The Traitor's Daughter (Complete)

Part 39-Longings

 Darkness was settling on the city, lying over the buildings and treetops. The sun had set and the first stars were peeking out. In the royal palace in St. Helene, a pall of silence lay on its residents.

In his bedchamber, Luke sat in a stupor, a drink by his side. A short time ago a maid had come to light the lamps, but he had driven her away with his angry roar. The only light entered the room through the open window, where the full moon hung like a gigantic disk in the sky.

Luke rubbed his tired, bloodshot eyes. He so very badly wanted to sleep. He hadn't slept peacefully for months now. His body, tired from long sleepless nights, refused to comply with his wishes. His problem was that if he closed his eyes, the only thing he saw was her face. If he slept for even a short time, he dreamed of her. His body, betrayed him, by constantly craving hers. No other woman interested him. He had tried a couple of times, but he couldn't bring himself to touch those women. Even the thought of engaging in love play with them revolted him.

He still remembered her shocked face, pale and pinched, when her father had walked into the bedchamber. She had trembled like the aspen leaf, unable to meet their eyes for shame. That face haunted him when he tried to sleep. He was sick of this feeling, but it refused to go. It was as if she had put some curse on him when she left. Perhaps, she had. Luke wasn't sure of anything anymore.

He rose from the couch where he had been partially reclining and walked over to the bed. Shedding his robe, he got inside the covers. His hand went to his itching chin, finding the growth of a beard. He must look a sight, he mused, but he was too far gone in his cup to care.

Just as these days, he hardly cared for the running of Zorbia. Wilfred had assured him that he would see to it, and Luke trusted him. Dave had tried a few times, to draw his attention to some state business, but Luke had rebuffed him. Why did he not understand that he wanted to be left alone?

His gaze landed on the bedside table. There, on it, lay a cloth-wrapped bundle. The sight of that bundle scared him to his core. It was as if a snake lay there, ready to strike him if he went near. He hadn't found the courage to unwrap the bundle and look through his mother's diary. The thought that he might find some unpalatable truths hidden therein, made him desist from reading it. What if he found things that he had no will to find, or no courage to face? What if he found that his mother had never loved him, her only son? The very thought sent a shiver down his spine.

One day, maybe one day, in the future, he would find the strength to pick it up and go through it, but that day was certainly not in the near future.

Tired from his troublesome thoughts, Luke closed his eyes, hiding his face in the pillow. Why did he feel the presence of a soft body against his own? Why did he hear her sweet voice as she cried out her love for him at the pinnacle of her bliss? His body stirred with that remembered sensation, burning like an inferno, ready to devour him with its fierceness.

He wanted to feel her again beside him. He ached to make love to her, as she moaned and thrashed with the intensity of their union. He wanted to laugh at her guileless words and enjoy the care she lavished on him.

"Zena, where are you?" His heart cried out the words with a longing he had never experienced before.

"Thank you, Nan. I was in dire need of this cup," Dave told the old woman as she put a cup of her famous hot chocolate in front of him.

"At least, you appreciate the gesture. Luke has consistently refused all my efforts to feed him something wholesome," Nan replied with a heartfelt sigh.

"Yes, I have noticed. These days the bottle of bourbon seems to be his only companion," Dave remarked.

"Is it true that he isn't paying attention to the affairs of the state?" Nan asked, frowning.

"Yes, Nan. I have been after him to get his signature on some documents, but he refuses to see me."

"Really?"

Dave nodded.

"The only one he sees is Eddy Wilfred, and believe me, he's one man I wish Luke wouldn't meet. I wouldn't trust him as far as I can throw him."

"Dave," Nan lowered her voice, "have you any news of Zena and her father?"

"None, so far, Nan. My men are on the lookout, but it seems as if they have vanished from the face of the earth."

"I miss that girl, Dave, more than I thought it possible to miss someone at my age."

"Maybe, her chatter?"

"She wasn't one to chatter uselessly. She was wise and intelligent. Her only folly was to fall in love with a man like Luke."

"I believed, at one time, that Luke had fallen for her too, but obviously, I was wrong."

"I guess you are right. One can never tell with Luke what is in his heart. Had he loved her even a bit, he would hardly have let her go."

"I don't know, Nan. Now, when I see the state he is in, I wonder, if somewhere Luke cared for her."

"I doubt it, Dave. What he has done to her, doesn't bear thinking about. Luke, I'm afraid, takes after his father."

"King Roman?"

Nan nodded, letting out a sigh of regret. She had always prayed that her Luke would be spared the qualities of his father. She had contrived, after Sophia's death, to keep him away from the king, but alas, it had been in vain. Luke had shown by his actions that he was more his father's son than anything else.

"I'm worried, Nan. Zorbia is in a bad shape. The people are reaching the end of their tether, what with rising taxes and new, whimsical laws. Trade and business have suffered and Valeria is just waiting to swoop down on us for the kill. I'm afraid, if Luke doesn't get his act together, we might face an uprising."

Nan placed her hand on his arm in an entreaty.

"Do something, Dave. I don't trust Lord Wilfred. Can you not tell Luke to remove him from the post of chief advisor? What are the ministers doing?"

"Everyone fears Wilfred, Nan. Luke has to return to the running of the state affairs or we'll be in for great trouble."

Nan thought for a while. She had to see Luke. She could not let him endanger Zorbia in this manner. She also, could not suppress the resentment she had been nursing at his deeds, his treatment of Zena. She would say her piece. She would give him her piece of mind, even if he hanged her for it. Would he listen?