The Kings Mistress Chapter 123

[ … words ]

Remembering how he looked as he walked into the hall, she realized his movements were slower than they used to be too. Something was amiss. As he continued to cough, General Leon shakily took out a small wooden box from his pocket. Upon opening it, Sierra noticed there were tiny little pills within it.

Just before he placed one in his mouth, she stopped him from doing so.

“What’s this? You’ve never needed these pills before,” she asked as she furrowed her eyebrows.

General Leon was caught off guard, not expecting her to question him.

“The Royal Doctors recommended it recently. This persistent cough just keeps getting worse,” he replied without much thought and was about to continue putting the pills in his mouth but Sierra refused to let his hand go.

She asked again, “The cough did not get better even after taking? Only getting worse?”

General Leon nodded.

Her heightened sense of smell sensed something was amiss. She swiped the box right out of his hands and took a closer sniff. Her blood ran cold. Her gut was right, something was amiss with it.

The general was still going to put the pill he had in his hands in his mouth but Sierra swatted it out of his hand.

“I don’t think you should take them,” she said to him sternly.

Hearing the seriousness in her voice, General Leon listened and nodded. Sierra took a few from the box so that she could get it checked before returning the box to her father.

“I think you should get them checked when you return to Cair. Also, perhaps it’s best to get yourself checked by another doctor too,” Sierra reminded.

“This must be the famous General Leon Bancroft. You’re quite the formidable knight, General. Your reputation precedes you,” Alistair’s voice got all of their attention in a flicker of a second.

He could not take it being so far from Sierra for so long, especially after seeing how gorgeous she looked in the dress he had picked for her. He resisted every fiber of his being that wanted to wrap his arm around her waist and bring her close.

With the concubine choosing coming to an end, he knew there was no solid reason for him to keep her in Drakin any longer. Not until a decision has been made.

“Your Majesty, thank you for inviting us to Drakin to celebrate with the princesses,” General Leon spoke cordially while glancing over to Sierra.

She could not help but avert her gaze when he did so. She knew exactly what her father was thinking. In her letters to him, she had often mentioned Alistair. She had also mentioned how close they’ve been getting, though not in great detail.

“I hope Princess Sierra has met your expectations. She can be quite different from other princesses. I hope she hasn’t caused you too much trouble.”

Alistair chuckled, “She’s exceeded all of my expectations. Different is… definitely one way to describe her. Don’t you agree, Princess?”

Sierra’s cheeks were burning beet red as the conversation spiraled out of control. Even Ida could not help but attempt to stifle her laughter. All Sierra wanted was to dig a hole in the ground and bury herself in it, never to see the light of day.

“I… I…,” She cleared her throat to try and speak again, “I’m going to go get us some wine.”

“Don’t worry princess, I’ll get it for you,” Ida volunteered.

“Not, wait-” before she could protest any further, Ida had already made her way across the hall.

Defeated, Sierra plastered a smile on her face as the conversation continued. To her surprise, Alistair had much to talk about with her father. A quick scan of the room and it was clear to see that they were getting a lot of jealous looks.

Needless to say, many of the royals were expected to speak to the King. Yet he was speaking to a general from a foreign kingdom. He had not acknowledged any of the others since they entered the hall.

Queen Roxine, on the other hand, was working hard to remedy the situation. She was doing so in hopes the center of focus would be shifted away from the fact that it was clear who Alistair was showering attention on.

Eventually, she came over to pull Alistair away.

Realizing what he had done, Alistair quickly apologized and stepped away as he went to engage with the other royals. But he made sure to turn to Sierra and kiss the back of her hand before leaving her side.

“We’ll speak more later, princess,” those were his parting words to her.

Now that the father and daughter had a moment to themselves, they would speak freely to one another. They were no longer the focus since Alistair was not with them. Through her father, Sierra got to know that their home kingdom was currently under unseen pressure.

“It’s Cedric, isn’t it,” Sierra seethed in anger, gripping her wine glass tightly.

Leon sighed as he nodded, “Indeed. He’s been… more problematic as of late. It doesn’t help that the King had taken ill as well. Princess Felicity had not been seen in days either.”

She couldn’t care less for any of them, especially after what they had done to her father. But the stability of their kingdom was important for their people. The wars in Cair of the past had cost the lives of many and the people suffered because of it.

They could not risk another war of any kind. Though King Frederick was not a great king, he was still the figurehead of the kingdom. The people would worry if he was not well.

“So far, things have been kept under wraps, but we never know what might happen next,” Leon said solemnly as he placed his hand on Sierra’s shoulder, “You must take great care of yourself, Sierra.”

“I will, don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself,” she glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before continuing, “You’ve taught me well.”