King Peter

“Come in!” a man’s voice barked. He sounded extremely angry. Leah opened the door and King Peter was stood in a large library. Audrey gazed in wonder at all the books in the room. She didn’t remember ever seeing it before, but then again, she hadn’t been here often.

“Good afternoon, Audrey,” King Peter said. Audrey looked back at him and saw that he had wiped all previous signs of anger off of his face.

Audrey curtsied low before him. “King Peter,” she said. King Peter had black hair and a slight beard. His eyes were a deep chocolate brown.

“How nice of you to come and visit. Please, take a seat.” Audrey did as she was told and sat in the chair he gestured to. King Peter began putting books back onto shelves and Audrey once again admired the great number of books in the room. “How do you like my library?”

“It is wonderful,” Audrey said. She noticed that Queen Leah had left the room, but Audrey's bodyguards still stood in the background.

“My wife loves to read. Do you?” King Peter said, walking to a different bookshelf to replace a book.

“Books are an incredible thing,” Audrey said. She had read many during her education and plenty on her own. “I love to read them.”

“I remember when I first brought Leah here. I showed her this library. She told me it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Besides me, of course.” King Peter chuckled and Audrey laughed lightly. King Peter then began wandering around the room.

“It is indeed beautiful,” Audrey agreed.

“Let me see, where did I put that book?” King Peter said to himself. “Aha! Here it is.” He reached up to the bookshelf on his right and pulled down a novel. “Maybe you’d be interested in reading this.” He handed the book to her and she gazed at the cover: Catch my Life.

“This sounds quite intriguing,” Audrey said.

“Indeed. It is a story filled with adventure, drama, suspense, and romance. You may borrow it, if you would like.”

“Thank you.” Audrey flipped through the pages for a few moments before setting it on her lap.

“My son likes to read, but he doesn’t share my intense passion for it,” Peter said. After a few moments of silence, Peter sat near Audrey. “Audrey, I have a question for you. Why did you not choose to marry my son?”

Audrey was taken aback by his bluntness and chose to carefully word her answer. “The choice was not mine. My father picked out my fiancée.”

King Peter’s eyebrows shot up. “Did he? I was under the impression that everyone got to choose their fiancées.”

Audrey was immediately confused. “I do not think that is the case. The other princesses didn’t seem as if they had chosen their fiancée.” Janet had looked happy with her engagement to Michael, but Melissa and Tracy hadn’t looked terribly excited.

“Oh, well maybe I just thought that at least you would get the choice. Your father should give you that, shouldn’t he? I mean, you are the only heiress to the throne of Selah. You should at least get to choose who to forfeit your kingdom to.”

Audrey hadn’t thought of it that way. “I respect my father’s decision. I believe he chose Seth because he thought it would be best for me and my kingdom.”

“Very loyal words, but my dear, there will be a time when you must do what you think is best.” As Audrey thought about this, King Peter spoke again. “Who would you have wanted to marry?”

Audrey took the question seriously. She had never considered the others being an option after her engagement was announced. Benjamin was a close friend of hers, Lucas was like a brother to her, and Michael was rumored to be as cruel as his father. With a start, Audrey realized that King Peter was not acting cruel at all. Were those rumors really just rumors or was King Peter hiding something? She realized she hadn’t answered his question.

“I am not sure.”

King Peter nodded, seemingly pleased with her answer. “Think about it, Audrey. This marriage will not be undone. Seth is a nice boy, but is he what you want? Think about the future. Seth is a boy who likes to go out and fight for his kingdom and help his people. With a mindset like that, he would never be home. He would never be there for you or your future children.” King Peter was staring at her intently as he awaited her response.

“He would make time for me and if not for me, at least for our children,” Audrey said. “I would never keep him at home for too long if he felt he had to do something for the good of our kingdoms.”

King Peter leaned forward and took Audrey’s hand in his. “You are a smart girl. See past all of this. Seth would get caught up with his family, his sisters, and the two kingdoms.”

Audrey shook her head. King Peter sighed. “Seth has a wonderful life. He has had love and affection from his whole family.” He stood up and walked toward the bookshelf, keeping his back to her. When he spoke a few minutes later, he seemed to have changed the subject. “You know, I wish my son had that good of a life. Sure, he has me and his mother, but he’s lonely. The poor kid. He memorized every part of our kingdom. He knows every path, every road, and every house. He has read up on our kingdom’s history.”

Audrey wondered what this had to do with anything. “My point is, he put his entire life into ruling because he is lonely. Now, not only is he ready to become a great ruler, he also needs a family of his own to fulfill him. Janet can’t give him that.” King Peter paused.

“Janet is a great girl, but she is too young and immature. She’d be a rather young mother, and Michael would wait a few years for her to become older. Janet also can’t emotionally be there for my son. She’s too high strung; she’d never calm down and listen to him. Michael needs someone to listen to him.”

King Peter then turned to face Audrey. His voice was barely above a whisper and Audrey swore she saw pain in his eyes. “I wanted so badly for Michael to marry you. You would’ve listened to him and given him a family. Your kingdom would’ve helped to fulfill him too. He would’ve been given a new land to memorize. Audrey, you would’ve been perfect for him.”

Audrey finally spoke softly. “I am sorry; I did not choose my fiancée.”

King Peter shook his head and knelt before Audrey so she was at eye level with him. “Don’t you see, Audrey? You can.”

Audrey’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “I do not dare. My father thought that this was in my best interest.”

King Peter sighed. “Give my son a chance. If you were in love with him and not Seth, you would have begged your father for the change.”
“I never said I was in love with Seth,” Audrey said.

King Peter smiled. “That was all I needed to hear.”

“But-“

“Goodbye, Audrey. Enjoy the book and think about what I’ve said.”

Audrey accepted the dismissal and stood up. “Thank you, King Peter.” She then left, her bodyguards following, and King Peter smiled after her.

So, this is just a part of my NaNoWriMo story. Did you have trouble understanding any part of it? What feeling did you get from the characters?