Tale of Four

Mabel waited for a moment before knocking on her brother’s door. Silently standing, she heard him call out to enter and stepped in, seeing him sitting across from a beautiful, pale lady with green hair braided into a crown, who wore a soft smile and gentle green eyes. Her brown dress had a gold stem running acorss it, with green four-leafed clovers periodically stretching off it. Mabel couldn’t help but be surprised, almost enchanted, when looking at the woman, her sharp features mixed with soft eyes and rosy cheeks. No matter who stood beside the woman, they would always be overshadowed by her beauty, soemthing that transcended human limits for what a person could look like.

”Princess.” The green-haired woman stood up and curtsied towards Mabel before looking at Elias with a soft smile. ”If you will excuse me, My Prince. I have matters I must attend.” Elias gave a single nod, his gaze showing slight infatuation with the woman. Holding that smile until she left, it dropped soon after she was gone. Mabel walked over and looked around her brother’s room, taking a seat where the woman had just been. It was a bare room, with a few books about past wars littered around, a set of armour in the corner with a sword hanging next to it.

”To be talking to the daughter of Lord Clover. Brother, have you fallen in love?” Mabel teased, getting a scoff from Elias.

”She is more beautiful than anyone, but to have her as my Queen.” Elias shook his head, ”I am unsure yet. I need to see what the other Great Lords offer first.” Elias stretched and let his dignified appearance drop as he leaned back and exhaled, ”Why have you come? I was having quite a pleasant conversation with her.”

”Brother, even if you want to marry a daughter of one of the Great lords, be careful.” ELais waved his hand.

”Father already gave me that talk, please don’t add to his nagging.” Running a hand through his golden hair, he pushed it aside, revealing his handsome looks. Mabel stared into his eyes, sharp as a sword forged in fire. ”Once again, why are you here?”

’Almost like fathers, but it’s missing that quality forged on battle.’ It was only a matter of time. Mabel knew that. If no conflict arose in the realm, Anton was likely to send Elias abroad to fight in one of the wars on the western or southern continent, knowing they always existed.

”I met an interesting person.” Elias’s eyes widened in shock as he chuckled.

With a happy sigh, he leaned forward and stared at Mabel with a teasing look, ”Sister, have you finally decided to get married. Are you sure your future husband can tame such a wild lady?”

”Piss off.” Kicking his leg under the table, Elias winced and rubbed his leg with a betrayed look before laughing and shrugging. Getting up, he limped over to his wardrobe and reached for the top shelf, pulling an old bottle of wine. Grabbing two glasses, he poured them both a drink.

”I got this from a trader from the west.” Smelling its contents, he let out a satisfied noise before taking a sip, groaning in delight, ”I heard the wine from Sestria is the best, and I can’t deny it.” Mabel widened her eyes, hearing where it came from, taking a sip, instantly assaulted by a strong taste that made her taste buds dance. The warmth of it hit the back of her throat, and she couldn’t help but make a noise.

”Treating me to soemthing so good.” She said with surprise.

”My sister found a hus...” Elias stopped seeing his sister’s hard gaze and lifted his hands, stopping his teasing, ”Who is this guy then? Better yet, why are you telling me?”

”One of our cousins, Tristan. You probably don’t know him. He did a good job of making sure.” Elias tapped the table, a habit, like Mabel, he picked up from Anton.

”Doesn’t ring a bell.” Taking a sip of wine, he finished his cup and poured another. ”But if you’re saying he’s interesting, then you must have seen something.” Mabel nodded and took a sip of the drink.

”He had some qualities like those of Uncle Brandon. I at first thought he might have been one of Brandon’s pieces he cultivated in the background, but I realised he wasn’t.” Thinking of the trick Tristan played on her to make her approach him, she chuckled, ”He may not look as much like a snake as Brandon, but as I said, they share those qualities.”

Elias narrowed his gaze and swirled the wine around in his hand, staring into the deep red liquid. With a few deep breaths, he took a sip and carefully put the cup down, sliding it away from him, ”I hate people like that. Never saying what they truly want, dancing around with words.”

”Yes, but when you rule, brother, you need people like that. You may trust my instincts, but in the future, you will need others to see what I cannot. I can’t get into rooms with men alone without issue, whereas.” Taking a sip of wine, she let her words sit for a second, ”Tristan could.”

”Maybe, but when have you ever concerned yourself with the words others say?” Mabel smiled and shook her head.

”I don’t, but just because I have no care for what they say about me, doesn’t mean we can allow them the chance to say it.” Her words were cool, and the two sat in silence, Elias deep in thought, understanding his sister’s worries.

”Then,” peeking up at her, he met her gaze, the two pairs of deep black eyes staring into one another, ”Can he be trusted. I am of the same thinking as my father. We can trust our family to protect the name, but not our place on the throne.”

”Elias.” Mabel quietly said his name, ”What do people do when they desire the throne?” Elias thought for a moment, silently drinking.

”Gather allies, make good marriages, pretend to be loyal so they can get closer to power.” Elias realised what Mabel was implying as he spoke, ”Yet he did none of this.”

”Tristan told me clearly. Unless he is a very good liar, I could tell he had no desire for the throne; in fact, he seemed to loathe it. What he has been doing is for survival.” Mabel leaned forward and interlocked her fingers, ”To survive is one thing, but to remain so absolutely hidden within this Palace, that few know his name. That isn’t just effort, Elias; you have to be smart to do that. I’ve seen this intelligence firsthand. He is naturally gifted at navigating court, even making people do as he wishes, yet until recently, he has never displayed this.”

Elias took a deep breath, staring into Mabel’s eyes. It was rare for her to offer such praise to a person, especially someone in her family. She had only ever done so for their father, Brandon and Cleeve, the last when she was forced to train under him at their father’s orders.

”But Mabel.” Despite that, Elias couldn’t shake his suspicions, soemthing so ingrained in him by their father, ”If he is so good at staying in the background, why did he come forward and to you no less. It makes sense during our late uncle’s reign; his children died, and there was no way to worm into power. But you. You’re an unmarried lady with a claim to the throne. Have you not considered that it is a ploy to get your hand in marriage, in the event that nothing happens to me, he will be King. A nameless Princeling who had no chance to inherit finally sees his path.”

Mabel frowned and closed her eyes. ’I have learnt no one is free from tragedy at a young age.’ Repeating Tristan’s words in her mind, Elias’ words struck deep. At first, she thought it was a warning about her father, meant to show he wasn’t invisible, but if she read more deeply, there was another way to see it. ’He said Matthew wouldn’t be accepted as King. It is clear he sees me as heir if Elias passes. It couldn’t have been such a veiled threat. There’s no way.’

”Mabel, the fact that you are staying silent in such deep thought means you’re already suspicious of him.” Elias coldly said. ”Such ambition is frankly terrifying if it exists. Especially if he had you tricked so easily.”

”You make a good point, Elias. But there are two problems. One, he would need to marry me. If I became father’s heir, I need a strong marriage to secure my reign, not a nameless princeling as my spouse. Secondly, how would he even make it so that happens? This isn’t about just dealing with you to secure my future reign, but Matthew, Cleeve, Ester and especially Brandon. I gave him credit, not that much.”

”Not Vincent?” Elias joked, getting Mabel to roll her eyes and him to laugh. Taking a deep breath, he seriously spoke, ”Maybe I am looking too deeply then. So what do you propose?”

”Meet him and give me a chance to be there. Ones that won’t get the court talking. Brandon would leap at the chance to wed me off and block a good marriage for Father. So far, I have been able to talk to him without worry due to how we met, but if I keep going alone, rumours will spread, and Brandon will weaponise them.”

Elias thought for a moment before nodding, ”Alright.”