The visit - part two
The gondola slightly shifted beneath his weight as Edward stepped on solid ground.
Wasting no time, he thanked the gondolier and the guard on the dock and made his way to the street.
Walking down a step of stairs he and his entourage soon found themselves on a bustling wide street filled with people that moved in currents between the decorated houses, banks and shops.
With his guards clearing the path Edward had no trouble making his way through the crowd and was soon walking through a small park, lush with flowers and greenery and walled off by a short white-stone wall.
Taking the opportunity, Edward stooped for a minute to pluck a beautiful white rose from one of the bushes. After all, some theatrics would be necessary in the upcoming conversation, and appearances had to be maintained.
Soon, with a good view on a nearby street Edward was once again enjoying the leisurely walk as he took in the sight of the rich traders and their helpers that moved with purpose and argued among themselves as they made their way across the busy street.
They quickly left the busting crowd of people behind them and found themselves making their way upwards, across a beautiful boulevard hidden in the shade of lush trees that lined the road, enveloping the passerby’s in a cool shadow.
As they walked Edward watched the spacious manors and villas, taking notice of the noble crests that depicted each family that made their home here.
Unlike the noble’s part of the palace, with its subtle majesty, this was a place for the rich to flaunt their wealth.
And speaking of which, at the end of a gentle curve of the boulevard they found the richest of the estates.
Three times the size of its biggest neighbor, this estate was the clear winner in the posturing department.
With its lush, green lawn and statues lining the approach to one of the most beautiful buildings in the city.
It was magnificent.
Not made in the utilitarian style of the palace, nor the extravagant carved stones of surrounding villas, this palace was made of pristine white stone.
It was a curious building, one where no regard was given to the safety measures. There were no thick walls with bared gates surrounding it, no raised windows with iron bars to stop the possible intruders.
No, this building was fully made for the luxury and the beauty.
Symmetrical, with huge transparent windows that lined the walls, allowing the onlookers to admire the exquisite interior. The entrance was situated in the middle of said building, with a wide curving staircase leading up to the silver alloyed doors, taller than three men and carved with stunning murals.
And that was just the first level of the palace, with more of the structure visible above the entrance. The pristine construction branched up, to the two towers, one on each side of the main building and the huge curved dome roof of the main structure between them.
With a visible reluctance Edward steeled himself and made his way to the door.
He was expected of course, and with a critical appraisal of a butler who deemed him appropriately dressed, Edward was let inside the building.
The unexpected came from inside, where he was welcomed by two well-dressed guards and was promptly denied the company of his retinue who had to stay in the waiting room while Edward was led to the upper floors, where his mother was resting.
This was not completely unexpected but Edward still didn’t like it, he had hoped to have at least some kind of witness during his conversation with Elanor, but there was nothing else to do but comply with her wishes.
Following the guards Edward soon found himself in front of a lacquered wooden doors of his mother’s chambers.
“The Lady expects you inside.”
One of the guards informed him with a disapproving frown on his face.
Feigning nervousness Edward took a deep breath to compose himself and grabbed the handle.
Before he even had a chance to push the door open, he was stopped by a steely grip on his shoulder, and the guard leaned in towards him, whispering with vitriol.
“And just to be perfectly clear, princeling, if I hear a tone out of place while you are inside, I’m coming in. Don’t think we don’t know you, so, be on your best behavior…. Is that clear?”
With fake outrage Edward ripped his arm away from the guard’s grip and sneered.
“Perfectly.” He spit out and brushed his shoulder as if to straighten the folds of his shirt.
This was expected, the warning that is. Elanor probably instructed the guards to give him a stern talking to, since there was no way any of the guards would do something like that of their own volition.
It was probably a test to see how he behaved. If he was too calm, she would have allowed him inside but would be suspicious, and if he made too much of a fuss, she would deem him unstable and he would be escorted outside, probably with various sanctions set upon him in the future.
So, Edwards reaction was a mild outrage, followed by an unwilling submission to guards’ threats. If he was right, the guards would report his every action to Elanor after he was done here, and since these were her closest guards, they had to have been made aware of the bad relations between prince Edward and his mother.
With one last glare in the direction of the guard, Edward opened the door and quietly made his way inside, where with a gentle push the doors closed behind him with a barely audible click.
He stood there in silence, watching the sunlit room. It was devoid of much of its content except for a wide work table filled with books and papers, a few closets and huge canopy bed.
A frail figure was visible through half transparent curtain’s that shielded the occupant from warm rays of sunshine that fell through clear windows of the room.
For a second, all was quiet as Edward watched the woman stare through the window and into the garden outside, as if frozen, she rested her head on several elevated cushions beneath her, and her stillness was only betrayed by shallow movement of her breasts as she took in whispers of breaths.
It was as if a picture was painted in front of him, ethereal through dancing motes of dust that spun in-between of rays of sunlight that pierced the room.
Knowing what he did of the woman, Edward was willing to bet that the entire scene was set this way on purpose.
As if bracing himself, Edward took a subtle breath and straightened himself.
However, before he even managed to take a step forward, the woman in the bed interrupted him.
“You are late.”
It spoke volumes, the voice, and much was said beneath those three simple words. The sound, clear and quiet, devoid of emotion but still radiating derision and disapproval. It was a beautiful voice, almost musical in tone and nature yet razor sharp and cold, like shards of ice in the river.
“Mother…”
Edward said, shifting his shoulders and palming the rose in his hands.
“Well…” the woman said without turning. “…are you just going to stand there?”
“No.. I.” He stammered and indecisively made his way to the only desk in the room. without a vase to put the flower in he decided to just lay it on the empty part of the table surface.
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“Ahh, more junk for me to clean up later, so very considerate of you. Not that I expected anything else.”
Edward didn’t react to his mother’s scathing remark, but the lack of reaction betrayed his feelings nonetheless.
Leaving the table behind him he walked to the bedside and looked down on his mother who was still staring through the window, not gracing him with any more attention than was necessary.
“So,” he started. “You wanted to see me.”
“Very astute of you to notice that…” Elanor spoke with sweet, poisonous words. “… I guess you can take a hint when someone writes it out to you in clear details.”
Edward sighed… “Mother...”
“You still didn’t explain your lateness, Edward.”
Elanor slightly shifted her head in his direction, still not deeming him worthy of her full attention.
“Well, the streets were somewhat crowded, and what with my retinue I had to take the path through the parks so…”
“You are late… Edward, by several months. You should have been here nearly a year ago, when I specifically asked you to be. Not. Today.”
It was Edwards turn to look away now, shame almost visible on his face but camouflaged by pride and outrage at being talked to in such a way.
His mother turned to him in that moment, the sunrays illuminating her irises so that they appeared so very bright, almost glowing with violet hue. Beautiful eyes, but so very cold.
With a frail hand she brushed the errant strand of silver hair from her face and stared at him.
“Well…”
Edward clenched his fist behind his back and glared to the empty part of the room.
“I had reasons to…”
The voice was quiet when it interrupted him, but no less intense for it.
“Look, At, Me.”
This time, Edward flinched and with visible effort turned his gaze to his mother who glared at him with cold hatred in her eyes.
“You will deign to look at me, when you speak. Is that clear?”
“Yes mother.”
“Good.”
She relaxed slightly in her throne of pillows, the anger still simmering under her visage.
Silence stretched for long uncomfortable moments, until Edward shifted in place.
“So,” his mother started, turning once again towards the window. “I heard of your exploits lately. You have certainly become infamous.”
“Ah,” Edward remarked, not sure of which exact exploit his mother was talking about.
“If you are wondering what I’m talking about, it’s the girl. I heard you got another Guardian. It was about time.”
“Yes, I rescued her from the…”
“I heard. To be fair it didn’t surprise me you would find someone willing to serve you in such a filthy place. What with your tendencies...”
Edward grit his teeth and waited.
“What is her name?”
“Chains, she had no other n…”
“A stupid name, but once again it doesn’t surprise me. From what I heard she can barely communicate properly, wild thing that she is. Even your first guardian, Samuel is it, seems to be subpar. No wonder the next stray that made its way to your lap would be retarded as well. They’ll make a nice pair, the two of them. One guardian, for the price of two…”
“That is really of no concern to you, mother…” Edward spat out.
Elanor waved his comment away with a casual motion.
“Six. That is how much Guardians your brother has. Not that the two of you should be compared at all.”
Edward was glaring at her at this point, beginning od tears visible in his eyes. This entire conversation was a near replica of every other talk he had with Elanor.
“Well, I am sorry to disappoint.”
His mother turned to him, almost lost in thought.
“Hmmm, as I said. It’s not like you two should be compared. Still, I am glad you started doing something with your life. Your recent behavior was a welcome change, even if it means you just bone the palace staff and oblivious tavern maids, instead of your usual bouts of addle minded drug abuse and rape.
Edward froze in place, his expression betraying shock.
“I… i did not do..”
With a sneer of contempt, Elanor turned to face him.
“What? Did you really think that no one would notice? You’ve been whoring yourself around for years now, getting bent out of your bloody mind, galivanting around the City. But even that could have been ignored but no, you had to go and start raping people…
“I.. I didn…” Edward stammered.
“Nobles… of all the people, you had to satisfy your kinks out on the nobles, even if they were of minor houses, but so what. Gods know there are peculiar tastes among aristocrats but did you really think that all of your fucking around would go unnoticed…”
Flabbergasted, Edward just froze in front of her, and she took that moment to carefully study him, after which she casually continued.
“…If it weren’t for me… sweeping up your every fucking mistake under the rug, you would have been disavowed months ago. And all that time I spent cleaning after you, you still disobeyed my summons, with your worthless father doing nothing to..”
“Mothe..”
“I didn’t give you permission to speak!” She sneered, the façade of cold indifference cracking for the first time.
Edward shrunk back as Elanor’s words cracked through the room like a snap of the whip.
“It’s only through my benevolence that your father was not made aware of the full scope of your actions, the kingdom can’t suffer such dishonor, not now. Still, if he were half the ruler people made him out to be, he would have been able to read between the lines when I instructed him to bring you to heel. But no, as the fool that he is he ignored all of my demands to have you brought before me. And now...”
She composed herself as she took a deep breath.
Edward bowed his head, his fists clenched tightly by his sides.
“… now we are here...” Elanor calmly stated.
“After all this time, just when I was starting to lose faith in you ever being of use, the incident happened...”
Taking a moment to catch her breath Elanor glared in Edwards direction, after a few seconds she continued, amusement clear in her voice.
“Tho I have to say… if I knew that a little brush with death would have made such an impact on you, I would have had you poisoned years ago…”
Edwards head twitched in her direction as he almost whispered.
“So it was you…”
Elanor threw her head back and choked out a laugh.
“Gods Edward.. ackhh..hh…” covering her mouth with a pristine napkin she glared at her son in disbelief.
“…ahh…hh…ohh my gods, you can’t be that stupid. Really? No. No it wasn’t me who had you poisoned.”
“You could’ve have known…” Edward sneered in suspicion, glaring at Elanor.
His mother’s brow rose in faint surprise.
“Ahh, finally growing some spine now, are we?”
As if he was suddenly reminded to whom he was talking to, Edward turned his head downward, his checks slightly reddening in shame.
Silence stretched... for uncomfortably long Elanor stayed silent, just looking at Edward, before continuing.
“Well… my son, you took a wrong time to start showing me cheek. Or did you already forget about everything I did for you.” Her words were pure poison with how much hate they were spit out.
After a long silence, Edward whispered.
“I am sorry…”.
“You are what?”
“I am sorry.” Edward replied louder.
“I am sorry…?” His mother continued.
Edwards eyes were half hidden beneath a few errant locks of his hair, but a tear was still visible when it slid down his cheek as he quietly replied.
“I am sorry mother… I didn’t forget.”
Elanor leaned back into her pillows; her face frozen in barely visible disgust.
“You are a sorry thing Edward, no need to apologize for it.”
She let him stand there for some time as birds quietly chirped outside. There was nothing he could have say and both of them knew it.
It was clear to Edward what was going on, the time for payment was up and it was He who was about to pay for all of frolicking and fucking about that the real damned Edward did through last few years. Gods fucking damn asshole. He was going to rip what remained of his soul out of the ether just to make him pay for all of the inconveniences.
Great. Just fucking great.
“…So,” Elanor begun. “I hope you have at least that much awareness to understand in exactly what kind of position you are.”
“I do.” Edward responded quietly.
“Good. You will know then, that it is I who holds you in my hand. I am the one who saved you, your livelihood, the finances you had so far… it is me who you owe it to.”
“I understand.”
“I lost enough on you, covering up behind your failings. And make no mistake, there is still time for me to remove my protection… With that said, you have acquired a debt. To me.”
Elanor shifted her weight on the soft pillows, and tapped the surface of the bed with her hand.
“Sit.”
Edward did so, taking his place on the bed, near her feet where she gestured for him to sit.
“Now…” Elanor said through a faint cough. “…much has changed since you were poisoned. The safety of the relative anonymity you enjoyed so far is gone; do you understand that?”
“Yes.” Edward nodded.
“As such, you should also know that things are going to drastically change for you. What I mean to say, is that your behavior is no longer just your own problem. It reflects on us all. The only reason I am talking to you in a civilized way such as this, is because you have shown some measure of self-control, and improvement these last few months…
…Your spending habits have changed for the better at least, if there is one thing I can commend you on, it’s that. “
“Thank you, mother.” Edward said while still keeping his head bowed in shame.
“Don’t take it as a compliment Edward, its merely an observation. What I was trying to say, is that things have changed. Your financial situation, political… even you have changed…. It is something to consider. Your magical talent too will play a part in your new reality you have found yourself in, and will have to be honed, preferably in the crystal tower academy, as there is someone I will require of you to meet there, but …that is a thought for the future.”
With feigned confusion Edward spoke. “I.. I understand.”.
“You really don’t.” Elanor sighed. “But it doesn’t matter. In the future, you will answer to me. I except you to visit at least one time per month. My time is not as readily available as yours, but I except that too will change in the future, so you will schedule the visits through your guardian Samuel…”
Edward nodded in confirmation as his mother continued.
“…and in the future, when I tell you to behave, when I tell you to let something be or if I give you an instruction, you will do as I say. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly.”
“Good.” She smiled a warm smile.
“And now, while you are here. Make yourself comfortable and tell me, in as much details as you can remember, about everything that happened to you this year…”
And so, Edward steeled himself and started talking.
It was almost night time when Edward entered his room.
Gods but that woman was a pain. He groaned as he washed his face in the basin.
He wasn’t particularly proud man, but still, growling and feigning a pathetic crybaby for hours was not a pleasurable experience.
It was all made worse by the fact that he would now have regular meetings with the woman. It was not how he wanted to spend his time. But… there would be opportunities to change these circumstances.
That would come later. Now, after hours of talk, brainstorming and deceit he was ready for a well-deserved rest.
All in all, it could’ve have ended much worse than it did.
At least he wasn’t forced to kill the woman. Although that will probably change in the future.
Edward, or better to say Henrick almost looked forward to the day.