Page 120 of Night's Fall
Yowza!
Yum.
I chewed, swallowed and said, “Thisfood is too good to waste, eating it while discussing that.”
“You’re evading.”
“Only until we’re finished eating.”
He stared at me.
I kept eating (because seriously, my mate had a way in a kitchen) but did it staring at him.
As usual, he went first.
“I don’t know this as fact, butIcan guess that my mother was selected not only because of her popularity as a screen actress, her beauty, her style, her unimpeachable reputation, but also, her ambition and her ability to play to the public.Myfather was born with blood that meant he wanted for nothing his entire life.Soalthough he understands duty, and on a certain level, hard work, he has never experienced a time where all of his needs weren’t met.Fromsomeone else making his bed, to dealing with the laundering of his clothes, to arranging for him to get from one place to another.”
“Okay,”Isaid softly, and added, “AndcanIjust say, this meat is cooked to perfection.”
“You can say that, darling,” he replied just as softly. “Andthank you.”
I smiled at him. “Right,I’mlistening.Goon.”
He nodded.
“Obviously, even before it became apparentIwas theTrueHeir,Iwould be the next king.AndMothermade it clear, even if she wasn’t born royal, it was her who would be molding me into that position.Iwas too young when it started, but reflecting on it,Ibelieve she also made it abundantly clear she was going to be absolutely certainIdid not grow up with what she considers certain weaknesses that are abhorrent to a man who holds the throne.”
It wasn’t hard to read between those lines.
“Oh boy,”Iwhispered.
“Yes,” he agreed.
“And those would be?”Iasked.
“For starters, from the timeIwas eight to the timeIwas sent to boarding school, and then of course at boarding school,Imade my bed.”
Actually, for a boy born to a palace, that said a lot.
“Right.”
“AndIwent to a military school.Notone aristocrats send their children to, the ones that started centuries ago in order for them to buy officer’s commissions for their second and third born sons so those males would have something to do with their lives, and a salary to come with it.Schoolsthat are now just boarding schools where the students wear uniforms and march sometimes, but they aren’t much more that.Iwent toRedLairwhere, for millennia, boys were trained to be warriors.”
“I know,”Isaid, because everyone knew aboutRedLair, and they knewAlekseiwent there.
“It is not for the faint of heart.”
I’d heard that too.
However, at his words, my heart lurched. “Didyou hate it?”
“I loved it.”
I was back to staring.
“My mother took hold of me, and being so focused on that, and then she had a girl, and she was beside herself she did, she lost sight of her middle two children.Andmy father got hold of them.”
“Uh-oh.”
