The Beauty in Pain | Book One of In Pain Trilogy *EDITING*

3. Talk

The courtyard was brimming with people as the sound of chatter filled the air. Saenar rested his foot against the stone wall, watching with complete boredom as persons milled around, preparing the departure of the king, the prince, and their beloved Lady Mynera.

He was unimpressed with it all. Their beloved Lady Mynera, in his eyes, was nothing more than a pretty maiden who had a great skill of lying through her teeth. Nothing more to it than that. He remembered the false courtesies and compliments she had given him during last night's dinner and gritted his teeth. Nothing but a liar.

Not that he hadn't dealt with his fair share of liars. They surrounded him and he knew how to spot one as if they were a peacock among chickens. The crown prince wouldn't do well with such people watching his every move and so, he had learnt how to get rid of them quickly and efficiently.

Lady Mynera wouldn't be so easy to get rid of. Not when she was to be his wife. The brown haired maiden would be beside him in court, sharing his bed, and one day raising his children. The thought made him angry and disgusted at the same time. What was Father thinking? Didn't he trust Saenar enough to know that he would be able to choose his own bride? Why choose it for him when all it really does is weaken his son's pride?

The King of the Five Nations took orders from no one but himself.

It was a well-known fact, one that Saenar was thoroughly fed up with. The king was more wary of lies, thieves, and spies in his own court than Saenar was and so, he took advice from no one, not even his own son.

"But still, I should be the one to choose who I want to marry," Saenar muttered to himself, feeling like a child who didn't get what he wanted. He wasn't that much ashamed of it. It was true. He was a child who hadn't gotten what he'd wanted. A bitter child who looked even more bitter sulking in the corner as everyone passed him by.

Lady Mynera could go to hell for all he cared. He did not want to marry her. He wanted to choose his own path, his own future, and the person he wanted to share that future with. That he already had someone in mind wasn't his fault, merely fate. Saenar had been glad that fate had turned to his favour just when he was so closed to marriage.

Now, he cursed fate for bringing Lady Mynera into the mix, messing with his dreams.

Speaking of the brown haired she-devil, the doors of the castle opened wide. Lady Mynera was not the first to exit but her guards, the ever present building that followed her around like a dog and the two blond haired twins that Saenar was now suspecting to be mutes.

She appeared after, her presence even more brilliant coming from behind that of the dreary guards, like a pearl among rocks. Her brown hair cascaded down her back and spilled over her shoulders, wavy and shining and glowing like a red halo when she stepped out into the sun. The entire courtyard stopped, all the noise and chaos that had been present before ceasing when she stepped forward. In its place came a strained waiting, as if each and every one of them were holding their breath, watching as the future queen descended the small steps and made her way among them. Her green eyes, alive with pleasure, did not skim over their heads, but landed on every face and her lips stretched into a smile.

Saenar wrenched his eyes away from her face long enough to capture the rest of her. She was dressed in a bright azure dress that clung to her slim waist and flared at her full hips, a generous dip at her breasts, exposing the creamy flesh. The sleeves were long and stretched upwards over her shoulder and up to her neck where it fanned out into a cape behind her. When she moved, he saw that it wasn't really a dress but a riding suit of some sort, for it split down both her legs, leaving a piece of material between them. When she stopped, the material fell back in place and it became a dress again.