Alexia
Unlike Olimper, every corridor was different, a single line on the wall with different wishes.
The color baby blue was almost invisible except for the flags because the rest of the kingdom was colorful, unlike Torrem where almost everything was red.
Arriving at the hall, I looked at everyone around us, some of the stares made me feel embarrassed, I'd never been so bare-skinned in front of so many people and I felt exposed for it.
We walked through the hall and sat down at the king's table for the banquet, the hot day, the laughter, the clatter of cutlery and so on were all present.
I looked around, observing everything.
"It's been three months since you last came here," said Thales to Estevan. "Have you seen Thomas?"
I looked at Estevan.
"Not yet"
Thales nodded.
"We have important things to talk about, but let's leave it until after lunch" Thales said and Estevan nodded.
I took my first bite of the meat and almost spat it out onto my plate. I looked at Estevan and moved closer to his ear.
"What's that?"
"It's not meat," he said, and I looked at the plate. It looked like meat, it smelled like meat, but the taste and texture were a little different.
Ignoring it, I continued to eat, leaving everything I knew aside. It wasn't bad, just different, some things I liked and others I didn't. After lunch, the king invited Estevan into his drawing room while I went for a walk in the garden.
After lunch, the king invited Estevan into his drawing room while I went for a walk with Queen Naomi in the garden.
"Those are my sons," she said, pointing with her head, and I saw two boys playing with wooden swords, one looked six and the other eight. "I still have a twenty-year-old, the future successor to Letrons, he's in town and won't be back until tomorrow."
I nodded.
"How old is Alexia?" My whole body went rigid when I heard my name, I looked at her in shock "Don't worry, I'm not bothered about your origins"
I shook my head.
"Apparently news travels fast"
"Yes, that's why we sent the letter. Things are a bit hectic and killing the kings seemed reckless, Torrem benefits our kingdoms, we don't want to get into a war right now, our kingdom is small," she said bluntly, and I looked into her eyes.
"All we want is to get into a war too, but there's no other way out. The kings were swearing war before they even left the gates of Olimper" I stopped walking and she did the same, I turned to look at her "I didn't want things to end like this"
"But they did" she said "The letter was just to scare you, we knew you were coming. Of course, Thales is furious at being blinded, but we still have an alliance... My husband and I have a good, solid friendship with Acácio, Soraya and Estevan, but whether we'll get involved in this war you're creating will depend on one thing."
I looked intently into Naomi's eyes.
"Sincerity, we know who you are, your speech to the nobles has traveled across the ocean and to the most varied lands, just as I know that your face is covered in makeup, we know everything Alexia and we only want one thing, sincerity. Thales has left Estevan to his own devices since he arrived, if Estevan isn't honest with Thales our alliance is over and you'll be alone!"
Torrem was a danger, but it wasn't just Torrem. Zaim was also a kingdom of power from which reinforcements were needed. I looked up at the castle and just hoped that Estevan was telling the truth.
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Estevan
Thales offered me a glass of whisky, which I accepted. He walked across the room, stopping in front of the window.
"I know it was King Acacius who ordered you to come here, because of the letter" He turned to me "We have a lot to talk about because it seems there's a lot going on in Olimper and everyone knows everything but me, I'm the last one and you don't tell me anything so before I end our alliance with Olimper I need you to tell me honestly what's going on"
I shook my head, I understood Thales perfectly, I wouldn't want to stay in the shadows either, not knowing what was going on, since what happens in Letrons could harm us.
I took a sip of the whisky, but the heat didn't sit well with me, so I put it on the table and started talking:
"We really should have talked to you, but we're still processing a lot of things and figuring out how best to deal with the situation."
"So you killed the kings of Torrem in the castle courtyard"
"Yes, but there was no other way because my wife is not their daughter, but their maid who came with the princess. Charlotte decided to run away to marry a man from her kingdom, and I never even met her. I fell in love with her and when I found out who she was, I decided to protect her. The kings of Torrem thought we were deceiving them and so they swore war, killing them was to buy time until a new successor ascended to the throne of Torrem."
"So this is all happening because of that young girl outside?" Thales asked, looking a little surprised.
"I'd say it's because of Princess Charlotte"
"But it's all about the maid, Alexia"
I nodded in agreement.
"An entire kingdom has been deceived, or rather... two." He smiled "I've never heard anything like it, this is crazy, I didn't know if you'd be sincere or not, you seem to be being sincere with me, I'll keep the alliance, but I don't know if I want to take part in the war with you because of a maid"
"King Thales, I want you to understand that..."
"It's no use Estevan, anything you say won't convince me, I need to think, assess the situation, after all, you promised me an alliance with Torrem"
"And we didn't keep it? We've been trying for years to reconcile, I could have overthrown Torrem years ago and I didn't, I was going to marry the princess of Torrem to unify the kingdoms because that's what I wanted."
"I know, King Acacius was good at educating you as a diplomat and you were doing well, but it seems that everything has been lost because of a passion. I don't know if you can be trusted anymore and what I wanted, Torrem on our side, I didn't get. We only came close to having it, but I couldn't even smell that deal, we didn't make any transactions, you know there are things I wanted that I could only get from Torrem!" He said clearly impatient, his irritated voice had gradually increased during the conversation and he knew that insisting would be a mistake since King Thales was a stubborn man.
"What do I have to do to stop you leaving our side?" I asked, even though Letrons was a small kingdom, we might need his help, we couldn't afford to lose our only ally.
"I want to trust Estevan, that's all. I don't want to risk too much for a kingdom that's causing a lot of trouble and won't tell me anything, leaving me in the dark!"
I nodded, things were tense between us, but I swore to myself that I wouldn't let this alliance slip away.
"They'll trust us again, I'll do it!"
"I hope so," he said, coming over and sitting down on the sofa. "Have you seen Thomas yet?"
"Not yet"
"So you haven't introduced him to your wife?"
I shook my head in denial, my brother had reason to stay away from the castle and I didn't know how Alexia would react to that.
"I plan to take her tomorrow, before we go back to Olimper"
"I thought you'd stay longer, but I understand that after all the mess you've made of Torrem, you can't stay too long"
"Our situation with Zaim is also delicate, but we can't do it. I'm preparing the army so we can't stay away too long" I sighed tiredly, there were thousands of things on my mind that I needed to sort out "Tomorrow we'll visit Thomas"