Royals and Rebels 2: Love and War

Thirty-Eight: Prince Cadoc

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Prince Cadoc

Shortly after the funeral, I was back at school. Penelope was not. Crowe was keeping her away, giving her time to heal, to adjust. Part of me had wanted to stay with her, to help her through that process. I suspected Crowe wouldn’t have minded. He would have encouraged it. But I knew at that point, Crowe had informed Penelope of the plans we had for her. Her introduction to society. The possibility of her attending college with me. She’d be in a fury, and I would have to give her time to calm down.

To adjust to the idea of the path that she was on.

Now, back at school, I told Gwyneth the plan that I’d come up with. “She’ll get immersed into my world, slow,” I said, “until she comes of age and I can finally marry her.”

Gwyneth sat on the couch across from me, looking unimpressed. “Cadoc, that is the worst possible thing you could have done.”

“Why?” I demanded. “We’re going to be together one way or another. She knows this. Everyone knows this! It’s what she wants. It’s what I want. Why is it a bad idea for me to push it forward a little?”

Gwyneth sighed. “Because you’re not giving her the opportunity to say no. You’re pushing her into a world she knows nothing about. A world that she wasn’t even supposed to belong to. You’ve trapped her.”

“I haven’t trapped her,” I said, “I’m giving us what we both want.”

“No, you’re telling her,” said Gwyneth, “this is what caused the trouble between you in the first place. You aren’t giving her the luxury of making her own choice.”

I stood up from the couch. “I don’t understand how it’s force if she’s in love with me too.”

“Feelings and needs are not exclusive,” she said. "Because you want her, and she wants you doesn’t mean it’s what she needs. You’ve got to be careful, Cadoc. If it seems too much like you are controlling her, she won’t want anything to do with you. She’s in your world now. She’s a caged bird that can’t sing.”

I groaned. “This shouldn’t be that difficult! I want her.”

“There’s an imbalance of power here,” Gwyneth explained, “that’s why this has to be her choice. You can get whatever you want because you said so, including her, because you are a Prince. Penelope might be a Lady now that gives her some power, but it’s not the same as yours. She’s going to have her entire life controlled by the crown now. Crowe’s got complete control over her. And Crowe’s not stupid. He knows you’re in love with her. He’s going to use that to his advantage. If you want a chance with Penelope, give her the freedom she craves. At least for now. Otherwise, she’s going to hate you if you make your love seem like a political move.”

“What are you suggesting?” I asked. “At the funeral, we shared a moment. Everything seemed certain.”

“Well, that was at a funeral. Funerals are moments full of unstable emotion. You can’t take anything a person says serious during this time.”

“So, you think I should leave her alone?”

Gwyneth hesitated. “I’m not saying that. Be friends with her. Present her to society. But….”

“I hate this argument,” I said, “it’s the same argument over and over. When am I going to be with her?”

Gwyneth stood from where she was sitting, and then she placed a hand on my shoulder. “When you’ve earned the right to have her, that’s when.”

I crossed my arms and scowled. I knew that I was being petulant, but I couldn’t help myself. It was as though every time we took a step forward, there was something new getting in my way.

“Right then,” I said looking up at her, “I need to blow off steam. You’re here, you’re gorgeous, and you know we’re good together. Why don’t you help me do exactly that? You’d be serving your kingdom.”

She smirked. “I’m feeling self-destructive. Why not?”

My eyes widened, as I didn’t expect that she would say yes to that. She had put me off for so long, and now there she was, being old Gwyneth again. “Are you serious?”

“Deadly,” she replied, with a wicked smile.

To my surprise, Gwyneth pushed me down on the couch, straddled my lap, and began kissing me. “f*****g hell, you’re good at that,” I moaned.

“I know,” she chuckled, lowly. Then she started to unbutton my shirt and traced slow circles on my chest. Her legs wrapped around my waist, and I gripped her ass in my hands. It was good to have someone touching me, feeling me like this. Wanting to taste and devour every part of me.

“If we do this,” I said, “you’re going to stop screwing Jasper.”

She jerked back. “What did you say?”

“You heard me,” I told her, stroking her arm, “I know. I’ve known for a while, but I wasn’t sure of anything until Arwen told me about her and Addington.”

Gwyneth coughed. “Arwen and Addington?”

“Trust me, I was also shocked,” I said, running my hand through my hair, “I can’t be with you if you’ve been f*****g Jasper.”

She bit her lip. “I’m not f*****g Jefferies. I hate Jefferies.” She got up off me and adjusted the strap of her dress which had fallen down a bit. “Besides, Jefferies is a commoner.”

“Actually, he’s the future Captain of The Guard,” I reminded her.

“He’s not a Lord,” said Gwyneth, “if I’m going to be Prime Minister, I need to marry someone with power. Someone who can actually influence people. Jasper is….”

“A good guy,” I said, standing up from the couch. “If you were to be with him, I wouldn’t stop you. In fact, I can’t think of two people more suited to be together. He’s grounded, you’re….”

“A nightmare?” she said.

I chuckled. “Challenging,” I told her, “and you’d bring him out of those military boots of his.”

She glared at me. “Did you find out when Arwen told you about Addington?”

“It was the only other thing that made sense about why Jasper had been acting so weird with me,” I said. "He was acting like an asshole before Pen. For a while, I thought he was bisexual and afraid to come out because he was hooking up with Addington.”

Gwyneth laughed. “Addington would eat him alive.”

“I know,” I said, “and vice versa. That’s why I didn't want them dating. Gwen, if you gave him a try, you’d find that the two of you could be great together.”

“I can’t date him, Cadoc,” she said, “if I date him, they’ll say that the only reason I have any power is because I’m in your pocket.”

“You dated me,” I reminded her, “how’s that different?”

“Because, we were never exclusive. I know Jasper. I couldn’t have that kind of relationship with him. He’d want me all in, to be his wife, and once I did that, I wouldn’t be able to be Prime Minister. I’d have married into the Guard.”

“I could change that, you know,” I said, “and I would, if you thought Jasper Jefferies was the love of your life. I would do whatever it took to make sure that the two of you both got to be happy.”

Gwyneth smiled. “You’re not King yet, Cadoc. You and I both know that your father doesn’t take anything you do or say serious when it comes to you. You only become King when your father dies.”

“Or abdicates,” I reminded her, “he could still do that. He is getting up in years.”

“No. He won’t.”

I scoffed. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I say this only because I love you. You’re not ready to be King, Cadoc, so thank your lucky stars he doesn’t take you serious right now. I’ve never been a girl obsessed with love. I know what I want. I’m not going to get distracted. I’m not like Penelope.”

“Hey,” I objected.

“I don’t mean that in a bad way,” she said, “Penelope’s great. I wouldn’t have stepped away from you if I didn’t think that she was a good egg. But Penelope’s different.”

“Different how?”

“She wants you and only you,” said Gwyneth, “that’s the difference.”

“You keep on saying that. But you also keep on telling me to slow down with her. That’s very conflicting information.”

“Because, I’m trying to keep you in the running,” Gwyneth said. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she’s got that whole bambi-eyed thing going on. She was here for five seconds and she had Jasper ready to go to blows.”

“But she has other goals. Other plans for herself,” I said, “that’s not much different then you.”

Gwyneth smirked. “The difference is because she looks at you like she’s got stars in her eyes. No one has ever made me see stars. Or looked at me and seen them.”

I chuckled. “That’s because you’re not stars, Gwyneth. You’re the whole goddamned universe.”

“Ah, Cadoc. Ever the Prince.” She smiled at me. “You know I’m not trying to keep you from her, right? I want you guys to have a fighting chance. Besides, she’s the second most powerful woman in the monarchy right now or she will be when Crowe dies. It makes sense for the two of you to align.”

“But you couldn’t have known that from the beginning,” I said.

Gwyneth froze, a look of guilt on her face. I leaned forward, peering at her.

“You know something,” I challenged.

Gwyneth sighed. “I may have known something about Penelope before she started.”

“Tell me, Gwyneth.”

“Last spring, I saw Lord Crowe on campus a lot. He was talking with the Headmistress about having his ward come to the school. Penelope’s name came up. I may have…. put the idea in Audrey’s head to convince you to like her. She might be his bastard. Or his brothers.”

“But you had no idea the scandal would happen. No idea that Audrey would be coming here,” I said.

“No, but I knew Audrey was coming to Heath Hills. I thought that if anyone could convince you that you were in love with a girl it was her. She’s so romantic about everything.”

“So, you arranged all this?”

“I didn’t arrange how you felt about her,” said Gwyneth, “no one can manufacture----”

“Tell me this. Is Crowe Penelope’s father?”

Gwyneth hesitated. “I don’t know about Crowe himself. You see, people forget. Crowe wasn’t always a Lord. He was the second son, and he wasn’t supposed to inherit anything as far as the title went. Crowe’s brother disappeared. People believe that he deserted the military because he fell in love with a woman.”

“Penelope’s Mother,” I said.

Gwyneth nodded. “Crowe didn’t know about Penelope until recently, and he’s been trying to adopt her for a while. He needs an heir if he’s going to carry on that title. That title came from his marriage with a wife that died, and everyone knows Crowe likes men. He also knows that an alliance with his heir and the crown will be beneficial.”

“So you found this information out all on your own then decided to use it against me?”

“The feelings you feel for Pen are still real,” said Gwyneth, “you met her before I knew any of this. What happened in Hay-on-wye, I didn’t have any way of manipulating that.”

There had been very few times where I’d gotten angry at Gwyneth. Even knowing that she’d been in love with Jasper this whole time hadn’t pissed me off. But knowing that she’d tried to manipulate my relationship with Penelope, that made me mad.

In fact, it made me look at Penelope in a whole knew way. She wasn’t the mysterious girl from Hay-on-wye. She’d gotten forced on me. There was nothing romantic about our meeting.

I’d made her ruin her relationship with Jasper. I’d been responsible for the death of her mother. I shouldn’t have even looked at her.

“f**k, I’m a bastard,” I muttered, “we got played. Both of us. You played us. Crowe played us. This wasn’t love, or destiny, or any of that crap. It was politics.”

“No!” Gwyneth insisted. “You and Penelope, the beginning was real.”

“We were drunk in the beginning,” I said, “we didn’t even know who the other one was. We were never supposed to meet or be together.  But Christ----this whole time, I’ve gotten manipulated into being with her. She’s gotten manipulated into being with me. God damn it, she was right to not want us to be together right away. We shouldn’t want to be together at all.”

“Cadoc, whatever you’re thinking, don’t do it. You and her---you’re supposed to be together!”

“No!” I shook my head. “No, we aren’t. It’s all a goddamned lie, made up by you. Out! Get the f**k out Gwyneth! We’re done.”

“Cadoc, I want what’s best for you. What’s best for Wales!”

“You’re not Prime Minister yet, Lady Godford. And I can still make it so that you never are. Don’t you ever forget that. Now, get the f**k out!” I grabbed her by the arm and shoved her out of the apartment.

Gwyneth Godford had tried to manipulate the dragon. She had no idea the hell she’d unleashed by doing so.