Chapter 3: Chapter Two—Recovered

Three months passed and I have fully recovered, at least in my perspective. For my family and the Medicine King, I still need to stay in bed for another month but I’m not doing that. Being in bed doesn’t help me heal, it makes me feel even sicker which is absolutely against the idea of recuperating.

After giving my body a few gentle stretches, I carefully removed myself from the sheets of my bed. I still have to be very careful with my actions. My wounds, partially healed, still, sting if I use my body to the extreme. I was in the middle of fixing my bed when a knock came upon my door.

“Enter,” I answered, taking a last look at the bed.

The door opened and as I turned, Gonzalo entered. “Good morning, Your Highness,” he bowed the moment he stepped foot inside my room.

“Good morning, Gonzalo,” I walked towards him. “How is everything today?”

“Everything is on schedule, Your Highness,” Gonzalo replied. “Your parents are currently in a meeting with a few merchants and Her Grace went on her first visit to the supported school.”

“Elizabeth went on her own today?” I said in disbelief. “Why did he go on her own? Why didn’t she wait for Their Majesties?”

“Their Majesties confirmed that they will be having a long meeting today with the merchants and instead of postponing the visit, Elizabeth proposed to go on her own,'' he explained.

I nodded in response. Elizabeth goes out of her way to please James, but this task should be done by the whole family or the king and queen, mainly. Elizabeth and I don’t have anything much to prove that we’re worthy of handling such important matters.

“Would you like to have your breakfast brought up here, Your Highness?” Gonzalo asked.

“Oh, yes. Of course,” I smiled, returning to my conversation with Gonzalo. “Also, could you have my reports brought here to my room as I wait? I have a lot of catching up to do.”

“His Majesty has insisted that you don’t go back to handling reports until the following week, Your Highness,” Gonzalo explained. “He would allow you to get out of bed but not to work and Her Majesty agreed with that as well.”

“Then what am I supposed to do all day?” I asked as I gestured around my room.

“Their Majesties said you can do anything you want as long as it doesn’t involve the reports and too extreme activities,” Gonzalo added. “Also, you have a letter from Lady Loraine. It was delivered here a few days back, but Her Majesty told me to only give it to you once you’re out of bed.”

As I was expecting, they would prefer for me not to move or do anything at all out of too much worry. I know I was gravely injured to the point that I almost lost my life but now, I’m fine. I don’t understand why they don’t believe me when I know to myself that I healed already “Gonzalo, I know this will mean going against their orders, but I implore you to bring a few reports here to my room. Also, bring Lady Loraine’s letter with my food,” I walked to my window, opening the curtains as I reached it, allowing the light to enter.

“Are you sure, Your Highness? What if Their Majesties punish us for that? Punish me?” Gonzalo began to worry.

I can understand Gonzalo’s fear of punishment. Everyone in this castle always feared the punishment implemented by this kingdom. Even I am afraid of it and I’m the heir to the throne I turned to him with a smile. “There are still undone reports in my study. You can bring those so James wouldn’t notice easily. Should they find me handling reports, I’ll tell them that I got them myself,” I reasoned. “You won’t have to worry about getting caught with me.”

Gonzalo nodded but there was still a look of uncertainty on his face.

I smirked and walked back to him, putting my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry too much about it, Gonzalo. I’ll do the reasoning with them. Just bring the reports here because I need to get something done within the day.”

He bowed, “As you wish, Your Highness.”

After I gave him a nod, he headed out of my room. As for me, I sat by the window and enjoyed the beautiful view of the garden, resting my eyes before looking into reports again.

♔♔♔

As I ate my breakfast and read through reports, someone knocked on my door.

“Who is it?” I answered.

The door opened and my page peaked his head, sticking out from the other side of the door. “Your Highness?” he called out.

“Yes?” I read the last word from the report I was reading before looking at him, brows lifted.

“Her Majesty is here to see you. Should I let her in?” he inquired.

I quickly put my fork down, as well as the report I was holding. “Please, let her in,” I stood from my chair as carefully as I could.

As my page disappeared, Mother entered the room and closed the door behind her.

“Hello, Mother,” I greeted her, my arms wide open.

“Good morning, Robert,” she smiled, giving me a warm embrace as we met in the middle. “How are you feeling today?” she asked, scanning me from head to toe and back.

“I feel better, Mother. I was already feeling better last week but Gonzalo said you didn’t want me to get out of bed yet,” I replied with a playful smirk.

“I just wanted to make sure that you’re completely healed before going back to your royal obligations,” she explained. “You gave us quite a scare after what transpired in the Sea of Gliss. Your father has decided not to let you cross the sea unless every pirate is found and dealt with.”

“I find both of you overreacting about this situation,” I let out a short laugh. “Just because I got hurt the first time, doesn’t mean it will always happen.”

“Robert, you should know that being your father’s heir is important. We can’t afford to lose you,” she added. “You’re very important to us, not just as monarchs but as parents, too.”

“Mother—” I was interrupted when another knock came upon my door.

“Your Highness?” Gonzalo’s voice echoed as the door opened. “Here are the others—” he entered the room, carrying another stack of reports for me. However, as he saw Mother, he stopped in his tracks, dropped to his knees, and put the reports beside him. “Your Majesty.”

Mother let out a deep sigh and turned to me with one brow up.

I bit my inner cheeks, avoiding her gaze. I know that look on her face right now and she’s not amused.

“Robert?” a stern voice came out from her lips.

I sighed in defeat, looking at her apologetically.

“Would you mind explaining to me why Gonzalo entered your room with a stack of reports?” she asked as she gestured at Gonzalo briefly.

“As I said, Mother, I’ve been feeling better since last week. And instead of staying in bed or doing nothing the whole day, I figured I could go back to my reports,” I explained.

“Robert, your father and I already gave out orders for you to be exempted from royal duties until we see fit,” she scolded. “Why do you keep defying our orders? Is that hard to follow?”

“Mother, it’s not that I want to disobey your orders,” I protested. “But what you want me to do will just keep me sick for a much longer time. If I continue doing nothing, I will never truly heal.”

“But do you have to do an immediate stack of reports on your first day out of bed?” she continued as she pointed at the reports. “In our eyes, you’re not completely healed and yet you think you can handle this much mental work?”

“Mother, it’s better to immerse myself in working instead of staring out the window the whole day,” I said, a bit annoyed. “I want to get my body back to work as early as possible. Even James would want for me to do that.

“Why would you think that your father would want you to go back to work right away?” Mother responded. “If you must know, he’s the one who wanted you to keep resting until you fully recovered. He even went out of his way to do half of the piled reports on your desk. Your father isn’t as bad as you think he is.”

I chuckled, knowing where this conversation is heading and I don’t want to have this argument, especially when I just got back from being injured. “Mother, you’re reading my words wrong. I’m not saying he’s the villain in this. All I’m saying is as his heir, he will surely understand why I want to resume my responsibilities. As he would always say, the sooner—”

“The better.” Another voice entered our conversation, making us turn our heads to the door. “It seems that your son has learned a lot after your trip to Middle Earth,” he continued as he approached us. “Gonzalo, stand. There’s nothing to worry about,” he added, passing by Gonzalo.

“I thought you were still in the meeting. How did it go?” Mother asked, kissing James on the cheek.

“They were getting difficult, especially with their demands. They want to benefit from the cause and at the same time, claim all the glory that will be received from the plan,” he explained.

“Well, that’s a shame. It would’ve been a wonderful opportunity to showcase our partnership with them,” Mother frowned. “And their products have potential to be a good source of revenue for the kingdom.”

“Oh, don’t worry too much, my wife. There are a lot of opportunities out there,” he smiled at her, holding her hands. “Anyways,” he slowly turned Mother around to face me, putting his hands on her shoulders. “What are you two arguing about?”

Mother and I just looked at each other, waiting for one of us to tell James what was going on before he arrived.

“We’re not arguing, to be exact,” I started, putting my hands behind my back. “I was just explaining to Mother that I’m fully capable of going back to work and that you would agree with me on that matter.”

Mother looked up to James and he looked back at her, talking with their eyes. “Well, if your mother was the one who gets her way, you would be staying in bed until we say so,” he said after a sigh. “However, you are your own person, and if you think you can handle a few reports today then do so. But don’t strain yourself. The Medicine King said that you may be feeling better, but your wounds still need a bit more time.”

“You’re agreeing to what he wants?” she asked him, confused.

“Amelia,” he gave her a light squeeze on her shoulders, “If our son thinks he can get some work done without forcing himself then we should let him. Should he feel that he overused his body today, we’ll be here to tell him we told him so.”

My eyes widened and my brows furrowed, surprised that James was completely on my side. Usually, when my mother and I disagree on something, he would side with her and that’s understandable. A king should side with his queen as the queen does for her king. But in this conversation, Mother is outnumbered.

“Well, can’t we, at least, limit the number of reports he will be doing today?” she insisted on her demands. Her persistence made me smile and caused James to chuckle, amused by her stubbornness.

“Mother, I’ll be fine,” I walked to her, holding her hands as I reached her. “You need not worry about me. James said it himself: if I feel too tired, you will be there to scold me for it.”

She sighed as she bowed her head, defeated. “If you say you can go back to work, I trust you,” she smiled as she caressed my hands. She then turned to James, “It’s incredibly hard to win a conversation when I’m against the two of you. You both have the same mind,” she remarked with a smile.

James let out a smirk. “Well, he is my son. He has more of my qualities than I thought,” he said, a statement that I couldn’t agree with because I don’t see any kind of resemblance between the two of us. “If I may, my queen, I would like to have a word with Robert for a moment.”

She nodded and turned back to me, kissing me on the cheek. She whispered, “Don’t work too much. If I find out that you did, I will be forced to take away all of your reports.”

I let out a small laugh as she took a step back. “I will take good care of myself, Mother.”

“All right, my darling, don’t pester the child too much. He will be fine,” James reassured her, pulling her closer to him by her shoulders. Mother did her curtsy and after he laid a kiss on her hand, she smiled at us one more time and left.

James walked closer to me, clearing his throat. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“I feel better now that I’m out of bed. Thank you, Your Majesty,” I made a quick bow, “For asking about my well-being.”

“Please, Robert, there’s no need to call me Your Majesty,” he suddenly put his hand up, interrupting me, “I prefer you call me by my name when it’s just the two of us.”

I nodded. “Is there anything that you would want for me to do?” I enquired.

“No, I just wanted to see for myself if you’ve recovered,” he smiled. “Your mother worried too much about you and to make sure she wasn’t overreacting about the situation, I had to come.

I nodded again.

“Also, I don’t want this to hinder your responsibilities once you take over the throne, especially when you need to go to another kingdom,” he added.

“Rest assured, Your Majesty—”

“Hm?” he quickly stopped me again as he raised his brows, reminding me of what he just said a while ago.

“Oh, forgive me. I meant, rest assured, James,” I emphasized his name, “This experience hasn’t caused any kind of trauma on me. I won’t let this matter stop me from fulfilling my role as king.”

He smiled, seemingly satisfied with my reply. “I’m happy that you’re facing this with bravery and integrity. You have become worthy as a future ruler of this kingdom.”

“If I may, James, I would like to have a meeting with all of the crew members of the ship,” I continued my reply. “They have served me valiantly and they deserve all the recognition as well.”

His eyes widened, surprised. “I didn’t know you already have close relations with the crew.”

“They vowed to serve me until the very end on that night. I would like to return the favor for what they did for me and Mother,” I explained.

James began to think about my request. The captain showed his loyalty and was willing to sacrifice himself for me just to make sure I returned home alive. He deserves more than just a reward of gold.

“If you must, then I will allow it. When would you like to have them come over?” James asked.

“I’ll be the one to invite them here to the castle. All I need is your blessing, both verbal and written so I could do whatever is needed without having any sort of problem,” I explained.

He nodded slowly. “I’ll write a royal proclamation and have it announced to the whole kingdom. The people should know about it, seeing that you want to give them glory for your safety.”

“Thank you, James,” I bowed.

“Well, I know you still have other things to do so I’ll take my leave,” he said after a deep breath. “If you feel like you can’t keep working anymore, take your rest.”

“Yes, James,” I replied but inside my mind, I’m already rolling my eyes with this reminder. He and Mother are too anxious about it. They can see that I’m perfectly fine.

“I will see you later today,” he bids goodbye. I gave my bow and he walked out of the room.

Gonzalo finally walked up to me with all the reports. “My deepest apologies if I arrived at the wrong time, Your Highness,” he quickly bowed.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Gonzalo,” I reassured. “As you can see, everything turned out perfectly fine. His Majesty is on our side on this matter.” I gestured to the table, and he put the documents there as soon as possible. “You also heard that I will be inviting the captain and his crew members here.”

“Yes, young prince. Is there something you would like for me to do?” he inquired.

After a bit of thinking, I remembered one small thing that I knew I would be needing his help with. “If it’s not too much trouble, Gonzalo, I would like for you to create a speech for me,” I grabbed one document from the pile. “I don’t need something too long, too formal, or too emotional. I just want you to create some sort of foundation so I could change what I need for the speech.”

Gonzalo didn’t answer, he started thinking about my instruction. He replied, “But young prince, you’re known for creating amazing speeches for His Majesty. Why would you need my help?”

I shrugged and said, “I will be attending to these reports as long as I can. At the same time, I need to have a speech prepared before they arrive. I know you’re the only person I could trust.”

Gonzalo nodded. “As you wish, Your Highness. When would you like for me to write your speech for you?”

I sat down on my chair and returned to the report I was looking through before Mother entered. “The sooner you can, the better. I know you have many things to do so if you have some spare time, you can do that.”

Gonzalo bowed his head. “With your permission, I would like to create the speech right now, in front of Your Highness’s presence.”

“As long as it won’t be any trouble with your daily activities, you may,” I smiled.

He bowed again and stood. “I’ll go and get some paper and a pen, young prince. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded, putting my full attention to the report as Gonzalo left the room.