Page 45 of A True King

I find King Ivan seated again at the ridiculously large dining table. I take my seat as the staff begins to serve us.

“Did you sleep well?” he asks, as a server lays a napkin in his lap. I’m momentarily transfixed at the formalities of the meal.

Shaking my head to clear it, I answer, “Yes. Very well, thank you.”

“I thought we could go out on the boat today, but I’ve been told the weather is not so good,” he says, as he looks out the windows facing the sea. “I’ve arranged a walk in the gardens instead.”

I nod and ask him how long he’ll be staying. He gives me a non-answer, saying he isn’t sure yet. We make more small talk as we eat. He’s a strange man. I don’t find him particularly warm and friendly, but he’s not as cold and mean as I’ve heard he is. Perhaps he’s misunderstood.

After breakfast, a staff member drives us in a golf cart out to the nearby gardens. They are tucked between the estate and a large hill overlooking the sea. Here the wind doesn’t whip about, and it feels ten degrees warmer.

We begin to walk through an old orchard that surrounds the more manicured gardens. Clearly a remnant of the property’s former use over a hundred years ago.

He’s slow with his cane but otherwise steady on his feet for someone over ninety years old. I wrap my coat tightly around myself, tucking in my scarf to keep warm despite the increase in temperature from the main house.

I feel he has things to say and didn’t want the house staff to hear us. So, I wait patiently until we come upon a bench. Motioning for me to sit, I comply. I wait for him to speak.

“You are a roadblock that I didn’t see coming,” he begins. I frown at his choice of words. A roadblock?

He looks to me and then forward again. “My father was a member of a group called The 44. You know it, I assume?”

This wasn’t what I thought he’d say, but I nod.

He continues, “By the time I was of age, I had been taught all about it. I didn’t agree with many of the beliefs. In fact, I was opposed to some of them. I liked our monarchy, but what I learned was that Skogdal was a sham. It’s a shell created by The 44. It could be dismantled in a heartbeat. I reached out to my fellow kingdoms about this in secret, of course. Both the kings of Norddale and Montelandia ignored my pleas for assistance in overturning my father’s rule. They thought I was crazy. And they started cutting ties with us all together. I saw my country suffer and I grew to hate them. They weren’t men of honor. They cared only for their family’s fortunes.”

He turns to me. “And that’s when I knew I was going to rule differently. I’d play along with The 44, but it was no longer the purpose of the kingdom. I would create a falsehood. A monarchy that would crumble, and with it, doubt would be instilled in Norddale and Montelandia. They would fall with us. I would get my revenge on them.

“And so, I began scheming. I planted documents that could later be used to question King Michael’s birthright as well as King Edvard’s. I assisted The 44 in their plans to take out the monarchies as well. Each step would assist me in my goal.”

“But, what about your son? Gilbert?” I ask, no longer able to keep silent.

“He’s not my son. I thought that was clear. I played matchmaker with a friend cousin of mine. It was easy to get Agatha to sleep with him. I was cruel to her, and she went running to his arms. Nine months later, Gilbert was born. I didn’t even have to get Gilbert’s wife to cheat on him. Gilbert was such a pompous ass from the beginning, it was shocking he was able to marry at all. I may have helped the demise of his marriage a bit, but he all but assisted in the making of his bastard son.”

Each revelation is harder to comprehend than the last. Gilbert isn’t his son? The DNA must match because it was a relative of his that Agatha slept with. I’m almost afraid to ask about my family, but my curiosity gets the best of me.

“What about my father?”

King Ivan is quiet. I see a flash of something across his face for just a second, and I think maybe he does care about my father. But I am so very wrong.

“I wanted Paula to abort him. She refused and left me. I did love her. I even married her in secret. It hadn’t been part of my original plan, but in the end, it helped. It would nullify my marriage with Agatha, solidifying that our future children would be bastards. But your father, he’s mine. I paid Paula a hefty sum to disappear and then gave money to your father. He did that. For years, he remained out of sight, so much so I almost decided to let him live. Then I heard he had a daughter.”

King Ivan’s eyes are cold as he looks at me, and for the first time since we left the manor house, I shiver, only this time, it’s not from the wind.

“I went to see your father a while back after I set you up.”

My eyes widen. It was him. He was spying on the royal family.

“Yes, it was me, dear child. I wanted to see what you’d do. Could I trust you? Clearly, your allegiance was with the royal family. Your intel was horrible. Between that and your father’s lack of agreement to move to the States, I decided I could no longer let you all live. And so, I had to change my plans, once again. I’m nearly out of time, so I must finish tying up all my loose ends.”

“But…why would you kill us?” I ask, almost afraid to know the answer.

“You don’t get it, do you?” he asks, his face turning to look at me. Our eyes meet, and for the first time since I’ve met him, I see him, the real him, pure and total evil. The kind of evil that comes from a place of insanity. The worst and scariest type of evil because there’s no reasoning with someone like this.

“No, I don’t.” I’m surprised I can find my voice at all. Part of me wants to run as fast as I can, but I somehow sense I wouldn’t make it far, so my intellect tells me to stay and keep him talking as long as possible.

“Mia, if I kill your parents and you, then there are no rightful heirs to Skogdal. All I have to do is have the documents showing Gilbert and Jasper’s true lineage sent to the press upon my death and my country will be destroyed. I’ll also go public with my forged documentation on Montelandia and Norddale’s royal families. All three nations will fall, helping The 44 in their goals as well as putting an end to the two families I hate the most. It’ll be my legacy and all that stands in the way is you and your father. But I will, of course, take care of some loose ends. It’s easier to bring down the royal families if they are…a little smaller.”

Oh, God! His eyes glisten with excitement as he smirks.

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