Caius adjusted in his seat at Thomas’s words. The last ti he saw his uncle was more than a decade ago. They had almost no relationship, especially since the death of his wife.
However, Caius was not surprised that he had made the trip to the castle after all these years. It would be a shock if he didn’t. Regardless of their differences, the late King Gaius was still his brother, and it was only expected that he would co to pay his final respects and attend the funeral.
"Did he just arrive?" Caius asked Thomas.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"See to it that he is properly received and ushered to his chambers. When he is well rested from his journey, I shall go to see him myself..."
Caius paused and turned to look at his cousin, wondering if he wanted to excuse himself to see his father.
"We shall see him together," Rylen said without adding anything more.
Caius studied his cousin with puzzlent on his face. He didn’t know what Rylen’s relationship with his father was. Gayle was a secretive man, and Caius didn’t know him either; all he knew was from his father.
"As Your Highnesses wish," Thomas said with a bow and exited the study.
"You won’t welco your father?" Caius asked with a raised brow.
There was a slight lift in his expression as he asked the question Rylen would most likely have asked him if their positions were reversed.
"He only just arrived; it is best that he gets so rest. Besides, I haven’t made my request known yet."
"I suppose you haven’t," Caius stated. "What’s your request?"
"I want so ti," he simply stated, staring hard at his cousin.
"What do you an, so ti?" Caius asked. He didn’t like Rylen’s tone; he had a feeling he wouldn’t like what he was about to hear.
"Your plan is to be rid of the princess and marry Rose instead once you beco king," Rylen spoke matter-of-factly.
"Originally," Caius replied, wondering what his cousin was getting at. "However, because of the stunt you pulled, I can no longer do that." He drumd his fingers on the desk as he spoke.
Rylen looked at his cousin and sighed, disheveling his hair one more ti. "I do not ask for forgiveness. I have underestimated your feelings for Rose. I assud you only wanted her around to do with as you pleased, and in more ways than one, I didn’t want Caira and to have a similar relationship. However, you have my word that I will stand with your decision to be with Rose and make her Queen as long as I live."
Caius clenched his fists tightly as he stared at his cousin. "I do appreciate your support. Your betrayal cuts deep in my heart but for the sake of our brotherhood and, more importantly, for Rose, I will overlook this..." Caius’s voice paused as he recalled the incident.
He didn’t understand it, but perhaps he had to lose sothing to get sothing more important in return. He had demanded relentlessly from Rose. What happened was simply a small price for him to pay.
"I will overlook this," he repeated, his voice steadier this ti. "However, regardless of your choice in the matter. Perhaps because of this you would change your mind about the princess—"
"My love for her isn’t so fickle," Rylen spat out.
Love?
"Love? Is that what this is?"
Rylen stared at him with a puzzled expression. "What else could it be?"
"I do not know."
Rylen stared oddly at his cousin, wondering if he would have to explain what love is. But Rylen didn’t think this was a matter where his input was needed; Caius had already finished the hard part.
"You do know," he said with a shrug. He paused as Caius seed to ruminate on his words. However, Rylen didn’t have the ti to spare for Caius to realize how deep his feelings ran.
"My request, Your Grace..."
"Ah, yes," Caius said, snapping out of his deep thoughts. "You asked for ti."
"Yes."
"What do you an by that?" Caius asked.
"Don’t send the princess away just yet."
Caius frowned. "What exactly are you asking for? Or should I say, how long exactly are you asking for?"
Rylen bent his head. "I do not know. I wouldn’t ask if there was another option."
"You want to keep Caira as my pretend wife until you say otherwise," Caius asked with annoyance. He wouldn’t be able to stand the sight of her.
"Wouldn’t it be better to make Rose Queen over the scandal of the princess running away with your cousin?"
Caius’s eyes widened as he understood the implications of Rylen’s words. "Are you going to elope?"
"I guess, when you put it like that—but no. I am simply going to take her away from here, from all the ruckus and the rumors. She couldn’t handle it; I don’t want her to deal with all of that."
"I don’t want you to leave the castle forever," Caius said easily.
Rylen smiled slightly, he had Rose to thank for this. The Caius he knew wasn’t very forgiving. "Wouldn’t that be best? After everything. However, I can’t decide to stay all by myself, and I know she won’t want to stay in the castle after what happened. Besides, we can’t be amicable if we want the lords to easily accept Rose."
Caius closed his eyes briefly; he understood what his cousin was saying. Their elopent won’t convince the lords, but it would most certainly help. Besides, he had done his duty and married the princess; they might sympathize with him almost enough to ignore Rose’s background. It was almost perfect.
"What do you need the ti for?" Caius asked. "And how long do you think it would take?"
"I do not know, and I am only going off on the fact that she feels as deeply for as I do for her. I might be wrong, Your Grace, and this is simply a hoax that would crash into nothing, but I am willing to take the chance. So I plead that you give ti to get the princess to my side."
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