Unloving His Majesty

A witch

“I know, Luke. My queen might be mad and distrustful of me right now, but she is as patriotic as they come. Zania will always stand by what is good for our people,” the prince reassured his friend before enquiring about their informant. “Any word from Lucas?”

He was aware that not everyone was happy with all the changes he was implementing. He was cautious not to let his gut down.

Sir Luke nodded. “I was coming to that. The spears which killed both the kings were not from either of our tribes.”

“I know that.”

The prince’s response took his friend by surprise. He was flabbergasted when he received that information.

“You do?”

“Yes. I have lived through this, remember?” the prince reminded him.

“Of course. Who killed the kings then?” Sir Luke enquired, unable to mask his curiosity. He also did not understand why the culprits were not executed if the prince knew that already.

“It’s agents of the foreign company that smuggles out our diamonds while we fight each other. Killing the kings was designed to keep us fighting. I fell for it before and objected to marrying Zania. I did not bother enforcing my tribe to respect her because I still blamed her and her tribe for killing my father. Then, there was Mary. I was so stupid and blind,” the prince explained with a melancholic voice.

Sir Luke’s eyes widened, shocked by the revelations.

“Wow! What are you doing about this company and those agents?”

The prince laughed. Besides not knowing how to deal with his wife, he was on top of everything he needed to do for the island.

“Nothing. Blake is sorting it out.”

“Your Queen’s most trusted man?” Sir Luke’s soft voice got his friend smiling. The two tribes had knocked heads for as long as he was born, he understood his friend’s unspoken reservations to him trusting Blake with such an important matter.

“Don’t be jealous now. Blake is capable and knows how to deal with these idiots. He has been in charge of borders in Zania’s tribe for over twenty years. Not a single intruder has gotten into this island illegally from their side. The entry point is always on our side. We were too proud but the weakest links,” he explained.

“That’s because they have a game reserve covering their vulnerable east side. Lions and wild animals in the loose ensures their border control free of charge,” Sir Luke cried defensively.

“Exactly! Our tribes are stronger together. We are good in many things, not that. They are good in naturing and using nature to preserve the environment and uphold the law. An intruder devoured by lions is no international concern, but us executing one is a potential human rights violation. We are always forced to deport criminals back to their countries and they return to steal our diamonds and murder our kings,” the prince explained to his defensive friend, who could not dispute the facts.

“You have obviously thought about this.”

“Of course. Blake is quite efficient. The game reserve is extending to our north coast as we speak. South and west have always been secured. We have successfully covered our vulnerable spots.”

Sir Luke nodded his head in admiration.

“I like this side of you, my king. I must compliment our queen for unveiling it to us,” he teased.

The two were about to part when the stuart approached them.

“What is it?” the prince asked the man who looked anxious.

“It…it is the queen. I don’t think she is going to live, Sire,” the stuart reported with a shaky voice while trembling before the two men…

Meanwhile in the Lokey household, Lady Mary was pacing up and down the living room. The red swollen eyes a telltale of someone who has been crying and deprived of any sleep.

“He has made her the authority in the castle. He named the castle after her, bought her a horse and a car. We were together for six years and he never got me anything close to that,” she lamented, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“You need to stop listening to what is happening at court, Mary. You will stress yourself to death,” her mother warned, but Lady Mary was not the type to give up on anything she set her eyes on. She decided years ago that she would be the queen and a queen she shall be.

“Maxwell is mine, Mother. Mine! That witch can’t just steal him from me. I am the only queen this island will have. No outsider will come to our tribe and snatch my destiny like that. Over my dead body!” she vowed with a dark murderous heart that sent chills down the spines of the maids nearby. They all knew how ruthless their master’s daughter and the whole family could be and feared for their queen.

“Mary,” her mother warned. “Careful of what you say, child. Your utterances might get all of us charged with treason,” she added just when her husband walked in, mad as hell. He kicked the nearby chair, sending it flying to smash the wall behind it.

“It is safe to say that our prince has been bewitched. We cannot trust him now. He returned the diadem to her. Our people fought and risked their lives for that and he returned it to her. Not only that, has also issued a decree making her the ultimate authority. She has casted a spell on him. She is a witch!” he yelled with his hands clenched and veins bulging in his neck.

“Witchcraft, magic and sorcery is apparently a crime punishable by death in her tribe,” Sir Clement sneered as he walked in to join his family. A Lokey in all his ways, he would be serving life in prison or long executed if all his crimes surfaced.

“Well, a princess who is an heir to their throne is exempt from any punishment. How do you explain her ability to handle wild animals the way she does if she is not a witch? In fact, they are all witches in that tribe. Maxwell and I were crazy in love and he completely changed at a snap of a finger. I can feel his hatred when our eyes meet. How can he love me one moment and hate me the very next? That can only be witchcraft!” Lady Mary shouted angrily, her tears still streaming down.

“Then we get our own witch to reverse the spell,” Mrs Lokey suggested, ready to summon her beloved sister.

“It’s easier to deal with the problem without bringing in your sister,” Sir Thomas objected. “Everyone knows that she is a witch, she can’t be seen anywhere near us, ever!” he added, his response getting to his wife.

“Gail can get us what we need. I don’t have to remind you how you all got so close to the throne and all your titles!” Mrs Lokey snapped at her ungrateful family who only used her sibling’s skill but wanted nothing to do with her.

“We know, Mother. What Father is saying is that all eyes are on us right now. Aunt Gail being seen here would raise suspicions. We can’t risk it, especially now that Princess Zania has the authority. She may apply her tribe’s rule to execute all witches,” Sir Clement tried to mediate and calm his fuming mother.

“Clement is right, Dear. We are grateful to Gail, but we have to handle this one ourselves. It is no longer safe for Gail here. That Blake is now in charge of our borders, we will not be able to get her out of this island as we did previously,” Sir Thomas added while his wife narrowed her eyes at him.

“How exactly do we handle this ourselves?” Mrs Lokey enquired.

“It is her custom that the witch must die. We are merely putting her custom into practice,” Sir Thomas concluded while Lady Mary’s face lit up. Her father had never let her down.

“I know that look. You already have a plan. No, you have already rolled out the plan,” Mrs Lokey pointed out while her husband laughed.

“Leave everything to me, wife,” he reassured his wife before turning to his daughter. “And you my angel, will be back in the castle by nightfall. You shall be the next queen.”

“Thank you, Daddy!”