

After being upset by Kael, Henry had taken it upon himself to call one of his informants, who met him outside the kingdom walls in the forest. As soon as Henry arrived, the man bowed his head as a sign of respect.

"Good day, Master Henry. I came as soon as they told me you were looking for me," the man said, fear evident in his eyes. Henry was not the type to summon people without reason. There was always a purpose behind everything he did.

"I called you here for an important reason. I would like to know about the Princess of Cilium," Henry said immediately. The man's expression darkened.

"Master Henry," he began hesitantly, "what happened to the princess is truly unfortunate. Not only was she hated by many people in the kingdom because they believed her to be nothing more than a curse, but it is the way she died that is the real tragedy."

The man's voice was filled with sadness, while Henry stared at him as though he had lost his mind. Henry knew very well that Freya was not dead. Instead, she was alive and was now the Queen of the Duskton Kingdom.

"What do you mean she died?" Henry asked, wanting more clarity about what was going on.

"Many months ago, it was reported that the princess had gone to defend the kingdom. Unfortunately, she was captured and was ultimately put to death. Her brother, the king, announced her death to the entire kingdom," the man explained.

Henry remained silent, listening to every word in complete disbelief.

"Have you ever been inside the Duskton Kingdom?" Henry asked. The man looked up, surprised that he had been asked such a question.

"No, Master Henry. I have never been inside the Duskton Kingdom. You know that the kingdom is heavily guarded and not everyone can enter as they please," the man replied.

Henry nodded slowly. Deep down, he could not believe what he was hearing. It seemed as though everyone was living under the illusion that Freya had long been killed during the war, when the reality was that she was alive and now ruled as queen in an entirely different kingdom.

“Master Henry,” the man called out to him and only then did Henry snap out of his thoughts. Deep down, he was concocting a plan to take Freya down for good.

“Yes,” he responded.

“Sorry, Master. You seemed lost in your thoughts,” the man said. Henry smiled. He needed to appear as though everything was fine.

“No, everything is fine... everything is just fine,” Henry said as his smile grew larger. “You may leave, but make sure that not a single one of my gold coins is missing,” he warned.

The man nodded his head in agreement before walking away.

Kael's Chambers

“You idiot!” Lord Preston yelled at Kael before flinging him across the room. Kael's back slammed against the wall before he crashed onto the floor. Lord Preston watched as his son struggled to get back on his feet.

“What have I done this time?” Kael asked. There was no doubt that Kael was in pain as he fought to stand.

“Why did you help the queen?” Lord Preston demanded angrily. Only then did Kael realize that Henry had told his father what had happened.

“I see your little lapdog came running to report to you.” Kael laughed, and his attitude only made his father angrier.

“You are my son, but I am warning you to stop helping that woman,” Lord Preston said through gritted teeth.

“Why? Why shouldn't I help the queen?”

“Because she is our enemy, and she is standing between us and the crown. I will not allow you to become the obstacle between me and that crown.”

“The crown... it's always been about the crown,” Kael mocked as he stumbled toward a nearby chair, raising his index finger. “Are you not tired, Father? You have been chasing this crown since before I was born!” Kael yelled in anger.

“And I will keep chasing after it... even if it means getting you, my own son, out of the way,” Lord Preston vowed before storming out of Kael's chambers.

Once his father was gone, Kael allowed a single tear to roll down his cheek. It was painfully clear to him that his father valued power above everything else.

Kael had grown tired of chasing the throne and he was not about to betray the queen, who had been nothing but kind to him.